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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - AC Motor Drive With Power Factor Correction Using Arduino T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Christian D. Chakiris A1 - Robert C. Brudnicki A1 - Robert D. Troy A1 - John A. Nelson A1 - Matthew K. Dittmar A1 - Augustine D. Brapoh Jr. A1 - Milton Andrade A1 - Sade Lugo A1 - Aidan T. Szabo A1 - Kenneth Dudeck AB -

By using various electrical and computer engineering concepts, this project incorporates different sectors explored through current curriculum. By implementing these concepts, a fully functioning AC motor controller will be designed. The project is split into 5 groups: AC to DC power conversion, DC to AC power control, power factor correction, capacitor bank control, and Arduino interfacing, all working on separate critical components for the motor controller. As this is currently a work in progress, actual conclusions cannot be made, but speculation based on calculations is available.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - Electrostatic and Quantum Size Effects in Short Channel MOSFETs T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Robert Troy A1 - Aidan Szabo A1 - Argyros Varonides AB -
Two dimensional electrostatics and quantum size effects have become important features of modern short channel MOSFET device design where the surface potential becomes spatially dependent affecting the threshold voltage Several nanometer channel lengths between Source and Drain cause quantum effects that need to be addressed in modern MOSFET design. We present a model of electron transport in the 2D inversion layer, where (a) electrostatic and (b) quantum size effects are pointed out.
JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - Field-Aligned Potential Drops in an Ionospheric Streamer T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Jason Derr A1 - Sina Sadegzadeh A1 - Richard Wolf A1 - Frank Toffoletto A1 - Jian Yang A1 - Weiqin Sun AB -

Field-aligned potential drops occur primarily in regions of strong upward field-aligned currents, where they can decouple the ionospheric and magnetospheric dynamics. They have been a challenge to incorporate into global magnetosphere modeling efforts. Low-entropy bubbles can form ionospheric streamers in the context of field-aligned potential drops. We have made a simple zeroth-order analytic model with order-of-magnitude reasonable field values. The model’s parameter space comprises resistivity, bubble asymmetry, conductivity enhancement, and an additional parameter which can be used to adjust the entropy profiles across the bubble. We are currently exploring this parameter space and examining the resulting differences between the resulting ionospheric and magnetospheric electric fields (including electric field-reversals).  An examination of whether bursty bulk flows or flow bursts are more likely to be responsible for streamers is ongoing.  Both previous runs of the Rice Convection Model and data are being used to fit parameters and examine reasonable parameter regimes.

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 - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers at the University of Scranton T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Cuong Nguyen A1 - Veronica Romanek A1 - Francis Lynch Jr. A1 - Joseph Tholley A1 - Robert Troy A1 - Matthew Dittmar A1 - John Nelson A1 - Sade Lugo AB -

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an international professional association for all things electronic engineering and electrical engineering. The mission of the IEEE is “advancing technology for the benefit of humanity”. At the University of Scranton, we help physics and engineering majors see the possibilities of where they could end up after college in their respective fields. Weekly seminars are tailored to present the business processes involved and innovative ideas developed by various researchers, companies, and industries. The club also serves as the social network through which our students and alumni can share their experiences and form a friendship that transcends many stages of life.

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 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 - Power Factor Detection and Correction of a Variable Speed AC motor T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Christian Chakirus A1 - Robert Brudnicki A1 - Robert Troy A1 - Kenneth Dudeck JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - Generic T1 - Project HALO: An Effort to Provide Continuous Meteorological Observations of the April 8th, 2024 Total Solar Eclipse T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2023 Y1 - 2023 A1 - Wesley Taylor A1 - Allison Krantz A1 - Joshua Kinsky A1 - Nichole Behrenhauser A1 - Alex Colgate A1 - Melodie Martinez-Manahan AB -

Project HALO aims to provide continuous meteorological monitoring of the total solar eclipse on April 8th, 2024. The project's preliminary goals are to determine whether or not the boundary layer temperature inversion generated by the eclipse can be considered a function of latitude. To complete this endeavor, we seek to create a network of observation teams to collect data on the day of the eclipse. We hope to provide a space for a discussion on interest, logistics, and the possibility of expanding the scope of the project to potentially include the monitoring of the solar corona, atmospheric compositional dynamics, and other topics of interest. Since the project will still be in its planning phase, not all details will be determined by the time of the conference.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2023 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Validating Ionospheric Models Against Technologically Relevant MetricsAbstractPlain Language SummaryKey Points JF - Space Weather Y1 - 2023 A1 - Chartier, A. T. A1 - Steele, J. A1 - Sugar, G. A1 - Themens, D. R. A1 - Vines, S. K. A1 - Huba, J. D. AB -

