@proceedings {834, title = {Extreme Values in Short-Term 20 m Sequential Matched WSPR Observations}, year = {2024}, month = {03/2024}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, abstract = {

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.

}, author = {Robert B. Gerzoff and Nathaniel A. Frissell} } @proceedings {836, title = {Possible Drivers of Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances by Analysis of Aggregated Ham Radio Contacts}, year = {2024}, month = {03/2024}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, abstract = {

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{\textquoteright}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.

}, author = {Diego Sanchez and Mary Lou West and Nathaniel A. Frissell and Gareth W. Perry and William D. Engelke and Robert B. Gerzoff and Philip J. Erickson and J. Michael Ruohoniemi and Joseph B. H. Baker and V. Lynn Harvey} } @proceedings {764, title = {Medium Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances and their Connection to the Lower and Middle Atmosphere}, year = {2023}, month = {03/2023}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA}, author = {Nathaniel A. Frissell and Francis Tholley and V. Lynn Harvey and Sophie R. Phillips and Katrina Bossert and Sevag Derghazarian and Larisa Goncharenko and Richard Collins and Mary Lou West and Diego F. Sanchez and Gareth W. Perry and Robert B. Gerzoff and Philip J. Erickson and William D. Engelke and Nicholas Callahan and Lucas Underbakke and Travis Atkison and J. Michael Ruohoniemi and Joseph B. H. Baker} } @article {667, title = {Amateur Radio: An Integral Tool for Atmospheric, Ionospheric, and Space Physics Research and Operations}, journal = {White Paper Submitted to the National Academy of Sciences Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics) 2024-2033}, year = {2022}, doi = {10.3847/25c2cfeb.18632d86}, author = {Nathaniel A. Frissell and Laura Brandt and Stephen A. Cerwin and Kristina V. Collins and David Kazdan and John Gibbons and William D. Engelke and Rachel M. Frissell and Robert B. Gerzoff and Stephen R. Kaeppler and Vincent Ledvina and William Liles and Michael Lombardi and Elizabeth MacDonald and Francesca Di Mare and Ethan S. Miller and Gareth W. Perry and Jonathan D. Rizzo and Diego F. Sanchez and H. Lawrence Serra and H. Ward Silver and David R. Themens and Mary Lou West} } @article {670, title = {Fostering Collaborations with the Amateur Radio Community}, journal = {White Paper Submitted to the National Academy of Sciences Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics) 2024-2033}, year = {2022}, doi = {10.3847/25c2cfeb.09fe22b4}, author = {Nathaniel A. Frissell and Laura Brandt and Stephen A. Cerwin and Kristina V. Collins and Timothy J. Duffy and David Kazdan and John Gibbons and William D. Engelke and Rachel M. Frissell and Robert B. Gerzoff and Stephen R. Kaeppler and Vincent Ledvina and William Liles and Elizabeth MacDonald and Gareth W. Perry and Jonathan D. Rizzo and Diego F. Sanchez and H. Lawrence Serra and H. Ward Silver and Tamitha Mulligan Skov and Mary Lou West} } @proceedings {616, title = {Short-Term Variability Associated with 20 Meter Sequential Matched WSPR Observations: A Statistical Exploratory Study}, year = {2022}, month = {03/2022}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Huntsville, AL}, abstract = {

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.

}, author = {Robert B. Gerzoff and Nathaniel A. Frissell} }