Support
Help and contact
Questions, a spot that has changed, or a bug? Write to max@hovding.no. One person makes this app and reads every message.
When you write about a spot or a forecast, the destination, the spot's name and the date help. Please do not send personal details we do not need.
Questions and answers
How does the score work?
Each viewing spot gets a score from 0 to 100 for every hour of the night. It combines four things: how clear the sky will be (cloud forecast by layer, from MET Norway), how active the aurora is (the Kp forecast, corrected by NOAA's measured OVATION aurora model for the next few hours), how dark it is, and how bright the moon is. Spots with more light pollution score a little lower.
The app then picks the best three-hour window and says it in words: 70 and above is a high chance, 45 and above a medium chance. A high score means the conditions are good; it is a forecast, not a promise that the aurora will show.
Why are the numbers different since 2.0?
Aurora Atlas uses an improved scoring model. Before, a clear night scored high even when the aurora was very quiet. Now clear sky and aurora activity are multiplied, so a clear but quiet night lands in the middle and a clear, active night scores high. The model also reads cloud layers hour by hour and uses measured aurora activity for the first hours. So the same night can show a different number than in version 1.x: a high number now needs both a clear sky and an active aurora.
Does the app use my location?
Only when you choose a location feature. In the current version, location helps select a nearby destination or estimate drive times; you can choose a destination manually instead. See the privacy policy for details.
Which devices are supported?
Aurora Atlas runs on iPhone with iOS 16.4 or later. If your iPhone cannot update to iOS 16.4, the App Store keeps offering version 1.2.2 of Aurora Tromsø Northern Lights, which keeps working for Tromsø.
Do I need an account? Does it cost anything?
The current version works without signing in and is free to download. The privacy policy explains what information this version uses.
Which places are covered?
Hand-picked viewing spots: 398 in 35 destinations. More destinations are on the way, one by one, in Faroe Islands, Greenland, United Kingdom, Ireland, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia; see all destinations. Anywhere else in the world, the app still gives a score for the place you pick.
Can the app notify me when the aurora is out?
Not yet. Alerts are planned; the app will ask before it ever sends one, and the privacy policy will be updated first.
Why are there no live scores on this website?
Scores change through the night and depend on where you will drive from. The app keeps them current and ranks the spots from your base; this website is the guide to the places themselves.
Data sources and credits
Aurora Atlas is built on open data. These are the sources the app uses, as listed in the app under Settings → Attributions & licences.
- MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Weather forecasts: cloud by layer, temperature and wind, hour by hour. Weather data from MET Norway (the Norwegian Meteorological Institute), api.met.no. Website
- NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (Public domain). Kp forecasts, solar wind and the OVATION aurora model. Data from NOAA SWPC. NOAA does not endorse this app. Website
- OpenStreetMap (ODbL 1.0). Spot positions, roads and place names, and the detailed coastline and roads when you zoom in on the map. © OpenStreetMap contributors Website
- Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (Copernicus DEM licence). Terrain, for how much of the northern horizon each spot can see. Produced using Copernicus WorldDEM-30 © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved. Website
- VIIRS Nighttime Lights (VNL) (CC BY 4.0). Night-time lights, for how dark the sky is at each spot. This product was made utilizing VIIRS Nighttime Lights (VNL) data produced by the Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines. Website
- ERA5 via Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0). Cloud climate: how often each month is clear at a destination. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information (ERA5), via the Open-Meteo Weather API Database. Website
- Natural Earth (Public domain). Coastlines, lakes, rivers and roads on the maps. Natural Earth 1:10m coastlines, lakes, rivers and roads. Website
- Statens vegvesen webcams (NLOD 2.0). Road and weather camera stills on the map and in Live, in Norway. Contains data under the Norwegian licence for Open Government data (NLOD) distributed by Statens vegvesen. Website
- Fintraffic weather cameras (CC BY 4.0). Road weather camera stills on the map and in Live, in Finland. Fintraffic / digitraffic.fi, CC BY 4.0 Website
Spot photos come from Wikimedia Commons, Geograph and Flickr contributors and are credited on each spot page and in the app. Road notices come from each country's road authority.