TY - Generic T1 - Analysis of the HamSCI Solar Eclipse High Frequency Time Difference of Arrival Experiment Observations Using Automated Techniques T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Alexandros Papadopoulos A1 - Gerrard Piccini A1 - Thomas Pisano A1 - Nicholas Guerra A1 - Matthew Felicia A1 - Evan Hromisin A1 - Aidan Montare A1 - Kristina Collins A1 - Paul Bilberry A1 - Samuel Blackshear A1 - Steve Cerwin A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

The objective of our research is to analyze the effects of a solar eclipse on High Frequency (HF) radio by extracting the time difference of arrival (TDOA) due to multiple ionospheric paths of ~3 kHz bandwidth chirp signals sent and received with unmodified commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) single sideband (SSB) amateur radio transceivers. We use programming techniques learned in the Digital Signal Processing course at The University of Scranton in the Python language to automate this process. On the day of the 14 October 2023 eclipse in Texas, WA5FRF transmitted a series of chirps every 15 minutes to receiving stations N5DUP and AB5YO on 5.3 MHz and 7.2 MHz. Received signals were digitized, then squared and low-pass filtered to detect the waveform envelope. Correlation with a matched signal is then used to identify the start time of each chirp, after which a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is used to identify the beat-frequency (and TDOA value) generated by the multipath propagation. This TDOA value is then used to compute an ionospheric reflection height. On the WA5FRF-N5DUP path, this analysis shows that the F region reflection point raised from 262.5 km at 17:00 UTC to 300 km at eclipse maximum at 17:30 UTC and then returned to approximately 280 km at 18:00 UTC. This result is in good agreement with the hmF2 observations of the Austin ionosonde.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Citizen Science: Development of a Low-Cost Magnetometer System for a Coordinated Space Weather Monitoring T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Joseph Visone A1 - Hyomin Kim A1 - David Witten A1 - Julius Madey A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - John Gibbons A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Anderson Liddle A1 - Nicholas Muscolino A1 - Zhaoshu Cao AB -

As part of Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS) project, a low-cost, commercial off-the-shelf magnetometer has been developed to provide quantitative and qualitative measurements of the geospace environment from the ground for both scientific and operational purposes at a cost that will allow for crowd-sourced data contributions. The PSWS magnetometers employ a magneto-inductive sensor technology to record three-axis magnetic field variations with a field resolution of ~3 nT at a 1 Hz sample rate. Crowd-sourced data from the PSWS systems will be collected into a central archive for the purpose of public access and analyzation along with space weather research. Ultimately, data from the PSWS network will combine the magnetometer measurements with high frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) radio observations to monitor large scale current systems and ionospheric disturbances and events due to drivers from space and the atmosphere alike. A densely-spaced magnetometer array, once established, will demonstrate their space weather monitoring capability to an unprecedented spatial extent. Magnetic field data obtained by the magnetometers installed at various locations in the US are presented and compared with the existing magnetometers nearby, demonstrating that the performance is entirely satisfactory for scientific investigations.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Comparative Analysis of Medium Scale Travelling Ionospheric Disturbances: Grape PSWS vs. SuperDARN T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Veronica I. Romanek A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Bharat Kunduri A1 - J. Michael Ruohoniemi A1 - Joseph Baker A1 - William Liles A1 - John Gibbons A1 - Kristina Collins A1 - David Kazdan A1 - Rachel Boedicker AB -

Medium Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (MSTIDs) are periodic fluctuations in ionospheric electron density associated with atmospheric gravity waves. They are characterized by wavelengths of 50-500 kilometers and periods of 15-60 minutes. This study presents initial findings from a comparative analysis of MSTID observations sourced from two distinct systems: the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) and the Grape Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS). The Grape PSWS, developed by the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI), is a small ground-based remote sensing device aimed at monitoring space weather parameters, including MSTIDs. It achieves this by monitoring a 10 MHz transmission from WWV, a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) time standard station located near Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. In contrast, SuperDARN comprises a global network of high-frequency radars that offer extensive coverage of ionospheric plasma motion. This comparative investigation focuses on aligning MSTID observations obtained from Grape PSWS data with SuperDARN radar data. By investigating datasets from both platforms, these findings serve as initial results for an ongoing investigation of MSTIDs, laying the groundwork for a comprehensive understanding of their dynamics and impacts on ionospheric variability and space weather.

 

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Construction of a Table-Top Antenna Range for Learning Electromagnetics Concepts T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Augustine Brapoh A1 - Matthew Dittmar A1 - Aidan Szabo A1 - Robert Troy A1 - Nathaniel Frissell A1 - Stephen A. Cerwin AB -

Antenna construction and measurement provide an effective method of teaching electromagnetic and antenna concepts, including polarization, gain, directivity, and reflection. During the Spring 2024 semester, the University of Scranton EE 448 Electromagnetics II class is undertaking a project to build a table-top antenna range at 2450 MHz (λ = 12 cm). The table top range will give hands-on visual and intuitive reinforcement of abstract concepts covered mathematically in the course textbook. This frequency was chosen due to the convenient size of antennas and the fact that the antennas will be usable in the 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) and amateur bands. ISM band applications include WiFi, Bluetooth, RFID, NFC, and more. In this presentation and poster, we demonstrate three types of antennas the class has built so far: dipoles, dipoles with corner reflectors, and loops over ground planes. We also demonstrate the use of a NanoVNA to measure antenna properties, as well as show ideas for future projects.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Design and 3D Printing of the Grape 2 Enclosure T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Majid Mokhtari A1 - John Gibbons A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

This poster presents the design of the 3D printed enclosure for the Grape 2 Personal Space Weather Station HF Doppler Receiver.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Detection of SuperDARN-Observed Medium Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances in the Southern Hemisphere T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - James P. Fox A1 - Joseph Klobusicky A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances are quasi-periodic variations in the plasma that exist in the upper atmosphere and they impact the propagation of radio waves. Medium Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (MSTIDs) are defined as TIDs which travel at 100-250 m/s and have periods within the 1 hour range. Previously, most of the existing research has focused on MSTIDs in the Northern Hemisphere. This project seeks to determine whether there is enough data available to recognize seasonal trends in MSTID occurrence in the Southern Hemisphere. Currently, we have found some success in applying the PyDarnMusic algorithm to identify periods of high and low MSTID activity in the southern hemisphere in SuperDARN and have had success in replicating an existing study on the Falkland Islands radar. Going forward, we hope to refine the techniques which were originally used to identify MSTIDs in the Northern Hemisphere for use on the Southern Hemisphere in order to gain a better understanding of their climatology.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Development of Back-End Software for the Grape 2 T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Cuong Nguyen A1 - William Blackwell A1 - John Gibbons A1 - Nathaniel Frissell AB -

This poster showcases several software tools developed to support the development and operation of the main Grape 2 system. G2console is a terminal-based interface that communicates with the data collection system, providing users with valuable information such as software versions, amplitude, frequency, GPS, and magnetometer metrics for viewing and diagnostics. GrapeSpectrogram is a data processing script that generates Dopplergrams, aiding developers in validating the system's operation. Additionally, we will discuss future project developments, such as integration with the Linux GPS background service (gpsd) to provide accurate timing to the Raspberry Pi, and DigitalRF as a more efficient method of data storage.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Estimation of Ionospheric Layer Height by Measuring the Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) Between 1 and 2 Hop Propagation Modes. 2023 Annular Eclipse Observations T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Steven A. Cerwin A1 - Paul Bilberry A1 - Sam Blackshear A1 - Jesse T. McMahan A1 - Kristina V. Collins A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

A HamSCI science objective for the 2023 and 2024 eclipses is to use amateur radio stations to measure how the ionosphere changes with eclipse passage. Of particular interest is the change in effective ionization layer height caused by the momentary blockage of solar radiation. Layer height between two stations can be deduced from a Time of Flight (TOF) measurement but doing so requires complexity beyond the capability of most amateur radio stations. Particularly difficult requirements are precision absolute time references for both stations and calibration of the lengthy time delays incurred in modern DSP based transceivers. A simpler method that can be just as effective is to measure the Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) between the 1- and 2- hop modes over paths and frequencies that support both modes. The 1-hop mode is shorter and arrives first, followed by the longer 2-hop mode. Geometric models based on virtual height or refractive ray tracing can be used to mathematically relate 1-2 hop TDOA to layer height. The measurement can be implemented by transmitting audio signals that are sensitive to a time delay when summed together, as happens in the receiver during simultaneous 1 and 2 hop propagation. Suitable audio waveforms include a 1-cycle audio burst, audio chirps of controlled sweep rate, and a pseudorandom noise burst. The TDOA measurement using the short pulses is performed by directly measuring the time difference between the two received pulses. The summation of a chirp waveform with a delayed copy of itself produces a beat note equal to the product of the sweep rate and the time delay that can be used to calculate TDOA. The TDOA can be extracted from both the PN bursts and chirps through an autocorrelation technique. The audio signals can simply be fed to the microphone input and recovered from the speaker output of ordinary SSB amateur radio equipment using audio .wav programs. This paper gives details of the method and of on-air experiments both before and during the 2023 Annular Eclipse.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Exploring Ionospheric Variability Through Doppler Residuals: A Study Utilizing the HamSCI Grape V1 Receiver T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Sabastian Fernandes A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - Tiago Trigo A1 - John Gibbons AB -

This study leverages the capabilities of the Grape V1 low-IF receiver to analyze both long and short-term patterns of high frequency (HF; 3-30 MHz) skywave signals. The HF spectrum, often used for global long-range communications, also spans the frequencies used for remote sensing of the near-Earth plasma environment. The Grape receiver (callsign K2MFF) used in this study is located at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in Newark, NJ. At a rate of 1 Hz, it samples its link to the WWV broadcasting station transmitting at 10 MHz from Fort Collins, CO. The Doppler shift in this radio link, caused by its interactions with the ionosphere, is measured to study fluctuations in the ionosphere's electron density. This methodology provides insight into the effects of geomagnetic activity on the terrestrial ionosphere, caused by complex processes in the coupled Sun-Earth plasma environment. Our results show that the signal received during the daytime is less prone to Doppler shift than when received during the nighttime. This night-day contrast is consistent across most 24-hour cycles, barring dates of antenna maintenance or severe geomagnetic storms. We also found a strong correlation between daytime measurements and Cauchy statistics, and between nighttime measurements and a mixture of exponential power / lognormal statistics, wherein day and night at the geographic midpoint between WWV and NJIT are considered. The identification of these differing statistical regimes per time of day has led us to characterize long-term trends in the dataset by the medians of day and night Doppler measurements, independently. Additionally, the receiver's sensitivity and versatility was affirmed through case-studies of atypical Doppler traces captured in the data stream, by identifying characteristic markers of solar flares and solar eclipses.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Extreme Values in Short-Term 20 m Sequential Matched WSPR Observations T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Robert B. Gerzoff A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

Automated amateur radio networks, such as WSPRnet, daily compile data on hundreds of millions of radio contacts. This wealth of information is valuable for researchers exploring and forecasting High-Frequency (HF) propagation and its correlation with solar phenomena. A prerequisite for meaningful investigations is a comprehensive understanding and documentation of the inherent variability present in the data. Prior investigations highlighted the extreme short-term variability in SNR reports from 20-meter sequential matched observations, variability in excess of usual distributional assumptions.  Here, we describe and model those extreme observations.  Using descriptive statistics and logistic regressions, we provide evidence of some temporal and spatial patterns associated with the extreme SNR values and develop predictions for their occurrence.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Forum: How Ham Radio Can Further Help Ionospheric Research T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - HamSCI 2024 Day 1 Closing Remarks T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI ER - TY - Generic T1 - HamSCI 2024 Day 1 Welcome and Opening Remarks T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - HamSCI 2024 Day 2 Welcome and Opening Remarks T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Incorporating HamSCI Project into a College Physics Course T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Hyomin Kim A1 - Lindsay Goodwin A1 - Gareth Perry A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Gary Mikitin AB -

We report citizen science activity in a physics course to engage undergraduate students in a HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS) project. The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) Physics Department has been offering a senior-level lab course, "Advanced Physics Lab" in which the students are expected to gain experience with experimental techniques, instrumentation, theoretical and applied electronics, solid state electronic devices, experiments in modern physics by performing quantitative measurements of fundamental physical parameters. Students perform lab experiments in a mostly unstructured setting, in which students are given the equipment and related manuals and perform experiments with very minimal instructor's supervision. Historically, the students have been given a pre-set lab equipment by following the manuals accompanied by the equipment. While this may be suitable for providing an opportunity for the students to relate the results in the lab with the known physics theories/principles, the impact to the students is limited as there is still insufficient "hands-on" components and demonstration of real-world applications. The HamSCI PSWS project is a good example in which students build and test science instruments and use them for scientific investigations to address this issue. We present undergraduate class activity and evaluate their impact on future workforce training utilizing the HamSCI resources. 

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Initial Review of the October 2023 Grape Eclipse Data T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Rachel Boedicker A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - John Gibbons A1 - Kristina Collins AB -

The Great Radio Amateur Propagation Experiment (GRAPE) is a network of Doppler receivers that function as a distributed multi-static radar. The Grape network received 10 MHz doppler data from the NIST time and frequency station WWV in Fort Collins, CO during the 2023 October annular eclipse. Grape receivers in the network recorded a spectrum of Doppler shift data of the signals after they passed through the eclipse modified ionosphere. An updated version of the receiver will  be deployed to expand the network and collect similar data during the 2024 April total solar eclipse. We present initial data and results of the 2023 eclipse and discuss the upcoming eclipse.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Learning Communications Systems Using Amateur Radio Satellites T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Augustine Brapoh A1 - James Hankee A1 - Aidan Szabo A1 - Robert Troy A1 - Robert W. McGwier A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

Introductory undergraduate classes on communication systems for electrical engineers typically include theoretical treatments of signals and systems, spectral analysis, modulation, noise, filtering, and digital techniques. While theory is extremely important and useful, a purely theoretical treatment of Communications Systems can leave students without a strong intuition of the practical application of these topics. In the past, it might reasonably be expected that students might have some of this intuition from listening to analog AM and FM radio in the car, or using license-free two-way communication systems such as FRS or CB radios. These systems all expose noise, the need for filtering, and other underlying communications systems concepts to the end user. However, due to the advanced nature of modern digital communications, many of these underlying factors are now effectively hidden. To develop a hands-on intuition communications systems topics, students in the Spring 2024 EE 451 Communications Systems class at The University of Scranton are earning their amateur radio licenses learning to operate low-Earth orbit (LEO) Amateur Radio Satellites. In addition to the communications topics discussed above, these students also gain first-hand experience with directional antennas, polarization, Doppler shift, and basic orbital mechanics. In this presentation, students from the EE 451 class explain the basics of communicating through amateur satellites and discuss what they have learned so far.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - A Low-Cost Low-Power Chirp Ionosonde for Studying Eclipse Ionospheric Impacts T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Gerard Piccini A1 - Robert McGwier A1 - Robert A. Spalletta A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

The ionosphere is a region of the atmosphere characterized by both ions and electrons. It is highly active and experiences changes in parameters such as electron density at different altitudes, based on the energy absorbed from the sun.  Ionosondes are a type of radar used to gather data about the height of the ionosphere by transmitting a signal towards the ionosphere.  This signal is refracted back to the Earth’s surface and received in such a manner that return echoes can be timed to calculate the height profile of the bottomside ionosphere. Traditional ionosondes require large antenna systems and high amounts of power. Recent advancements in software defined radio (SDR) technology, advanced digital signal processing (DSP), and computational efficiency enable the size, cost, and power demands of an ionosonde system to be reduced. In this poster, we present our recent efforts to implement a low-cost, low power ionosonde. Two systems are currently used in this project: the Ettus N200 Universal Radio Peripheral (USRP) and the newer Red Pitaya SDRlab 122-16. The Red Pitaya system is still being developed while the Ettus enables us to test the rest of the hardware and collect data during the 2024 eclipse. Using amateur radio fan dipoles and GNU Radio code, the system will sound the ionosphere during the upcoming eclipse. Over the following weeks the system will be improved in preparation for the upcoming eclipse.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Possible Drivers of Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances by Analysis of Aggregated Ham Radio Contacts T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Diego Sanchez A1 - Mary Lou West A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Robert B. Gerzoff A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - J. Michael Ruohoniemi A1 - Joseph B. H. Baker A1 - V. Lynn Harvey AB -

Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (LSTIDs) are quasiperiodic electron density perturbations of the F region ionosphere that have periods of 30 min to over 180 min, wavelengths of over 1000 km, and velocities of 150 to 1000 m/s. These are seen as long slow oscillations in the bottom side of the ionosphere in data from ham radio contacts at 20 meters wavelength on roughly a third of the days in a year. They might be triggered by electromagnetic forces from above, and/or by mechanical pressures from below. The explosion of the Tonga volcano on January 15, 2022 revealed that such a LSTID could be triggered by a violent updraft from the Earth’s surface into the stratosphere and then detected in the ionosphere over the United States nine hours later. We consider other possible drivers such as the auroral electrojet, the polar vortex, thunderstorms, zonal wind speeds, gravity wave variances, and their time derivatives in 2017.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - PyLAP/PHaRLAP HF Ray Tracing and SAMI3: Integration and Refactoring T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Devin Diehl A1 - Rachel Boedicker A1 - Joseph Huba A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

PyLAP is a high frequency (HF) ray tracing toolkit that is used to model radio wave propagation through the ionosphere. Currently PyLAP uses the empirical International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model. In an effort to use PyLAP to observe more discrete structures in ionosphere that are otherwise unobservable with IRI, PyLAP is being Integrated with the Physics-based SAMI3 Model of the ionosphere. Along with this there will be an effort to refactor some of the current PyLAP codebase so that it is more readable and usable for anyone using the current system including both professional and citizen scientists.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Reexamining the Characteristics of Flare-Driven Doppler Flash using multipoint HF Observations T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Shibaji Chakraborty A1 - Kristina V. Collins A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - J. Michael Ruohoniemi A1 - Joseph B. H. Baker AB -

Sudden enhancement in the ionospheric electron density following a solar flare causes disruption in the transionospheric high frequency (HF: 3-30 MHz) communications, commonly referred to as Shortwave Fadeout (SWF). This disruption is also recorded as a sudden enhancement in Doppler frequency in the received HF signal, referred to as Doppler Flash. This phenomenon was recorded and reported by the SuperDARN HF radar network. Previous investigations have suggested that among various phases of flare-driven SWFs observed by HF radars Doppler Flash is the first to observe, and there are no significant trends in Doppler Flash with location, operating frequency, or flare intensity. Recent development showed that Doppler observations from the distributed HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS) can provide insight into the physics behind changes in phase path length of the trans ionospheric radio signals. Unlike SuperDARN, HamSCI PSWS can record the full phase of the Doppler Flash, provide an edge to revisit the characterization study and compare with existing dataset. In this study, we demonstrate how HamSCI observations can be used to infer flare-driven changes in ionospheric properties. We found: (1) HamSCI PSWS has higher dynamic range than SuperDARN during flare making it less susceptible to SWF, thus it can record the full Doppler Flash; (2) data from HamSCI PSWS shows a strong function trend with flare strength, operating frequency, and location on the Earth; and (3) HF rays traveling longer distances experienced statistically higher Doppler. We understand that, while instantaneous Doppler realized by the HF signal is proportional to the rate of change in solar irradiance, the total Doppler realized is proportional to the total flare-deposited energy in the ionosphere.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Reworking the MUSIC Algorithm to Mitigate MSTID Direction Estimation Bias Associated with SuperDARN Radar Field-of-View Geometry T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Michael Molzen A1 - Thomas Pisano A1 - Nicholas Guerra A1 - Juan Serna A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

Medium Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (MSTIDs) are variations in the F region ionospheric electron density. MSTIDs can be associated with atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs) and provide critical information for understanding the ionosphere, which is an electrically charged region of the atmosphere. Previous SuperDARN studies of MSTIDs have used the Multiple Signal Classification (MUSIC) algorithm to determine the size, speed, and direction of these disturbances in the ionosphere. Upon analyzing MSTID MUSIC results from ten North American SuperDARN radars over a period of twelve winter seasons (2010-2022), we found a bias in the SuperDARN MSTID MUSIC direction estimation algorithm that preferentially reports waves as traveling along the boresight direction of the radars. We demonstrate that this bias is caused by the radar Field-of-View geometry and report on the progress algorithm development for removing this bias.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Sensitivity analysis of ray-tracing techniques to ionospheric electron density profiles T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Ana G. Elias A1 - Mariano Fagre A1 - Zenon Saavedra A1 - Adrian Llanes A1 - Blas F. de Haro Barbas AB -

The Earth's ionosphere, a weakly ionized plasma embedded in a magnetic field, constitutes an anisotropic and dispersive medium for the propagation of HF radio waves. Ray-tracing is a powerful and useful technique, included in several radar simulation codes, that allows determining the path of these radio waves through the ionosphere in order, for example, to locate and track a target. Depending on the degree of precision needed, ray-tracing requires more or less precise knowledge of ionospheric conditions along the propagation path. A sensitivity analysis is performed in this work to determine the effect of different electron density height profiles in ray path features considering a fully analytical approach and two ray-tracing algorithms. The analytical approach is based on the quasi-parabolic electron density height distribution which allows for the derivation of exact equations for ray path parameters. The first ray-tracing algorithm consists of Snell-law application to a two-dimensional ionosphere which is layered into thin homogeneous slabs with a constant refractive index. The second algorithm implements the code of Jones and Stephenson, introduced in 1975, and numerically solves Haselgrove ray equations to trace ray paths through an anisotropic medium whose refractive index varies in three dimensions. The three methodologies used to assess an HF signal ray path must assume an electron density height profile which strongly affects any output parameter that depends on the signal traveling path. In particular, the analytical approach, even though it is less accurate, it is considerably faster than any numerical ray-tracing technique. This sensitivity analysis approach allows estimating the percentage variation of ray-tracing outputs which may serve to analyze the errors introduced by ionospheric transient disturbances which cannot be easily included in models considered in ray-tracing algorithms.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Signatures of Space Weather in the NJIT V1 Grape Low-IF Receiver T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Tiago Trigo A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - Sebastian Fernandes A1 - John Gibbons A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