New, open access tools have been developed to validate ionospheric models in terms of technologically relevant metrics. These are ionospheric errors on GPS 3D position, HF ham radio communications, and peak F-region density. To demonstrate these tools, we have used output from Sami is Another Model of the Ionosphere (SAMI3) driven by high-latitude electric potentials derived from Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment, covering the first available month of operation using Iridium-NEXT data (March 2019). Output of this model is now available for visualization and download via https://sami3.jhuapl.edu. The GPS test indicates SAMI3 reduces ionospheric errors on 3D position solutions from 1.9 m with no model to 1.6 m on average (maximum error: 14.2 m without correction, 13.9 m with correction). SAMI3 predicts 55.5% of reported amateur radio links between 2–30 MHz and 500–2,000 km. Autoscaled and then machine learning “cleaned” Digisonde NmF2 data indicate a 1.0 × 1011 el. m3 median positive bias in SAMI3 (equivalent to a 27% overestimation). The positive NmF2 bias is largest during the daytime, which may explain the relatively good performance in predicting HF links then. The underlying data sources and software used here are publicly available, so that interested groups may apply these tests to other models and time intervals.

VL - 21 UR - https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023SW003590https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2023SW003590https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2023SW003590 IS - 12 JO - Space Weather 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 - Generic T1 - An Algorithm for Determining the Timing of Components within the HamSCI-WWV/WWVH Scientific Test Signal T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - Cuong Nguyen A1 - Tyler Jordan A1 - Joseph Tholley A1 - Vaibhavi Patel AB -

Beginning in November 2021, WWV and WWVH radio stations have been broadcasting a test signal developed by a Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) working group to study what additional ionospheric measurements can be gleaned from the WWV/WWVH transmitter beyond carrier Doppler shift and time-of-flight of standard timing pulses. The signal consists of various individual components including tones, chirps, and Gaussian noise bursts [1]. Interested operators record the signal data at their location, providing researchers with the data naturally manipulated in many different ways [2]. This project seeks to precisely identify the timing of each signal component in the recorded data. The algorithm involves passing the data through various software filters to remove unwanted elements such as frequencies outside of range of interest, DC offset, and so on. Correlation is then performed between the recorded data and each original component to produce their timing. The performance of the algorithm itself is estimated by calculating the SNR of each received signal and the corresponding confidence interval of the algorithm. The results can help to explain the broken symmetry between the transmitted signal and the received signal.

References
[1] Lombardi. “Radio Station WWV.” NIST, 16 Nov. 2021, https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division/time-distribution/radio-station-wwv.
[2] Pamela.corey@nist.gov. “WWV/WWVH Scientific Modulation Working Group.” NIST, 5 Nov. 2021, https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division/time-services/wwvwwvh-scientific-modulation-working-group.

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 - Broadband Loop Antennas and Preamplifiers for Receiving VLF to HF T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2022 Y1 - 2022 A1 - David McGaw A1 - Mike Trimpi A1 - James LaBelle AB -

Wire loop antennas have been used to receive natural and man-made signals over wide bands from 100kHz to 10MHz.  This talk will cover size considerations and preamplifier design.

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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - K2MFF: Nearly a Century of Advancing the Radio Art at NJIT T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2021 Y1 - 2021 A1 - Gareth W. Perry A1 - F. Chu A1 - Peter Teklinski AB -

The New Jersey Institute of Technology Amateur Radio Club (NJITARC), K2MFF, has been an active part of the NJIT community for nearly a century.  K2MFF has been a diligent community member, volunteering in such large-scale events as the New York City Marathon for over 30 years.  Not only that, K2MFF, has been a fertile ground for developing young technical talent and advances in the radio art.  Indeed, K2MFF has been a supporter and contributor to the HamSCI effort since its inception.  In this presentation, we will offer a brief history of K2MFF, and discuss the current status and activities of the club.  We will also offer some prognosis of the club’s future directions.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2021 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA (Virtual) UR - https://hamsci2021-uscranton.ipostersessions.com/?s=6A-73-A8-1F-B3-F9-DE-00-42-92-9A-F7-6B-59-C4-ED 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 - 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 - Traveling ionospheric disturbances tracked through Doppler-shifted AM radio transmissions T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2021 Y1 - 2021 A1 - Claire C. Trop A1 - James LaBelle A1 - Philip J. Erickson A1 - Shunrong Zhang A1 - David McGaw A1 - Terrence Kovacs AB -

