The Solar-Terrestrial Environment and Climate Unit investigates variations in solar activity and the surrounding space environment, explores the mechanisms behind these variations, and examines their impacts on Earth's climate and meteorological phenomena.
The timescales of solar variations range from one month to a few thousand years. Observational records have shown that climate and meteorological phenomena often exhibit periodic variations in sync with those of the Sun; however, the mechanisms underlying this connection remain unresolved. In addition to visible and UV radiation from the Sun, charged particles originating from outside the heliosphere and modulated by solar wind are suggested to influence climate and weather, potentially by altering cloud properties. Our unit aims to address this issue by using diverse datasets and numerical simulations to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the Earth as a system open to the nearby space environment.