The V1 Grape Low Intermediate Frequency (Low-IF; 10 MHz) Receiver is part of a low-cost Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS) developed by the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Collective. One of the existing deployed Grapes is located at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). The Grape measures the WWV 10 MHz signal originating from Fort Collins, Colorado. Variations in WWV's signal intensity and frequency, received by the Grape can be used to investigate  strong space weather events and their effects on the Earth's ionosphere. The Grape data is separated into two parameters, Doppler Shift (Hz) which is a change in frequency introduced by the variability of the ionosphere along the WWV to NJIT link, and Relative Power (dB) which can be used as a proxy for the received signal's intensity.  In this presentation, we will explore the possibility of using the Relative Power parameter for studying ionospheric scintillation due to space weather events.  We will present several examples of data collected on days with known space weather events to assess the Grape's ability to detect the event. We will also discuss our analysis techniques, including our strategies to mitigate the local noise environment at NJIT, and future work.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 ER - TY - Generic T1 - Statistical Study of the Magnetospheric Open-Closed Boundary (OCB) using ULF Wave Observations from Antarctic Ground Magnetometers As Compared to the Tsyganenko Model T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Rachel M. Frissell A1 - Hyomin Kim A1 - Andrew Gerrard A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

We present a statistical study using ground magnetometer data which are located over extensive latitudes from subauroral to the deep polar cap region. These include the Antarctic Automated Geophysical Observatories (AGOs), McMurdo Station (MCM), and South Pole Station (SPA), to characterize open-closed boundary (OCB) behavior during geomagnetically quiet times. Knowledge of the location and dynamics of the magnetic field line OCB provides insight to space physics processes such as substorms, particle precipitation events, and magnetospheric configuration. Prior studies have shown that determination of the OCB location can be made by examining the ULF wave power in data from a latitudinal chain of ground-based magnetometers extending from the auroral zone into the deep polar cap.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Trial of applying PHaRLAP raytracing to reproduce Ham spot data T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Kornyanat Hozumi A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Min-Yang Chou A1 - Gwyn Griffiths A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Jia Yue A1 - Shing Fung A1 - Masha Kuznetsova AB -

HamSCI is one of the NASA's official citizen science projects. HamSCI spots database, which is from Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) and Weak Signal Propagation Reporter Network (WSPRNet), is of interest. Information of date, time, frequency, latitude, and longitude of transmitter and receiver are used. PHaRLAP is a raytracing tool that can trace the HF radio wave in 2D and 3D. We use the IRI model to generate the required ionospheric information. We employ the PHaRLAP to reproduce the ham spots database by launching the HF radio wave from the transmitter, of which its location is obtained from the HamSCI spots database. Then, we trace the O-mode propagation of the wave. The wave arrival latitude and longitude are then mapped into a grid based on the Amateur Radio Maidenhead Grid. Finally, we compare the raytracing-based arrival grid with the HamSCI arrival grid. The results, under the assumption of 1-hop propagation, show that the PHaRLAP raytracing can reproduce the HamSCI spots database well.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - University of Michigan Space Weather Sensor Package T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Theodore Masterson A1 - Mark B. Moldwin A1 - Lauro Ojeda A1 - Julio Vata A1 - Isaac Fertig A1 - Alex Hofmann A1 - Brian Tsang AB -

Ground magnetometer and dual frequency GPS systems are used to measure space weather effects observed in geomagnetic disturbances and variations in Total Electron Content (TEC). However, such systems are usually cost-prohibitive, susceptible to noise from human infrastructure, and difficult to deploy and maintain. Our team has been working on a low-cost space weather sensor package that can be easily deployed and requires low maintenance while having good magnetic and TEC data accuracy. The system has multiple options with respect to power (e.g., AC powered or solar panel and battery system), communication (Cat5 internet, Wi-Fi, Cellular or satellite modem), and sensors (use of network protocol time, single frequency GPS time stamping, or dual frequency GPS for both time and TEC). This presentation describes the low-cost magnetometer sensor package, the simple user interfaces, and design of the electrical and structural components for ease of manufacturing. We have developed a prototype for a system that is much cheaper and easier to mass-produce and install than current commercial systems, and real-world testing has shown that these systems function reliably.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - The W2NAF-KC3EEY VLF Observatory: Building Exciting New Developments from a Solid Foundation T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2024 Y1 - 2024 A1 - Jonathan D. Rizzo A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

After more than two years, the VLF reception system installed at the W2NAF-KC3EEY VLF Observatory in Spring Brook Township, PA has proven an essential tool in ionospheric and magnetospheric research. Using low cost and simplistic hardware like a VLF Active Antenna, Raspberry Pi, soundcard, and GNSS receiver along with powerful, open-source software such as vlfrx-tools and GPS Daemon, it is possible to capture VLF spectrum data with science-grade accuracy, precision, and reliability that an amateur can easily achieve. Building on this foundation, new developments were made possible which include a 3-channel VLF reception system of the same hardware and software architecture; an H-field VLF receiver that will be used alongside the Active VLF Antenna as well as the newly developed 3-channel VLF reception system to enable triple axis reception, an amateur VLF transmission rig utilizing a GPS-locked carrier and the EbNaut digital mode, a possible atmospheric gravity wave detection from the Tonga eruption, an exciting 2023 annular eclipse observation indicating both influence from the Moon's shadow and a solar flare using Naval VLF transmitters and lightning sferics, and an analysis of the observed dusk and dawn phenomena on Naval VLF signals, along with other developments. These developments coincide with a call to establish the HamSCI VLF Network, a network of worldwide VLF reception systems installed and operated by volunteers, amateurs, and professionals alike in radio-quiet locations. The HamSCI VLF Network will augment the existing HamSCI Grape experiment with D/E-layer ionospheric phenomena, lightning location data with accurate stroke solutions, and more.  

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2024 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - Generic T1 - Amateur Radio Through the Ages (Exhibit) T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Tom Mayka A1 - William Gallagher A1 - Herb Krumich A1 - Ian Kelleman A1 - Phil Galasso A1 - Elaine Kollar A1 - Dave Kirby A1 - Darlene Miller-Lanning A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

Amateur Radio Through the Ages Exhibit is an exhibit of historical amateur radios, QSL cards, QST magazines, and radio accessories on display at the University of Scranton Loyola Science Center / Hope Horn Gallery during the Spring 2023 semester. This exhibit is presented by the Murgas Amateur Radio Club K3YTL, The University of Scranton Amateur Radio Club W3USR, and The University of Scranton Department of Physics and Engineering, especially Tom Mayka W3TRM, Bill Gallagher WA3RA, Herb Krumich K2LNS, Ian Kellman K3IK, Phil Galasso K2PG, Elaine Kollar K3VQR, Dave Kirby N3SRO, Dr. Darlene Miller-Lanning, and Dr. Nathaniel Frissell W2NAF.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA UR - https://photos.app.goo.gl/68gA9i32piVyM9C59 ER - TY - Generic T1 - Climatology of Ionospheric Variability with MSTID Periods Observed Using Grape v1 HF Doppler Receivers T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Veronica Romanek A1 - Nathaniel Frissell A1 - Kristina Collins A1 - John Gibbons A1 - David Kazdan A1 - William Liles JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - Climatology of Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Observed with Amateur Radio Networks T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Diego Sanchez A1 - Mary Lou West A1 - Bob Gerzoff A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Philip J. Erickson AB -

A new climatology of Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (LSTIDs) has been observed from ham radio data in 2017. LSTIDs are quasiperiodic electron density perturbations of the F region ionosphere. LSTIDs have periods of 30 min to over 180 min, wavelengths of over 1000 km, and velocities of over 1400 km/hr. In this paper, we show a climatology of observed LSTID events using data from the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN), Weak Signal Propagation Network (WSPRNet), and PSKReporter amateur radio networks. This climatology was performed twice and was cross examined between two members of the research team. Results show that most of the observed LSTIDs occurred during the winter months with a decline towards the summer, with the exception of a spike in June. This paper provides additional insight into the seasonal trends of LSTIDs and provides additional knowledge that will help in the pursuit of what is causing this phenomenon.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Crowdsourced Doppler measurements of time standard stations demonstrating ionospheric variability JF - Earth System Science Data Y1 - 2023 A1 - Collins, Kristina A1 - Gibbons, John A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A1 - Montare, Aidan A1 - Kazdan, David A1 - Kalmbach, Darren A1 - Swartz, David A1 - Benedict, Robert A1 - Romanek, Veronica A1 - Boedicker, Rachel A1 - Liles, William A1 - Engelke, William A1 - McGaw, David G. A1 - Farmer, James A1 - Mikitin, Gary A1 - Hobart, Joseph A1 - Kavanagh, George A1 - Chakraborty, Shibaji AB -

Ionospheric variability produces measurable effects in Doppler shift of HF (high-frequency, 3–30 MHz) skywave signals. These effects are straightforward to measure with low-cost equipment and are conducive to citizen science campaigns. The low-cost Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS) network is a modular network of community-maintained, open-source receivers, which measure Doppler shift in the precise carrier signals of time standard stations. The primary goal of this paper is to explain the types of measurements this instrument can make and some of its use cases, demonstrating its role as the building block for a large-scale ionospheric and HF propagation measurement network which complements existing professional networks. Here, data from the PSWS network are presented for a period of time spanning late 2019 to early 2022. Software tools for the visualization and analysis of this living dataset are also discussed and provided. These tools are robust to data interruptions and to the addition, removal or modification of stations, allowing both short- and long-term visualization at higher density and faster cadence than other methods. These data may be used to supplement observations made with other geospace instruments in event-based analyses, e.g., traveling ionospheric disturbances and solar flares, and to assess the accuracy of the bottomside estimates of ionospheric models by comparing the oblique paths obtained by ionospheric ray tracers with those obtained by these receivers. The data are archived at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6622111 (Collins2022).

VL - 15 UR - https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/15/1403/2023/https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/15/1403/2023/essd-15-1403-2023.pdf IS - 3 JO - Earth Syst. Sci. Data ER - TY - Generic T1 - Development of HamSCI PSWS Ground Magnetometer and Data Visualization on the PSWS Central Website T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Hyomin Kim A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - David Witten A1 - Julius Madey A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Tom Holmes A1 - Majid Mokhtari A1 - Scotty Cowling A1 - Anderson Liddle A1 - Nicholas Muscolino A1 - Zhaoshu Cao JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - A Few Science Questions that HamSCI Can Help Address During the 2023 and 2024 Eclipses T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Joseph D. Huba AB -

Solar eclipses are an exciting celestial event which can be used to study the terrestrial atmosphere and ionosphere systems. Locally, during a total solar eclipse, totality may only last a few minutes—and the times scales on which solar illumination decreases and then increases is much shorter that what is normally observed during sunrise and sunset. Additionally, on a larger, continental scale, the moon’s umbra moves at supersonic velocities, tracing out the path of totality. These properties serve to act as an impulse in energy on the atmosphere and ionosphere, generating a wide variety of yet to be specified (or identified) responses in those systems. 

As an example of some compelling response effects, the fast depletion-replenishment of the bottomside ionosphere (the portion of the ionosphere that is below the F-region peak) often appears asymmetric—an observation that is not well understood. Therefore, one science question which can be addressed is: will the different geometries of the 2023 and 2024 eclipses as well as the fact that they are an annular and total eclipse, respectively, have a significant effect on the asymmetry of the bottomside evolution during the eclipse? Furthermore, efforts to model and replicate the observed effects of eclipses have significantly improved in recent years; however, observations of the atmosphere and ionosphere are still required to constrain, validate, and ultimately improve our theoretical understanding of these systems. Another eclipse science question which can be addressed is: how well will these models perform for the 2023 and 2024 eclipse and how can we quantify the response of the ionosphere during these events? 

Over the past few years, HamSCI has emerged at the forefront of passive remote sensing techniques in solar-terrestrial physics. This is evidenced by HamSCI’s work using with HF timing signals and HF QSOs, show that both can be used to monitor the bottomside ionosphere on both regional and continental scales. The SEQP during the 2017 total solar eclipse was a resounding success, delivering high-impact and influential science results. Building upon that success, this technique may very well be a gamechanger for identifying and characterizing eclipse generated effects and phenomena during the upcoming 2023 and 2024 eclipses. The purpose of this presentation is to detail a few outstanding eclipse related science questions, and propose how HamSCI can lead the way in addressing them.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - Galactic Study of the Milky Way Galaxy Using Cold Hydrogen Data T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Muhammad Shaaf Sarwar A1 - Mary Lou West A1 - Richard Russel A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

Radio waves offer a wide variety of opportunities for studying astronomical phenomena. This presentation is concerned with the study of cold Hydrogen H1 waves received from the Milky Way galaxy. The H1 lines are 21-cm radio waves that are produced as a result of the Hydrogen Spin flip phenomenon. The H1 data is received from the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA) and processed to produce 6000 unique data points to conduct the galactic survey. The galactic survey consists of a heat map that shows the movement of the galaxy across the sky. The survey also consists of velocity plots which are produced in galactic coordinates to show the movement of the galactic arms across the galactic plane. The analysis of the velocity plots will allow an estimation of the galactic mass and further explore the discrepancy between observed mass and actual mass. 

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - HamSCI 2023 Day 1 Welcome and Opening Remarks T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Nathaniel Frissell JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - HamSCI 2023 Day 2 Welcome and Opening Remarks T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Heliophysics and amateur radio: citizen science collaborations for atmospheric, ionospheric, and space physics research and operations JF - Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences Y1 - 2023 A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Ackermann, John R. A1 - Alexander, Jesse N. A1 - Benedict, Robert L. A1 - Blackwell, William C. A1 - Boedicker, Rachel K. A1 - Cerwin, Stephen A. A1 - Collins, Kristina V. A1 - Cowling, Scott H. A1 - Deacon, Chris A1 - Diehl, Devin M. A1 - Di Mare, Francesca A1 - Duffy, Timothy J. A1 - Edson, Laura Brandt A1 - Engelke, William D. A1 - Farmer, James O. A1 - Frissell, Rachel M. A1 - Gerzoff, Robert B. A1 - Gibbons, John A1 - Griffiths, Gwyn A1 - Holm, Sverre A1 - Howell, Frank M. A1 - Kaeppler, Stephen R. A1 - Kavanagh, George A1 - Kazdan, David A1 - Kim, Hyomin A1 - Larsen, David R. A1 - Ledvina, Vincent E. A1 - Liles, William A1 - Lo, Sam A1 - Lombardi, Michael A. A1 - MacDonald, Elizabeth A. A1 - Madey, Julius A1 - McDermott, Thomas C. A1 - McGaw, David G. A1 - McGwier, Robert W. A1 - Mikitin, Gary A. A1 - Miller, Ethan S. A1 - Mitchell, Cathryn A1 - Montare, Aidan A1 - Nguyen, Cuong D. A1 - Nordberg, Peter N. A1 - Perry, Gareth W. A1 - Piccini, Gerard N. A1 - Pozerski, Stanley W. A1 - Reif, Robert H. A1 - Rizzo, Jonathan D. A1 - Robinett, Robert S. A1 - Romanek, Veronica I. A1 - Sami, Simal A1 - Sanchez, Diego F. A1 - Sarwar, Muhammad Shaaf A1 - Schwartz, Jay A. A1 - Serra, H. Lawrence A1 - Silver, H. Ward A1 - Skov, Tamitha Mulligan A1 - Swartz, David A. A1 - Themens, David R. A1 - Tholley, Francis H. A1 - West, Mary Lou A1 - Wilcox, Ronald C. A1 - Witten, David A1 - Witvliet, Ben A. A1 - Yadav, Nisha AB -

The amateur radio community is a global, highly engaged, and technical community with an intense interest in space weather, its underlying physics, and how it impacts radio communications. The large-scale observational capabilities of distributed instrumentation fielded by amateur radio operators and radio science enthusiasts offers a tremendous opportunity to advance the fields of heliophysics, radio science, and space weather. Well-established amateur radio networks like the RBN, WSPRNet, and PSKReporter already provide rich, ever-growing, long-term data of bottomside ionospheric observations. Up-and-coming purpose-built citizen science networks, and their associated novel instruments, offer opportunities for citizen scientists, professional researchers, and industry to field networks for specific science questions and operational needs. Here, we discuss the scientific and technical capabilities of the global amateur radio community, review methods of collaboration between the amateur radio and professional scientific community, and review recent peer-reviewed studies that have made use of amateur radio data and methods. Finally, we present recommendations submitted to the U.S. National Academy of Science Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics) 2024–2033 for using amateur radio to further advance heliophysics and for fostering deeper collaborations between the professional science and amateur radio communities. Technical recommendations include increasing support for distributed instrumentation fielded by amateur radio operators and citizen scientists, developing novel transmissions of RF signals that can be used in citizen science experiments, developing new amateur radio modes that simultaneously allow for communications and ionospheric sounding, and formally incorporating the amateur radio community and its observational assets into the Space Weather R2O2R framework. Collaborative recommendations include allocating resources for amateur radio citizen science research projects and activities, developing amateur radio research and educational activities in collaboration with leading organizations within the amateur radio community, facilitating communication and collegiality between professional researchers and amateurs, ensuring that proposed projects are of a mutual benefit to both the professional research and amateur radio communities, and working towards diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities.

VL - 10 UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2023.1184171/fullhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2023.1184171/full JO - Front. Astron. Space Sci. ER - TY - Generic T1 - How Do I Talk From Scranton to Pakistan Using​ High Frequency Amateur Radio?​ T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Zainab Shah A1 - Gwyn Griffiths A1 - Rob Robinett A1 - Nathaniel Frissell AB -

This poster will demonstrate the possible ways to send propagation transmissions from The University of Scranton to Karachi, Pakistan. To do this, VOACAP will be used to map out possible paths and peak times for transmission and then WSRP.rocks will be used to compare the empirical VOACAP model outputs to observed data. A recommendation will then be made for the optimal time and frequency to communicate using high frequency (HF) radio between Scranton, PA and Karachi, Pakistan.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - Low-Cost Low-Power Ionosonde T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Gerard N. Piccini A1 - Robert W. McGwier A1 - Robert A. Spalletta A1 - Majid Mokhtari A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Philip J. Erickson AB -

Ionosondes are a type of radar used to gather data about the height of the ionosphere. Typically, these systems can easily cost thousands of dollars and demand a lot of power. Using newer software defined radio technology, our goal is to develop a low cost, low power ionosonde.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - Lunar Dust Particle Simulation in the (12-6) Lennard-Jones Potential Approximation T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Rachel Marie Frissell A1 - Joseph Klobusicky A1 - Argyrios Varonides A1 - Amir Zamanian AB -

We model lunar dust particles as interacting ellipsoidal dipoles by means of Lennard-Jones potentials (L-J). Lunar surface dust particles are continuously bombarded by plasma charge particles coming from the solar wind. It has been recognized that solar wind bombardment leads to strong intergrain interactions between dust particulates leading to collective effects such as attraction of charged dust particles. Formation of electrostatically ordered dust structures is believed to be due to strong attractive van der Waals-like potentials at distances in the order of interparticle separation. Dust-dust electrostatic interactions and collisions may lead to particle coalescence or dust-lumps kept together due to Coulomb forces. On the other hand, dust ionization occurs after solar wind electrons collide with grains in the plasma sheath formed on the lunar surface. Particle coalescence and to an extent condensation is feasible when an attractive potential is present. Ellipsoidal dipole condensation is possible in the presence of a Lennard-Jones (L-J) potential.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - Measuring Daily Ionospheric Variability and the 2023 and 2024 Solar Eclipse Ionospheric Impacts Using HamSCI HF Doppler Shift Receivers T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Rachel Boedicker A1 - Nathaniel Frissell A1 - Kristina Collins A1 - John Gibbons A1 - David Kazdan A1 - Philip J. Erickson AB -

This project will study ionospheric variability across the continental United States (CONUS) generated by dawn/dusk transitions and two solar eclipses occurring in 2023 and 2024. Dawn and dusk produce a complex response in observed ionospheric variability that is still not completely understood. A network of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) stabilized/synchronized high frequency (HF) receivers known as Grapes will be used for the study. Thirty Grape receivers will be deployed throughout North America to optimize the study of the ionospheric impacts simultaneously received from two locations. Additional stations will be funded by the HamSCI amateur radio community. This project will generate observations to answer the scientific questions: (1) How do dawn and dusk ionospheric variability vary with local time, season, latitude, longitude, frequency, distance, and direction from the transmitter? (2) Is eclipse ionospheric response symmetric with regard to the onset and recovery timing? (3) How similar is the eclipse to the daily dawn and dusk terminator passage? (4) Would multipath HF mode-splitting in the post-eclipse interval be similar to dawn events? (5) Would the response be different for two eclipses?

This project is part of the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) program and will be open to volunteers who want to field instruments and contribute to scientific analysis and discussion. This project will also establish a new network of DASI instruments that, due to its low cost and operation by volunteers, has the potential to provide measurements for years to come. This project will support students (undergraduate, MS and Ph.D.).

