@proceedings {858, title = {Analysis of the HamSCI Solar Eclipse High Frequency Time Difference of Arrival Experiment Observations Using Automated Techniques}, year = {2024}, month = {03/2024}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, abstract = {

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.

}, author = {Alexandros Papadopoulos and Gerrard Piccini and Thomas Pisano and Nicholas Guerra and Matthew Felicia and Evan Hromisin and Aidan Montare and Kristina Collins and Paul Bilberry and Samuel Blackshear and Steve Cerwin and Nathaniel A. Frissell} } @proceedings {854, title = {ARDC - 44Net and Grants}, year = {2024}, month = {03/2024}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, abstract = {

Amateur Radio Digital Communications provides funding through grants for Amateur Radio related projects and has 12 million static and routable IPv4 addresses.\  In this presentation you will shown how to apply for and use these resources in your research projects.

}, author = {John Hayes} } @proceedings {851, title = {CatSat: CubeSat Engineering and Communication Technologies}, year = {2024}, month = {03/2024}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, abstract = {

As more spacecraft enter low-Earth orbit each year, there is an increasing need to improve the downlink speed of small satellites and understand more about the Earth{\textquoteright}s atmosphere. CatSat is a 6U CubeSat designed to test a novel inflatable antenna design and conduct ionospheric research with an onboard HF antenna. The inflatable antenna is a solution for future high speed communication with small satellites as current small satellites are limited in data transmission capabilities by stringent size and mass constraints. The HF antenna experiment will probe the Earth{\textquoteright}s ionosphere during twilight by analyzing WSPR and other HF radio transmissions from the ground. CatSat was designed and built primarily by students at the University of Arizona in partnership with Tucson companies. CatSat is fully qualified for launch in 2024. Current work involves the development of X-band and UHF ground stations and preparations for flight operations.

}, author = {Shae Henley and Walter Rahmer} } @proceedings {827, title = {Early Results from the 2023 Eclipse Medium Wave Recordings}, year = {2024}, month = {03/2024}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, abstract = {

During the annular eclipse of 2023, HamSCI organized 13 volunteers in Canada, US, Mexico and Portugal to record the entire medium wave band (525-1705kHz) using software defined radios, both during the eclipse and for the same time period on other days, as well as during dawn and dusk periods. This medium wave data should extend our understanding of the eclipse{\textquoteright}s influence on the ionosphere by using frequencies well below HF. Since the eclipse, all 10 TB of medium wave data has been gathered and archived, followed by preliminary processing using inexpensive commercial software, such that all signal strength data from each participant is now available to 0.1Hz resolution for all broadcast channels.\  In addition, for all broadcast channels, and from every participant, useful visualization of signal variations during the eclipse is now available, as well as for all other time periods recorded.\ Many participants did see an effect of the eclipse on received signals.\  Comparisons of their rates of success compared with percentage of totality at their locations will be discussed. It{\textquoteright}s already possible to support some of the science aims of HamSCI with this gathered and archived data.\  Examples will be given of whether signal strength changes observed were symmetric compared with the onset and recovery timing of the eclipse. These changes will likely have been due to ionospheric response as the eclipse progressed. Visual examples will also be given of comparisons between the eclipse{\textquoteright}s effects on target signal characteristics to the effects caused by the passage of the daily dawn and dusk terminator.

}, author = {Nicholas Hall-Patch} } @proceedings {861, title = {Learning Communications Systems Using Amateur Radio Satellites}, year = {2024}, month = {03/2024}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, abstract = {

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.

}, author = {Augustine Brapoh and James Hankee and Aidan Szabo and Robert Troy and Robert W. McGwier and Nathaniel A. Frissell} } @proceedings {830, title = {Operating GBO{\textquoteright}s 20m Radio Telescope with Ham Radio Students}, year = {2024}, month = {03/2024}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, abstract = {

As a part of the 40-week Exploring the Electromagnetic Spectrum - Ham Radio program with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, students gain technical knowledge of the EMS and experience with hands-on applications through Amateur (Ham) Radio. One of the topics covered in this program is radio astronomy, and students had the opportunity to visit the affiliated Green Bank Observatory (GBO). Students learned how to operate the GBO 20-meter radio telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia using the Skynet Robotic Telescope Network. Students were trained to remotely operate the radio telescope, where they learned the parameters used for different types of observations and how to read the observational data acquired. In this presentation, we discuss the process by which students learned the parameters to operate the 20-meter telescope by observing and completing a comparative analysis of known pulsars.

}, author = {Mia Bridges and Alia Wofford and Erin McDonald and Xander Whittington-Speck and Danielle Rowland and Brenne Gregory and Daniel E. Reichart and Joshua B. Haislip and Vladimir V. Kouprianov and Steve White and Frank Ghigo} } @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 {867, title = {PyLAP/PHaRLAP HF Ray Tracing and SAMI3: Integration and Refactoring}, year = {2024}, month = {03/2024}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, abstract = {

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.

}, author = {Devin Diehl and Rachel Boedicker and Joseph Huba and Nathaniel A. Frissell} } @proceedings {850, title = {Trial of applying PHaRLAP raytracing to reproduce Ham spot data}, year = {2024}, month = {03/2024}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, abstract = {

HamSCI is one of the NASA{\textquoteright}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.

}, author = {Kornyanat Hozumi and Nathaniel A. Frissell and Min-Yang Chou and Gwyn Griffiths and William D. Engelke and Jia Yue and Shing Fung and Masha Kuznetsova} } @proceedings {863, title = {University of Michigan Space Weather Sensor Package}, year = {2024}, month = {03/2024}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, abstract = {

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.

