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 - 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 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: 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 -