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - Medium Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances and their Connection to the Lower and Middle Atmosphere T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Francis Tholley A1 - V. Lynn Harvey A1 - Sophie R. Phillips A1 - Katrina Bossert A1 - Sevag Derghazarian A1 - Larisa Goncharenko A1 - Richard Collins A1 - Mary Lou West A1 - Diego F. Sanchez A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - Robert B. Gerzoff A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Nicholas Callahan A1 - Lucas Underbakke A1 - Travis Atkison A1 - J. Michael Ruohoniemi A1 - Joseph B. H. Baker JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - A New Station for the W3USR University of Scranton Amateur Radio Club T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Tom Pisano A1 - Nathaniel Frissell A1 - Jeff DePolo A1 - The W3USR University of Scranton Amateur Radio Club JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - A New Web Interface to the SuperDARN MSTID Analysis Toolkit T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Francis Tholley A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - PyLap: An Open Source Python Interface to the PHaRLAP Ionospheric Raytracing Toolkit T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Devin Diehl A1 - Gerard Piccini A1 - Alexander Calderon A1 - Joshua Vega A1 - William Liles A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

PyLap is a Python interface to the ionospheric ray tracing toolkit PHaRLAP. The software allows users to generate accurate models of the ionosphere and ray tracing to make plots of radio propagation through the ionosphere. Not only does this software look, feel, and operate very similarly to how the MATLAB interface is currently used, it is also completely free alternative to the current MATLAB interface.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - A Review of "Climatology of Medium Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Observed by the Midlatitude Blackstone SuperDARN Radar" T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Nicholas Guerra A1 - Michael Molzen A1 - James Fox A1 - Juan Serna A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

This poster is a review of Frissell et al. (2014) by undergraduate students for the purpose of learning about SuperDARN and MSTIDs as part of a
research project to study the differences between MSTIDs observed in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Frissell, N. A., Baker, J. B. H., Ruohoniemi, J. M., Gerrard, A. J., Miller, E. S., Marini, J. P., West, M. L., and Bristow, W. A. (2014), Climatology of medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances observed by the midlatitude Blackstone SuperDARN radar, J. Geophys. Res. Space Physics, 119, 7679– 7697, doi:10.1002/2014JA019870.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - Statistical and Case Studies of Open Closed Boundaries (OCB) using ULF Wave Observations from Antarctic AGOs, McMurdo Station, and South Pole Station T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Rachel M. Frissell A1 - Andrew J. Gerrard A1 - Hyomin Kim A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

We present a statistical study using ground magnetometer data from the Antarctic Automated Geophysical Observatories (AGOs) to characterize open- closed boundary (OCB) behavior during geomagnetically quiet times. Knowledge of the location and dynamics of the magnetic field line OCB provides insight to space physics processes such as sub storms, particle precipitation events, and magnetospheric configuration. Prior studies have shown that determination of the OCB location can be made by examining the ULF wave power in data from a latitudinal chain of ground-based magnetometers extending from the auroral zone into the deep polar cap. In this statistical study, AGOs 1, 2, 3, and 5, along with McMurdo (MCM) and South Pole Station (SPA) were studied. The seasons chosen were centered around the four cardinal dates, March 20th, June 21st, September 22nd, and December 21st. For each season, 60 days were selected centered around the cardinal date; any days with a planetary Ap greater than 30 were discarded. Using the H- component fluxgate data from South Pole Station, McMurdo Station and the AGO systems, an average daily residual power spectra was calculated. The spectrograms for SPA, MCM, and AGO show signatures of whether the station is located in an open or closed magnetic region. We will present case studies of individual days and a climatology of ULF activity as a function of season.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - Toward Developing an Algorithm for Separation of Transmitters of High Frequency Chirp Signals of Opportunity for the Purpose of Ionospheric Sounding T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Simal Sami A1 - Nisha Yadav A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Robert Spalletta A1 - Declan Mulhall A1 - Dev Raj Joshi A1 - Juha Vierinen JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - Web-Based Application for the Visualization and Analysis of Ionogram Data Observed by GNU Chirpsounder2 T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Nisha Yadav A1 - Simal Sami A1 - Dev Raj Joshi A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Robert A. Spalletta A1 - Paul M. Jackowitz A1 - Juha Vierinen AB -

The focus of my system is to develop a web-based application for the visualization and analysis of data observed by GNU Chirpsounder2. We receive many ionograms each day from different transmitters around the world. Currently, data is in an unsorted format, so my initial task is to classify ionograms by chirp-rate and distance of the transmitter from the receiver. Once these two parameters are identified, it is necessary to have a method for sorting, analyzing, and visualizing the collected ionograms to conduct scientific studies or make the observations useful for radio communications operations.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - 40-m Domestic Propagation at November 2022 at FT8 QSO Party in Japan T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Atsushi Taketani A1 - Seiji Fukushima AB -

Social experiment FT 8 QSO party” was held on 2022 Nov. 13 09:00- 24:00 local time in Japan. It was a contest type competition, and all contact data were required to submit. These data were opened to public for analysis after removing critical personal information. In addition to the ordinal contest, the visualization contest of propagation analysis was held. Objectives is a creation for digital transformation of amateur radio. Specifically, we can enjoy a contest without transmitting. It is aimed to create an innovation. Supplementary prize was sponsored by ICOM corporation. 29 amateurs submitted their logs, and the number of unique stations is 93. They logged 722 contacts including both side records  During the party, most of the contact done by 40 m, since it is most suitable band for domestic contact, as the same as 20 m band in US. Python Pandas, CERN ROOT and Microsoft excel were used as analysis and visualization tool. Since difference of signal report in one contact is caused by the transmission power different. Scatter plot of stronger and weaker signal in single contact was made. Most of the contact were done within 10 dB difference, however maximum difference was 40 dB. It is recommended to reduce power when one has larger difference than 10 dB. All contacts were recorded with grid locator and physical propagation distance of each contact was calculated with assuming 200 km altitude of F2 ionosphere layer. Minimum distance was 400 km. The time dependent of propagation distance distribution was made. It seems that F2 layer was activated most from 10 to 12, since distribution peak was at minimum distance. After 13:00 JST, its peak moved to longer distance. We intuitively could recognize tendency of propagation change during operations, this type of visualization may help to understand propagation trends.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Amateur Radio: An Integral Tool for Atmospheric, Ionospheric, and Space Physics Research and Operations JF - White Paper Submitted to the National Academy of Sciences Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics) 2024-2033 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Laura Brandt A1 - Stephen A. Cerwin A1 - Kristina V. Collins A1 - David Kazdan A1 - John Gibbons A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Rachel M. Frissell A1 - Robert B. Gerzoff A1 - Stephen R. Kaeppler A1 - Vincent Ledvina A1 - William Liles A1 - Michael Lombardi A1 - Elizabeth MacDonald A1 - Francesca Di Mare A1 - Ethan S. Miller A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - Jonathan D. Rizzo A1 - Diego F. Sanchez A1 - H. Lawrence Serra A1 - H. Ward Silver A1 - David R. Themens A1 - Mary Lou West ER - TY - Generic T1 - Climatology of Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Observed by HamSCI Amateur Radio with Connections to Geospace and Neutral Atmospheric Sources T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Diego S. Sanchez A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - V. Lynn Harvey A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Anthea Coster A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - J. Michael Ruohoniemi A1 - Joseph B. H. Baker AB -

Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) are propagating variations of F-region ionospheric electron densities that can affect the range and quality of High Frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) radio communications. TIDs create concavities in the ionospheric electron density profile that move horizontally with the TID and cause skip-distance focusing effects for high frequency radio signals propagating through the ionosphere. TIDs are of great interest scientifically because they are often associated with neutral Atmospheric Gravity Waves (AGWs) and can be used to advance understanding of atmosphere-ionosphere coupling. Large scale TIDs (LSTIDs) have periods of 30-180 min, horizontal phase velocities of 100 - 250 m/s, and horizontal wavelengths of over 1000 km and are believed to be generated either by geomagnetic activity or lower atmospheric sources. The signature of this phenomena is manifest as quasi-periodic variations in contact ranges in HF amateur radio communication reports recorded by automated monitoring systems such as the Weak Signal Propagation Reporting Network (WSPRNet) and the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN). Current amateur radio observations are only able to detect LSTIDs. In this study, we present a climatology of LSTID activity using RBN and WSPRNet observations on the 1.8, 3.5, 7, 14, 21, and 28 MHz amateur radio bands from 2017. Results will be organized as a function observation frequency, longitudinal sector (North America and Europe), season, and geomagnetic activity level. Connections to geospace are explored via SYM-H and Auroral Electrojet indexes, while neutral atmospheric sources are explored using NASA’s Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2).

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - Generic T1 - Detecting Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances using Feature Recognition and Amateur Radio Data T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Travis Atkison A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - Francis Tholley AB -

A Large-Scale Transient Ionospheric Disturbance (LSTID) is a traveling perturbation in ionosphere electron density with a horizontal wavelength of approximately 1000 km and a period between 30 to 180 minutes. These can be detected by SuperDARN HF radar and GNSS Total Electron Content measurements. Recently it has been discovered that these can also be detected in amateur (ham) radio signal reports, which are now being generated in vast numbers by operators world-wide. A machine-learning technique was developed to find patterns in these data that indicate the presence of LSTIDs using an object detection technique.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Fostering Collaborations with the Amateur Radio Community JF - White Paper Submitted to the National Academy of Sciences Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics) 2024-2033 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Laura Brandt A1 - Stephen A. Cerwin A1 - Kristina V. Collins A1 - Timothy J. Duffy A1 - David Kazdan A1 - John Gibbons A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Rachel M. Frissell A1 - Robert B. Gerzoff A1 - Stephen R. Kaeppler A1 - Vincent Ledvina A1 - William Liles A1 - Elizabeth MacDonald A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - Jonathan D. Rizzo A1 - Diego F. Sanchez A1 - H. Lawrence Serra A1 - H. Ward Silver A1 - Tamitha Mulligan Skov A1 - Mary Lou West ER - TY - Generic T1 - HamSCI Plans for the Study of the 2023 and 2024 Solar Eclipse Impacts on Radio and the Ionosphere T2 - Dayton Hamvention Y1 - 2022 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell JF - Dayton Hamvention PB - Dayton Amateur Radio Association CY - Xenia, OH UR - https://hamsci.org/publications/hamsci-plans-study-2023-and-2024-solar-eclipse-impacts-radio-and-ionosphere ER - TY - Generic T1 - HF Doppler Observations of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances in a WWV Signal Received with a Network of Low Cost HamSCI Personal Space Weather Stations T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Veronica Romanek A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - William Liles A1 - John Gibbons A1 - Kristina V. Collins AB -

Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) are quasi-periodic variations in ionospheric electron density that are often associated with atmospheric gravity waves. TIDs cause amplitude and frequency variations in high frequency (HF, 3 30 MHz) refracted radio waves. The authors present an analysis of observations of TIDs made with Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation ( HamSCI ) Low Cost Personal Space Weather Stations (PSWS) located in Northwestern New Jersey and near Cleveland, Ohio. The TIDs were detected in the Doppler shifted carrier of the received signal from the 10 MHz WWV frequency and time standard station in Fort Collins, CO. Using a lagged cross correlation analysis, we demonstrate a method for determining TID wavelength, direction, and period using the collected WWV HF Doppler shifted data.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - Generic T1 - Installation and Operation of the KC3EEY/W2NAF VLF Reception System T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Jonathan Rizzo A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

A VLF Reception System was installed at the W2NAF KC3EEY VLF Observatory located in Springbrook, PA. The VLF preamp/antenna is based on the s1-1 design by Paul Nicholson, author of vlfrx-tools, which is encased in a PVC pipe. The signal is recorded using an Audio Injector Stereo soundcard and Raspberry Pi with vlfrx-tools recording and monitoring the signal. The system has a wide variety of science and amateur uses. A confirmed QSO of SAQ was made on Christmas Eve. QSOs from the Dreamers Band below 9 kHz were also confirmed using weak signal detection and EbNaut decoding. Possible effects from the January 15th, 2022 Tonga underwater volcano eruption were also observed along with VLF/ELF data from outside sources will be presented.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - Generic T1 - Introducing Undergraduates to Research Through Solar Flares, Python, and Amateur Radio T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Rachel M. Frissell A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Nicholas Truncale AB -

In an effort to introduce research and scientific writing earlier to physics and engineering undergraduate students, we designed a Space Physics Project in Fall of 2021 to add to Foundations of Physics and Engineering at the University of Scranton. Foundations of Physics and Engineering is comprised primarily of first-year physics, mechanical and electrical engineering students. While the Space Physics Project may be considered a niche area, the skills involved are very beneficial to all physics and engineering students. The Space Physics Project included data analysis and a written scientific report. Students were given python Jupyter notebooks that organized the data from GOES-15 satellite, WSRPNet, and RBN. From there, the students were to identify where a solar flare occurred and how the amateur radio signals were impacted (i.e. radio blackouts). In addition to the data analysis, students were to read and summarize a research article as well as write their results in a scientific format. The last piece of this project was an oral presentation. This presentation will highlight what we would repeat in this project as well as offer discussion for how to improve it in the upcoming semesters. Overall, this project complemented the existing course and we believe the skills learned in this 100-level course will serve the students very well in their careers. 

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL UR - https://hamsci.org/publications/introducing-undergraduates-research-through-solar-flares-python-and-amateur-radio ER - TY - Generic T1 - Introducing Undergraduates to Research Through Solar Flares, Python, and Amateur Radio T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Rachel (Umbel) Frissell A1 - Nathaniel Frissell A1 - Nicholas Truncale AB -
In an effort to introduce research and scientific writing earlier to physics and engineering undergraduate students, we designed a Space Physics Project in Fall of 2021 to add to Foundations of Physics and Engineering at the University of Scranton. To complete the project, students worked with data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) spacecraft, as well as amateur (ham) radio data collected by Reverse Beacon Network (RBN, reversebeacon.net) and the Weak Signal Propagation Reporting Network (WSPRNet, wsprnet.org).
JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - Generic T1 - Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling Studies Using the PSWS Magnetometer Network T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Hyomin Kim A1 - Sadaf Ansari A1 - Julius Madey A1 - David Witten A1 - David Larsen A1 - Scotty Cowling A1 - Nathaniel Frissell A1 - James Weygand AB -

As part of HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS) project, a low-cost, commercial off-the-shelf magnetometer, which measures magnetic field strength and direction, has been developed to provide quantitative and qualitative measurements of the geospace environment from the ground for both scientific and operational purposes at a cost that will allow for crowd-sourced data contributions. The PSWS magnetometers employ a magneto-inductive sensor technology to record three-axis magnetic field variations with a field resolution of ~6 nT at a 1 Hz sample rate. Data from the PSWS network will combine these magnetometer measurements with high frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) radio observations to monitor large-scale current systems and ionospheric disturbances due to drivers from both space and the atmosphere. A densely-spaced magnetometer array, once established, will demonstrate their space weather monitoring capability to an unprecedented spatial extent. Magnetic field data obtained by the magnetometers installed at various locations in the US are presented and compared with the existing magnetometers nearby, demonstrating that its performance is very adequate for scientific investigations.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - Generic T1 - Mid-latitude Irregularities Observed by the Oblique Ionosonde Sounding Mode for the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Dev Raj Joshi A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Juha Vierinen AB -

The spread in the echoes of high-frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) radio waves from the F-region of the ionosphere was one of the earliest indications of plasma density irregularities in the mid-latitude F region ionosphere. Although mid-latitude spread F has been widely studied, the plasma instability mechanisms that create these irregularities are still largely unknown. This phenomenon can cause radio wave scintillation effects that degrade the performance of human-made technologies such as satellite communications and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Here, we present signatures of mid-latitude irregularities observed in oblique ionograms received near Scranton, PA transmitted by the Relocatable Over-the-Horizon Radar (ROTHR) in Chesapeake, Virginia. These observations are collected with the GNU Chirpsounder2 software, an open source software package capable of creating ionograms from frequency modulated (FM) chirp ionosondes. This ionospheric sounding mode will be implemented in the currently under-development Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS), a ground-based multi-instrument system designed to remote-sense the ionosphere using signals of opportunity. Using the data from the oblique ionograms, we generate the Range Time Intensity (RTI) plots that show ionospheric dynamics through measured path length variations as a function of time. We also compare the RTI plots with Range-Time-Parameter (RTP) plots from the SuperDARN HF  radar in Blackstone, Virginia which commonly observes direct backscatter from decameter-scale irregularities within the region of ionosphere traversed by the ROTHR signal. We also investigate the dependence of the occurrence of the mid-latitude irregularities on the level of the geomagnetic activity.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - Generic T1 - NASA/HPD/Space Weather/Citizen Science Programs Contributions to the HamSCI Workshop T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - E. Shume A1 - J. Spann A1 - J. Woodroffe A1 - R. Friedel A1 - J. Favors A1 - W. Twetten A1 - E. MacDonald A1 - A. Rymer A1 - S. Finn A1 - J. Kozyra A1 - K. Korreck AB -

This contribution to the HamSCI 2022 Workshop will provide: A summary of the goals of the NASA’s Heliophysics Division (HPD); A summary of the strategies and activities of the space weather and citizen science programs in NASA’s HPD. The presentation will discuss the relevance of the space weather and citizen science research programs to the HamSCI community.

NASA/HPD ROSES programs solicit research proposals so that amateur radio observations could be utilized for innovative science and technology research. NASA/HPD anticipates creating opportunities to enhance participation of the HamSCI community in observations of natural events in the 2023-2024 timeframe: The Heliophysics Big Year (HBY) including the upcoming annular solar eclipse (Oct 14, 2023) and total solar eclipse (Apr 8, 2024) over North America as well as the next solar max. NASA/HPD anticipates supporting HamSCI activities through space-based observations that can be leveraged by amateur radio scientists to enhance scientific contribution of the HamSCI community.
JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - Generic T1 - Opening Remarks - Friday T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - Generic T1 - Opportunities for Research and Education with a Small Radio Telescope T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - M. Shaaf Sarwar A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Mary Lou West A1 - Richard Russell AB -

A small radio telescope offers a wide range of opportunities for students and educators to explore the vast universe through radio waves. The incoming radio waves are slightly shifted due to the Doppler effect and the phenomenon is utilized to determine the speeds of target objects.  This survey serves as a good introduction to Radio Astronomy and understanding the structure of the Milky Way. Using the knowledge and understanding of the galactic survey, further experiments can be conducted.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - Generic T1 - An Overview of Oblique Soundings from Chirp Ionosondes T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Simal Sami A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Mary Lou West A1 - Dev Raj Joshi A1 - Juha Vierinen AB -

An ionospheric sounder, typically known as an ionosonde, is a radar device which is used to make observations of the ionized layer of the Earth’s upper atmosphere known as the ionosphere. The ionosonde works by transmitting high frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) radio waves and observing the time delay of the ionospheric echoes. Ionosondes play an especially crucial role in our understanding both ionospheric dynamics and how radio wave propagation is impacted by the ionosphere. The data from an ionosonde is displayed in a type of plot known as an ionogram. A chirp ionosonde is a type of ionospheric sounder that produces ionograms by transmitting an HF signal that changes linearly in frequency with time. Conventional chirp ionosondes are used in a vertical sounding mode, in which signals are transmitted directly up to the ionosphere. This allows for measurements of electron density as a function of height for the bottomside ionosphere. Chirp ionosondes may also be used in an oblique sounding configuration, in which the transmitter and receiver are separated by a significant geographic distance. While the measurements of an oblique sounder are more complicated to interpret than a vertical sounder, a single transmitter can be used simultaneously by receivers in many different locations, thus allowing for a cost-effective increase in the number of ionospheric sampling points. The HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station plans to take advantage of this fact by using signals-of-opportunity from the global network of pre-existing chirp ionosonde transmitters. In this presentation, we give a brief overview of chirp ionosondes and their uses in studying ionospheric dynamics.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - Generic T1 - Porting the MUSIC Algorithm to the SuperDARN pyDARN Library for the Study of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Francis Tholley A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - William Liles AB -

Medium Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (MSTIDs) are quasi-periodic variations of the F-region ionosphere with periods of 15 to 60 minutes and horizontal wavelengths of a few hundred kilometers that are often associated with atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs). Understanding differences in characteristics such as wavelength, period, and propagation direction between MSTIDs populations in the northern and southern hemisphere can lead to a better understanding of MSTID sources and upper atmospheric dynamics. Previous studies have used SuperDARN radars to observe MSTIDs and determine these characteristics using an implementation of the multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm. In this presentation, we port the MUSIC implementation written in Python 2 for use with the deprecated SuperDARN Data and Visualization Toolkit python (DaViTpy) to Python 3 for use with the current pyDARN library. This implementation will be used to study the differences between MSTID populations observed by SuperDARN radars in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - Generic T1 - Potential Science Opportunities for HamSCI in Antarctica T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

The maturation and proliferation of passive radio receivers based on software defined radio principles and architecture herald a new era of radio remote sensing in solar-terrestrial physics. Antarctica is a region of interest for deploying HF radio receivers for many reasons. The significant offset of the geographic and magnetic poles allows one to study multiple terrestrial magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere regions of interest, e.g., the polar, auroral, and sub-auroral zones, using ground-based instruments. Additionally, the significant snow and ice coverage in Antarctica is a strong absorber of HF radio waves. This severely mitigates intracontinental multi-hop propagation modes, which may be advantageous for geolocating geophysical features detected by HF radio techniques, thereby improving remote sensing performance. In this poster presentation, we will analyze a case of a QSO between two operators, captured by a receiver located at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. We will discuss the signal characteristics of each transmission and pay particularly close attention to how variations in the CW transmissions may be linked to geophysical processes occurring in the region at the time. The overarching goal of this presentation is to incite discussion on how existing and future passive HF receiving systems in Antarctica can leveraged to advance not only the art of radio but solar-terrestrial physics in Antarctica.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - CONF T1 - The Radio JOVE Project 2.0 T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - C. Higgins A1 - S. Fung A1 - L. Garcia A1 - J. Thieman A1 - J. Sky A1 - D. Typinski A1 - R. Flagg A1 - J. Brown A1 - F. Reyes A1 - J. Gass A1 - L. Dodd A1 - T. Ashcraft A1 - W. Greenman A1 - S. Blair AB -

Radio JOVE is a well-known public outreach, education, and citizen science project using radio astronomy and a hands-on radio telescope for science inquiry and education. Radio JOVE 2.0 is a new direction using radio spectrographs to provide a path for radio enthusiasts to grow into citizen scientists capable of operating their own radio observatory and providing science-quality data to an archive. Citizen scientists will have opportunities for presenting and publishing scientific papers. Radio JOVE 2.0 uses more capable software defined radios (SDRs) and spectrograph recording software as a low-cost ($300) radio spectrograph that can address more science questions related to heliophysics, planetary and space weather science, and radio wave propagation. Our goals are: (1) Increase participant access and expand an existing radio spectrograph network, (2) Test and develop radio spectrograph hardware and software, (3) Upgrade the science capability of the data archive, and (4) Develop training modules to help a hobbyist become a citizen scientist. We will overview Radio JOVE 2.0 and give a short demonstration of the new radio spectrograph using the SDRplay RSP1A receiver with a dipole antenna and the associated Radio-Sky Spectrograph (RSS) software.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - Generic T1 - Ray Tracing in Python Utilizing the PHaRLAP Engine T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Alexander Calderon A1 - William Liles A1 - Nathaniel Frissell A1 - Joshua Vega AB -