}, author = {Theodore Masterson and Mark B. Moldwin and Lauro Ojeda and Julio Vata and Isaac Fertig and Alex Hofmann and Brian Tsang} } @proceedings {696, title = {Broadband Recordings from Medium Wave DXers Could Support Solar Eclipse Science}, year = {2023}, month = {03/2023}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA}, abstract = {

Medium wave DXers monitor the AM broadcast band (535-1705kHz) to receive distant radio stations, generally between sunset and sunrise, in order to take advantage of favorable ionospheric conditions then.\  Historically, these DXers have been aware of similarly favorable reception conditions that occur during solar eclipses, and during the 2017 solar eclipse, a number of them recorded the entire AM broadcast band using software defined radios (SDRs).\  During the upcoming annular and total solar eclipses, it is proposed to suggest to such DXers that their pursuit of distant radio stations be done in such a way as to make their recorded IQ files of optimum use to propagation researchers, both from HamSCI and from elsewhere, by documenting such things as receiver, software\  and antenna settings,\  and by making sure that timestamps in their data are as accurate as possible.\  DXers could also be encouraged\  to make additional recordings of sunrise and sunset conditions in order to support HamSCI scientific goals.\  Because some DXers use SDRs with system clocks locked to GPS, the data from such SDRs could be useful as a lower frequency adjunct to data gathered from Grape v2, especially if Doppler variation of specific broadcaster{\textquoteright}s carriers could be converted to the audio format used by Grape v2, before further processing.\  IQ data recorded during the eclipse could be gathered together and archived by HamSCI for future researchers, such as was done for the 2017 eclipse.\  The processing of such data to support present HamSCI scientific objectives could require significant volunteer effort, however.

}, author = {Nicholas Hall-Patch} } @article {797, title = {Crowdsourced Doppler measurements of time standard stations demonstrating ionospheric variability}, journal = {Earth System Science Data}, volume = {15}, year = {2023}, month = {Jan-01-2023}, pages = {1403 - 1418}, abstract = {

Ionospheric variability produces measurable effects in Doppler shift of HF (high-frequency, 3{\textendash}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(Collins,\ 2022).

}, doi = {10.5194/essd-15-1403-2023}, url = {https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/15/1403/2023/https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/15/1403/2023/essd-15-1403-2023.pdf}, author = {Collins, Kristina and Gibbons, John and Frissell, Nathaniel and Montare, Aidan and Kazdan, David and Kalmbach, Darren and Swartz, David and Benedict, Robert and Romanek, Veronica and Boedicker, Rachel and Liles, William and Engelke, William and McGaw, David G. and Farmer, James and Mikitin, Gary and Hobart, Joseph and Kavanagh, George and Chakraborty, Shibaji} } @proceedings {762, title = {Development of HamSCI PSWS Ground Magnetometer and Data Visualization on the PSWS Central Website}, year = {2023}, month = {03/2023}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA}, author = {Hyomin Kim and Nathaniel A. Frissell and David Witten and Julius Madey and William D. Engelke and Tom Holmes and Majid Mokhtari and Scotty Cowling and Anderson Liddle and Nicholas Muscolino and Zhaoshu Cao} } @proceedings {690, title = {Evaluation of Global Ionospheric TEC Using Simultaneous Observations from Amateur Radio Networks, International Space Station, and NeQuickG Model for Space Weather Prediction}, year = {2023}, month = {03/2023}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA}, abstract = {

Ionospheric electron density plays a significant role in long-distance communications and sky-wave propagation. Prediction of the accurate state of the ionosphere is necessary to understand the accurate signal perturbations thereby estimating the critical parameters for better signal transmission. The space weather impacts on such trans-ionospheric technological systems are evident. In this work, a web application is developed to represent the global day-to-day electron density variations from the NeQuickG model. Also, the ground-based HAM radio broadcast network hop data with different wavelengths (eg. 10 m and 20 m) and simultaneous top-side electron density with space-based International Space Station (ISS) probe data from floating point measurement units are examined. The electron density variations for the year 2017 are clearly represented. Optimization techniques are necessary to frame a denser spatial grid-based ionospheric electron density map from all the observations. It is essential to estimate the optimal weight function that can distribute the observation influence over empty grid bins with minimum error variance through a probabilistic approach. User-understandable metrics development exclusively for Amateur radio operators and civil aviation sectors is focused. In the near future, the developed web-based application could serve as a better visualization platform for space weather forecasting.

This project, Fellowship of the Ionosphere,\ is a Global Finalist in the 2022 NASA Space Apps Challenge.\ NASA Space Apps 2022 had 31,400+ registered participants from 162 counties and territories, with\ over 3000 submissions from 5327 teams. Global Finalists are ranked as one of the top 35 projects from all submissions.

}, author = {Gamal Zayed and Marcin Lesniowski and Pasumarthi Babu Sree Harsha and Matthew Downs and Daniel Metcalfe and Sila Kardelen Karabulut} } @proceedings {693, title = {A Few Science Questions that HamSCI Can Help Address During the 2023 and 2024 Eclipses}, year = {2023}, month = {03/2023}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA}, abstract = {

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{\textemdash}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{\textquoteright}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{\textemdash}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{\textquoteright}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.

}, author = {Gareth W. Perry and Nathaniel A. Frissell and Joseph D. Huba} } @article {801, title = {Heliophysics and amateur radio: citizen science collaborations for atmospheric, ionospheric, and space physics research and operations}, journal = {Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences}, volume = {10}, year = {2023}, month = {Apr-11-2024}, abstract = {

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{\textendash}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.

