Swiss scientists have turned to computers to demonstrate how strong solar flares disable power and communication grids on Earth.

Using model calculations, a team has shown that the shorter intervals between two flares in the solar atmosphere, the more likely it is that the second explosion will be stronger than its predecessor.

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Researchers examined what happens when explosions occur on the surface of the Sun. They were able to accurately recreate the temporal succession and statistical size distribution of the solar flares with a computer model.

The team that made these findings was led by Professor Hans Jürgen Herrmann. He and his colleagues are from the Eldgenössische Technische Hockshchule Zürich, also known as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich.

The energy expelled from solar flares is millions of times more powerful than the energy generated in the eruptions of volcanoes. The explosions send out mass from the corona, the perimeter of the Sun's atmosphere.

Coronal mass ejections that hit the Earth could cause geomagnetic storms. Electrical plants, satellites and radio traffic can all be disrupted by the dangerous storms.

The strongest solar eruption in recorded history occurred in 2003. This massive solar storm resulted in power failures in southern Sweden. Airborne planes had to be redirected to other airports as communications broke down above the Polar Regions.

Herrmann, a professor at the Institute for Building Materials, said the Sun wasn't actually the focus of the study. The expert in computer physics and theoretical physicist developed a technique to observe events from a wide range of diverse fields.

Patterns in avalanches, earthquakes and the stock market are similar to the patterns in solar flares.

"Solar explosions do not, of course, have any connection with stock exchange rates," said Hermann.

"Nevertheless, they do behave in a similar way: they can interlock until they reach a certain threshold value before discharging. A system therefore does not continuously release the mass or energy fed into it, but only does so in bursts." 

Tagssolar power, solar energy, Solar Flare, Sun, Sunlight, coronal mass ejections, Satellite, Radio, power