Provision of High-Frequency Raytracing Laboratory for Propagation (PHaRLAP) is an ionospheric ray tracing library developed by the Australian Department of Defence (DOD). PHaRLAP is freely available as a MATLAB toolbox downloadable from an Australian DOD website. PHaRLAP is capable of numerically ray tracing radio propagation paths using 2D and 3D algorithms through model ionospheres, most typically the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI). In an effort to make PHaRLAP available to a wider user community we are porting the PHaRLAP MATLAB toolbox to the open source Python 3 language while retaining the original core PHaRLAP computational engine. In this presentation, we describe the architecture of the new Python 3 PHaRLAP interface and demonstrate examples of 2D ray traces using the new interface.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - Generic T1 - Short-Term Variability Associated with 20 Meter Sequential Matched WSPR Observations: A Statistical Exploratory Study T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Robert B. Gerzoff A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

Automated amateur radio networks such as the Reverse Beacon Network and WSPRnet record details about hundreds of millions of radio contact contacts that investigators can use to study and ultimately predict HF propagation and its relationship to solar phenomena. However, before researchers can undertake such investigations, it is crucial to understand and document the variability inherent in the measurements provided by these networks. Here, we investigated the short-term variability associated with the signal-to-noise(SNR) reports from WSPRnet. Specifically, we analyzed 2,286,311 pairs of 20 meter WSPR SNR reports observed between Jan 2017 and July 2021. Each pair consisted of two sequential WSPR observations between the same two stations, i.e., the paired observations were separated by a single WSPR time slot of two minutes.  To describe the SNR variability, we present the SNR distributional characteristics and use Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) to explore the influence of the time of day, the month of the year, and the azimuth between the stations. The models predicted the absolute SNR difference between the sequential observations. Model errors were adjusted to account for multiple observations of pairs of stations. To account for the non-gaussian data distribution, the GLMs assumed a gamma distribution with a log link. Because this study was exploratory, we included all three covariates as categorical variables rather than imposing a particular model form. The three models reported here consist of a fully specified two-way interaction between two of the three covariates, i.e., both main effects and interaction.   Computing resource limitations limited the complexity of the models investigated. Based upon the predicted model averages, two sequential WSPR reports typically vary by 6 dB. Deviations from this average are apparent by month, hour, and azimuth between the reporting stations, and we show those graphically. Future research should increase the complexity of the models to incorporate other covariates, e.g., distance or latitude, ultimately tying these data to solar and atmospheric phenomena.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - Generic T1 - Three Time-of-Flight Measurement Projects on a Common Hardware Platform T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - David Kazdan A1 - John Gibbons A1 - Kristina Collins A1 - Maxwell Bauer A1 - Evan Bender A1 - Ryan Marks A1 - Michael O'Brien A1 - Olivia O'Brien A1 - Gabriel Foss A1 - Mari Pugliese A1 - Alejandra Ramos A1 - Carolina Whitaker AB -

Three undergraduate electrical engineering project groups at Case Western Reserve University are investigating distributed ionospheric sounding through time-of-flight measurements.  All use GPS pulse-per-second signals for precise timing of received signals.  Two use as their "radar signals of opportunity" LF, MF, and HF beacons from the US Department of Commerce National Institute of Science and Technology installations north of Fort Collins, Colorado and near Kekaha, Hawaii (radio stations WWVB, WWV, and WWVH).  The third project modernizes the on-off telegraphy variant known as "coherent CW" (CCW). CCW uses amateur radio QSO or beacon transmissions as the measured signals.  It facilitates Technician-licensee participation in active HF research and in keyboard-to-keyboard digital contacts, within FCC regulations.  Using computed matched-filter techniques along the lines of FT8, CCW has a nearly optimal information-theoretic data recovery.  With transmission or lookup of station locations, it can provide automated time of flight measurements while making a contact.  The three projects use a common hardware platform for receiver or transceiver interfacing, involving synchronized analog data collection and front-end data processing with the Teensy variant of the Arduino platform.  Teensy was chosen primarily for its sampling and computing speed. WWVB’s signal can be sampled directly with the Teensy front-end and some data processing can done between sample acquisitions through timer interrupt programming.  WWV/H second ticks delay measurements use inexpensive shortwave radio audio outputs, sampled and processed by the Teensy.  The CCW sampling and matched filtering, plus synchronized Morse keying, are similarly done by the Teensy. Data presentation, user interface, and data uploading to repositories are done by minimal general purpose computers such as Raspberry Pi boards.  We will present the common hardware and interrupt strategies along with a brief overview of the three projects.  Comments and suggestions will be solicited, and of course participation in the projects is invited.  The three projects are supported by a generous grant to the Case Amateur Radio Club W8EDU from ARDC.  CARC is providing oversight of the projects and the projects use the club station as a laboratory facility.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2022 PB - HamSCI CY - Huntsville, AL ER - TY - CONF T1 - Amateur Radio Communications as a Novel Sensor of Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (Invited) T2 - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Y1 - 2021 A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Sanchez, Diego F. A1 - Perry, Gareth W. A1 - Kaeppler, Steven R. A1 - Joshi, Dev Raj A1 - Engelke, William A1 - Thomas, Evan G. A1 - Coster, Anthea J. A1 - Erickson, Philip J. A1 - Ruohoniemi, J. Michael A1 - Baker, Joseph B. H. AB -

Amateur (ham) radio high frequency (HF) communications are routinely observed by automated receiving systems on a quasi-global scale. As these signals are modulated by the ionosphere, it is possible to use these observations to remotely sense ionospheric dynamics and the coupled geospace environment. In this presentation, we demonstrate the use of these data to observe Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (LSTIDs), which are quasi-periodic variations in F region electron density with horizontal wavelengths > 1000 km and periods between 30 to 180 min. On 3 November 2017, LSTID signatures were detected simultaneously over the continental United States in observations made by global HF amateur radio observing networks and the Blackstone (BKS) SuperDARN radar. The amateur radio LSTIDs were observed on the 7 and 14 MHz amateur radio bands as changes in average propagation path length with time, while the LSTIDs were observed by SuperDARN as oscillations of average scatter range. LSTID period lengthened from T ~ 1.5 hr at 12 UT to T ~ 2.25 hr by 21 UT. The amateur radio and BKS SuperDARN radar observations corresponded with Global Navigation Satellite System differential Total Electron Content (GNSS dTEC) measurements. dTEC was used to estimate LSTID parameters: horizontal wavelength 1136 km, phase velocity 1280 km/hr, period 53 min, and propagation azimuth 167°. The LSTID signatures were observed throughout the day following ~400 to 800 nT surges in the Auroral Electrojet (AE) index. As a contrast, 16 May 2017 was identified as a period with significant amateur radio coverage but no LSTID signatures in spite of similar geomagnetic conditions and AE activity as the 3 November event. We hypothesize that atmospheric gravity wave (AGW) sources triggered by auroral electrojet intensifications and associated Joule heating are the source of the LSTIDs, and discuss possible reasons why LSTIDs were observed in November but not May.

JF - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting PB - American Geophysical Union CY - New Orleans, LA UR - https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/822746 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Antarctic SuperDARN Observations of Medium Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances T2 - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) Y1 - 2021 A1 - Francis Tholley A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Joseph B. H. Baker A1 - J. Michael Ruohoniemi A1 - William Bristow AB -

Medium Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (MSTIDs) are quasi-periodic variations of the F-region ionosphere with periods of 15 to 60 minutes and horizontal wavelengths of a few hundred kilometers. MSTIDs are typically associated with atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs). Statistical studies of MSTIDs using Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) radars in the Northern Hemisphere have shown strong correlation with Polar Vortex activity, while a study of MSTIDs using the Antarctic Falkland Islands SuperDARN radar showed populations of MSTIDs with signatures suggestive of both solar wind‐magnetosphere coupling sources and lower neutral atmospheric winds sources. The sources of the MSTIDs are still not well understood, and there are limited studies of MSTIDs using SuperDARN radars in the Southern Hemisphere. We present initial results of MSTID observations of using Antarctic SuperDARN radars, including the radar at McMurdo Station.

JF - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) PB - CEDAR CY - Virtual ER - TY - Generic T1 - Climatology of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Observed by HamSCI Amateur Radio with Connections to Geospace and Neutral Atmospheric Sources T2 - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference Y1 - 2021 A1 - Sanchez, Diego F. A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Perry, Gareth W. A1 - Engelke, William D. A1 - Coster, Anthea J. A1 - Erickson, Philip J. A1 - Ruohoniemi, J. Michael A1 - Baker, Joseph B. H. A1 - Harvey, Lynn A1 - Luetzelschwab, R. Carl JF - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference PB - ARRL-TAPR CY - Virtual UR - https://youtu.be/MHkz7jNynOg?t=23773 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Climatology of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Observed by HamSCI Amateur Radio with Connections to Geospace and Neutral Atmospheric Sources T2 - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Y1 - 2021 A1 - Sanchez, Diego F. A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Perry, Gareth A1 - Harvey, Lynn A1 - Engelke, William D. A1 - Coster, Anthea J. A1 - Erickson, Philip J. A1 - Ruohoniemi, J. Michael A1 - Baker, Joseph B. H. AB -

Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) are propagating variations in ionospheric electron densities that affect radio communications and can help with understanding energy transport throughout the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere-neutral atmosphere system. Large scale TIDs (LSTIDs) have periods T ≈30-180 min, horizontal phase velocities vH≈ 100- 250 m/s, and horizontal wavelengths H>1000 km and are believed to be generated either by geomagnetic activity or lower atmospheric sources. TIDs create concavities in the ionospheric electron density profile that move horizontally with the TID and cause skip-distance focusing effects for high frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) radio signals propagating through the ionosphere. The signature of this phenomena is manifest as quasi-periodic variations in contact ranges in HF amateur radio communication reports recorded by automated monitoring systems such as the Weak Signal Propagation Reporting Network (WSPRNet) and the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN). In this study, members of the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) present a climatology of LSTID activity using RBN and WSPRNet observations on the 1.8, 3.5, 7, 14, 21, and 28 MHz amateur radio bands from 2017. Results will be organized as a function observation frequency, longitudinal sector (North America and Europe), season, and geomagnetic activity level. Connections to geospace are explored via SYM-H and Auroral Electrojet indexes, while neutral atmospheric sources are explored using NASA’s Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2).

JF - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting PB - American Geophysical Union CY - New Orleans, LA UR - https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1000724 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Collective Science: Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Atmosphere Coupling and the Building of an Amateur Radio Citizen Science Community (Invited Early Career Highlight) T2 - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) Y1 - 2021 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell JF - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) PB - CEDAR CY - Virtual ER - TY - CONF T1 - Construction and Operation of a HamSCI Grape Version 1 Personal Space Weather Station: A Citizen Scientist’s Perspective T2 - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Y1 - 2021 A1 - Hobart, Joseph R. A1 - Farmer, James O. A1 - Mikitin, Gary A1 - Waugh, David A1 - Benedict, Robert A1 - Cerwin, Stephen A. A1 - Collins, Kristina V, A1 - Kazdan, David A1 - Gibbons, John A1 - Romanek, Veronica I. A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. AB -

Measurement of Doppler shifts of high frequency (HF) radio signals emitted by precision frequency transmitters is a well-established technique for the detection of traveling ionospheric disturbances and other perturbations in the bottomside ionosphere. Because Doppler measurements require minimal instrumentation, this technique naturally lends itself to crowdsourced data collection, and purpose-built instrumentation platforms are desirable in order to maximize consistency and repeatability. However, even the best system only has value if it is used, and a robust and engaged community of citizen scientists is vital to sustaining instrumentation platforms. The Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) has developed a prototype, low-cost system for making HF Doppler shift measurements of signals from standards stations such as WWV (Fort Collins, Colorado, USA) and CHU (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada). This system, known as the Personal Space Weather Station Grape Version 1, consists of a low intermediate frequency (IF) mixer board, GPS disciplined oscillator, and Raspberry Pi. In collaboration with funded project scientists and engineers, volunteer HamSCI community members developed instructions for building and operating a Grape Version 1 on the HamSCI website. In this presentation, we explain the process for constructing a Grape Version 1 and discuss the experiences of volunteers who have built and are now operating this system. We also discuss preliminary data from these stations, which show dramatic Doppler shifts during sunrise and sunset and during solar events. Concurrent data from multiple proximal stations show shared features and can be used for validation. These stations constitute the first iteration of the Personal Space Weather Station network.

JF - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting PB - American Geophysical Union CY - New Orleans, LA UR - https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/845691 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Early Results from the Ionospheric Sounding Mode Using Chirp Ionosondes of Opportunity for the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station T2 - 2021 XXXIVth General Assembly and Scientific Symposium of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI GASS) Y1 - 2021 A1 - Joshi, Dev A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A1 - Liles, William A1 - Vierinen, Juha A1 - Miller, Ethan S. AB -

The objective of the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS) project is to develop a distributed array of ground-based multi-instrument nodes capable of remote sensing the geospace system. This system is being designed with the intention of distribution to a large number of amateur radio and citizen science observers. This will create an unprecedented opportunity to probe the ionosphere at finer resolution in both time and space as all measurements will be collected into a central database for coordinated analysis. Individual nodes are being designed to service the needs of the professional space science researcher while being cost-accessible and of interest to amateur radio operators and citizen scientists. At the heart of the HamSCI PSWS will be a high performance 0.1–60 MHz software defined radio (SDR) [1] with GNSS-based precision timestamping and frequency reference. This SDR is known as the TangerineSDR and is being developed by the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR) amateur radio organization. The primary objective of PSWS system is to gather observations to understand the short term and small spatial scale ionospheric variabilities in the ionosphere-thermosphere system. These variabilities are important for understanding a variety of geophysical phenomena such as Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) [2], Ionospheric absorption events, geomagnetic storms and substorms. We present early results suggesting signature of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) from an ionospheric sounding mode that we intend to implement on the PSWS system, currently implemented on an Ettus N200 Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) using the open source GNU Chirpsounder data collection and analysis code.

JF - 2021 XXXIVth General Assembly and Scientific Symposium of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI GASS) ER - TY - CONF T1 - An Easily Constructed High Resolution 3 Axis Magnetometer for Backyard Citizen Science T2 - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Y1 - 2021 A1 - Madey, Julius A1 - Witten, David A1 - Kim, Hyomin A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. AB -

An answer to the need of the Hamsci Personal Space Weather Station Project for a low cost easily deployed 3 Axis magnetometer for earth surface geomagnetic field measurements based on the PNI RM3100 magneto-inductive magnetometer module for $31 in single quantities, compatible with Raspberry Pi class Single Board Computer data interfaces. Development of an inexpensive housing using off the shelf (OTF) components and a simple temperature stabilization technique and recommended interface will be discussed. Magnetometer system data will be compared with an appropriate Intermagnet site demonstrating the ability of this low cost instrument to achieve near 5nT resolution and noise, opening the potential for a diverse network of Citizen Scientist sites contributing data to better understand Earth's geomagnetic field.

JF - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting PB - American Geophysical Union UR - https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/997017 ER - TY - Generic T1 - Estimation of Ionospheric Layer Height Changes From Doppler Frequency and Time of Flight Measurements on HF Skywave Signals T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2021 Y1 - 2021 A1 - Steven Cerwin A1 - Kristina V. Collins A1 - Dev Joshi A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

The HamSCI community has been studying apparent frequency shifts in the reception of HF skywave signals from radio station WWV in Ft. Collins, CO. WWV is a standard time and frequency station with atomic clock accuracy. If the receiving station uses a GPS Disciplined Oscillator (GPSDO) for a frequency reference, the atomic clock accuracy on both ends guarantees any observed frequency shifts are attributable only to propagation effects through the ionosphere. Causes for frequency shifts in the received signal are recognized as complex and varied. A leading candidate is Doppler shift resulting from dynamic changes in refraction layer height. These, in turn, are caused by the diurnal transitions between night and day, passage of an eclipse shadow, and ionospheric disturbances originating from solar flares or X-ray events. For the case of changing refraction layer height, an analysis of Doppler frequency and Time of Flight (TOF) data can estimate the changes in skywave path length between the transmitter and receiver.  This data can be used in conjunction with an assumed geometric model and propagation mode to infer the corresponding height profile over time. This paper postulates one possible mechanism for observed frequency swings and presents supporting experimental evidence. Comparisons between the calculated  height profile derived from Doppler data and data from ray trace programs and ionosonde measurements are given.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2021 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA (Virtual) ER - TY - Generic T1 - Experimental and Computational Methods to Analyze Complex Doppler Behavior of Ionospherically Induced Doppler Shifts on HF Signals (Proceedings) T2 - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference Y1 - 2021 A1 - Cerwin, Stephen A. A1 - Collins, Kristina V. A1 - Joshi, Dev Raj A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. JF - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference PB - ARRL-TAPR CY - Virtual UR - https://youtu.be/MHkz7jNynOg?t=18161 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Experimental and Computational Methods to Analyze Complex Doppler Behavior of Ionospherically Induced Doppler Shifts on HF Signals T2 - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Y1 - 2021 A1 - Cerwin, Stephen A. A1 - Collins, Kristina V. A1 - Joshi, Dev Raj A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. AB -

The HamSCI community has been studying apparent frequency shifts in the reception of HF skywave signals from radio station WWV in Ft. Collins, CO. Causes for frequency shifts in the received signal are recognized as complex and varied. Leading candidates are Doppler shifts resulting from dynamic changes in refraction layer height and the behavior of modes at incidence angles at the cusp between escape into space and refraction back to earth. Observations have shown the most radical frequency disturbances occur during the diurnal transitions between night and day, with the morning transitions exhibiting more radical behavior than evening. Other changes in solar radiation such as passage of an eclipse shadow or solar flares produce similar results. In all cases the frequency swings were found to follow the rate of change of propagation path length. Specific behaviors studied include mode splitting, where the Doppler shift diverges into multiple overtone-related tracks, modes that abruptly manifest and disappear during the transition, and asymptotic behavior where Doppler tracks exhibit a rapid frequency change followed by extinction. A morning transition spectrogram showing some of these characteristics is shown in the accompanying figure. This paper describes experiments and analytical procedures devised to better understand these phenomena. They include Time-of-Flight measurements reconciled with a geometric model of the ionosphere to infer propagation modes, use of the geometric model to calculate layer height changes from measured Doppler shifts, and comparison of specific features between spectrogram and ionosonde data sets. Data from two morning transitions and the 2017 total eclipse are given. Plausible explanations for several aspects of observed frequency swings are postulated.

JF - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting PB - American Geophysical Union CY - New Orleans, LA UR - https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/849071 ER - TY - MGZN T1 - Ham Radio Creates a Planet-Sized Space Weather Sensor Network Y1 - 2021 A1 - Kristina V. Collins A1 - David Kazdan A1 - Nathaniel Frissell JF - QST VL - 105 UR - https://www.arrl.org/qst IS - 8 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Ham Radio Forms a Planet-Sized Space Weather Sensor Network JF - Eos Y1 - 2021 A1 - Collins, Kristina A1 - Kazdan, David A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel VL - 102 UR - https://eos.org/features/ham-radio-forms-a-planet-sized-space-weather-sensor-network JO - Eos ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI Campaign Co-Design (Panel Discussion) T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2021 Y1 - 2021 A1 - Kristina V. Collins A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - Laura Brandt A1 - Elizabeth MacDonald A1 - Michael Black A1 - Gareth Perry JF - HamSCI Workshop 2021 PB - HamSCI CY - Virtual ER - TY - Generic T1 - HamSCI: Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation T2 - ISWAT Meeting Y1 - 2021 A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Sanchez, Diego A1 - Perry, Gareth W. A1 - Kaeppler, Stephen R. A1 - Joshi, Dev Raj A1 - Engelke, William D. A1 - Thomas, Evan G. A1 - Coster, Anthea J. A1 - Erickson, Philip J. A1 - Ruohoniemi, J. Michael A1 - Baker, Joseph B. H. A1 - Gerzoff, Robert JF - ISWAT Meeting PB - International Space Weather Action Team (ISWAT) CY - Virtual ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI Personal Space Weather: Architecture and Applications to Radio Astronomy T2 - Annual (Summer) Eastern Conference Y1 - 2021 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Scott H. Cowling A1 - Thomas C. McDermott A1 - John Ackermann A1 - David Typinski A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - David R. Larsen A1 - David G. McGaw A1 - Hyomin Kim A1 - David M. Witten, II A1 - Julius M. Madey A1 - Kristina V. Collins A1 - John C. Gibbons A1 - David Kazdan A1 - Aidan Montare A1 - Dev Raj Joshi A1 - Veronica I. Romanek A1 - Cuong D. Nguyen A1 - Stephen A. Cerwin A1 - William Liles A1 - Jonathan D. Rizzo A1 - Ethan S. Miller A1 - Juha Vierinen A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - Mary Lou West AB -

The Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS) project is a citizen science initiative to develop a new modular set of ground-based instrumentation for the purpose of studying the structure and dynamics of the terrestrial ionosphere, as well as the larger, coupled geospace system. PSWS system instrumentation includes radio receivers sensitive to frequencies ranging from the very low frequency (VLF) through very high frequency (VHF) bands, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver to provide Total Electron Content (TEC) measurements and serve as a precision time and frequency reference, and a ground magnetometer sensitive to ionospheric and geospace currents. Although the PSWS is designed primarily for space weather and space science, its modular and open design in both hardware and software allows for a variety of use cases. The core radio instrument of the PSWS, the TangerineSDR, is a wideband, direct sampling 100~kHz to 60~MHz field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based software defined radio (SDR) receiver with direct applicability to radio astronomy. In this paper, we describe the PSWS and TangerineSDR architecture, show examples of how the TangerineSDR could be used to observe Jovian decametric emission, and discuss the applicability of the TangerineSDR to radio astronomy in general.