}, doi = {10.3389/fspas.2023.1184171}, url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2023.1184171/fullhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2023.1184171/full}, author = {Frissell, Nathaniel A. and Ackermann, John R. and Alexander, Jesse N. and Benedict, Robert L. and Blackwell, William C. and Boedicker, Rachel K. and Cerwin, Stephen A. and Collins, Kristina V. and Cowling, Scott H. and Deacon, Chris and Diehl, Devin M. and Di Mare, Francesca and Duffy, Timothy J. and Edson, Laura Brandt and Engelke, William D. and Farmer, James O. and Frissell, Rachel M. and Gerzoff, Robert B. and Gibbons, John and Griffiths, Gwyn and Holm, Sverre and Howell, Frank M. and Kaeppler, Stephen R. and Kavanagh, George and Kazdan, David and Kim, Hyomin and Larsen, David R. and Ledvina, Vincent E. and Liles, William and Lo, Sam and Lombardi, Michael A. and MacDonald, Elizabeth A. and Madey, Julius and McDermott, Thomas C. and McGaw, David G. and McGwier, Robert W. and Mikitin, Gary A. and Miller, Ethan S. and Mitchell, Cathryn and Montare, Aidan and Nguyen, Cuong D. and Nordberg, Peter N. and Perry, Gareth W. and Piccini, Gerard N. and Pozerski, Stanley W. and Reif, Robert H. and Rizzo, Jonathan D. and Robinett, Robert S. and Romanek, Veronica I. and Sami, Simal and Sanchez, Diego F. and Sarwar, Muhammad Shaaf and Schwartz, Jay A. and Serra, H. Lawrence and Silver, H. Ward and Skov, Tamitha Mulligan and Swartz, David A. and Themens, David R. and Tholley, Francis H. and West, Mary Lou and Wilcox, Ronald C. and Witten, David and Witvliet, Ben A. and Yadav, Nisha} } @proceedings {711, title = {Listening to the Heliosphere: Making Space Data Audible for Citizen Science}, year = {2023}, month = {03/2023}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA}, abstract = {

Heliophysics research relies heavily on time series measurements. While this data is often analyzed visually, it also lends itself naturally to our sense of sound. Ham radio operators have long recognized this with radio waves, but it is also true for many other phenomena with frequencies well outside the human audible range.\  For example, classification schemes are needed to identify and model plasma waves in near-Earth space that affect space weather, but existing classifications often break down during active periods or when there are superpositions of multiple wave modes. Audification {\textendash} a one-to-one mapping of data samples to audio samples {\textendash} was recently used in a UK-based citizen science project to successfully identify a complex yet repeatable multi-day pattern in the progression of plasma wave activity with frequencies far below the human audible range. I{\textquoteright}ll review these results and recent efforts to adapt this citizen science project to a US-based virtual audience as part of the {\textquotedblleft}Heliophysics Audified: Resonances in Plasmas{\textquotedblright} project launching in April 2023: the development of a streamlined graphical user interface, recently published results from a public dialogue aiming to identify the best methods for rendering plasma waves audible, and early results from citizen science analysis of plasma waves identified by NASA{\textquoteright}s THEMIS satellites. I{\textquoteright}ll also discuss (1) ways that members of the public can contribute to cutting-edge Heliophysics research by listening to plasma waves and taking advantage of the unique pattern recognition capabilities of the human auditory system and (2) possible future collaborations with the ham radio community including knowledge transfer related to visual-audio analysis and observational campaigns combining ham radio with other satellite/ground-based datasets.

}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7773015}, author = {Michael Hartinger and Martin Archer and Emmanuel Masongsong} } @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} } @proceedings {705, title = {Modeling the Ionosphere with SAMI3 (Invited Tutorial)}, year = {2023}, month = {03/2023}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA}, abstract = {

SAMI3 (Sami3 is Also a Model of the Ionosphere) is a global, comprehensive model of the ionosphere/plasmasphere system. It is based on the SAMI2 model developed at the Naval Research Laboratory (Huba et al., 2000). SAMI3 models the plasma and chemical evolution of seven ion species (H, He, N, O, N, NO and O). The ion temperature equation is solved for three ion species (H, He and O) as well as the electron temperature equation. Ion inertia is included in the ion momentum equation for motion along the geomagnetic field. The neutral composition and temperature can be specified by empirical models (e.g, NRLMSISE00, HWM14) or by first-principle atmosphere models (e.g., TIEGCM, WACCM-X, HIAMCM). SAMI3 uses a nonorthogonal, nonuniform, fixed grid. The grid is designed to optimize the numerical mesh so that the spatial resolution decreases with increasing altitude. SAMI3 can use an untilted or tilted dipole model of earth{\textquoteright}s magnetic field, or an IGRF field model based on the Richmond apex model. A general overview of ionospheric physics and the SAMI3 model will be presented, as well as several applications of the code.

}, author = {Joseph Huba} } @proceedings {702, title = {The North Dakota Dual Aurora Camera Version 2.0 (NoDDAC2.0), a Platform for Citizen Science and a Use Case for Implementing Best Practices in Open Data and Collaboration}, year = {2023}, month = {03/2023}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA}, abstract = {

