KP very high... who's going flying ?

[AeroJ]

Well, yesterday it seemed that today was going to be the most perfect flying day ever, so had 2 missions planned - 1 to the top of the biggest hill around (given the unusual lack of wind at great height today) or down to the South Coast. And UAV Forecast yesterday was green across the board. Today, however, it is not, and KP index has shot right up to over 5, which I very rarely see.



Would / should we go flying in that ? What do we think ?

 

[DevilsLuck]

Well, yesterday it seemed that today was going to be the most perfect flying day ever, so had 2 missions planned - 1 to the top of the biggest hill around (given the unusual lack of wind at great height today) or down to the South Coast. And UAV Forecast yesterday was green across the board. Today, however, it is not, and KP index has shot right up to over 5, which I very rarely see.

View attachment 176582

Would / should we go flying in that ? What do we think ?

What is Kp?

 

[AeroJ]

What is Kp?

KP Index indicates solar flare activity, which can affect GPS in our machines, and lead to a decrease in accuracy of positioning, or a sudden and intermittent loss of 1, some or all satellites and even radio signal in extreme cases.

There is some debate about how important that may or may not be...

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[AeroJ]

Nobby thinks it's fine, and my inclination is to believe him

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But then both times (over 10 years) I have lost craft due to the behaviour of DJI flight controllers, high KP was a suspect on both occasions !

 

[Starz]

may not be...

Key words.

 

[Meta4]

KP Index indicates solar flare activity, which can affect GPS in our machines, and lead to a sudden and intermittent loss of satellites

The Kp index is much-hyped.
We get these stories several times each year, but in 10 years I've been flying there's never been a single case reported of an incident that could be attributed to this.

 

[Felix le Chat]

Well, yesterday it seemed that today was going to be the most perfect flying day ever, so had 2 missions planned - 1 to the top of the biggest hill around (given the unusual lack of wind at great height today) or down to the South Coast. And UAV Forecast yesterday was green across the board. Today, however, it is not, and KP index has shot right up to over 5, which I very rarely see.

View attachment 176582

Would / should we go flying in that ? What do we think ?

If you're interested, look up "The Carrington Event" (1859), the single recorded instance of a major catastrophic disruption to comms equipment related to this phenomena. Bear in mind, electric telegraphy was in it's infancy. A smaller geomagnetic storm (March 1989) knocked out power grids across large parts of Quebec, so might a KP of 9+ (May 2024) have an effect on delicate microelectronics?

 

[AeroJ]

If you're interested, look up "The Carrington Event" (1859), the single recorded instance of a major catastrophic disruption to comms equipment related to this phenomena.

Ah yes, we didn't see that one coming did we ?!

I think having seen Nobby flying about in KP9 apparently unaffected by it I should be OK with half that. And indeed according to UAVF it's back down to under 5 now and for the rest of the day. I will do headcam and screen recordings when I go out later in case anything interesting happens !

 

[msinger]

KP index has shot right up to over 5

Any documentation from DJI about not flying when the KP index is over 5 (or any specific number)?

 

[Felix le Chat]

Ah yes, we didn't see that one coming did we ?!

I think having seen Nobby flying about in KP9 apparently unaffected by it I should be OK with half that. And indeed according to UAVF it's back down to under 5 now and for the rest of the day. I will do headcam and screen recordings when I go out later in case anything interesting happens !

Here's an interesting fact.

I have never been bitten by a tiger. But that doesn't mean I think all tigers won't bite.

Just a personal attitude: if you consider as many potential problems as possible - You're less likely to end up with a nasty surprise (). Good flying matey.

**ADDENDUM**
Take a look at an app named 'Space Weather Live'. More accurate and scientific data.

 

[Meta4]

Here's an interesting fact

Millions of DJI drones have been flying all over the world for more than 10 years now.

I have never been bitten by a tiger. But that doesn't mean I think all tigers won't bite.