A comprehensive understanding of the ionosphere is critical for many technologies, particularly those that rely on the propagation of radio waves. This study shows that traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs), dawn and dusk signal divergence (terminators), and spread F can be tracked and analyzed using clear channel AM radio transmissions and a set of geographically distributed receivers. Early attempts by our research group to track TIDs by AM radio signals reflected from the F region of the ionosphere generated results in conflict with those derived from GPS/TEC mapping methods [Chilcote et al., 2015]. This study seeks to resolve those conflicts with a more sophisticated array of receivers spread throughout the northeastern United States. Specifically, the receivers form a ring around an 810 kHz AM radio station in Schenectady, New York. A minimum of four receivers have been operational from 3/19/20 to the present and Doppler-shifted signals, attributed to TID events, have been consistently visible across several radio channels with frequencies between 800 to 1600kHz. We have focused our study thus far on the terminator signals which appear to be consistent with photochemistry effects and on TID wave characteristic analysis. We have collected a set of exceptional TID events over the past nine months and have correlated our calculated wave characteristics with the data from GNSS TEC, digisonde, and SuperDARN in general finding good agreement between our technique and these established methods. While our study still seeks to clarify discrepancies in our data similar to those seen by Chilcote in the original study, the consistency with which our data typically agrees with other methods supports the validity of using AM radio transmissions to track TIDs in addition to other ionospheric phenomena such as the terminator. 

Reference: Chilcote, M., et al. (2015), Detection of traveling ionospheric disturbances by medium-frequency Doppler sounding using AM radio transmissions, Radio Sci., 50, doi:10.1002/2014RS005617.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2021 PB - HamSCI CY - Scranton, PA (Virtual) ER - TY - CONF T1 - Patterns in Received Noise: Methods, Observations and Questions (ePoster) T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2020 Y1 - 2020 A1 - Gwyn Griffiths A1 - Rob Robinett A1 - Glenn Elmore A1 - Clint Turner A1 - Tom Bunch A1 - Dennis Benischek AB -

There are valid concerns that local noise, often as common mode, is an increasing problem for radio amateurs. By adding two noise measurement algorithms to a robust Weak Signal Propagation Reporter (WSPR) processing and reporting package ‐ wsprdaemon ‐ we now have the capability to record and share noise level measurements from over twenty amateur stations. With locations from Maui to Moscow, and ranging from very quiet rural Northern California, Utah, and Austria to more typical suburban noise environments we have observed a multitude of patterns in received noise on the LF to HF bands (136 kHz to 28 MHz). These patterns show clearly where and when the local noise floor becomes a limiting factor. More intriguingly, we have observed coherent fluctuations in the noise over periods of hours at a pair stations 1000 km apart. Now with observations from a 'diamond' of four stations we can look in more detail at the timing of these coherent fluctuations. With over six months of observations every two minutes from several stations we can show systematic seasonal variations in the daily noise patterns. We think we understand the root causes of some of the features, such as the local noon minimum and the post‐sunset maximum in late spring and summer. However, we have yet to reach a satisfactory understanding for some patterns, including a transition to a daytime noise maximum in autumn. The challenging task of calibration to a field strength in free space will not be ignored, but for this presentation it will be set aside as we concentrate on patterns and not absolute noise levels. This presentation will outline the noise measurement methods, show examples of noise patterns from several stations, introduce the on‐line database and its Grafana interface that delegates will be able to explore, and we will seek comments, insights and suggestions as to causes for the patterns and next steps for this collaborative effort.

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 - How Real-Time Scoreboards Change Contesting T2 - Dayton Hamvention Y1 - 2019 A1 - Victor Androsov A1 - Randy Thompson JF - Dayton Hamvention PB - Ham Radio 2.0 CY - Xenia, OH ER - TY - CONF T1 - A Research Quality, Low Power and Cost Magnetometer Package for use in Citizen Science (Demonstration) T2 - HamSCI Workshop 2019 Y1 - 2019 A1 - Mark Moldwin A1 - Kit Ng A1 - Jacob Thoma A1 - Leonardo Regoli A1 - Maya Pandya AB -

A high precision low cost magnetometer package combining GPS time keeping, data logging, real time graphing, and wifi data distribution is under development by the Moldwin Magnetics Laboratory at the University of Michigan. The prototype collects data for use in geomagnetic sensing. The system includes a Solar panel, a 12V lead acid battery, and a charge controller. All electronics are enclosed in a weatherproof plastic case, except for the magnetometer, which is housed separately to reduce noise. Data is processed by a raspberry pi and displayed on a color HDMI LCD screen. Our goal of keeping costs low helps distribute the system to citizens to form a network of magnetometers to better monitor our environment.

JF - HamSCI Workshop 2019 PB - HamSCI CY - Cleveland, OH 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 -