The North Dakota Dual Aurora Camera (NoDDAC) is an interdisciplinary project created in collaboration with the University of North Dakota (UND), Live Aurora Network, and Aurorasaurus. Aurora cameras provide ground-truth visual data to aurora chasers and scientists but are sparse at midlatitudes (35-55{\textdegree}N). Deploying light-sensitive video and all-sky still cameras at these midlatitudes provides a valuable resource to aurora-chasing communities, as well as amateur radio operators in the auroral zone. In addition, NoDDAC data demonstrate scientific merit, as it can be correlated with radio and ionospheric propagation changes to investigate the connection between optical aurora and radio science. This project is unique; the practices of utilizing dual cameras with consumer-off-the-shelf equipment, emphasizing open data as a responsive community resource and promoting citizen science make NoDDAC an accessible resource benefiting multiple audiences. Since early 2021, NoDDAC has detected hundreds of auroras as well as notable events like STEVEs (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement). NoDDAC is stationed at Martens Observatory (48.1{\textdegree}N, 97.6{\textdegree}W), which is operated by the UND Department of Physics and Astrophysics. Live Aurora Network provides weatherproof camera housings and their proprietary IPTimelapse software which allows for remote control of the cameras. This year we present NoDDAC2.0, the next evolution of NoDDAC funded by NASA{\textquoteright}s EPSCoR program. NoDDAC2.0 will upgrade the all-sky camera and feature a robust open-data platform to share aurora data with the public and scientists. We outline a strategy to increase the science utility of NoDDAC data, incorporating a citizen science project launching on the Zooniverse platform. We also present plans to integrate NoDDAC data into the AuroraX conjunction finder system so that satellite data can be easily correlated to aurora images. Most importantly, we are collaborating with the Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation to install an independent aurora camera system in North Dakota. Not only does this represent a unique collaborative opportunity, but at a separation distance of 300 miles from Martens Observatory, this second camera will allow us to explore research questions relating to the precise location, height, and spatial extent of certain auroral phenomena.

}, author = {Timothy Young and Vincent Ledvina and Elizabeth MacDonald and Laura Brandt and Wayne Barkhouse and Alex Schultz and Cody Payne and Anne Mitchell and Kristian Haugen and Will Shearer and Kerry Hartman and Sasha Sillitti and Michael McCormack and Steve Collins} } @proceedings {707, title = {Using Propagation Analysis Software and Antenna Modeling to Select an Antenna for Receive and Transmit Sites}, year = {2023}, month = {03/2023}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA}, abstract = {

Amateurs often ask:\  What is the best antenna to use to work DX?\  The author shows how free propagation analysis software and antenna modeling can help answer that question.\  To focus on something specific, he ask the question:\  For 40-meter DX, which is better, a dipole at 45 feet height or a ground-mounted vertical with 4 radials?\  The answer may surprise you!

}, author = {Ed Hare} } @article {802, title = {Validating Ionospheric Models Against Technologically Relevant MetricsAbstractPlain Language SummaryKey Points}, journal = {Space Weather}, volume = {21}, year = {2023}, month = {Jan-12-2023}, abstract = {

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{\textendash}30\ MHz and 500{\textendash}2,000\ km. Autoscaled and then machine learning {\textquotedblleft}cleaned{\textquotedblright} Digisonde NmF2 data indicate a 1.0\ {\texttimes}\ 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.

}, issn = {1542-7390}, doi = {10.1029/2023SW003590}, url = {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}, author = {Chartier, A. T. and Steele, J. and Sugar, G. and Themens, D. R. and Vines, S. K. and Huba, J. D.} } @proceedings {615, title = {Autonomous Ground Magnetometer Station Using DRV425 Fluxgates}, year = {2022}, month = {03/2022}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Huntsville, AL}, abstract = {

We have developed a prototype ground magnetometer station that uses 3 Texas Instrument fluxgate-on-a-chip DRV425 sensors. The design is low cost and uses a particle photon or particle electron microprocessor (IOT device) with either wifi or cellular connectivity to process and transmit data. We will present data from a prototype installation in Athabasca/CA that is located near a high-quality science grade fluxgate (ATH) for comparison. We would like to deploy several 10s of these devices with the help of the HAMSCI community for science and space weather applications at no cost to the operators. However, the operators would have to commit to install the stations and tend to them as necessary. The effort would be funded through a major funding agency. At this meeting we would like to gauge the interest among HAM radio operators for such a project.

}, author = {Joachim Raeder and Juan-Carlos Bautista and Michael Hirsch} } @proceedings {628, title = {Climatology of Large Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Observed by HamSCI Amateur Radio with Connections to Geospace and Neutral Atmospheric Sources}, year = {2022}, month = {03/2022}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Huntsville, AL}, abstract = {

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{\textquoteright}s Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2).

}, author = {Diego S. Sanchez and Nathaniel A. Frissell and Gareth W. Perry and V. Lynn Harvey and William D. Engelke and Anthea Coster and Philip J. Erickson and J. Michael Ruohoniemi and Joseph B. H. Baker} } @conference {609, title = {The Radio JOVE Project 2.0}, booktitle = {HamSCI Workshop 2022}, year = {2022}, month = {03/2022}, publisher = {HamSCI}, organization = {HamSCI}, address = {Huntsville, AL}, abstract = {

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.

}, author = {C. Higgins and S. Fung and L. Garcia and J. Thieman and J. Sky and D. Typinski and R. Flagg and J. Brown and F. Reyes and J. Gass and L. Dodd and T. Ashcraft and W. Greenman and S. Blair} } @proceedings {575, title = {Climatology of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Observed by HamSCI Amateur Radio with Connections to Geospace and Neutral Atmospheric Sources}, year = {2021}, month = {09/2021}, publisher = {ARRL-TAPR}, address = {Virtual}, url = {https://youtu.be/MHkz7jNynOg?t=23773}, author = {Sanchez, Diego F. and Frissell, Nathaniel A. and Perry, Gareth W. and Engelke, William D. and Coster, Anthea J. and Erickson, Philip J. and Ruohoniemi, J. Michael and Baker, Joseph B. H. and Harvey, Lynn and Luetzelschwab, R. Carl} } @conference {582, title = {Climatology of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Observed by HamSCI Amateur Radio with Connections to Geospace and Neutral Atmospheric Sources}, booktitle = {American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting}, year = {2021}, month = {12}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, organization = {American Geophysical Union}, address = {New Orleans, LA}, abstract = {

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{\textquoteright}s Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2).