JF - Annual (Summer) Eastern Conference PB - Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA) CY - Virtual UR - https://rasdr.org/store/books/books/journals/proceedings-of-annual-conference ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS): Architecture and Current Status T2 - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) Y1 - 2021 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Dev Joshi A1 - Veronica I. Romanek A1 - Kristina V. Collins A1 - Aidan Montare A1 - David Kazdan A1 - John Gibbons A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Travis Atkison A1 - Hyomin Kim A1 - Scott H. Cowling A1 - Thomas C. McDermott A1 - John Ackermann A1 - David Witten A1 - Julius Madey A1 - H. Ward Silver A1 - William Liles A1 - Steven Cerwin A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - Ethan S. Miller A1 - Juha Vierinen AB -

Recent advances in geospace remote sensing have shown that large-scale distributed networks of ground-based sensors pay large dividends by providing a big picture view of phenomena that were previously observed only by point-measurements. While existing instrument networks provide excellent insight into ionospheric and space science, the system remains undersampled and more observations are needed to advance understanding. In an effort to generate these additional measurements, the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI, hamsci.org) is working with the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Corporation (TAPR, tapr.org), an engineering organization comprised of volunteer amateur radio operators and engineers, to develop a network of Personal Space Weather Stations (PSWS). These instruments that will provide scientific-grade observations of signals-of-opportunity across the HF bands from volunteer citizen observers as part of the NSF Distributed Array of Small Instruments (DASI) program. A performance-driven PSWS design (~US$500) will be a modular, multi-instrument device that will consist of a dual-channel phase-locked 0.1-60 MHz software defined radio (SDR) receiver, a ground magnetometer with (~10 nT resolution and 1-sec cadence), and GPS/GNSS receiver to provide precision time stamping and serve as a GPS disciplined oscillator (GPSDO) to provide stability to the SDR receiver. A low-cost PSWS (< US$100) that measures Doppler shift of HF signals received from standards stations such as WWV (US) and CHU (Canada) and includes a magnetometer is also being developed. HF sounding algorithms making use of signals of opportunity will be developed for the SDR-based PSWS. All measurements will be collected into a central database for coordinated analysis and made available for public access.

JF - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) PB - CEDAR CY - Virtual ER - TY - Generic T1 - HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS): Fall 2021 Update T2 - TAPR-ARRL Digital Communications Conference Y1 - 2021 A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Joshi, Dev Raj A1 - Collins, Kristina A1 - Montare Aidan A1 - Kazdan, David A1 - Engelke, William D. A1 - Atkison, Travis A1 - Kim, Hyomin A1 - Cowling, Scott H. A1 - McDermott, Thomas C. A1 - Ackermann, John A1 - Witten, David A1 - Madey, Jules A1 - Silver, H. Ward A1 - Liles, W. A1 - Cerwin, Stephen A. A1 - Erickson, Phillip J. A1 - Miller, Ethan S, A1 - Vierinen, Juha JF - TAPR-ARRL Digital Communications Conference PB - ARRL-TAPR CY - Virtual UR - https://youtu.be/MHkz7jNynOg?t=1990 ER - TY - Generic T1 - HamSCI: The Ionosphere from Your Backyard T2 - AMSAT SA Space Symposium Y1 - 2021 A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. JF - AMSAT SA Space Symposium PB - AMSAT-SA CY - South Africa (Virtual) ER - TY - Generic T1 - HamSCI: Today’s Community and Future Directions T2 - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference Y1 - 2021 A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. JF - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference PB - ARRL-TAPR CY - Virtual UR - https://youtu.be/kVY3E3e--_I?t=1512 ER - TY - CONF T1 - HF Doppler Observations of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances in a WWV Signal Received with a Network of Low-Cost HamSCI Personal Space Weather Stations T2 - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) Y1 - 2021 A1 - Veronica I. Romanek A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Dev Joshi A1 - William Liles A1 - Clair Trop A1 - Kristina Collins A1 - Gareth Perry AB -

Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) are quasi-periodic variations in ionospheric electron density that are often associated with atmospheric gravity waves. TIDs cause amplitude and frequency variations in high frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) refracted radio waves. We present observations of TIDs made with a network of Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Low-Cost Personal Space Weather Stations (PSWS) with nodes located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio. The TIDs were detected in the Doppler shifted carrier of the received signal from the 10 MHz WWV frequency and time standard station in Fort Collins, CO. Using a lagged cross correlation analysis, we demonstrate a method for determining TID wavelength, direction, and period using the collected WWV HF Doppler shifted data.

JF - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) PB - CEDAR CY - Virtual ER - TY - CONF T1 - HF Doppler Observations of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances in a WWV Signal Received with a Network of Low-Cost HamSCI Personal Space Weather Stations T2 - Annual (Summer) Eastern Conference Y1 - 2021 A1 - Veronica I. Romanek A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Dev Raj Joshi A1 - William Liles A1 - Claire C. Trop A1 - Kristina V. Collins A1 - Gareth W. Perry AB -

Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) are quasi-periodic variations in ionospheric electron density that are often associated with atmospheric gravity waves. TIDs cause amplitude and frequency variations in high frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) refracted radio waves. One way to detect TIDs is through the use of a Grape Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS). The Grape PSWS successfully detected TIDs in the Doppler shifted carrier of the received signal from the 10 MHz WWV frequency and time standard station in Fort Collins, CO. This paper will present an explanation of how the Grape PSWS was used to collect data, and how scientist can use this data to further investigate the ionosphere.

JF - Annual (Summer) Eastern Conference PB - Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA) CY - Virtual UR - https://rasdr.org/store/books/books/journals/proceedings-of-annual-conference ER - TY - Generic T1 - HF Doppler Observations of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances in the WWV Signal Received with a Network of Low-Cost HamSCI Personal Space Weather Stations T2 - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference Y1 - 2021 A1 - Romanek, Veronica I. A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Joshi, Dev Raj A1 - Liles, William A1 - Trop, Claire A1 - Collins, Kristina A1 - Perry, Gareth W. JF - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference PB - ARRL-TAPR CY - Virtual UR - https://youtu.be/kVY3E3e--_I?t=3495 ER - TY - CONF T1 - HF Doppler Observations of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances in the WWV Signal Received with a Network of Low-Cost HamSCI Personal Space Weather Stations T2 - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Y1 - 2021 A1 - Romanek, Veronica I. A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Joshi, Dev Raj A1 - Liles, William A1 - Trop, Clair A1 - Collins, Kristina A1 - Perry, Gareth W. AB -

Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) are quasi-periodic variations in ionospheric electron density that are often associated with atmospheric gravity waves. TIDs cause amplitude and frequency variations in high frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) refracted radio waves. We present observations of TIDs made with a network of Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Low-Cost Personal Space Weather Stations (PSWS) with nodes located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio. The TIDs were detected in the Doppler shifted carrier of the received signal from the WWV frequency and time standard station near Fort Collins, CO. Using a lagged cross correlation analysis, we demonstrate a method for determining TID wavelength, direction, and period using the collected WWV HF Doppler shifted data.

JF - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting PB - American Geophysical Union CY - New Orleans, LA UR - https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/888443 ER - TY - Generic T1 - Ionospheric Sounding with Amateur Radio Networks T2 - NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center Seminar Y1 - 2021 A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. JF - NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center Seminar CY - Boulder, CO (Virtual) ER - TY - Generic T1 - Mid-latitude Irregularities in the Early Results from the Ionospheric Sounding Mode Using Chirp Ionosondes of Opportunity for the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2021 Y1 - 2021 A1 - Dev Joshi A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - William Liles A1 - Juha Vierinen A1 - Ethan S. Miller AB -

The objective of the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS) project is to develop a distributed array of ground-based multi-instrument nodes capable of remote sensing the geospace system. This system is being designed with the intention of distribution to a large number of amateur radio and citizen science observers. This will create an unprecedented opportunity to probe the ionosphere at finer resolution in both time and space as all measurements will be collected into a central database for coordinated analysis. Individual nodes are being designed to service the needs of the professional space science researcher while being cost-accessible and of interest to amateur radio operators and citizen scientists. At the heart of the HamSCI PSWS will be a high performance 1 – 50 MHz software defined radio (SDR) with GNSS-based precision timestamping and frequency reference. This SDR is known as the TangerineSDR and is being developed by the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR) amateur radio organization. The primary objective of PSWS system is to gather observations to understand the short term and small spatial scale ionospheric variabilities in the ionosphere-thermosphere system. These variabilities are important for understanding a variety of geophysical phenomena such as Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs), Ionospheric absorption events, geomagnetic storms and substorms. We present early results suggesting signatures of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) from an ionospheric sounding mode that we intend to implement on the PSWS system, currently implemented on an Ettus N200 Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) using the open source GNU Chirpsounder data collection and analysis code.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2021 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA (Virtual) ER - TY - CONF T1 - Observations of Mid-latitude Irregularities Using the Oblique Ionosonde Sounding Mode for the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station T2 - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) Y1 - 2021 A1 - Dev Joshi A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - William Liles A1 - Juha Vierinen AB -

The spread in the echoes of high-frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) radio waves from the F-region of the ionosphere has been the earliest indication of plasma density irregularities in the mid-latitude F region ionosphere. Although mid-latitude spread F has been widely studied, the plasma instability mechanisms for these irregularities are still largely unknown. This phenomenon can cause radio wave scintillation effects that degrade the performance of man-made technologies such as satellite communications and global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). Understanding these irregularities so that they can be anticipated and mitigated are important aspects of space weather research. The occurrence climatology and variability can also be helpful in modeling efforts of these irregularities. Here, we present signatures of mid-latitude irregularities observed in oblique ionograms received near Scranton, PA transmitted by the Relocatable Over-the-Horizon Radar (ROTHR) in Chesapeake, Virginia. These observations are collected with the GNU Chirpsounder2 software, an open-source software package capable of creating ionograms from frequency modulated (FM) chirp ionosondes. This ionospheric sounding mode will be implemented in the currently under development Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS), a ground-based multi-instrument system designed to remote-sense the ionosphere using signals of opportunity.

JF - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) PB - CEDAR CY - Virtual ER - TY - Generic T1 - Observations of Mid-latitude Irregularities Using the Oblique Ionosonde Sounding Mode for the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station (Proceedings) T2 - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference Y1 - 2021 A1 - Joshi, Dev Raj A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Liles, William A1 - Vierinen, Juha JF - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference PB - ARRL-TAPR CY - Virtual UR - https://youtu.be/kVY3E3e--_I?t=2542 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Observations of Mid-latitude Irregularities Using the Oblique Ionosonde Sounding Mode for the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station T2 - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Y1 - 2021 A1 - Joshi, Dev Raj A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Sarwar, M. Shaaf A1 - Sami, Simal A1 - Ruohoniemi, J. Michael A1 - Baker, Joseph B. H. A1 - Coster, Anthea J. A1 - Erickson, Philip J. A1 - Liles, William A1 - Vierinen, Juha A1 - Groves, Keith AB -

The spread in the echoes of high-frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) radio waves from the F-region of the ionosphere was one of the earliest indications of plasma density irregularities in the mid-latitude F region ionosphere. Although mid-latitude spread F has been widely studied, the plasma instability mechanisms that create these irregularities are still largely unknown. This phenomenon can cause radio wave scintillation effects that degrade the performance of human-made technologies such as satellite communications and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Understanding these irregularities so that they can be anticipated and mitigated are important aspects of space weather research. The occurrence climatology and variability can also be helpful in validating models of these irregularities. Here, we present signatures of mid-latitude irregularities observed in oblique ionograms received near Scranton, PA transmitted by the Relocatable Over-the-Horizon Radar (ROTHR) in Chesapeake, Virginia. These observations are collected with the GNU Chirpsounder2 software, an open source software package capable of creating ionograms from frequency modulated (FM) chirp ionosondes. This ionospheric sounding mode will be implemented in the currently under-development Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS), a ground-based multi-instrument system designed to remote-sense the ionosphere using signals of opportunity. Using the data from the oblique ionograms, we generate the Range Time Intensity (RTI) plots that show ionospheric dynamics through measured path length variations as a function of time. We also compare the RTI plots with Range-Time-Parameter (RTP) plots from the SuperDARN HF radar in Blackstone, Virginia which commonly observes direct backscatter from decameter-scale irregularities within the region of ionosphere traversed by the ROTHR signal.

JF - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting PB - American Geophysical Union CY - New Orleans, LA UR - https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/875589 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Observing Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances using HamSCI Amateur Radio: Climatology with Connections to Geospace and Neutral Atmospheric Sources T2 - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) Y1 - 2021 A1 - Diego F. Sanchez A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Anthea Coster A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - J. Michael Ruohoniemi A1 - Joseph B. H. Baker AB -

Large Scale Traveling lonospheric Disturbances (TIDs) are propagating variations in ionospheric electron densities that affect radio communications. LSTIDs create concavities in the ionospheric electron density profile that move horizontally with the LSTID and cause skip-distance focusing effects for high frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) radio signals propagating through the ionosphere. This phenomena manifests as quasi-periodic variations in contact ranges in HF amateur radio communications recorded by automated monitoring systems such as RBN and WSPRNet. In this study, members of the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) present a climatology of LSTID activity as well as using RBN and WSPRNet observations on the 1.8, 3.5, 7, 14, 21, and 28 MHz amateur radio bands from 2017. Results will be organized as a function observation frequency, longitudinal sector, season, and geomagnetic activity level. Connections to neutral atmospheric sources are also explored.

JF - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) PB - CEDAR CY - Virtual ER - TY - Generic T1 - Observing Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances using HamSCI Amateur Radio: Validation and Climatology T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2021 Y1 - 2021 A1 - Diego F. Sanchez A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Anthea Coster A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - J. Michael Ruohoniemi A1 - Joseph B. H. Baker AB -

Traveling lonospheric Disturbances (TIDs) are propagating variations in ionospheric electron densities that affect radio communications and can help with understanding energy transport throughout the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere-neutral atmosphere system. Large scale TIDs (LSTIDs) have periods T\ \approx30-180\ min, horizontal phase velocities v_H\approx‍100-‍250 m/s, and horizontal wavelengths \lambda_H>1000 km and are believed to be generated either by geomagnetic activity or lower atmospheric sources. TIDs create concavities in the ionospheric electron density profile that move horizontally with the TID and cause skip-distance focusing effects for high frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) radio signals propagating through the ionosphere. The signature of this phenomena is manifest as quasi-periodic variations in contact ranges in HF amateur radio communication reports recorded by automated monitoring systems such as the Weak Signal Propagation Reporting Network (WSPRNet) and the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN). First in this study, members of the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) present a case study showing consistency in LSTID signatures in RBN and WSPRNet are also present in Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN), Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and ionosonde measurements. Then, we present a climatology of LSTID activity as well as  using RBN and WSPRNet observations on the 1.8, 3.5, 7, 14, 21, and 28 MHz amateur radio bands from 2017. Results will be organized as a function observation frequency, longitudinal sector (North America and Europe), season, and geomagnetic activity level.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2021 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA (Virtual) ER - TY - Generic T1 - Overview of the Personal Space Weather Station and Project Update T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2021 Y1 - 2021 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

An overview of the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station and general project update.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2021 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA (Virtual) ER - TY - Generic T1 - Preliminary Data Analysis of PSWS Magnetometer Data T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2021 Y1 - 2021 A1 - Hyomin Kim A1 - Julius Madey A1 - David M. Witten II A1 - David Larsen A1 - Scott H. Cowling A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - James Weygand AB -

We report on the preliminary analysis of data obtained from newly developed magnetometers as part of HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS) project. These systems are designed to provide quantitative and qualitative measurements of the geospace environment from the ground for both scientific and operational purposes at a cost that will allow for crowd-sourced data contributions. The PSWS magnetometers employ low-cost, commercial off-the-shelf, magneto-inductive sensor technology to record three-axis magnetic field variations with an adequate field resolution of ~10 nT at a 1 Hz sample rate. Data from the PSWS network will combine these magnetometer measurements with high frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) radio observations to monitor large-scale current systems and ionospheric disturbances due to drivers from both space and the atmosphere. A densely-spaced magnetometer array, once established, will demonstrate their space weather monitoring capability in unprecedented spatial extent. Magnetic field data obtained by the magnetometers installed at three locations across the US are presented and compared with the existing magnetometers nearby. 

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2021 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA (Virtual) ER - TY - Generic T1 - PSWS Ground Magnetometer Hardware T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2021 Y1 - 2021 A1 - Julius Madey A1 - David Witten, II A1 - Hyomin Kim A1 - David Larsen A1 - Scott H. Cowling A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

The path from candidate device for the magnetometer function of the PSWS to practical affordable working 24/7 data collection installations based on the low cost and readily available PNI RM3100 magneto-inductive sensor is discussed.  Initial support board design using i2c bus connection to the host Odroid or Raspberry Pi class microprocessors with support for remote extension of the sensor to at least 100 feet with common CAT5 networking cable will be described as well as the accompanying test and logging software.  Details of initial testing which revealed the need for temperature stabilization of the RM3100, verified remote operation to at least 500 feet, the subsequent design of an in-ground sensor housing made from common PVC water pipe and fittings and refinement of the microprocessor adapter board and remote board will be presented.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2021 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA (Virtual) ER - TY - Generic T1 - PSWS Magnetometer Science Update T2 - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference Y1 - 2021 A1 - Kim, Hyomin A1 - Madey, Julius A1 - Witten, David A1 - Larsen, David R. A1 - Cowling, Scott H. A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Weygand, James JF - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference PB - ARRL-TAPR CY - Virtual UR - https://youtu.be/MHkz7jNynOg?t=4555 ER - TY - Generic T1 - Simultaneous observations of mid-latitude Ionospheric Irregularities in HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station and SuperDARN radar T2 - SuperDARN Workshop Y1 - 2021 A1 - Joshi, Dev Raj A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Liles, William A1 - Vierinen, Juha JF - SuperDARN Workshop PB - SANSA CY - Virtual UR - https://www.sansa.org.za/events-outreach/superdarn-workshop-2021/ ER - TY - CONF T1 - Sources of Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Observed using HamSCI Amateur Radio, SuperDARN, and GNSS TEC T2 - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) Y1 - 2021 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Diego F. Sanchez A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - Dev Joshi A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Evan G. Thomas A1 - Anthea Coster A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - J. Michael Ruohoniemi A1 - Joseph B. H. Baker AB -

Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (LSTIDs) are quasi-periodic variations in F region electron density with horizontal wavelengths > 1000 km and periods between 30 to 180 min. On 3 November 2017, LSTID signatures were detected in simultaneously over the continental United States in observations made by global High Frequency (HF) amateur (ham) radio observing networks and the Blackstone (BKS) SuperDARN radar. The amateur radio LSTIDs were observed on the 7 and 14 MHz amateur radio bands as changes in average propagation path length with time, while the LSTIDs were observed by SuperDARN as oscillations of average scatter range. LSTID period lengthened from T ~ 1.5 hr at 12 UT to T ~ 2.25 hr by 21 UT. The amateur radio and BKS SuperDARN radar observations corresponded with Global Navigation Satellite System differential Total Electron Content (GNSS dTEC) measurements. dTEC was used to estimate LSTID parameters: horizontal wavelength 1136 km, phase velocity 1280 km/hr, period 53 min, and propagation azimuth 167°. The LSTID signatures were observed throughout the day following ~400 to 800 nT surges in the Auroral Electrojet (AE) index. As a contrast, 16 May 2017 was identified as a period with significant amateur radio coverage but no LSTID signatures in spite of similar geomagnetic conditions and AE activity as the 3 November event. We hypothesize that atmospheric gravity wave (AGW) sources triggered by auroral electrojet intensifications and associated Joule heating are the source of the LSTIDs, and that seasonal neutral atmospheric conditions may play a role in preventing AGW propagation in May but not in November.

JF - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) PB - CEDAR CY - Virtual ER - TY - Generic T1 - Sources of Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Observed using HamSCI Amateur Radio, SuperDARN, and GNSS TEC T2 - SuperDARN Workshop Y1 - 2021 A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Sanchez, Diego F. A1 - Perry, Gareth W. A1 - Joshi, Dev Raj A1 - Engelke, William D. A1 - Thomas, Evan G. A1 - Coster, Anthea J. A1 - Erickson, Philip J. A1 - Ruohoniemi, J. Michael A1 - Baker, Joseph B. H. JF - SuperDARN Workshop PB - SANSA CY - Virtual UR - https://www.sansa.org.za/events-outreach/superdarn-workshop-2021/ ER - TY - Generic T1 - Sources of Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Observed using HamSCI Amateur Radio, SuperDARN, and GNSS TEC T2 - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference Y1 - 2021 A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Sanchez, Diego F. A1 - Perry, Gareth W. A1 - Kaeppler, Stephen R. A1 - Joshi, Dev Raj A1 - Engelke, William D. A1 - Thomas, Evan G. A1 - Coster, Anthea J. A1 - Erickson, Philip J. A1 - Ruohoniemi, J. Michael A1 - Baker, Joseph B. H. JF - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference PB - ARRL-TAPR CY - Virtual UR - https://youtu.be/MHkz7jNynOg?t=22608 ER - TY - Generic T1 - A Survey of HF Doppler TID Signatures Observed Using a Grape in New Jersey T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2021 Y1 - 2021 A1 - Veronica I. Romanek A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Dev Joshi A1 - William Liles A1 - Kristina Collins A1 - John Gibbons A1 - David Kazdan JF - HamSCI Workshop 2021 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA (Virtual) UR - https://hamsci2021-uscranton.ipostersessions.com/?s=6A-B6-94-74-A1-46-CF-D2-AC-BA-F3-58-2E-71-17-97 ER - TY - Generic T1 - Thunderstorms as Possible HF Radiation Sources of Propagation Teepee Signatures T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2021 Y1 - 2021 A1 - Shing F. Fung A1 - Todd S. Anderson A1 - Thomas Ashcraft A1 - Wes Greenman A1 - David Typinski A1 - James Brown AB -

Propagation teepee is a type of HF spectral feature often recorded at 15-30 MHz by a group of citizen scientists whose main interest is in observing radio emissions from Jupiter. The feature is characterized as spectral enhancements with the frequency of enhancement first increasing and then decreasing with time, resulting in a “triangular spectral feature.” Its shape is reminiscent of teepee tents (or TPs for short), the moveable dwellings of some groups of native-Americans.  TPs usually have sharp or well-defined upper frequency limits for both the leading and trailing edges (see figure). While some TPs are observed in isolation, they are often seen in groups, distributed either in time or in apex frequency as a nested group at a particular time. As reported by Fung et al. [2020], most TPs appear to be diffuse even at high time resolution, but a few TPs seen at high time resolution reveal that those TPs consist actually of discrete bursts, strongly suggestive that the band noise could be produced by lightning storms. TP signatures are thus believed to be HF signals produced by remote lightning storms and reflected by the bottom-side ionosphere. By analyzing a few events with TP signatures detected simultaneously by multiple spectrograph stations, we will use a relationship between the TP apex frequency and the distance to its radiation source to identify the lightning storms responsible for the observed TP signatures. 
 

