HamSCI and the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

Transcription

1 HamSCI and the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse Nathaniel A. Frissell, W2NAF 1 and the HamSCI Community 1 New Jersey Institute of Technology, K2MFF

2 Total Solar Eclipse 21 August 2017 Partial Start: Total Max: Partial End: 1604 UT 1716 UT 1834 UT Partial Start: Total Max: Partial End: 1720 UT 1851 UT 2013 UT Figure: W. Strickling, Wikipedia

3 Total Solar Eclipse

4 SEQP Raytrace Simulation Non-Eclipsed NRL SAMI3 Ionosphere PHaRLAP Raytrace Toolbox 7 MHz TX: AC4PA, Georgia RX: WE9V, Wisconsin Eclipsed

5 HamSCI Eclipse Research Questions What are the temporal and spatial scales of eclipse-induced ionospheric effects? Can we observe TIDs in the ionosphere caused by the eclipse? How does the eclipse affect HF propagation? J. Sackerman, KC2ZFK W. Engelke, AB4EJ

6 HamSCI Eclipse Experiments Solar Eclipse QSO Party (SEQP) Ham Radio Contest-Like Event Generate a quasi-random dataset Data from RBN, PSKRepoter, WSPRNet, Logs HF Wideband Recording Use SDRs to record large amounts of HF Spectrum HF Frequency Measurement Experiment Measure changes in WWV, CHU frequency due to eclipse

7 Space Weather?

8 GMAG & SW Conditions Boulder Sunspot Nr: 44 F10.7: 83 sfu Nominal/Quiet Values B T B z 7 nt + for Quiet P dyn 1 6 npa Sources: NOAA & Kyoto WDC v p 450 km s -1 n p 6 cm -3 T 1.2x10 5 K D st K p 3 > -50 nt

9 GOES X-Ray Flux

10 WA9VNJ 10MHz WWV Observations

11 WA9VNJ 10MHz WWV Observations

12 GOES X-Ray Flux Control Day

13 WA9VNJ 10MHz WWV Observations

14 10 & 15 MHz WWV (Schenectady, NY) Even shortwave listeners got into the act. Using the S meter on his Panasonic RF-4900 shortwave receiver, 88 year old John S. Erickson of Schenectady, NY (father of Extra class licensee and professional ionospheric researcher Phil Erickson W1PJE) recorded the signal strength he heard from time signals WWV at 10 and 15 MHz every 10 minutes during eclipse passage.

15 Solar Eclipse QSO Party (SEQP) August 21, 2017 from UT Contest-like 2 Points CW or Digital 1 Point for Phone Multiply Score by # of Grids Exchange RST + 6 Character Grid Square Data sources Reverse Beacon Network PSKReporter WSPRNet Participant-submitted logs

16 SEQP Observations RBN reversebeacon.net WSPRNet wsprnet.org PSKReporter pskreporter.info Observations from 21 August UT Network # Spots / QSOs RBN 618,623 WSPRNet 630,132 PSKReporter 1,287,855 Participant Logs 31,151

17 Solar Eclipse QSO Party 593 parsed logs 31,151 QSOs 5,045 unique callsigns char grid squares 81 DX Entities (from logs submitted to hamsci.org)

18 Ham Radio Eclipse Data

19 SEQP RBN Spots 28 MHz (10 m) 21 MHz (15 m) 14 MHz (20 m) 7 MHz (40 m) 3.5 MHz (80 m) 1.8 MHz (160 m) Partial Total Partial

20 RBN - SEQP

21 WE9V 14 MHz RBN Rx, Wisconsin

22 WE9V 14 MHz RBN Rx, Wisconsin Ground Eclipse Times Bristol, WI: Start partial: 1653 UT Max: 1818 UT End partial: 1940 UT Clear drop in 20 meter propagation during temporary nighttime conditions

23 7 MHz RBN: Great-Circle Range vs Obscuration

24 7 MHz RBN: Great-Circle Range vs Obscuration

25 14 MHz RBN: Great-Circle Range vs Obscuration Eclipse Control

26 14 MHz RBN: Great-Circle Range vs Obscuration Eclipse Control

27 Summary & Conclusions Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation An organization that allows university researchers to collaborate with the amateur radio community in scientific investigations Solar Eclipse QSO Party Number of HF Spots During Eclipse Increases on 1.8 to 7 MHz. Decreases on 14 MHz With increasing obscuration 7 MHz path length increases 14 MHz SNR decreases; second-hop propagation goes away. This shows temporary night-like propagation conditions of the ionosphere.

28 Future Work Testing and validation of Ray Trace Models Ionospheric Models Development of new techniques for using ham radio data to characterize the ionosphere. Look for more localized eclipse effects? Can we learn something new from the ionosphere?

29 Special Thanks John Ackermann, N8UR David Bern, W2LNX Felipe Ceglia, PY1NB Greg Earle, W4GDE Bill Engelke, AB4EJ 2 Phil Erickson, W1PJE Rachel Frissell, W2RUF Andy Gerrard, KD2MCQ Bob Gerzoff, WK2Y Spencer W. Gunning, K2AEM Michael Hirsch, N2NRL Steve Kaeppler, AD0AE Joshua D. Katz, KD2JAO John Magliacane, KD2BD Bob McGwier, N4HY Ethan Miller, K8GU Magda Moses, KM4EGE Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA Steve Reyer, WA9VNJ Sam Rose, KC2LRC Alex Shovkoplyas, VE3NEA Ward Silver, N0AX Pete Smith, N4ZR Pete Teklinski, WW2I Joshua S. Vega, WB2JSV Dick Williams, W3OA The ARRL All hams who have participated in HamSCI projects.

30 HamSCI Workshop at NJIT Friday, Feb. 23 Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018 New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ We welcome papers and presentations on 2017 Eclipse Ionospheric Effects using Amateur Radio and related data. Watch hamsci.org and ARRL news for details.

31 Thank you!