Kjell Henriksen Observatory (KHO) - the world's largest of its kind for optical studies of the aurora, co-located with the EISCAT radars visible in the background. The SOUSY radar is located at the foot of the mountain and the SuperDARN radar to the right of the image towards East. This unique multi-site instrumental constellation makes it possible to study the atmospheric column from ground level and out into space (0-700 km). Photo: Bjørn Strathmann (2024).

Hard work is underway in the Kingdom to establish a national center for space weather forecasting. Strong forces are at work, including at the Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA) and at the Tromsø Geophysical Observatory (TGO).

But are you aware that you can install a locally made auroral forecast app on your phone?

In collaboration with the American NOAA-SWPC, it is possible to forecast the location of the aurora with 75% accuracy up to 3 days in advance. Data from KHO is used to validate the models used in the app.

Work on the app started back in 2010. The first version was called "Aurora Forecast" and predicted the location of the aurora for 6 selected locations. This was done in collaboration with the company Appex.no. To become independent of third parties and specific locations, a new version called "Aurora Forecast 3D" was released in 2017. With over 40,000 lines of Pascal code, the app predicts the aurora no matter where you are, featuring 3D graphics of the Earth and the solar system.

The latest version 9.2a of the app released now in the beginning of the New Year includes an improved magnetic model of the Earth (AACGM-v2). It considers the fact that the magnetic pole has moved in position out into the sea north of Greenland. We notice the effect on our all-sky camera recordings. The nowcast of the aurora oval seen from the ground is now rotated in accordance with our images of the real aurora.

In addition, a new user interface to seek satellites by name from the CelesTrack data base is implemented. Communication is also updated to use the secure and encrypted https protocol to download the 3-day Kp forecasts and orbital elements for satellites.

This version of the app is probably a bit too technical, with lots of advanced menu options, including rocket and satellite orbits, and is intended for us with special interest in aurora research.

As a consequence of feedback from users, a new simpler version called "Aurora Forecast Rocketeer" was launched 2 years ago without any fanfare. It has the same functionality as its predecessor. The app features speech, sound effects, virtual space journeys, and quiz games. The entertainment aspect is hopefully both universally engaging and informative. The sound effects were created by my brother Ørnulf Sigernes, who stole my electric guitar and moved to Holland.

Feel free to download the app from Google Play. It is, of course, free (fredware). Many thanks to NOAA-SWPC, who despite public shutdowns, continue to maintain their space weather alerts.

KHO wishes everyone good luck with this year's aurora hunting, and we hope for as little light pollution as possible.