Overview
- An X5-class solar flare on November 11 triggered a rare Ground Level Enhancement that sent energetic particles deep into Earth's atmosphere.
- The UK Met Office and the Netherlands' KNMI launched balloons carrying University of Surrey probes that streamed altitude-resolved radiation data up to about 100,000 feet.
- Radiation at roughly 40,000 feet briefly neared 10 times background, marking the highest levels at aviation altitudes since 2006.
- Researchers report no immediate health concern, but estimate peak conditions could have caused about 60 memory bit-flips per hour per gigabyte in aircraft electronics.
- The surge was only about 2% of the 1956 record event, and teams plan additional rapid-response launches from UK and Dutch sites to strengthen forecasting and aviation resilience.