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2021 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA (Virtual) UR - https://hamsci2021-uscranton.ipostersessions.com/default.aspx?s=0E-BF-8A-B2-0E-0C-9B-2B-87-78-FC-B8-84-2C-41-FB ER - TY - Generic T1 - W3USR and The Great Collegiate Shortwave Listening Contest T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2021 Y1 - 2021 A1 - M. Shaaf Sarwar A1 - Veronica I. Romanek A1 - Thomas Baran A1 - Jonathan Rizzo A1 - Steve Holguin A1 - Jonathan Rizzo A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - William Liles A1 - Kristina Collins A1 - David Kazdan JF - HamSCI Workshop 2021 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA (Virtual) UR - https://hamsci2021-uscranton.ipostersessions.com/Default.aspx?s=1B-12-5C-9B-5C-AF-F5-8B-AC-62-CD-DD-D5-51-6A-9A ER - TY - CONF T1 - 2020 Solar Cycle Update and the HF Response to Ionospheric Storms and Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances T2 - Contest University Y1 - 2020 A1 - N. A. Frissell JF - Contest University PB - Contest University CY - Dayton, OH (Virtual) UR - https://www.contestuniversity.com/ ER - TY - CONF T1 - Characterizing and Optimizing the behavior of a Ground-based Magnetometer for Ionospheric Space Weather Observations T2 - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference Y1 - 2020 A1 - Witten III, David A1 - Kim, Hyomin A1 - Madey, Julius A1 - Cowling, Scotty A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. JF - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference PB - ARRL-TAPR CY - Virtual UR - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9p0FpZkxE4 ER - TY - Generic T1 - The Great Collegiate Shortwave Listening Contest Y1 - 2020 A1 - Frissell, N. A. A1 - Liles, W. A1 - Collins, K. A1 - Kazdan, D ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI Distributed Array of Small Instruments Personal Space Weather Station (DASI-PSWS): Architecture and Current Status (Invited) T2 - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) Y1 - 2020 A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - D. Joshi A1 - K. Collins A1 - A. Montare A1 - D. Kazdan A1 - J. Gibbons A1 - S. Mandal A1 - W. Engelke A1 - T. Atkison A1 - H. Kim A1 - A. J. Gerrard A1 - J. S. Vega A1 - S. H. Cowling A1 - T. C. McDermott A1 - J. Ackermann A1 - D. Witten A1 - H. W. Silver A1 - W. Liles A1 - S. Cerwin A1 - P. J. Erickson A1 - E. S. Miller AB -

Recent advances in geospace remote sensing have shown that large-scale distributed networks of ground-based sensors pay large dividends by providing a big picture view of phenomena that were previously observed only by point-measurements. While existing instrument networks provide excellent insight into ionospheric and space science, the system remains undersampled and more observations are needed to advance understanding. In an effort to generate these additional measurements, the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI, hamsci.org) is working with the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Corporation (TAPR, tapr.org), an engineering organization comprised of volunteer amateur radio operators and engineers, to develop a network of Personal Space Weather Stations (PSWS). These instruments that will provide scientific-grade observations of signals-of-opportunity across the HF bands from volunteer citizen observers as part of the NSF Distributed Array of Small Instruments (DASI) program. A performance-driven PSWS design (~US$500) will be a modular, multi-instrument device that will consist of a dual-channel phase-locked 0.1-60 MHz software defined radio (SDR) receiver, a ground magnetometer with (~10 nT resolution and 1-sec cadence), and GPS/GNSS receiver to provide precision time stamping and serve as a GPS disciplined oscillator (GPSDO) to provide stability to the SDR receiver. A low-cost PSWS (< US$100) that measures Doppler shift of HF signals received from standards stations such as WWV (US) and CHU (Canada) and includes a magnetometer is also being developed. HF sounding algorithms making use of signals of opportunity will be developed for the SDR-based PSWS. All measurements will be collected into a central database for coordinated analysis and made available for public access.

JF - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) CY - Santa Fe, NM (Virtual) UR - http://cedarweb.vsp.ucar.edu/wiki/index.php/2020_Workshop:MainVG ER - TY - Generic T1 - HamSCI PSWS Overview and Status T2 - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference Y1 - 2020 A1 - Frissell, N. A. JF - ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference PB - ARRL-TAPR CY - Virtual UR - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9p0FpZkxE4 ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI: Space Weather Operational Resources and Needs of the Amateur Radio Community T2 - American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting Y1 - 2020 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - Ethan S. Miller A1 - William Liles A1 - H. Ward Silver A1 - R. Carl Luetzelschwab A1 - Tamitha Skov AB -

The amateur (ham) radio community is a global community of over 3 million people who use and build radio equipment for communications, experimentation, and science. By definition, amateur radio is a volunteer service, with the operators required to hold government-issued licenses that are typically earned by passing knowledge tests covering radio regulations and practices, radio theory, and electromagnetic theory. In the United States, there are about 750,000 licensed hams, ranging in age from very young to very old, and ranging in experience from neophyte to people with advanced degrees in radio engineering and science. Amateur radio operators are licensed to transmit on bands spread across the radio frequency (RF) spectrum, from very low frequency (VLF) up to hundreds of gigahertz. The purpose of these communications range from mission-critical emergency and public service communications to social contacts to highly competitive contests and achievement award programs. Many of these communications rely on trans-ionospheric paths, and therefore are heavily influenced by conditions in near-Earth space, or space weather.
Amateurs today obtain space weather and propagation prediction information from sources such as the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), spaceweather.com, the Voice of America Coverage Analysis Program (VOACAP), amateur radio propagation columnists (ARRL, RSGB, and CQ Magazine), and spaceweatherwoman.com (Dr. Tamitha Skov). In order to predict success for their communications efforts, hams often use parameters such as smoothed sunspot number, 10.7 cm wavelength solar flux proxy, and the planetary Kp and Ap indices as inputs to predict radio propagation performance. Traditionally, these predictions focus on the driving influence of space conditions and the sun’s output. However, frontier research in the space sciences community has revealed that for improved predictive success, much more information needs to be provided on neutral atmosphere dynamics from the lower atmosphere and its coupled effects on the ionosphere, and predictions need to be available at higher temporal and spatial resolution. Lower atmospheric influences include atmospheric gravity waves that can couple to traveling ionospheric disturbances that can dramatically alter radio propagation paths. Tropospheric phenomena such as temperature inversions and wind shear also affect VHF and UHF propagation. To be most useful, the ham community needs operational products that provide real time nowcasts and multi-day forecasts which predict how space weather through the whole atmosphere affects radio wave propagation on global scale and at all operational wavelengths.
To help with this effort, hams can provide data with unique spatial and temporal coverage back to the research and forecast community. The amateur radio community has already started this process with the creation of multiple global-scale, real-time propagation reporting systems such as the Weak Signal Propagation Reporting Network (WSPRNet), PSKReporter, and the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN). Studies by the Ham radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) have shown that data from these systems, if applied correctly, can effectively be used to study ionospheric space weather events. Experienced amateurs keep detailed records of verified point-to-point contacts and have extensive experience operating under a wide variety of geophysical conditions and locations, both of which can provide unique insights when shared with the professional research community. In this presentation, we will describe efforts led by the HamSCI collective to provide this research community feedback through active HamSCI community email lists and annual HamSCI workshops. We will also describe strategies with good initial success at amateur-professional collaboration, including a HamSCI-led amateur radio community - professional research community partnership to create a network of HamSCI Personal Space Weather Stations (PSWS), which will allow citizen scientists to make science-grade space weather observations from their own backyards.

JF - American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting PB - American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting CY - Boston, MA UR - https://ams.confex.com/ams/2020Annual/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/370904 ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI – The Ionosphere from your Backyard T2 - HamCation Y1 - 2020 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell JF - HamCation PB - Orlando Amateur Radio Club CY - Orlando, FL ER - TY - CONF T1 - Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Observed using HamSCI Amateur Radio, SuperDARN, and GNSS TEC T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2020 Y1 - 2020 A1 - D. Sanchez A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - G. Perry A1 - W. D. Engelke A1 - A. Coster A1 - P. J. Erickson A1 - J. M. Ruohoniemi A1 - J. B. H. Baker AB -

Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (LSTIDs) are quasi‐periodic variations in F region electron density with horizontal wavelengths > 1000 km and periods between 30 to 180 min. On 3 November 2017, LSTID signatures were detected in observations made by Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) and the Weak Signal Propagation Reporting Network (WSPRNet) for the first time. The RBN and WSPRNet are two large‐scale High Frequency (HF, 3‐30 MHz) amateur (ham) radio observing networks that provide data to the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI). The LSTIDs were observed on the 7 and 14 MHz amateur radio bands, and are detected by observing changes in average propagation path length with time. LSTID period lengthened from T ~ 1.5 hr at 12 UT to T ~ 2.25 hr by 21 UT. Simultaneous LSTID signatures were present in ham radio observations over the continental United States, the Atlantic Ocean, and Europe. LSTIDs observed with amateur radio were consistent with LSTIDs observed by the Blackstone SuperDARN HF radar and in differential GNSS Total Electron Content (TEC) measurements. GNSS TEC maps were used to estimate LSTID parameters: horizontal wavelength 1100 km, phase velocity 950 km/hr, period 70 min, and propagation azimuth 135°. The LSTID signatures were observed throughout the day following ~800 nT surges in the Auroral Electrojet (AE) index at 00 and 12 UT. We will discuss potential generation hypotheses for the observed LSTIDs, including atmospheric gravity wave (AGW) sources triggered by auroral electrojet intensifications
and associated Joule heating.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2020 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - CONF T1 - Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Observed using HamSCI Amateur Radio, SuperDARN, GNSS TEC, and Ionosondes T2 - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) Y1 - 2020 A1 - D. F. Sanchez A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - G. W. Perry A1 - W. D. Engelke A1 - A. Coster A1 - P. J. Erickson A1 - J. M. Ruohoniemi A1 - J. B. H. Baker A1 - R. C. Luetzelschawb JF - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) CY - Santa Fe, NM (Virtual) UR - http://cedarweb.vsp.ucar.edu/wiki/index.php/2020_Workshop:MainVG ER - TY - CONF T1 - A new CHAIN site in New Brunswick: low‐cost HF and GNSS instruments for Solar Eclipse 2024 T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2020 Y1 - 2020 A1 - A. Farnham A1 - A. Kashcheyev A1 - T. Kelly A1 - P. T. Jayachandran AB -

The Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Network (CHAIN) is an array of ground‐based radio instruments deployed in the Canadian Arctic and operated by the University of New Brunswick. The network consists of 25 GISTMs/GPS receivers and 9 ionosondes located in Canada at high geographic latitudes spanning between 56° and 80° and has been expanded recently with a new mid‐latitude station in New Brunswick, Canada. The coordinates of the new station (Blissville, 45.6 N, 66.54 W) make the station an ideal location to host space weather instrumentation for study of the Solar Eclipse 2024. The predicted path of the total solar eclipse is passing through the site. The Blissville station is equipped with a range of scientific grade instruments, including a multi‐constellation GNSS scintillation monitor and CADI ionosonde. Likewise, this station is hosting a low‐cost, low‐power HF‐radar and a low‐cost dual frequency GNSS receiver. The ongoing tests are showing good performance with room for potential improvements of the low‐cost devices with respect to the citizen science applications. The results of the data comparison of the scientific grade and low‐cost space weather instruments will be presented. Possibilities for collaboration with amateur radio community will be discussed.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2020 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - CONF T1 - Overview of the Personal Space Weather Station and Project Update T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2020 Y1 - 2020 A1 - N. A. Frissell AB -

An overview of the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station and general project update.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2020 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - CONF T1 - Propagation Teepee: A High Frequency (HF) Radio Spectral Feature Identified by Citizen Scientists T2 - HamSCI Workshop Y1 - 2020 A1 - S. F. Fung A1 - D. Typinski A1 - R. F. Flagg A1 - T. Ashcraft A1 - W. Greenman A1 - C. Higgins A1 - J. Brown A1 - L. Dodd A1 - A. S. Mount A1 - F. J. Reyes A1 - J. Sky A1 - J. Thieman A1 - L. N. Garcia AB -

We report on the observations of a high frequency (HF) spectral feature that appears often in ground‐based spectral data at 15‐30 MHz.The feature, likely of terrestrial origin, is often recorded by a group of amateur radio astronomers, the Spectrograph User Group (SUG), whose main interest is in observing radio emissions from Jupiter. The feature appears as spectral enhancements with the frequency of enhancement first increasing and then decreasing with time, resulting in a “triangular spectral feature.” Its shape is reminiscent of teepee tents (or TPs for short), the moveable dwellings of some groups of native‐Americans. TPs usually have sharp or well‐defined upper frequency limits for both the leading and trailing edges. While some TPs are observed in isolation, they are often seen in groups, distributed either in time or in frequency as a nested group at a particular time. Most TPs appear to be diffuse even at high time resolution, but a few TPs seen at high time resolution reveal that those TPs consist actually of discrete bursts, strongly suggestive that the band noise produced from lightning as possible radiation sources of the TPs. In this paper, we investigate the possible generation of TPs as a result of ionospheric reflection of band noise produced by remote lightning storms.

JF - HamSCI Workshop PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - CONF T1 - Statistical Study of Open Closed Boundaries (OCB) using ULF Wave Observations from Antarctic AGOs, McMurdo Station, and South Pole Station T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2020 Y1 - 2020 A1 - R. M. Frissell A1 - H. Kim A1 - A. J. Gerrard AB -

We present a statistical study using ground magnetometer data from the Antarctic Automated Geophysical Observatories (AGOs) to characterize open‐closed boundary (OCB) behavior during geomagnetically quiet times. Knowledge of the location and dynamics of the magnetic field line OCB provides insight to space physics processes such as substorms, particle precipitation events, and magnetospheric configuration. Prior studies have shown that determination of the OCB location can be made by examining the ULF wave power in data from a latitudinal chain of ground based magnetometers extending from the auroral zone into the deep polar cap. In this statistical study, AGOs 1, 2, 3, and 5, along with McMurdo (MCM) and South Pole Station (SPA) were studied. The seasons chosen were centered around the four cardinal dates, March 20th, June 21st, September 22nd, and December 21st. For each season, 60 days were selected centered around the cardinal date; any days with a planetary Ap greater than 30 were discarded. Using the H‐component fluxgate data from South Pole Station, McMurdo Station and the AGO systems, an average daily residual power spectra was calculated. The spectrograms for SPA, MCM, and AGO show signatures of whether the station is located in an open or closed magnetic region. This results of the OCB is compared to the Tsyganenko Model. We will discuss the seasonal climatology as calculated from raw data and compared to a model as well as how OCB depends on seasons and magnetic latitude.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2020 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - CONF T1 - Update on the Golden Ears Project T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2020 Y1 - 2020 A1 - G. Perry A1 - P. J. Erickson A1 - B. D. Blain A1 - R. Reif A1 - N. A. Frissell AB -

The Radio Receiver Instrument (RRI), part of the Enhanced Polar Outflow Probe (e‐POP) science payload on the Cascade, Smallsat and Ionospheric Polar Explorer (CASSIOPE) spacecraft, has recorded continuous wave (CW; Morse code) transmissions during the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Field Day exercises since 2015. Perry et al. (2018) demonstrated the value of such transmissions to radio science. By identifying a handful of hams in the RRI data collected during the 2015 Field Day and inputting their transmitting locations into a high frequency (HF) ray tracing model, Perry et al. were able to accurately estimate foF2 over a portion of the midwestern United States. They were also able to diagnose the periodic fading in the amplitude of one ham’s transmission as a multipath propagation effect unique to transionospheric propagation.

One lesson from the Perry et al. analysis was that decoding the transmissions using CW “skimmers”, software capable of decoding large bands of CW signal, was not feasible with the RRI data. This is likely due to the fact that the signals disperse and degrade as they transit from the ground, through the ionosphere, and up to the spacecraft. As a result, the Perry et al. transmissions had to be decoded aurally by the article’s co‐authors. Since 2015, RRI has collected several hours of ARRL Field Day transmissions, necessitating a more organized decoding effort, rather that the ad hoc methodology employed thus far.

Accordingly, the “Golden Ears Project” was initiated following the RRI operations for the 2019 ARRL Field Day. The goal of the project is straightforward: use members of the ham community with a distinct aptitude for aurally decoding CW signals (i.e., individuals with “Golden Ears”) to decode data collected by RRI in thorough and organized way. In this presentation we will disseminate the first project’s first results from 2019 Field Day operations. We will describe the experimental setup, methodology used to prepare the data from the decoders, discuss their results, and outline the future directions of the project.

Perry, G. W., Frissell, N. A., Miller, E. S., Moses, M., Shovkoplyas, A., Howarth, A. D., & Yau, A. W. (2018). Citizen Radio Science: An Analysis of Amateur Radio Transmissions With e‐POP RRI. Radio Science, 933–947. https://doi.org/10.1029/2017RS006496

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2020 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI Magnetometer Network for Space Weather Monitoring T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2019 Y1 - 2019 A1 - Hyomin Kim A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

Besides auroral observations, magnetic field measurements are one of the traditional ways of observing the space weather phenomena on the ground. To that end, magnetic sensors, “magnetometer”, are typically used for space research. The instrument has a wide range of applications including metal detection, non-contact switch, non-destructive testing, oil/coal exploration, military as well as space research. Magnetometers on the ground provide critical information about how solar activities impact the earth’s magnetic fields (magnetosphere) and ionosphere. In particular, geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) due to temporal changes in magnetic fields (dB/dt) are a very important issue in space weather. A densely-spaced magnetometer array, as proposed in the HamSCI space weather station project, will demonstrate their space weather monitoring capability in unprecedented spatial extent. Here, we propose and compare three types of inexpensive, simple, mid-grade magnetometers utilizing the anisotropic magneto-resistive (AMR), magneto-inductive and fluxgate technologies. The proposed magnetometers will be designed to measure large- and medium-scale geomagnetic activities approximately from a few to hundreds of nT. Preliminary prototype test results and their design, fabrication, calibration and installation plans are presented.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2019 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station: A New Tool for Citizen Science Geospace Research T2 - USNC–URSI National Radio Science Meeting Y1 - 2019 A1 - J. S. Vega A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - P. J. Erickson A1 - A. J. Gerrard AB -

Recent advances in geospace remote sensing have shown that large-scale distributed networks of ground-based sensors pay large dividends by providing a big picture view of phenomena that were previously observed only by point-measurements. Notable examples include the improved understanding of traveling ionospheric disturbance (TID) sources based on observations from the high frequency (HF) Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) radars and GNSS-based total electron content remote sensing networks. While these existing networks provide excellent insight into TID science, the system remains undersampled (especially at HF) and more observations are needed to advance understanding. Additionally, previous measurements have revealed that characteristics of medium scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) observed on the bottomside ionosphere using oblique HF sounding by SuperDARN differ from integrated ionospheric measurements of MSTIDs made using GNSS-TEC. These differences have yet to be accounted for, and additional observations could aid in understanding the propagation of MSTIDs from the bottom to the top of the ionosphere. In an effort to generate these additional measurements, the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI, hamsci.org) is working with the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Corporation (TAPR, tapr.org), an engineering organization comprising of volunteer amateur radio operators and engineers, to develop a network of Personal Space Weather Stations that will provide scientific-grade observations of signals-of-opportunity across the HF bands from volunteer citizen observers. These measurements will play a key role in the characterization of ionospheric variability across the geographic regions in which these stations are deployed. We will describe concepts, key software patterns for radio science, and proposed timelines for the Personal Space Weather Station project. A particular focus will be assembling the proper metadata for science grade observations, and strategies for lightweight calibration of radio sensors. Initial project efforts concentrate on a wideband receiving station and backing software data distribution system.

JF - USNC–URSI National Radio Science Meeting PB - U.S. National Committee for URSI CY - Boulder, CO UR - https://nrsmboulder.org/ ER - TY - JOUR T1 - High Frequency Communications Response to Solar Activity in September 2017 as Observed by Amateur Radio Networks JF - Space Weather Y1 - 2019 A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Vega, Joshua S. A1 - Markowitz, Evan A1 - Gerrard, Andrew J. A1 - Engelke, William D. A1 - Erickson, Philip J. A1 - Miller, Ethan S. A1 - Luetzelschwab, R. Carl A1 - Bortnik, Jacob KW - Amateur Radio KW - Geomagnetic Storm KW - Ham Radio KW - HF Radio Propagation KW - Radio Blackout KW - Solar Flare AB -

Abstract Numerous solar flares and coronal mass ejection (CME) induced interplanetary shocks associated with solar active region AR12673 caused disturbances to terrestrial high frequency (HF, 3--30 MHz) radio communications from 4-14 September 2017. Simultaneously, Hurricanes Irma and Jose caused significant damage to the Caribbean Islands and parts of Florida. The coincidental timing of both the space weather activity and hurricanes was unfortunate, as HF radio was needed for emergency communications. This paper presents the response of HF amateur radio propagation as observed by the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) and the Weak Signal Propagation Reporting Network (WSPRNet) to the space weather events of that period. Distributed data coverage from these dense sources provided a unique mix of global and regional coverage of ionospheric response and recovery that revealed several features of storm-time HF propagation dynamics. X-class flares on 6, 7, and 10 September caused acute radio blackouts during the day in the Caribbean with recovery times of tens of minutes to hours, based on the decay time of the flare. A severe geomagnetic storm withKpmax = 8 + and?SYM ? Hmin =  ? 146?nT occurring 7-10 September wiped out ionospheric communications first on 14 MHz and then on 7 MHz starting at~1200 UT 8 September. This storm, combined with affects from additional flare and geomagnetic activity, contributed to a significant suppression of effective HF propagation bands both globally and in the Caribbean for a period of 12 to 15 days.

