A Northumbria University physicist has been awarded more than half a million pounds to develop artificial intelligence (AI) which will protect the Earth from devastating space storms.

Activity from the Sun such as solar eruptions, results in plasma being fired towards Earth at supersonic speeds, which can result in serious disruption to power and communication systems.

Dr Andy Smith from Northumbria University aims to explore how physics-inspired machine learning could be used to forecast space weather more accurately and predict serious space storms.

Dr Smith and his team will analyse data from satellites and space missions over the last 20 years to gain a better understanding of the conditions under which storms are likely to occur.

They will then develop computer models which will use the data gathered to predict when such storms could occur in future.

Dr Smith said: “One of the primary ways in which space weather can impact society is through an unexpected surge of energy in power networks and pipelines on the ground.

“These surges can accelerate the ageing of power systems, or even lead to the immediate failure of components such as power transformers, leading to a complete loss of power.

“This research will take a leap forward in understanding and predicting when we are at risk of suffering from these surges, caused by rapid changes in the Earth’s magnetic field.”