@proceedings {1049, title = {The SoFIE CubeSat Mission: A Global Opportunity for Amateur Radio Operators as Citizen Scientists}, year = {2026}, month = {03/2026}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Newington, CT}, abstract = {

The Solar Flare and Ionosphere Explorer (SoFIE) CubeSat mission is a unique opportunity for the global amateur radio community to actively engage in cutting-edge space science and ionospheric research. Developed by students at Saint Francis University (Loretto, Pennsylvania) in collaboration with the University of Scranton{\textquoteright}s HamSCI initiative, this 3U CubeSat features a 3{\textendash}30 MHz HF receiver and a single-frequency (~8 MHz) topside sounder, color aurora imager, 630 nm oxygen line imager, and a soft X-ray monitor. The scientific objective of the mission is to study the effects of solar flares on the Earth{\textquoteright}s ionosphere. The anticipated launch is no earlier than late 2027. This presentation will review the architecture of the SoFIE mission and outline how amateur radio operators on every continent can become integral members of the SoFIE science team through HamSCI. Operators can propose novel experimental techniques and participate in coordinated transionospheric measurements, leveraging existing equipment and networks as individuals or teams. All mission data will be made publicly accessible through open-source databases, empowering operators to not just contribute data but also lead independent analyses and publish their findings.

}, author = {Lanika Ruzhitskaya and Nathaniel Frissell and Kornyanat Hozumi and Jeffrey Mendenhall} } @proceedings {1037, title = {Solar Eclipse Through Ham Radio: What the Bands Revealed}, year = {2026}, month = {03/2026}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Newington, CT}, author = {Kuldeep Pandey and Gareth Perry and Nathaniel Frissell and Travis Atkinson and William Engelke and Joseph Huba and Mary Lou West and Phillip Gladstone and Cameron Cushing and McKenzie Denton and Gwyn Griffiths and Edward Efchak and Gary Mikitin and H Ward Silver} } @proceedings {1064, title = {Starting a Low-Cost SDR Beacon Receiver Project for Studying Extended Tropospheric Propagation on 432/902/1296 MHz}, year = {2026}, month = {03/2026}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Newington, CT}, abstract = {In this project, we will build and test a low cost SDR-based receive system to study extended tropospheric propagation on 144 MHz, 432 MHz, 902 MHz, and 1296 MHz, with the primary goal of understanding how radio signals travel far beyond normal line of sight. This can be caused by atmospheric or other tropospheric conditions such as refraction, inversion layer ducting, tropospheric scatter, and aircraft scatter. These extended propagation events are important not only for amateur radio operators who monitor weak signals, but also for synchronized wireless Applications. The end goal of this project is to create an AI algorithm based in large datasets in order to forecast signal propagation under specific atmospheric, tropospheric, and topographic circumstances for the cellular wireless industry, particularly in 5G. Additional applications exist in the military, reducing communication interception rates and improving communications clarity between allied forces. This research will also carry significant advantages for reducing interference in VHF/UHF radio. systems where late arriving signals can create interference or affect timing.}, author = {Declan Reavy and Brett Hoey and Josephine Coffey and Katie Martinez and Navid Shahrouzi and Nathaniel Frissell and Gordon Beattie Jr} } @proceedings {925, title = {Software Development for the Grape Personal Space Weather Station v2}, year = {2025}, month = {03/2025}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Newark, NJ}, abstract = {

The Grape 2 is a three-channel radio receiver and an integral component of the broader Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS) project. The PSWS network is a distributed array of radio receivers designed to continuously monitor changes in the Earth{\textquoteright}s ionosphere. It achieves this by tracking frequency standard stations, such as WWV, WWVH, and CHU, on a 24/7 basis. The system includes software tools for control and monitoring. Each Grape station transmits daily data to a centralized, publicly accessible database hosted by the University of Alabama, where automated processing generates spectrograms. These visualizations provide researchers with rapid insights into ionospheric conditions and enable long-term studies of space weather phenomena.\ 

}, author = {Cuong Nguyen and Nathaniel Frissell and John Gibbons and Bill Blackwell and Bill Engelke} } @proceedings {930, title = {The Solar Eclipse Inverse Problem}, year = {2025}, month = {03/2025}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Newark, NJ}, abstract = {

The HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS) is a distributed network that includes magnetometers and high frequency receivers. The Great Radio Amateur Propagation Experiment (GRAPE) is a collection of PSWS receivers that record Doppler shift from national time standard signals. The Grape project includes Grape 1 receivers recording Doppler and spectral data as well as the upgraded Grape 2 three channel receivers and the multi-channel WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter) Grapes. The network collected data during the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses on frequencies ranging from 2.5 to 20 MHz. The recorded Doppler shift indicates a change in signal path caused when the signal passes through the ionospheric layers in the Earth{\textquoteright}s atmosphere. Due to the scale and variability of the ionosphere, these measurements are sparse and are not accompanied by a known forward model. The reconstruction of eclipse period ionospheric behavior can therefore be viewed as a mathematical inverse problem. We explore various mathematical techniques and algorithms that could be used to solve the inverse problem and model the real time ionospheric behavior.

}, author = {Rachel Boedicker and Nathaniel Frissell and John Gibbons and Kristina Collins and David Kazdan} } @proceedings {970, title = {Southern Hemisphere MSTID response to a Sudden Stratospheric Warming Observed by the Falkland Islands SuperDARN Radar}, year = {2025}, month = {03/2025}, publisher = {HamSCI}, address = {Newark, NJ}, abstract = {

We present a study of Medium Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (MSTIDs) observed by the Falkland Islands Radar (FIR) in the Southern Hemisphere in response to a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event. MSTIDs are quasi-periodic variations in the upper atmospheric (~250 km altitude) plasma with phase speeds of ~100-250 m/s, periods from ~15-60 minutes, and horizontal wavelengths of several hundred kilometers. Daytime MSTIDs are known to be associated with gravity waves (GWs) that originate in the lower and middle atmosphere and propagate upward into the F-region. Neutral wind filtering of these GWs creates a strong dependence of GW-associated MSTIDs on stratospheric and mesospheric zonal wind direction and speed, which is tied to polar vortex strength during fall, winter, and spring months. This dependence manifests as both seasonal and sub-seasonal variability of MSTID amplitudes. Most existing SuperDARN MSTID studies have focused on observations from the Northern Hemisphere. This work uses an automated spectral approach previously used to study Northern Hemisphere winter daytime SuperDARN MSTIDs and applied it to all radars in both hemispheres for all times of day and all seasons for the years 2010-2021. This helped us identify the Southern Hemisphere radars with the highest quality data. One radar for which the retrievals worked particularly well was FIR which illustrates suppressed MSTID activity following the minor SSW beginning on 6 September 2019. This suggests that Southern Hemisphere MSTIDs, like their Northern Hemisphere counterparts, have GW sources in the lower/middle neutral atmosphere and are modulated by the polar vortex jet.\ 

}, author = {James Fox and Nicholas Guerra and Thomas Pisano and Michael Molzen and Nathaniel Frissell and Lynn Harvey and Joseph Klobusicky and Mark Fenner and Joseph Baker and Michael Ruohoniemi} }