UR - https://doi.org/10.1029/2018SW002008 JO - Space Weather ER - TY - CONF T1 - High Frequency Communications Response to Solar Activity in September 2017 as Observed by Amateur Radio Networks T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2019 Y1 - 2019 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Joshua S. Vega A1 - Evan Markowitz A1 - Andrew J. Gerrard A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - Ethan S. Miller A1 - R. Carl Luetzelschwab A1 - Jacob Bortnik AB -

Numerous solar flares and coronal mass ejection‐induced interplanetary shocks associated with solar active region AR12673 caused disturbances to terrestrial high‐frequency (HF, 3–30 MHz) radio communications from 4–14 September 2017. Simultaneously, Hurricanes Irma and Jose caused significant damage to the Caribbean Islands and parts of Florida. The coincidental timing of both the space weather activity and hurricanes was unfortunate, as HF radio was needed for emergency communications. This paper presents the response of HF amateur radio propagation as observed by the Reverse Beacon Network and the Weak Signal Propagation Reporting Network to the space weather events of that period. Distributed data coverage from these dense sources provided a unique mix of global and regional coverage of ionospheric response and recovery that revealed several features of storm time HF propagation dynamics. X‐class flares on 6, 7, and 10 September caused acute radio blackouts during the day in the Caribbean with recovery times of tens of minutes to hours, based on the decay time of the flare. A severe geomagnetic storm with Kpmax = 8+ and SYM‐Hmin = −146 nT occurring 7–10 September wiped out ionospheric communications first on 14 MHz and then on 7 MHz starting at ∼1200 UT 8 September. This storm, combined with affects from additional flare and geomagnetic activity, contributed to a significant suppression of effective HF propagation bands both globally and in the Caribbean for a period of 12 to 15 days.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2019 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - CONF T1 - Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Observed using HamSCI Amateur Radio, SuperDARN, and GNSS TEC T2 - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Y1 - 2019 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Diego F. Sanchez A1 - Evan Markowitz A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - William D. Engelke A1 - Anthea Coster A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - J. Michael Ruohoniemi A1 - Joseph B. H. Baker AB -

Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (LSTIDs) are quasi-periodic variations in F region electron density with horizontal wavelengths > 1000 km and periods between 30 to 180 min. On 3 November 2017, LSTID signatures were detected in observations made by Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) and the Weak Signal Propagation Reporting Network (WSPRNet) for the first time. The RBN and WSPRNet are two large-scale High Frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) amateur (ham) radio observing networks that provide data to the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI). The LSTIDs were observed on the 7 and 14 MHz amateur radio bands, and are detected by observing changes in average propagation path length with time. LSTID period lengthened from T ~ 1.5 hr at 12 UT to T ~ 2.25 hr by 21 UT. Simultaneous LSTID signatures were present in ham radio observations over the continental United States, the Atlantic Ocean, and Europe. LSTIDs observed with amateur radio were consistent with LSTIDs observed by the Blackstone SuperDARN HF radar and in differential GNSS Total Electron Content (TEC) measurements. GNSS TEC maps were used to estimate LSTID parameters: horizontal wavelength 1100 km, phase velocity 950 km/hr, period 70 min, and propagation azimuth 135°. The LSTID signatures were observed throughout the day following ~800 nT surges in the Auroral Electrojet (AE) index at 00 and 12 UT. We will discuss potential generation hypotheses for the observed LSTIDs, including atmospheric gravity wave (AGW) sources triggered by auroral electrojet intensifications and associated Joule heating.

JF - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting PB - American Geophysical Union CY - San Francisco, CA UR - https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm19/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/581488 ER - TY - CONF T1 - A Low-Cost Citizen Science HF Doppler Receiver for Measuring Ionospheric Variability T2 - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Y1 - 2019 A1 - Kristina Collins A1 - David Kazdan A1 - John Gibbons A1 - Aidan Montare A1 - Skylar Dannhoff A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

Advancement in understanding short term and small spatial scale ionospheric variability requires global high time and spatial resolution measurements. Professional ionospheric sounding networks are extensive and capable, yet more measurements are still needed due to the strongly magnetized nature and large extent of the ionosphere. High Frequency (HF, 3-30 MHz) radio signals are refracted by the ionosphere, and therefore are modulated by processes such as traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) and geomagnetic storms. By measuring the amplitude and Doppler shift of trans-ionospheric HF signals, it is possible to detect signatures of ionospheric absorption and changes in propagation path length. We present a design for a low-cost citizen science HF multi-band receiver that measures the amplitude and Doppler shift of reference signals of opportunity from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology station WWV and the Canadian Institute for National Measurement Standards station CHU. The receiver will make 1 s cadence measurements on nine HF beacon frequencies and subsequently upload the results to a central server for scientific analysis. The local user will be able to review data daily, both locally and in aggregate on a web server, and participate in discussion of the ionospheric measurements. This receiver forms one component of the low-cost version of the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS), and is designed with the intention of distribution to hundreds to thousands of citizen science observers. Preliminary results from the prototype receiver will be presented.

JF - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting PB - American Geophysical Union CY - San Francisco, CA UR - https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm19/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/602677 ER - TY - CONF T1 - The Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) and VY0ERC: Atmospheric Science and Ham Radio at 80N (Booth Talk) T2 - Dayton Hamvention Y1 - 2019 A1 - Pierre Fogal AB -

Located at 80N, 86W on Ellesmere Island (IOTA NA-008) in the far north of Canada is the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) .  PEARL has been in operation since 2005 and consists of 3 distinct atmospheric observatories housing  instrumentation that sounds the atmosphere from the ground to approximately 100 km altitude.  PEARL measurements are mostly aimed at determining atmospheric composition through  the measurement of solar and atmospheric radiation, atmospheric particles, and signals from lidars and radars.  Located within the PEARL Ridge Laboratory (PRL) is the Eureka Amateur Radio Club station VY0ERC.  VY0ERC has been on the air since 2015 and is operated mainly by PEARL scientists VE1RUS and VE3KTB. 

JF - Dayton Hamvention PB - HamSCI CY - Xenia, OH ER - TY - CONF T1 - PSWS Science Requirements Panel Discussion (Panel) T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2019 Y1 - 2019 A1 - John Ackermann A1 - Scotty Cowling A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Hyomin Kim A1 - William Liles A1 - Thomas McDermott A1 - Ward Silver AB -

Moderator: Ward Silver, N0AX

  1. Phil Erickson, W1PJE, MIT Haystack Observatory, Radio, Ionospheric, & Magnetospheric Science
  2. Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, NJIT, Radio, Ionospheric, & Magnetospheric Science
  3. Hyomin Kim, KD2MCR, NJIT, Magnetospheric Physics
  4. Bill Liles, NQ6Z, VLF Science
  5. John Ackermann, N8UR, TAPR, Radio Engineering
  6. Scotty Cowling, WA2DFI, TAPR, Radio Engineering
  7. Tom McDermott, N5EG, TAPR, Radio Engineering
JF - HamSCI Workshop 2019 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - CONF T1 - Red Pitaya SDR Recorder for Antarctica (Demonstration) T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2019 Y1 - 2019 A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Melville, Robert A1 - Stillinger, Andrew A1 - Jeffer, Gil JF - HamSCI Workshop 2019 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - CONF T1 - Science Questions for a Personal Space Weather Station T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2019 Y1 - 2019 A1 - Frissell, N. A. AB -

Introduction and Overview to the Personal Space Weather Station Project

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2019 CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - MGZN T1 - Solar Eclipse QSO Party Wrap-Up Y1 - 2019 A1 - N. A. Frissell JF - National Contest Journal VL - 47 UR - http://ncjweb.com/features/janfeb19feat.pdf IS - 1 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Sounding the Ionosphere with Signals of Opportunity in the High-Frequency (HF) Band T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2019 Y1 - 2019 A1 - Ethan S. Miller A1 - Gary S. Bust A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - Stephen R. Kaeppler A1 - Juha Vierinen A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - A. A. Knuth A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - Romina Nikoukar A1 - Alexander T. Chartier A1 - P. Santos A1 - C. Brum A1 - J. T. Fentzke A1 - T. R. Hanley A1 - Andrew J. Gerrard AB -

The explosion of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) education- and consumer-grade hardware supporting software-defined radio (SDR) over the past two decades has revolutionized many aspects of radio science, bringing the cost and calibration of traditionally complex receiver hardware within the grasp of even advanced amateur experimenters. Transmission has now become the limiter of access in many cases, particularly through spectrum management and licensing considerations. Fortunately, several classes of signals endemic to the HF band lend themselves to processing for ionospheric characteristics: time and frequency standard broadcasters, surface-wave oceanographic radars, amateur radio transmissions, and ionospheric sounders.

This presentation is a tour of these signals of opportunity and techniques for collecting and processing them into ionospheric characteristics, with emphasis on distributed receivers collecting on a small number (four or fewer) of coherent channels. Receiving techniques will be discussed for near-vertical (“quasi-vertical”) incidence skywave (NVIS or QVI), long-distance oblique soundings, and transionospheric sounding. Soundings will be demonstrated from space-based, ground-based, and maritime platforms.

Binary, Doppler, delay, cone angle of arrival, and polarization observations will be exploited, depending on the signal type and capability of the collector. Each of these techniques conveys different, but not always “orthogonal,” information about the ionospheric skywave channel. The information content of each datum will be discussed with respect to the implications for inverting the local or regional ionosphere from the observations. More importantly than inverting the full ionosphere, some of these techniques are sensitive indicators of ionospheric irregularities, structures, and instabilities, that might otherwise be difficult to study due to limited geographic coverage with larger, more exquisite instrumentation.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2019 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - CONF T1 - Web-Based Scientific Visualizations of RBN/WSPR Data (Demonstration) T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2019 Y1 - 2019 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Evan Markowitz A1 - Diego Sanchez A1 - William D. Engelke JF - HamSCI Workshop 2019 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH ER - TY - CONF T1 - What is HamSCI? T2 - Dayton Hamvention Y1 - 2019 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell AB -

A brief overview of HamSCI’s mission, people, and projects are presented.

JF - Dayton Hamvention PB - HamSCI CY - Xenia, OH ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Citizen radio science: an analysis of Amateur Radio transmissions with e-POP RRI JF - Radio Science Y1 - 2018 A1 - Perry, G. W. A1 - Frissell, N. A. A1 - Miller, E. S. A1 - Moses, M. A1 - Shovkoplyas, A. A1 - Howarth, A. D. A1 - Yau, A. W. KW - Citizen Science KW - ionosphere KW - Radio Propagation KW - Radio Science KW - Satellite AB -

We report the results of a radio science experiment involving citizen scientists conducted on 28 June 2015, in which the Radio Receiver Instrument (RRI) on the Enhanced Polar Outflow Probe (e-POP) tuned-in to the 40 and 80 m Ham Radio bands during the 2015 American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Field Day. We have aurally decoded the Morse coded call signs of 14 Hams (amateur operators) from RRI's data to help ascertain their locations during the experiment. Through careful analysis of the Hams' transmissions, and with the aid of ray tracing tools, we have identified two notable magnetoionic effects in the received signals: plasma cutoff and single-mode fading. The signature of the former effect appeared approximately 30 seconds into the experiment, with the sudden cessation of signals received by RRI despite measurements from a network of ground-based receivers showing that the Hams' transmissions were unabated throughout the experiment. The latter effect, single-mode fading, was detected as a double-peak modulation on the individual “dots” and “dashes” of one the Ham's Morse coded transmissions. We show that the modulation in the Ham's signal agrees with expected fading rate for single-mode fading. The results of this experiment demonstrate that Ham Radio transmissions are a valuable tool for studying radio wave propagation and remotely sensing the ionosphere. The analysis and results provide a basis for future collaborations in radio science between traditional researchers in academia and industry, and citizen scientists in which novel and compelling experiments can be performed.

UR - https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2017RS006496 ER - TY - CONF T1 - High Frequency Communications Response to Solar Activity in September 2017 as Observed by Amateur Radio Networks T2 - Fall AGU Y1 - 2018 A1 - Frissell, Nathaniel A. A1 - Vega, Joshua S. A1 - Markowitz, Evan A1 - Gerrard, Andrew J. A1 - Engelke, William D. A1 - Erickson, Philip J. A1 - Miller, Ethan S. A1 - Luetzelschwab, R. Carl A1 - Bortnik, Jacob KW - Amateur Radio KW - Geomagnetic Storm KW - Ham Radio KW - HF Radio Propagation KW - Radio Blackout KW - Solar Flare AB -

Numerous solar flares and coronal mass ejection (CME) induced interplanetary shocks associated with solar active region AR12673 caused disturbances to terrestrial high frequency (HF, 3–30 MHz) radio communications from 4-14 September 2017. Simultaneously, Hurricanes Irma and Jose caused significant damage to the Caribbean Islands and parts of Florida. The coincidental timing of both the space weather activity and hurricanes was unfortunate, as HF radio was needed for emergency communications. This paper presents the response of HF amateur radio propagation as observed by the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) and the Weak Signal Propagation Reporting Network (WSPRNet) to the space weather events of that period. Distributed data coverage from these dense sources provided a unique mix of global and regional coverage of ionospheric response and recovery that revealed several features of storm-time HF propagation dynamics. X-class flares on 6, 7, and 10 September caused acute radio blackouts during the day in the Caribbean with recovery times of tens of minutes to hours, based on the decay time of the flare. A severe geomagnetic storm withKpmax = 8 + and SYM − Hmin = − 146 nT occurring 7-10 September wiped out ionospheric communications first on 14 MHz and then on 7 MHz starting at 1200 UT 8 September. This storm, combined with affects from additional flare and geomagnetic activity, contributed to a significant suppression of effective HF propagation bands both globally and in the Caribbean for a period of 12 to 15 days.

JF - Fall AGU PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington, DC UR - https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm18/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/419847 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Initial Results of HamSCI Ham Radio 21 August 2017 Eclipse Ionospheric Experiments T2 - American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting Y1 - 2018 A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - J. R. Ackermann A1 - D. Bern A1 - F. Ceglia A1 - G. D. Earle A1 - P. J. Erickson A1 - A. J. Gerrard A1 - R. Gerzoff A1 - P. Gladstone A1 - S. W. Gunning A1 - J. D. Huba A1 - J. D. Katz A1 - E. S. Miller A1 - M. L. Moses A1 - S. E. Reyer A1 - S. W. Rose A1 - A. Shovkoplyas A1 - H. W. Silver A1 - P. Smith A1 - J. S. Vega A1 - M. L. West A1 - R. Williams AB -

On 21 August 2017, a total solar eclipse will cause the shadow of the moon to traverse the United States from Oregon to South Carolina in just over 90 minutes. The sudden absence of sunlight due to the eclipse, especially solar UV and x-rays, provides an impulse function to the upper atmosphere that modifies the neutral dynamics, plasma concentrations, and related properties. Despite more than 60 years of research, questions remain regarding eclipse-induced ionospheric impacts. Ham radio operators’ advanced technical skills and inherent interest in ionospheric science make the amateur radio community ideal for contributing to and and participating in large-scale ionospheric sounding experiments. We present initial results from three amateur radio experiments designed to study the 2017 total solar eclipse: the Solar Eclipse QSO Party (SEQP), the HF Wideband Recording Experiment, and the Eclipse Frequency Measurement Test (FMT). These experiments are coordinated by HamSCI, the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation, a citizen science organization that connects the amateur radio community to the professional space science research community for mutual benefit.

JF - American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting PB - American Meteorological Society CY - Austin, TX UR - https://ams.confex.com/ams/98Annual/webprogram/Paper337094.html ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Modeling Amateur Radio Soundings of the Ionospheric Response to the 2017 Great American Eclipse JF - Geophysical Research Letters Y1 - 2018 A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - J. D. Katz A1 - S. W. Gunning A1 - J. S. Vega A1 - A. J. Gerrard A1 - G. D. Earle A1 - M. L. Moses A1 - M. L. West A1 - J. D. Huba A1 - P. J. Erickson A1 - E. S. Miller A1 - R. B. Gerzoff A1 - W. Liles A1 - H. W. Silver AB -

On 21 August 2017, a total solar eclipse traversed the continental United States and caused large‐scale changes in ionospheric densities. These were detected as changes in medium and high frequency radio propagation by the Solar Eclipse QSO Party (SEQP) citizen science experiment organized by the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (hamsci.org). This is the first eclipse‐ionospheric study to make use of measurements from a citizen‐operated, global‐scale HF propagation network and develop tools for comparison to a physics‐based model ionosphere. Eclipse effects were observed ±0.3 hr on 1.8 MHz, ±0.75 hr on 3.5 and 7 MHz, and ±1 hr on 14 MHz and are consistent with eclipse‐induced ionospheric densities. Observations were simulated using the PHaRLAP raytracing toolkit in conjunction with the eclipsed SAMI3 ionospheric model. Model results suggest 1.8, 3.5, and 7 MHz refracted at h ≥ 125 km altitude with elevation angles θ ≥ 22°, while 14 MHz signals refracted at h < 125 km with elevation angles θ < 10°.

VL - 45 UR - https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL077324 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Modeling Amateur Radio Soundings of the Ionospheric Response to the 2017 Great American Eclipse T2 - Fall AGU Y1 - 2018 A1 - Frissell, N. A. A1 - Katz, J. D. A1 - Gunning, S. W. A1 - Vega, J. S. A1 - Gerrard, A. J. A1 - Earle, G. D. A1 - Moses, M. L. A1 - West, M. L. A1 - Huba, J. D. A1 - Erickson, P. J. A1 - Miller, E. S. A1 - Gerzoff, R. B. A1 - Liles, W. A1 - Silver, H. W. KW - Amateur Radio KW - Citizen Science KW - Ham Radio KW - HF propagation KW - ionosphere KW - solar eclipse AB -

On 21 August 2017, a total solar eclipse traversed the continental United States and caused large-scale changes in ionospheric densities. These were detected as changes in medium- and high-frequency radio propagation by the Solar Eclipse QSO Party citizen science experiment organized by the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (hamsci.org). This is the first eclipse-ionospheric study to make use of measurements from a citizen-operated, global-scale HF propagation network and develop tools for comparison to a physics-based model ionosphere. Eclipse effects were observed ±0.3 hr on 1.8 MHz, ±0.75 hr on 3.5 and 7 MHz, and ±1 hr on 14 MHz and are consistent with eclipse-induced ionospheric densities. Observations were simulated using the PHaRLAP raytracing toolkit in conjunction with the eclipsed SAMI3 ionospheric model. Model results suggest 1.8, 3.5, and 7 MHz refracted at h≥125 km altitude with elevation angles θ≥22°, while 14 MHz signals refracted at h < 125 km with elevation angles θ < 10°.

JF - Fall AGU PB - American Geophysical Union Meeting CY - Washington, DC UR - https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm18/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/418915 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Analysis of the August 2017 Eclipse’s Effect on Radio Wave Propagation Employing a Raytrace Algorithm T2 - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) Y1 - 2017 A1 - M. L. Moses A1 - S. Burujupali A1 - K. Brosie A1 - S. Dixit A1 - G. D. Earle A1 - L. Kordella A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - C. Chitale AB -

The upcoming total solar eclipse over the continental United States on August 21 offers an unique opportunity to study the dependence of the ionospheric density and morphology on incident solar radiation. There are significant differences between the conditions during a solar eclipse and the conditions normally experienced at sunset and sunrise, including the west-to-east motion of the eclipse terminator, the duration of the event, the solar zenith angle, and the continued visibility of the corona. Taken together, these factors imply that unique ionospheric responses may be witnessed during eclipses, as measured by changes in radio frequency (RF) propagation. High Frequency (HF) propagation varies greatly depending on ionospheric conditions. Hence, our analysis will include data collected during the eclipse by several HF systems shown in Figure 1 including SuperDARN, temporary radio transceiver sites, and amateur radio networks such as the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) and Weak Signal Propagation Reporter Network (WSPRNet). The data analysis will be guided by raytrace models of HF propagation through an eclipsed ionosphere employing the HF propagation toolbox, PHaRLAP (created by Dr. Manuel Cervera).

JF - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) CY - Keystone, CO ER - TY - CONF T1 - Anthropogenic Space Weather T2 - HamSCI-UK Y1 - 2017 A1 - P. J. Erickson A1 - T. I. Gombosi A1 - D. N. Baker A1 - A. Balogh A1 - J. D. Huba A1 - L. J. Lanzerotti A1 - J. C. Foster A1 - J. M. Albert A1 - J. F. Fennell A1 - E. V. Mishin A1 - M. J. Starks A1 - A. N. Jaynes A1 - X. Li A1 - S. G. Kanekal A1 - C. Kletzing JF - HamSCI-UK PB - HamSCI-UK CY - Milton Keynes, UK ER - TY - CONF T1 - Developing a Solar Eclipse Simulation for Greater Good T2 - ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference Y1 - 2017 A1 - J. S. Vega A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - J. D. Katz A1 - J. D. Huba AB -

This paper presents our methodology for simulating the upcoming total solar eclipse that will be taking place on August 21, 2017. By taking advantage of a high-performance distributed computing cluster as well as a number of third-party scientific computing libraries we were able to efficiently simulate a large number of HF amateur radio contacts before, during, and after the upcoming eclipse. The data generated from the simulations allows us to peek into how the amateur radio community and radio propagation as a whole will be affected in preparation for the actual eclipse.