}, url = {https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1000724}, author = {Sanchez, Diego F. and Frissell, Nathaniel A. and Perry, Gareth and Harvey, Lynn and Engelke, William D. and Coster, Anthea J. and Erickson, Philip J. and Ruohoniemi, J. Michael and Baker, Joseph B. H.} } @conference {581, title = {Construction and Operation of a HamSCI Grape Version 1 Personal Space Weather Station: A Citizen Scientist{\textquoteright}s Perspective}, booktitle = {American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting}, year = {2021}, month = {12}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, organization = {American Geophysical Union}, address = {New Orleans, LA}, abstract = {

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.

}, url = {https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/845691}, author = {Hobart, Joseph R. and Farmer, James O. and Mikitin, Gary and Waugh, David and Benedict, Robert and Cerwin, Stephen A. and Collins, Kristina V, and Kazdan, David and Gibbons, John and Romanek, Veronica I. and Frissell, Nathaniel A.} } @proceedings {480, title = {IONSOUND HDX TURBO: Skywave Propagation Prediction Software For Amateur, Professional And Military Applications}, year = {2021}, month = {03/2021}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA (Virtual)}, abstract = {

IONSOUND HDX TURBO is a software propagation prediction program that evolved over a number of years and was primarily marketed in the 1990{\textquoteright}s by its author, W1FM, for use with IBM or IBM-compatible personal computers using DOS. It was intended to produce easy-to-interpret tabular predictions of radio frequency link performance between any two locations on the earth{\textquoteright}s surface. Menu selections within IONSOUND made it possible to compute predictions for comparison with Highest Possible Frequency (HPF), Maximum Possible Frequency (MUF) and Frequency of Optimum Transmission (FOT) predictions derived from U.S. Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) IONCAP program as found in ARRL{\textquoteright}s monthly QST Magazine "How{\textquoteright}s DX" Column. Parameters used in predictions included: Transmit and Receive location, Short or Long path, local Receiver Noise condition, Transmit and Receive Antenna/Gain, Receiver Bandwidth,\  Required Signal-to-Noise Ratio, Transmitter Power, Sunspot Number( SSN) or Solar Flux Number (SFN), Minimum Elevation Angle from the horizon, prediction frequencies, prediction months, prediction times, and prediction modes involving E and F layer propagation.

}, url = {https://hamsci2021-uscranton.ipostersessions.com/?s=1A-39-D4-8B-D5-41-92-1D-69-08-CD-7C-3D-30-EB-3F}, author = {Jacob Handwerker} } @proceedings {467, title = {Long delayed radio echoes - The illusive secret of the ionosphere}, year = {2021}, month = {03/2021}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA (Virtual)}, abstract = {

The first radio echoes with long delays were reported in 1927 by J{\o}rgen Hals in Oslo, Norway on 9.54 MHz signals from the Netherlands. His first report exists at the National Library in Oslo and was later reported in Nature [St{\o}rmer, 1928]. Controlled experiments where delays ranged from 3 to 30 seconds confirmed the phenomenon and convinced most skeptics that the phenomenon was real [van der Pol, 1928]. About 15 different hypotheses have been presented over time for their cause [Shlionskiy 1985]. The five most likely ones will be presented here. They involve phenomena with long-distance travel such as around the world many times or reflection from plasma clouds. Another scenario is where the speed of propagation is substantially slower than normal as if there is mode conversion to mechanical waves in the ionosphere with or without nonlinearity [Vidmar, Crawford 1985]. The only one of the five which is understood well is when a signal is ducted in the magnetosphere and reflected from the opposite hemisphere. It may occur for frequencies up to 4 MHz and will give delays of up to 0.5 seconds. The further north, the longer the delay. Therefore, such medium delay echoes may sometimes be confused with round-the-world echoes of 138 ms, which however seldom occur at such low frequencies. There are examples of such echoes from Tasmania and St. Petersburg in the scientific literature. Amateur operator reports from New York, Georgia, California, Newfoundland, Denmark, and the UK [Martinez, 2007] from the last decades will be presented and analyzed and audio from some of them will be demonstrated. The delay is predictable from geomagnetic latitude using a simplified dipole model for the geomagnetic field line [Holm 2009]. The effect occurs during the dark hours and is most likely during winter months of years of low solar activity. A good report of such a phenomenon should involve a digital recording of audio using CW and not SSB signals. Delay measurement with amateur radio equipment is a challenge and needs to compensate for the usual delay between the onsets of the transmitter and sidetone signals.

}, author = {Sverre Holm} } @proceedings {494, title = {W3USR and The Great Collegiate Shortwave Listening Contest}, year = {2021}, month = {03/2021}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA (Virtual)}, url = {https://hamsci2021-uscranton.ipostersessions.com/Default.aspx?s=1B-12-5C-9B-5C-AF-F5-8B-AC-62-CD-DD-D5-51-6A-9A}, author = {M. Shaaf Sarwar and Veronica I. Romanek and Thomas Baran and Jonathan Rizzo and Steve Holguin and Jonathan Rizzo and Nathaniel A. Frissell and William Liles and Kristina Collins and David Kazdan} } @conference {397, title = {An Aurorasaurus Citizen Science Database of Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement (STEVE) Observations (ePoster)}, booktitle = {HamSCI Workshop 2020}, year = {2020}, month = {03/2020}, publisher = {HamSCI}, organization = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA}, abstract = {

