@proceedings {1026,
	title = {Analyzing Meteor Scatter Communications Through Citizen Science and Data Driven Methods},
	year = {2026},
	month = {03/2026},
	publisher = {HamSCI},
	address = {Newington, CT},
	abstract = {<p>Meteor scatter communication is a radio propagation technique that exploits ionized trails produced by meteoroids as they enter Earth{\textquoteright}s atmosphere, enabling brief long-distance radio contacts. As meteors enter the Earth{\textquoteright}s atmosphere, they produce ionized trails which amateur radio operators utilize to bounce signals off, enabling short bursts of long-distance communication. This research investigates the historical growth, practical impact, and physical principles of the effect meteor scatter has on radio communication. Taking advantage of major meteor scatter events, including the Perseids and Geminids, data was collected during organized Meteor Scatter QSO Parties (MSQP). Amateur radio citizen scientists study ionospheric propagation by making contacts using meteor trails using diverse equipment and the WSJT-X digital communication software. The collected data sets from everyone containing a mixture of meteor scatter signals, aircraft scatter, and other propagations are compiled and submitted to an online public database for approval. To deal with the immense amount of data, a machine learning program was created to filter and classify data as meteor scatter events. This research indicates the usefulness of machine learning to isolate events within large scale data sets while gaining a deeper understanding of utilizing meteor induced ionization and its role in radio propagation.</p>
},
	author = {Nina Tormann and Nathaniel Frissell and Robert Suggs and Jay Weitzen and Gary Mikitin and Kuldeep Pandey and Mary Lou West}
}
@proceedings {931,
	title = {Analysis by Citizen Scientists of Doppler Radio Observations of the April, 2024 Solar Eclipse},
	year = {2025},
	month = {03/2025},
	publisher = {HamSCI},
	address = {Newark, NJ},
	abstract = {<p>The HamSCI community (Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation) has analyzed high frequency radio observations of the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024 and found interesting correlations. Nearly fifty ham radio operators recorded over 200 Doppler time series of the national time standard transmitters WWV in Colorado and CHU in Canada using specialized GRAPE (Great Radio Amateur Propagation Experiment) receivers. These observations are archived at the Personal Space Weather Station website, and cover ten frequencies from 0.6 to 25 MHz. There were over sixty different paths from transmitter to receiver at various angles across and along the path of totality from Texas to Maine. For each observation six citizen scientists collected demographic data, found distances and midpoints (where radio signals are reflected from the ionosphere), noted local eclipse information, measured the maximum Doppler shifts, counted multi-path signals, and judged the symmetry of the S-shaped Doppler curves over ingress and egress time periods. We found that the Doppler shifts depend mostly on the Sun{\textquoteright}s obscuration at the midpoint, but also on the carrier frequency and the distance between the transmitter and the receiver. At closer distances a radio wave measured a greater change in the path length as the bottom of the ionosphere retreated skyward and then returned as the Moon uncovered the Sun. \&nbsp;</p>
},
	author = {Mary Lou West and Nathaniel Frissell and Gary Mikitin and Gregory Popelas and Ronald Wilcox and McKenzie Denton and Robert Spalletta and William Engelke and Gwyn Griffiths and Steve Cerwin}
}