JF - ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference CY - St. Louis, MO UR - https://www.tapr.org/pub_dcc.html ER - TY - CONF T1 - Effects of the 2017 Solar Eclipse on HF Radio Propagation and the D-Region Ionosphere: Citizen Science Investigation T2 - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Y1 - 2017 A1 - C. D. Fry A1 - L. Rawlins A1 - L. H. Krause A1 - R. M. Suggs A1 - J. K. McTernan A1 - M. L. Adams A1 - D. L. Gallagher A1 - S. Anderson A1 - R. Allsbrooks IV AB -

August 21, 2017 provided a unique opportunity to investigate the effects of the total solar eclipse on high frequency (HF) radio propagation and ionospheric variability. In Marshall Space Flight Center’s partnership with the US Space and Rocket Center (USSRC) and Austin Peay State University (APSU), we engaged students and citizen scientists in an investigation of the eclipse effects on the mid-latitude ionosphere. The Amateur Radio community has developed several automated receiving and reporting networks that draw from widely-distributed, automated and manual radio stations to build a near-real time, global picture of changing radio propagation conditions. We used these networks and employed HF radio propagation modeling in our investigation. A Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) collaboration with the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) ensured that many thousands of amateur radio operators would be “on the air” communicating on eclipse day, promising an extremely large quantity of data would be collected. Activities included implementing and configuring software, monitoring the HF Amateur Radio frequency bands and collecting radio transmission data on days before, the day of, and days after the eclipse to build a continuous record of changing propagation conditions as the moon’s shadow marched across the United States. Our expectations were the D-Region ionosphere would be most impacted by the eclipse, enabling over-the-horizon radio propagation on lower HF frequencies (3.5 and 7 MHz) that are typically closed during the middle of the day. Post-eclipse radio propagation analysis provided insights into ionospheric variability due to the eclipse. We report on results, interpretation, and conclusions of these investigations.

JF - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting PB - American Geophysical Union CY - New Orleans, LA ER - TY - CONF T1 - Fitting Ionospheric Models Using Real-Time HF Amateur Radio Observations T2 - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) Y1 - 2017 A1 - J. D. Katz A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - J. S. Vega A1 - A. J. Gerrard A1 - R. B. Gerzoff A1 - P. J. Erickson A1 - E. S. Miller A1 - M. L. Moses A1 - F. Ceglia A1 - D. Pascoe A1 - N. Sinanis A1 - P. Smith A1 - R. Williams A1 - A. Shovkoplyas JF - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) CY - Keystone, CO ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI and the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse T2 - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) Y1 - 2017 A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - J. R. Ackermann A1 - G. D. Earle A1 - P. J. Erickson A1 - A. J. Gerrard A1 - R. B. Gerzoff A1 - S. W. Gunning A1 - M. Hirsch A1 - J. D. Katz A1 - S. R. Kaeppller A1 - R. W. McGwier A1 - E. S. Miller A1 - M. L. Moses A1 - G. Perry A1 - S. E. Reyer A1 - A. Shovkoplyas A1 - H. W. Silver A1 - J. S. Vega A1 - RBN Team JF - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) CY - Keystone, CO ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI and the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse T2 - HamSCI-UK Y1 - 2017 A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - W. Engelke A1 - J. D. Katz A1 - J. S. Vega JF - HamSCI-UK PB - HamSCI-UK CY - Milton Keynes, UK ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI and the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse T2 - 2017 Annual Meeting of the APS Mid-Atlantic Section Y1 - 2017 A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - J. D. Katz A1 - S. W. Gunning A1 - J. S. Vega A1 - M. L. West A1 - G. D. Earle A1 - M. L. Moses A1 - H. W. Silver JF - 2017 Annual Meeting of the APS Mid-Atlantic Section PB - American Physical Society CY - Newark, NJ ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI and the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse T2 - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting Y1 - 2017 A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - J. D. Katz A1 - S. W. Gunning A1 - J. S. Vega A1 - A. J. Gerrard A1 - M. L. Moses A1 - G. D. Earle A1 - M. L. West A1 - P. J. Erickson A1 - E. S. Miller A1 - R. Gerzoff A1 - H. Ward Silver JF - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting PB - American Geophysical Union CY - New Orleans, LA ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI and the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse (Experiment Description) T2 - ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference Y1 - 2017 A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - J. S. Vega A1 - J. D. Katz A1 - S. W. Gunning A1 - A. J. Gerrard A1 - M. L. Moses A1 - G. D. Earle A1 - E. S. Miller A1 - J. D. Huba A1 - M. Hirsch A1 - H. W. Silver A1 - S. E. Reyer A1 - J. R. Ackermann A1 - M. D. Suhar A1 - D. Bern AB -

On 21 August 2017, a total solar eclipse will cause the shadow of the moon to traverse the United States from Oregon to South Carolina in just over 90 minutes. The sudden absence of sunlight due to the eclipse, especially solar UV and x-rays, provides an impulse function to the upper atmosphere that modifies the neutral dynamics, plasma concentrations, and related properties. In spite of more than 60 years of research, open questions remain regarding eclipse-induced ionospheric impacts. Ham radio operators’ advanced technical skills and inherent interest in ionospheric science make the amateur radio community ideal for contributing to and and participating in large-scale ionospheric sounding experiments. This pa- per describes the Solar Eclipse QSO Party (SEQP), the HF Wideband Recording Experiment, and the Eclipse Frequency Measurement Test (FMT), three amateur radio experiments designed to study the 2017 total solar eclipse. These experi- ments are coordinated by HamSCI, the Ham radio Science Citizen Investigation, a citizen science organization that connects the amateur radio community to the professional space science research community for mutual benefit.

JF - ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference CY - St. Louis, MO UR - https://www.tapr.org/pub_dcc.html ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI and the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse (First Results) T2 - ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference Y1 - 2017 A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - W. Engelke A1 - J. D. Katz A1 - S. W. Gunning A1 - J. S. Vega JF - ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference CY - St. Louis, MO UR - https://www.tapr.org/pub_dcc.html ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI: The Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (Banquet Presentation) T2 - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) Y1 - 2017 A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - J. R. Ackermann A1 - J. Dzekevich A1 - G. D. Earle A1 - P. J. Erickson A1 - A. J. Gerrard A1 - R. B. Gerzoff A1 - S. W. Gunning A1 - M. Hirsch A1 - J. D. Katz A1 - S. R. Kaeppler A1 - R. W. McGwier A1 - E. S. Miller A1 - M. L. Moses A1 - G. Perry A1 - S. E. Reyer A1 - A. Shovkoplyas A1 - H. W. Silver A1 - J. S. Vega A1 - RBN Team JF - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) CY - Keystone, CO ER - TY - CONF T1 - The H.A.R.C. Database and Visualization Utilities T2 - ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference Y1 - 2017 A1 - J. D. Katz A1 - W. Engelke A1 - N. A. Frissell AB -

HamSCI’s goal is to construct a symbiotic relationship between the formal research community and the Amateur Radio community. To facilitate this transfer of knowledge HamSCI must pioneer technologies that allow scientists to easily obtain and understand Amateur Radio data. This task necessitates the creation of warehousing and visualization facilities that allow scientists to easily understand and make use of our data sets. We are currently testing a database and visualization toolkit designed to handle our existing 2 billion-record long QSO log. This data set represents a compiled version of data gathered by the Reverse Beacon Network, WSPRNet, and PSKReporter. Our goal is to build a robust, fast, and queryable front end to the massive, and currently underuti- lized, data sources created by Amateur Radio operators.

JF - ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference CY - St. Louis, MO UR - https://www.tapr.org/pub_dcc.html ER - TY - CONF T1 - Ionospheric Impacts of the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse T2 - Dayton Hamvention Y1 - 2017 A1 - Magalina Moses A1 - Gregory Earle A1 - Sushma Burujupalli A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Lee Kordella A1 - Snehal Dixit A1 - Charudatta Chitale A1 - Xiayou Han JF - Dayton Hamvention CY - Xenia, OH ER - TY - CONF T1 - Ionospheric Simulations of the 2017 Solar Eclipse QSO Party T2 - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) Y1 - 2017 A1 - N. A. Frissell A1 - J. S. Vega A1 - J. D. Katz A1 - M. L. Moses A1 - G. D. Earle A1 - S. W. Gunning A1 - A. J. Gerrard A1 - E. S. Miller A1 - M. L. West A1 - F. Ceglia A1 - D. Pascoe A1 - N. Sinanis A1 - P. Smith A1 - R. Williams A1 - A. Shovkoplyas A1 - H. W. Silver JF - NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) CY - Keystone, CO ER - TY - CONF T1 - The Solar Eclipse QSO Party: Ionospheric Sounding Using Ham Radio QSOs T2 - Dayton Hamvention Y1 - 2017 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Joshua D. Katz A1 - Andrew J. Gerrard A1 - Magdalina Moses A1 - Gregory D. Earle A1 - Robert W. McGwier A1 - Ethan S. Miller A1 - Stephen Kaeppler A1 - H. W. Silver AB -

The 2017 Total Solar Eclipse is expected to temporarily induce profound changes on ionospheric structure, dynamics, and radio propagation. The ARRL and HamSCI are sponsoring a Solar Eclipse QSO Party (SEQP) that will be used to generate to assist in imaging ionospheric changes before, during, and after the eclipse. Data will be collected through participant submitted logs and the use of automated tools such as the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN), PSKReporter, and WSPRNet. SEQP rules and a prediction of results will be presented.

JF - Dayton Hamvention CY - Xenia, OH ER - TY - CONF T1 - On the use of solar eclipses to study the ionosphere T2 - 15th International Ionospheric Effects Symposium IES2017 Y1 - 2017 A1 - W. Liles A1 - C. Mitchell A1 - M. Cohen A1 - G. Earle A1 - N. Frissell A1 - K. Kirby-Patel A1 - L. Lukes A1 - E. Miller A1 - M. Moses A1 - J. Nelson A1 - J. Rockway AB -

Exploring the effects of solar eclipses on radio wave propagation has been an active area of research since the first experiments conducted in 1912. In the first few decades of ionospheric physics, researchers started to explore the natural laboratory of the upper atmosphere. Solar eclipses offered a rare opportunity to undertake an active experiment. The results stimulated much scientific discussion.
Early users of radio noticed that propagation was different during night and day. A solar eclipse provided the opportunity to study this day/night effect with much sharper boundaries than at sunrise and sunset, when gradual changes occur along with temperature changes in the atmosphere and variations in the sun angle.
Plots of amplitude time series were hypothesized to indicate the recombination rates and re- ionization rates of the ionosphere during and after the eclipse, though not all time-amplitude plots showed the same curve shapes. A few studies used multiple receivers paired with one transmitter for one eclipse, with a 5:1 ratio as the upper bound. In these cases, the signal amplitude plots generated for data received from the five receive sites for one transmitter varied greatly in shape.

JF - 15th International Ionospheric Effects Symposium IES2017 CY - Alexandria, VA ER - TY - CONF T1 - What is HamSCI? T2 - Dayton Hamvention Y1 - 2017 A1 - N. A. Frissell AB -

A brief overview of HamSCI’s mission, people, and projects are presented.

JF - Dayton Hamvention CY - Xenia, OH ER - TY - CONF T1 - Characterizing the Ionosphere Using a Commercial Off the Shelf Software Defined Radio System T2 - Fall 2016 American Geophysical Union Y1 - 2016 A1 - Magdalina L. Moses A1 - S. Dixit A1 - Gregory D. Earle A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Lee Kordella A1 - Xiaoyu Han A1 - Charudatta Chitale AB -

On August 21, 2017, there will be a total solar eclipse over the continental United States (US). Solar eclipses offer a way to study the dependence of the ionospheric density and morphology on incident solar radiation. There are significant differences between the conditions during a solar eclipse and the conditions normally experienced at sunset and sunrise, including the east-west motion of the eclipse terminator, the speed of the transition, and the continued visibility of the corona throughout the eclipse interval. Taken together, these factors imply that unique ionospheric responses may be witnessed during eclipses including variations in the density and altitude of the F2 peak. In order to study these changes, we will establish four temporary field stations along the path of totality to track the maximum usable frequency (MUF) across the US over the course of the eclipse. Each field station shall consist of a commercial off the shelf (COTS) software defined radio (SDR) transceiver, a laptop computer running automatic link establishment (ALE) software, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver for timing, and a COTS antenna. Custom ALE software will automate the sites’ operation during the experiment to determine the MUF. As a validation test prior to the eclipse, we established three sites along the east coast to confirm that the SDRs are capable of inferring ionospheric conditions. The preliminary results characterize the effects of the sunrise/sunset terminator on our system’s measurements as well as the change in foF2 during different seasons and under different geomagnetic conditions.

JF - Fall 2016 American Geophysical Union PB - American Geophysical Union CY - San Francsico UR - http://hamsci.org/sites/default/files/publications/2016_AGU_Moses.pdf ER - TY - CONF T1 - HamSCI: The Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation T2 - Fall 2016 American Geophysical Union Y1 - 2016 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Magdalina L. Moses A1 - Gregory Earle A1 - Robert W. McGwier A1 - Ethan S. Miller A1 - Steven R. Kaeppler A1 - H. Ward Silver A1 - Felipe Ceglia A1 - David Pascoe A1 - Nicholas Sinanis A1 - Peter Smith A1 - Richard Williams A1 - Alex Shovkoplyas A1 - Andrew J. Gerrard AB -

Amateur (or “ham”) radio operators are individuals with a non-pecuniary interest in radio technology, engineering, communications, science, and public service. They are licensed by their national governments to transmit on amateur radio frequencies. In many jurisdictions, there is no age requirement for a ham radio license, and operators from diverse backgrounds participate. There are more than 740,000 hams in the US, and over 3 million (estimated) worldwide. Many amateur communications are conducted using transionospheric links and thus affected by space weather and ionospheric processes. Recent technological advances have enabled the development of automated ham radio observation networks (e.g. the Reverse Beacon Network, www.reversebeacon.net) and specialized operating modes for the study of weak-signal propagation. The data from these networks have been shown to be useful for the study of ionospheric processes. In order to connect professional researchers with the volunteer-based ham radio community, HamSCI (Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation, www.hamsci.org) has been established. HamSCI is a platform for publicizing and promoting projects that are consistent with the following objectives: (1) Advance scientific research and understanding through amateur radio activities. (2) Encourage the development of new technologies to support this research. (3) Provide educational opportunities for the amateur community and the general public. HamSCI researchers are working with the American Radio Relay League (ARRL, www.arrl.org) to publicize these objectives and recruit interested hams. The ARRL is the US national organization for amateur radio with a membership of over 170,000 and a monthly magazine, QST. HamSCI is currently preparing to support ionospheric research connected to the 21 Aug 2017 Total Solar Eclipse by expanding coverage of the Reverse Beacon Network and organizing a large-scale ham radio operating event (“QSO Party”) to generate data during the eclipse.

JF - Fall 2016 American Geophysical Union PB - American Geophysical Union CY - San Francisco UR - http://hamsci.org/sites/default/files/publications/2016_AGU_Frissell_HamSCI.pdf ER - TY - CONF T1 - Dayside Ionospheric Response to X-Class Solar Flare Events Observed with Reverse Beacon Network High Frequency Communication Links T2 - Virginia Tech REU Symposium - Poster Presentation Y1 - 2015 A1 - Carson O. Squibb A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - J. Michael Ruohoniemi A1 - Joseph B. H. Baker A1 - Robyn Fiori A1 - Magdalina L. Moses JF - Virginia Tech REU Symposium - Poster Presentation PB - Virginia Tech REU Program CY - Blacksburg, VA UR - http://hamsci.org/sites/default/files/article/file/Csquibb_REU2015_Poster.pdf ER - TY - CONF T1 - e-POP Radio Science Using Amateur Radio Transmissions T2 - Fall AGU - Poster Presentation Y1 - 2015 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Gareth Perry A1 - Ethan S. Miller A1 - Alex Shovkoplyas A1 - Magdalina Moses A1 - H. James A1 - Andrew Yau AB -

A major component of the enhanced Polar Outflow Probe (e-POP) Radio Receiver Instrument (RRI) mission is to utilize artificially generated radio emissions to study High Frequency (HF) radio wave propagation in the ionosphere. In the North American and European sectors, communications between amateur radio operators are a persistent and abundant source source of HF transmissions. We present the results of HF radio wave propagation experiments using amateur radio transmissions as an HF source for e-POP RRI. We detail how a distributed and autonomously operated amateur radio network can be leveraged to study HF radio wave propagation as well as the structuring and dynamics of the ionosphere over a large geographic region. In one case, the sudden disappearance of nearly two-dozen amateur radio HF sources located in the midwestern United States was used to detect a enhancement in foF2 in that same region. We compare our results to those from other more conventional radio instruments and models of the ionosphere to demonstrate the scientific merit of incorporating amateur radio networks for radio science at HF.

JF - Fall AGU - Poster Presentation PB - American Geophysical Union CY - San Francisco, CA ER - TY - CONF T1 - Experiment Design to Assess Ionospheric Perturbations During the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse T2 - Fall AGU - Poster Presentation Y1 - 2015 A1 - Magdalina Moses A1 - Gregory Earle A1 - Nathaniel Frissell A1 - Stephen Kaeppler AB -

On August 21, 2017, there will be a total solar eclipse over the United States traveling from Oregon to South Carolina. Solar eclipses offer a way to study the dependence of the ionospheric density and morphology on incident solar radiation. There are significant differences between the conditions during a solar eclipse and the conditions normally experienced at sunset and sunrise, including the east-west motion of the eclipse terminator, the speed of the transition, and the continued visibility of the corona throughout the eclipse interval. Taken together, these factors imply that unique ionospheric responses may be witnessed during eclipses. These include changes in the ionospheric electric fields, changes in the Total Electron Content (TEC) along paths through the eclipsed region, and variations in the density and altitude of the F2 peak. Several studies over the past century investigated these effects; however, some of the results from these studies are contradictory. These contradictions and the studies’ limited spatial resolution leave many fundamental questions unanswered. The advent of several mid-latitude Global Positioning System (GPS) and radar networks in the past few decades, such as the Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) system and the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) radar system, have enabled ionospheric observations with hitherto unprecedented spatial resolution. Also, the establishment of several nationwide amateur radio reporting systems, such as the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) that monitors radio wave propagation on the high frequency (HF) bands, offers the potential for evaluating changes in ionospheric conditions with unprecedented spatial resolution. We propose to study the effects of the total solar eclipse on the ionosphere using a combination of GPS receivers, the SuperDARN radar system, HF band amateur radio, and plasma modeling. The overall objectives of this study are to characterize the changes in F-region plasma morphology during the eclipse over a larger spatial domain than any previous eclipse experiment. In addition, the amateur radio component of our study offers a unique opportunity to further engage the amateur radio community nationwide in a scientific study.

JF - Fall AGU - Poster Presentation PB - American Geophysical Union CY - San Francisco, CA ER - TY - ABST T1 - HamSCI and the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse (HamSCI Founding Document) Y1 - 2015 A1 - Nathaniel A. Frissell A1 - Magdalina L. Moses A1 - Gregory D. Earle A1 - Robert McGwier A1 - H. Ward Silver UR - https://hamsci.org/publications/hamsci-and-2017-total-solar-eclipse-hamsci-founding-document ER - TY - CONF T1 - The Ionosphere's Pocket Litter: Exploiting Crowd-Sourced Observations T2 - Fall AGU - Oral Presentation Y1 - 2015 A1 - Ethan S. Miller A1 - Nathaniel Frissell A1 - Stephen Kaeppler A1 - Robert Demajistre A1 - Andrew Knuth AB -

One of the biggest challenges faced in developing and testing our understanding of the ionosphere is acquiring data that characterizes the latitudinal and longitudinal variability of the ionosphere. While there are extensive networks of ground sites that sample the vertical distribution, we have rather poor coverage over the oceans and in parts of the southern hemisphere. Our ability to validate the ionospheric models is limited by the lack of point measurements and those measurements that essentially constitute characterization of horizontal gradients. In this talk, we discuss and demonstrate the use of various types of crowd-sourced information that enables us to extend our coverage over these regions. We will discuss new sources of these data, concepts for new experiments and the use of these data in assimilative models. We note that there are new, low cost options for obtaining data that broaden the participation beyond the aeronomy/ionospheric community.

JF - Fall AGU - Oral Presentation PB - American Geophysical Union CY - San Francisco, CA ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Ionospheric Sounding Using Real-Time Amateur Radio Reporting Networks JF - Space Weather Y1 - 2014 A1 - Frissell, N. A. A1 - Miller, E. S. A1 - Kaeppler, S. R. A1 - Ceglia, F. A1 - Pascoe, D. A1 - Sinanis, N. A1 - Smith, P. A1 - Williams, R. A1 - Shovkoplyas, A. KW - Instruments and techniques KW - ionosphere KW - Ionospheric effects on radio waves KW - Solar effects AB -

Amateur radio reporting networks, such as the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN), PSKReporter, and the Weak Signal Propagation Network, are powerful tools for remote sensing the ionosphere. These voluntarily constructed and operated networks provide real-time and archival data that could be used for space weather operations, forecasting, and research. The potential exists for the study of both global and localized effects. The capability of one such network to detect space weather disturbances is demonstrated by examining the impacts on RBN-observed HF propagation paths of an X2.9 class solar flare detected by the GOES 15 satellite. Prior to the solar flare, the RBN observed strong HF propagation conditions between multiple continents, primarily Europe, North America, and South America. Immediately following the GOES 15 detection of the solar flare, the number of reported global RBN propagation paths dropped to less than 35% that of prior observations. After the flare, the RBN showed the gradual recovery of HF propagation conditions.

VL - 12 UR - http://hamsci.org/sites/default/files/publications/2014_SpaceWeather_Frissell_RBN.pdf ER -