For many years, amateur aurora observers have reported on unique subauroral aurora or aurora-like structures which they could not classify at first. Later, these structures also puzzled the scientific community. In 2016 members of the Alberta Aurora Chasers Facebook group introduced the name STEVE for these structures. Very recently in 2018 and 2019, first scientific publications have been published linking these subauroral structures with the subauroral ion drift (SAID). Since then the backronym Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement is used in the scientific literature for this phenomenon. The underlying ionospheric processes are still not understood in every detail. Although highly likely STEVE observations have been reported sporadically since nearly the end of the Maunder Minimum their specific character had been almost overlooked for a long time until citizen scientists working with Aurorasaurus started to put a closer view on them and contacted the scientific community reaching for answers to all their questions. A freely accessible event list for worldwide image supported amateur STEVE observations was missing for a long time. The presented work is part of a non-funded volunteer project and has been performed with the aim to fill this gap. STEVE observations posted in Aurora related social media groups but also on aurora observer websites have been analyzed to prepare the list on the basis of data use standards and fair use. The outcome is a list summarizing more than 790 single observations, observations with time for 150 days and 178+ observation days in total. In its current version the event list covers the period January 1999 to December 2019. This presentation gives an overview for the content and development of the list, and briefly summarizes possible analyzes that can be performed based on the content of the event list and how it already supports and furthers the research on the STEVE phenomenon. This work presents an example of how data from citizen scientists can support highly topical space science research.

}, author = {Michael Hunnekuhl and Elizabeth MacDonald} } @conference {383, title = {Observations and Modeling Studies of the Effects of the 2017 Solar Eclipse on SuperDARN HF Propagation}, booktitle = {HamSCI Workshop 2020}, year = {2020}, month = {03/2020}, publisher = {HamSCI}, organization = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA}, abstract = {

The total solar eclipses offer a unique opportunity to study the dependence of the ionospheric density and morphology on incident solar radiation. Unique responses may be witnessed during eclipses, including changes in radio frequency (RF) propagation at high frequency (HF). Such changes in RF propagation were observed by the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) radars in Christmas Valley, Oregon and in Fort Hayes, Kansas during the 2017 solar eclipse. At each site, the westward looking radar observed an increase in slant range of the backscattered signal during the eclipse onset followed by a decrease after totality. In order to investigate the underlying processes governing the ionospheric response to the eclipse, we employed the HF propagation toolbox (PHaRLAP), created by Dr. Manuel Cervera, to simulate SuperDARN data for different models of the eclipsed ionosphere. By invoking different hypotheses and comparing simulated results to SuperDARN measurements we could study the underlying processes governing the ionosphere and improve our model of the F-Region responses to an eclipse. This method was used in three studies to: identify the cause of the increase in the distance radio waves traveled during the eclipse; evaluate different models of change in eclipse magnitude over time; and investigate the effect of the neutral wind velocity on the simulated eclipse data. This presentation will discuss observations made by SuperDARN during the 2017 eclipse, major results from our raytrace studies, and unanswered questions that may be useful to consider when planning HamSCI{\textquoteright}s campaign and/or similar ionospheric studies for the next eclipse over the United States in 2024.

}, author = {M. Moses and L. Kordella and G. D. Earle and D. Drob and J. Huba and J. M. Ruohoniemi} } @conference {394, title = {Operating Auroral Mode Ham Radio (Invited Tutorial)}, booktitle = {HamSCI Workshop 2020}, year = {2020}, month = {03/2020}, publisher = {HamSCI}, organization = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA}, author = {D. Hallidy} } @conference {386, title = {Propagation Teepee: A High Frequency (HF) Radio Spectral Feature Identified by Citizen Scientists}, booktitle = {HamSCI Workshop}, year = {2020}, month = {03/2020}, publisher = {HamSCI}, organization = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA}, abstract = {

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 {\textquotedblleft}triangular spectral feature.{\textquotedblright} 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.

}, author = {S. F. Fung and D. Typinski and R. F. Flagg and T. Ashcraft and W. Greenman and C. Higgins and J. Brown and L. Dodd and A. S. Mount and F. J. Reyes and J. Sky and J. Thieman and L. N. Garcia} } @unpublished {442, title = {Using Fldigi for the ARRL Frequency Measuring Test (FMT)}, year = {2020}, month = {10/2020}, type = {Technical Instructions}, url = {https://fmt.arrl.org/}, author = {Bob Howard} } @conference {404, title = {Visualizing the Electromagnetic Spectrum in the Time Domain (ePoster)}, booktitle = {HamSCI Workshop 2020}, year = {2020}, month = {03/2020}, publisher = {HamSCI}, organization = {HamSCI}, address = {Scranton, PA}, abstract = {

Since the advent of the Software Defined Radio (SDR), the ability to collect raw signal information from the electromagnetic spectrum has become ubiquitous.\ \ Typically, the received Inphase and Quadrature (IQ) data is processed with a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm to display the signal information in the frequency domain.\ \ While this has many advantages, to include displaying a waterfall to show the energy per frequency over time, the waterfall visual representation does not visually represent the entire signal.\ \ This work demonstrates a novel method to view the electromagnetic spectrum in the time domain by directly plotting the IQ data in 3- dimensional space.\ \ The Visualization Tool Kit (VTK) is utilized to provide this representation and Paraview is utilized in viewing the 3D data.\ \ The goal is twofold; first to visualize the electromagnetic spectrum for educational use and second to determine if weak signals near strong signals can be visualized where they have traditionally been obscured by the computation of the signal{\textquoteright}s FFT.