In the last 10 years Kp9 events happen around once every three years
KP8 about 5 times each year
KP7 about 12 times per year
and Kp5 about 80 times per year.
With many thousands of drones flying on any particular day, there still hasn't neen a single flight incident that could be attributed to a high Kp index.

Just a personal attitude: if you consider as many potential problems as possible - You're less likely to end up with a nasty surprise ().

Going on past events, I have a pretty good feeling that no-one is going to have any issues with yet another Kp5 event.
The sky isn't falling folks.

 

[AeroJ]

The sky isn't falling folks.

I'm not worried about the sky falling (well not YET anyway); just the things I've put in it falling out of it !

However, I will endeavour to prove you right later ! Just waiting for the sun to be slightly less 'furnace-like'. Even if it's not going to do my electronics in, it would certainly overheat me on the exposed top of a big hill with no shade to hide in !

 

[Meta4]

I'm not worried about the sky falling; just the things I've put in it falling out of it !

However, I will endeavour to prove you right later ! Just waiting for the sun to be slightly less 'furnace-like'. Even if it's not going to do my electronics in, it would certainly overheat me on the exposed top of a big hill with no shade to hide in !

Kp5 events come around about 80 times each year without causing any problems for drone flyers.
Even with a much higher Kp index, the impact on your drone might be just a slightly larger margin of error for your GPS location data.
It's not going to cause your drone to fall.
Given that your GPS already has a variable error of 1-2 metres, you would be unlikely to detect any difference.

 

[AeroJ]

Any documentation from DJI about not flying when the KP index is over 5 (or any specific number)?

Nope. no mention of KP index in the whole document !

 

[msinger]

Nope. no mention of KP index in the whole document !

Right -- I've never seen anything either. I think that's a good sign that it's not something DJI pilots need to worry about.

 

[Yaros]

It's totally fine to fly. Modern drones with good GPS technology such as DJI drones don't really get affected by KP unless it's really high (9+).

If you get GPS lock, go and fly, it's gonna be totally fine!

 

[AeroJ]

Just found the video from 9 years ago (before logs were really a thing), where the Naza-M in my then-beloved TBS Discovery suddenly went nuts, killing it, which some people were attributing to KP5 as it was on the day...

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But I would not expect even the most hardcore KP-related event to cause the sudden uncommanded full-throttle that went on that day...

 

[AeroJ]

Yep, that was all fine, though I may have fallen asleep in the balmy afternoon heat, not woken up til 7, and then not got up the hill until 8.30, by which time KP was at more like 2.7. And the sun was dying on its arse, and in the wrong direction, so I'm going back to get the rest of the footage at dawn or shortly thereafter !

 

[Mrktn]

Went out this evening with drone. KPI 6.67 and didn’t have any issues

 

[AeroJ]

Glad I went out tonight, despite it being a bit too late for extra nice footage (though the MP4 still did a stunning job in low light). Thinking of it as something of a reconnaissance mission for the proper flight in 4 hour's time I did learn some valuable things about the site, which should serve me well later.

1. I got the actual height of the mast, which is 195 ft, so RTH here should be set to 220 or higher to always clear the tower. This will give me some confidence to orbit around it, where it will unavoidably be between me and the craft for a short time. There are a lot of holes in it and I will have LOS through it - but I am hoping I won't lose signal.
2. There are <8 kestrels nesting on the actual mast itself, so we won't be getting too close to that !
3. 2 Microlights rocked up over the horizon at 100 ft AGL but were just passing through.
4. I could work out exactly where the sun is going to be at 7 am the next day, and can plan my flight paths and launch sites accordingly.
5. I was able to refamiliarize myself with how the whole hill looks from above, minimising my chances of becoming lost when I overfly the individual spars / marylins.
6. There are TONS of butterflies in the long grass all over the hill. It's like that bit in the Hobbit where they all take off from that tree ! So when we do ground level stuff we will follow the paths to avoid mashing them, but stay high enough to keep out of the way of any loose jumping dogs, of which there are likely to be several !