Forecasts are estimates
Nobody can predict aurora visibility with certainty. The chances, labels and scores in Hello Aurora are our own calculations based on the data listed below and it's possible that it can be inaccurate. A promising night can stay quiet and a quiet one can surprise you. Use them as a guide, not a promise.
The data we rely on can arrive late, go missing, or be corrected later. Some numbers, like the night summary, keep changing until the night is over.
Stay safe
Aurora hunting often means driving at night, in the cold, far from town. Hello Aurora does not provide weather warnings or road conditions. Check your local weather service and road authority before you head out.
Notifications
When activity is high or many people report sightings, Hello Aurora can send a lot of notifications. You can choose which ones you get, or turn them off, in the app settings.
Sightings and photos
Other Hello Aurora users share the sightings and photos you see. We don't check each one, and we're not responsible for what they show or say.
Mistakes
Hello Aurora cannot be held responsible for wrong or late data, or for errors and typos in the app or on the website. We do our best to keep everything accurate. If you spot a problem, report it from the app settings or email us at contact@hello-aurora.com.
Data sources
The data belongs to the organizations below. Hello Aurora collects it, processes it and combines it into its forecasts. Any mistake in that processing is ours, not theirs. None of these organizations endorses Hello Aurora.
Space weather
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), U.S. Department of Commerce Real-time solar wind (speed, density, Bz and Bt), the Kp index forecast, the 27-day outlook, geomagnetic storm watches and alerts, and the aurora oval (OVATION model).
Ground magnetometers
These stations measure how strong the aurora is at ground level.
- Tromsø Geophysical Observatory (TGO), UiT The Arctic University of Norway: Norway and Iceland. The Science Institute of the University of Iceland operates the Icelandic observatory.
- Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), IMAGE magnetometer array: Finland. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF): Sweden
- Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU), through INTERMAGNET: Sweden. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- DTU Space, Technical University of Denmark, through INTERMAGNET: Greenland
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Geomagnetism Program: United States
- Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Geomagnetism Program of the Geological Survey of Canada: Canada
Weather and clouds
- Norwegian Meteorological Institute (MET Norway): forecasts of cloud cover, temperature and precipitation for your location, anywhere in the world. Data from MET Norway, licensed under CC BY 4.0 and NLOD 2.0.
- Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD): the ICON global model behind the cloud map. Source: Deutscher Wetterdienst, licensed under CC BY 4.0, turned into map tiles by Hello Aurora.
Maps and places
- Mapbox: maps and place search. Map data © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Calculated by Hello Aurora
Aurora chances, labels and night summaries.
Acknowledgements
We are deeply grateful to the national institutes that support the magnetic observatories we use, and INTERMAGNET for promoting high standards of magnetic observatory practice (www.intermagnet.org).
We also thank the institutes that maintain the IMAGE Magnetometer Array, in particular Tromsø Geophysical Observatory of UiT The Arctic University of Norway, the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and the Science Institute of the University of Iceland.