}, author = {Stephen Hamilton and Charles Suslowicz} } @conference {301, title = {ARISS: Talking to the astronauts via ham radio and how it inspires students}, booktitle = {HamSCI Workshop 2019}, year = {2019}, month = {03/2019}, publisher = {HamSCI}, organization = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, abstract = {

The ARISS (Amateur Radio on ISS) program is an international consortium of amateur radio organizations and space agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Their goal is to allow students worldwide to talk to the International Space Station (ISS) astronauts with the hopes of inspiring students to pursue interests in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) while introducing them to amateur radio. The NASA Glenn Amateur Radio Club (NGARC) in collaboration with the NASA Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) at NASA Glenn Research Center helped the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio (GSNEO) make contact with the ISS astronauts using ARISS. The specific activities undertaken by each of these organizations will be discussed starting from the proposal selection, throughout planning to the eventual contact the Girl Scouts made with the ISS astronauts. In addition, this presentation will discuss how schools and youth organizations are able to utilize the ARISS radio contact to enhance their educational objectives to support not only STEM goals but also other areas like foreign languages, geography, music and the arts. The space station, as it travels around the Earth, is a perfect way to discuss not only orbital mechanics but geography to students, while the questions asked by students allow them to learn about science concepts based on responses from the astronauts to their specific science questions. As the time from proposal selection to the actual contact could be up to a year, schools and youth organizations are able to engage all age groups in this year-long preparation as well as plan activities with their local community. Together the end result is to ultimately help students make a 10-minute contact with the ISS astronauts that is unforgettable for all in attendance.

}, author = {Nancy R. Hall} } @conference {299, title = {Conquering The Skip Zone: Short Range Voice and Digital NVIS Communication}, booktitle = {HamSCI Workshop 2019}, year = {2019}, month = {03/2019}, publisher = {HamSCI}, organization = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, author = {Stephen Hamilton and B. Lebiednik and K. Hager} } @conference {324, title = {GPS Time Synchronization and Radio Detection for Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays}, booktitle = {HamSCI Workshop 2019}, year = {2019}, month = {03/2019}, publisher = {HamSCI}, organization = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, abstract = {

In this talk, we will review GPS timing schemes and receiver selection for the synchronization of timing over the large distances of the Pierre Auger Observatory. An Experiment looking at spatial correlations of GPS timing errors will be discussed and then we{\textquoteright}ll move on to a brief introduction to radio methods for the detection of Extensive Air Showers.

}, author = {Rob Halliday} } @article {332, title = {Solar Eclipse 2017 DX from Western America}, year = {2019}, month = {04/2019}, institution = {HamSCI}, author = {Nick Hall-Patch} } @conference {325, title = {Sounding the Ionosphere with Signals of Opportunity in the High-Frequency (HF) Band}, booktitle = {HamSCI Workshop 2019}, year = {2019}, month = {03/2019}, publisher = {HamSCI}, organization = {HamSCI}, address = {Cleveland, OH}, abstract = {

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 ({\textquotedblleft}quasi-vertical{\textquotedblright}) 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 {\textquotedblleft}orthogonal,{\textquotedblright} 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.

}, author = {Ethan S. Miller and Gary S. Bust and Gareth W. Perry and Stephen R. Kaeppler and Juha Vierinen and Nathaniel A. Frissell and A. A. Knuth and Philip J. Erickson and Romina Nikoukar and Alexander T. Chartier and P. Santos and C. Brum and J. T. Fentzke and T. R. Hanley and Andrew J. Gerrard} } @article {255, title = {Citizen radio science: an analysis of Amateur Radio transmissions with e-POP RRI}, journal = {Radio Science}, year = {2018}, abstract = {

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{\textquoteright}s data to help ascertain their locations during the experiment. Through careful analysis of the Hams{\textquoteright} 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{\textquoteright} transmissions were unabated throughout the experiment. The latter effect, single-mode fading, was detected as a double-peak modulation on the individual {\textquotedblleft}dots{\textquotedblright} and {\textquotedblleft}dashes{\textquotedblright} of one the Ham{\textquoteright}s Morse coded transmissions. We show that the modulation in the Ham{\textquoteright}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.

}, keywords = {Citizen Science, ionosphere, Radio Propagation, Radio Science, Satellite}, doi = {10.1029/2017RS006496}, url = {https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2017RS006496}, author = {Perry, G. W. and Frissell, N. A. and Miller, E. S. and Moses, M. and Shovkoplyas, A. and Howarth, A. D. and Yau, A. W.} } @conference {236, title = {Initial Results of HamSCI Ham Radio 21 August 2017 Eclipse Ionospheric Experiments}, booktitle = {American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting}, year = {2018}, month = {01/2018}, publisher = {American Meteorological Society}, organization = {American Meteorological Society}, address = {Austin, TX}, abstract = {

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{\textquoteright} 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.

}, url = {https://ams.confex.com/ams/98Annual/webprogram/Paper337094.html}, author = {N. A. Frissell and J. R. Ackermann and D. Bern and F. Ceglia and G. D. Earle and P. J. Erickson and A. J. Gerrard and R. Gerzoff and P. Gladstone and S. W. Gunning and J. D. Huba and J. D. Katz and E. S. Miller and M. L. Moses and S. E. Reyer and S. W. Rose and A. Shovkoplyas and H. W. Silver and P. Smith and J. S. Vega and M. L. West and R. Williams} } @article {248, title = {Modeling Amateur Radio Soundings of the Ionospheric Response to the 2017 Great American Eclipse}, journal = {Geophysical Research Letters}, volume = {45}, year = {2018}, month = {05/2018}, type = {Research Letter}, abstract = {

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 {\textpm}0.3 hr on 1.8 MHz, {\textpm}0.75 hr on 3.5 and 7 MHz, and {\textpm}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{\textdegree}, while 14 MHz signals refracted at\ h \< 125 km with elevation angles\ θ \< 10{\textdegree}.

