Just how important is the KP index

[Viking233]

i just downloaded an app called Solar Sphere. This app tells me the KP index. I've heard people mentioning this so it was easy enough to download. Currently I'm in my New Hamphire summer home. It 75 degrees, no wind and the sun is shining. It seems to be a perfect fly day. This KP index thing is something I don't really understand and honestly don't care to know all the scientific things about it because I wouldn't understand all that stuff. From what I've read this index is set up on a scale of 1 to 10. Right now when I open this app it reads that the KP index is a 6. All I really care to know is where this reading is supposed to be for flying. It almost sounds like a six (6) could be trouble.
So if someone could just tell me the basics and what would be the ideal index thT would be good.

 

[William K.]

The K-index quantifies disturbances in the horizontal component of earth's magnetic field with an integer in the range 0-9 with 1 being calm and 5 or more indicating a geomagnetic storm. It is derived from the maximum fluctuations of horizontal components observed on a magnetometer during a three-hour interval.

The K-index, and by extension the Planetary K-index, are used to characterize the magnitude of geomagnetic storms. Kp is an excellent indicator of disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field and is used by SWPC to decide whether geomagnetic alerts and warnings need to be issued for users who are affected by these disturbances.

The principal users affected by geomagnetic storms are the electrical power grid, spacecraft operations, users of radio signals that reflect off of or pass through the ionosphere, and observers of the aurora.

 

[Viking233]

William, I appreciate your answering but I don't think you read my request. Your explanation probably is all the correct answer but you'd have to be a Atmospheric Scientific Engineer or a Climatoligist. I said I don't care about that stuff . In addition, in the end you never answered the one question I had and I will repeat it. What KO index number should I not fly a quadcopter period. That's all I care about

 

[William K.]

Electro Magnetic interference. 5 is pushing it in my opinion.

 

[Viking233]

I don't think it matters that much. I flew when it said 6 and it was a sunny day

 

[Typhoon Charlie]

I don't think it matters that much. I flew when it said 6 and it was a sunny day

It wont matter until you get a fly away and loose you drone or end up hurting someone. When there is a high KP index which affects compasses and GPS there is the potential of your drone's GPS and compass being effected. These consumer grade electronics do not have the capability to correct for magnetic interference or electromagnetic interference. SO what KP number is too high? It depends on what chances you want to take. A better app is Magnetology Apple or Android. It will tell you what the possibility is of interference with electronics. If you can fly manually and not depend on GPS then you do not have to care about KP. However the radio control signal fron your transmiter to your drone can and will be interfered with by many natural and man made interference.

 

[Viking233]

That is an outstanding explanation and I only said what I said because in previous posts nobody gave me a sound explaination that stressed the importance of this. I had downloaded an app and one day it read a 6 but it was a beautiful day, sun shinning etc. So I did fly and of course I had no problems. I do know how to fly without GPS but as you know if your to far out even tho you might have visual contact it still hard to determine your heading.
So as a general rule would you recommend not flying if you are reading a 5 let's say.
Thank you for the time in writing up your reply. That is kind of you.
Patty

 

[Pegasus]

Here's a site I would swear by and it's free. It hasn't failed me yet and you set your own parameters and the chart will then display if it's good to fly or not. Don't forget to fill in your location. Play around with it until you get used to it and then save the site in your favourites and the settings you chose should remain.

UAV Forecast

 

[Riktar]

It wont matter until you get a fly away and loose you drone or end up hurting someone. When there is a high KP index which affects compasses and GPS there is the potential of your drone's GPS and compass being effected. These consumer grade electronics do not have the capability to correct for magnetic interference or electromagnetic interference. SO what KP number is too high? It depends on what chances you want to take. A better app is Magnetology Apple or Android. It will tell you what the possibility is of interference with electronics. If you can fly manually and not depend on GPS then you do not have to care about KP. However the radio control signal fron your transmiter to your drone can and will be interfered with by many natural and man made interference.

Sorry about replying to a 5 month old thread but here goes:

If flying without GPS negates concern for the KP index then can someone explain (Yuneec CSR response would be great on this) what goes haywire when you are flying with GPS enabled and it goes FUBAR during a high KP Index condition that results in a flyaway?

If the GPS lock goes away, what is going on in the flight controller of the Q500 itself? Is it autonomously doing a "search" for satellite lock? Even if that is the case, why does input control from the ST10 go away?

Could a firmware update be written that if GPS lock is broken, the Typhoon (As well as the ST10) would default to Angle mode which would still enable control inputs being recognized between the ST10+ and the Typhoon.

Since all my experience has been with LOS flying, I would still be able to manage my aircraft if I had direct control of flight angles.

 

[kem00013]

Hi all,

I did some research into K Index because we've been adding it into our flight planning application. I thought the background info might be useful to share with the community so I put was I've learned into an FAQ. You can access it here.

I'd say although flying at 6, there are other localised factors which in some cases could impact your flight. Also, although the number given is 6, it is a normalised value and so there could be much higher or lower fluctuations periodically. It's likely that at six, you might lose connection intermittently with a few satellites and the accuracy might be slightly reduced, but it's probably negligible if there are at least 12 - 18 satellites to connect with.

Hope this helps,
Kerr