}, issn = {1944-8007}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL077324}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL077324}, author = {N. A. Frissell and J. D. Katz and S. W. Gunning and J. S. Vega and A. J. Gerrard and G. D. Earle and M. L. Moses and M. L. West and J. D. Huba and P. J. Erickson and E. S. Miller and R. B. Gerzoff and W. Liles and H. W. Silver} } @conference {277, title = {Modeling Amateur Radio Soundings of the Ionospheric Response to the 2017 Great American Eclipse}, booktitle = {Fall AGU}, year = {2018}, month = {12/2018}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union Meeting}, organization = {American Geophysical Union Meeting}, address = {Washington, DC}, abstract = {

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 {\textpm}0.3 hr on 1.8 MHz, {\textpm}0.75 hr on 3.5 and 7 MHz, and {\textpm}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{\textdegree}, while 14 MHz signals refracted at h \< 125 km with elevation angles θ \< 10{\textdegree}.

}, keywords = {Amateur Radio, Citizen Science, Ham Radio, HF propagation, ionosphere, solar eclipse}, url = {https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm18/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/418915}, author = {Frissell, N. A. and Katz, J. D. and Gunning, S. W. and Vega, J. S. and Gerrard, A. J. and Earle, G. D. and Moses, M. L. and West, M. L. and Huba, J. D. and Erickson, P. J. and Miller, E. S. and Gerzoff, R. B. and Liles, W. and Silver, H. W.} } @conference {219, title = {Anthropogenic Space Weather}, booktitle = {HamSCI-UK}, year = {2017}, month = {10/2017}, publisher = {HamSCI-UK}, organization = {HamSCI-UK}, address = {Milton Keynes, UK}, author = {P. J. Erickson and T. I. Gombosi and D. N. Baker and A. Balogh and J. D. Huba and L. J. Lanzerotti and J. C. Foster and J. M. Albert and J. F. Fennell and E. V. Mishin and M. J. Starks and A. N. Jaynes and X. Li and S. G. Kanekal and C. Kletzing} } @conference {209, title = {Developing a Solar Eclipse Simulation for Greater Good}, booktitle = {ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference}, year = {2017}, month = {09/2017}, address = {St. Louis, MO}, abstract = {

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.

}, url = {https://www.tapr.org/pub_dcc.html}, author = {J. S. Vega and N. A. Frissell and J. D. Katz and J. D. Huba} } @conference {175, title = {HamSCI and the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse}, booktitle = {NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions)}, year = {2017}, month = {06/2017}, address = {Keystone, CO}, author = {N. A. Frissell and J. R. Ackermann and G. D. Earle and P. J. Erickson and A. J. Gerrard and R. B. Gerzoff and S. W. Gunning and M. Hirsch and J. D. Katz and S. R. Kaeppller and R. W. McGwier and E. S. Miller and M. L. Moses and G. Perry and S. E. Reyer and A. Shovkoplyas and H. W. Silver and J. S. Vega and RBN Team} } @conference {207, title = {HamSCI and the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse (Experiment Description)}, booktitle = {ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference}, year = {2017}, month = {09/2017}, address = {St. Louis, MO}, abstract = {

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{\textquoteright} 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.

}, url = {https://www.tapr.org/pub_dcc.html}, author = {N. A. Frissell and J. S. Vega and J. D. Katz and S. W. Gunning and A. J. Gerrard and M. L. Moses and G. D. Earle and E. S. Miller and J. D. Huba and M. Hirsch and H. W. Silver and S. E. Reyer and J. R. Ackermann and M. D. Suhar and D. Bern} } @conference {174, title = {HamSCI: The Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (Banquet Presentation)}, booktitle = {NSF CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions)}, year = {2017}, month = {06/2017}, address = {Keystone, CO}, author = {N. A. Frissell and J. R. Ackermann and J. Dzekevich and G. D. Earle and P. J. Erickson and A. J. Gerrard and R. B. Gerzoff and S. W. Gunning and M. Hirsch and J. D. Katz and S. R. Kaeppler and R. W. McGwier and E. S. Miller and M. L. Moses and G. Perry and S. E. Reyer and A. Shovkoplyas and H. W. Silver and J. S. Vega and RBN Team} } @conference {163, title = {Ionospheric Impacts of the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse}, booktitle = {Dayton Hamvention}, year = {2017}, address = {Xenia, OH}, author = {Magalina Moses and Gregory Earle and Sushma Burujupalli and Nathaniel A. Frissell and Lee Kordella and Snehal Dixit and Charudatta Chitale and Xiayou Han} } @conference {221, title = {Magnetometers and Riometers}, booktitle = {HamSCI-UK}, year = {2017}, month = {10/2017}, publisher = {HamSCI-UK}, organization = {HamSCI-UK}, address = {Milton Keynes, UK}, author = {F. Honary} } @conference {144, title = {Characterizing the Ionosphere Using a Commercial Off the Shelf Software Defined Radio System}, booktitle = {Fall 2016 American Geophysical Union}, year = {2016}, month = {12/2016}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, organization = {American Geophysical Union}, address = {San Francsico}, abstract = {

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{\textquoteright} 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{\textquoteright}s measurements as well as the change in foF2 during different seasons and under different geomagnetic conditions.

}, url = {http://hamsci.org/sites/default/files/publications/2016_AGU_Moses.pdf}, author = {Magdalina L. Moses and S. Dixit and Gregory D. Earle and Nathaniel A. Frissell and Lee Kordella and Xiaoyu Han and Charudatta Chitale} }