Highlighting the Space Weather Monitor Program

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Highlighting the Space Weather Monitor Program
CISM Space Weather Professional Development for
Educators

• Deborah Scherrer, Roberta Johnson, Ramon Lopez,
  Pat Reiff, Marius Schamschula
• Stanford U., NCAR, Florida Institute of Tech.,
  Rice U., Alabama AM

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Quick Overview

• Objectives
• The Plan
• Details
• CISM Interconnections
• Center Leverage
• Educational Professional Development
• Web-based Training
• IHY
• The Monitors SID and AWESOME
• Project Structure
• Our Team

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Objectives

• Provide space weather resources and professional
  development for grades 6-14 teachers
• Integrate CISM research and education
• Leverage off Center concept and engage CISM
  scientists with the educational program
• Respond to diversity needs

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The Plan

• Team community college high school educators
  with scientists to
• Design, develop, classroom-test VLF radio
  receivers that track changes to the Earths
  ionosphere caused by solar activity
• Provide Standards-based, hands-on, inquiry-driven
  science experience for teachers and students
• Return data useful to researchers
• Involve high school, undergraduate (incl.
  community college), and graduate students
• Involve researchers

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How?

• Based on AAVSO original concept
• 2 versions
• SID inexpensive (150)
• AWESOME research quality (3000)
• Preassembled, but students build their own
  antenna (10)
• Centralized data repository chat site

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• Are placing 100 SIDs and 15 AWESOMES in
  under-represented high schools, community
  colleges, science museums
• Leverage from CISM Education Partners
• Teacher workshops (NCAR)
• University application (Alabama AM)
• Integration into teacher-training courses (Rice
  U.)
• Development of web-based training (Exploratorium,
  NCAR, Stanford)
• Engagement from CISM Science Partners
• Distribute in a Partnership model, to encourage
  scientist-teacher-student collaborations
• Return data to CISM and other researchers
• All materials standards-based
• Professional formative summative assessment
• Obtained supplemental funding from NASA

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CISM Interconnections
Integration of research and education

• Space Weather data returned
• Engagement of scientists with K-14 schools
  students

Sphere of Broadening impact
Pipeline bridges High School -gt community
college/university ? grad school
Space Weather Monitor Program -- Helping to
address multiple dimensions of CISM review
criteria
K-14 Introduced to Space Weather
Infrastructure for science or education
Web-based training resources, produced in
conjunction with CISM scientists Exploratorium
website NCAR website Stanford website
Centralized data repository Software for data
analysis
Diversity
Teacher interns, students, professional
development, workshops, courses
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It takes a Center

• Space Monitor program leverages off Center
  concept
• Provides coherence interconnection with
  multiple partners and varied programs
• Integrates research and education

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Educator Professional Development

• NCAR provides professional development workshops,
  in person and online, about space weather topics
  to teachers these will be modified to include
  the Space Weather Monitors
• Rice U. will be integrating the monitors into
  their Physics of Ham Radio course for teachers.
• Alabama AM will be integrating the monitors into
  their space science program

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CISMWeb-based Training Resources

• Exploratorium Space Weather Research Explorer
• http//www.exploratorium.edu/spaceweather/
• Produced in conjunction with CISM partners _at_ UC
  Berkeley Stanford
• Includes CISM imagery, interviews with CISM
  scientists, pointers to live CISM data
• NCARs Windows to the Universe Space Weather
• http//www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link/space_weat
  her/space_weather.html
• Stanford Solar Center Space Weather Monitors
• http//solar-center.stanford.edu/SID

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IHY 2007

• The United Nations and organizers of the
  International Heliophysical Year, 2007, have
  designated these Space Weather Monitors as
  official IHY instruments, to be placed in 191
  countries around the world.

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Overview of the Monitors

• The Sun Earths Ionosphere
• VLF Transmitters
• About our monitors
• Data tracking
• Connecting monitor data with GOES
• Connecting data to solar active regions

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The Sun, ionosphere, and radio waves
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VLF Transmitters
24 around the world
Antenna Wires
Primarily U.S. Navy stations for communicating
with submarines
NLK 24.8 KHz Navy Radio Station, Jim Creek,
WA 1 cycle 7.5 miles (12 km)
200 Towers
VLF signals can be received all over the world,
because of the ionosphere!
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Our Monitors

• SID
• Low Cost (150)
• Single band
• 1 sample/5 seconds
• Preassembled tuned
• Students build antenna
• Available free to underserved schools

• AWESOME
• Moderate cost (3000)
• Broadband sample rate of 100kHz on each channel
• Capture ELF/VLF frequencies
• 30 Hz - 50kHz
• Dual use system
• Daytime monitor solar activity
• Nighttime monitor atmospheric phenomena
  (e.g. lightning)
• So sensitive that nearly any signal above the
  ambient Earth noise floor can be detected
• Data useable for ionospheric and solar researchers

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Detecting Solar Flares SID(s)
SID Events!
Not all events are readily explainable students
can research these
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GOES-12 Weather Satellite
Detecting X-Rays
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Connecting SID to GOES Data
C5.9
M1.3
C4.5
C3.8
Students have also found flares not cataloged by
GOES!!!
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Connecting SID events to sunspots (Active Regions)
Event Begin Max End Obs Q Type
Loc/Frq Particulars Reg ----------------
--------------------------------------------------
------------- 1960 1727 1736 1744
G12 5 XRA 1-8A C4.5 3.1E-03
0424 1990 1930 1946 1954 G12 5
XRA 1-8A C5.9 5.9E-03 0424 2000
2112 2134 2140 G12 5 XRA 1-8A
C3.8 3.1E-03 0424 2040 2341 2354
0002 G12 5 XRA 1-8A M1.3 8.5E-03
0424
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D
D Includes diversity component

Technology expertize
Integration back into science research
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Integration back into science research
Design develop SID AWESOME
Planning
Communications
Coordination
Integration into university environment Alabama
AM
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Partners
Production
Reporting
Distribution
Traffic Control
Distribution
Distribution
Partnerships
Engagement of CISM scientists with teachers
students
D
D
General Public Interest in awareness of Space
Weather
Teachers and classrooms high school community
college
D
D
100 SIDs
10 AWESOME
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Our Team

• Stanford Partners
• Philip Scherrer, Solar Observatories Group
• Umran Inan, Stanford EE
• Hao Thai, Solar Observatories Group
• Deborah Scherrer, Stanford Solar Center
• Students
• Morris Cohen, Stanford EE
• Justin Tan, Stanford EE
• Shannon Lee, Chabot Community College
• Sharad Khanal, Stanford Physics
• Scott Winegarden, Mid Penninsula High School
• (now at UC Irvine)
• Mitch Patenaude, Cal State Hayward
• Sam Penrose, Cal State Hayward
• Kenny Oslund, Castro Valley High (now at CalTech)

• Educators
• Ray Mitchell, Chief Engineer Chabot Community
  College, Cal State Hayward
• William Clark, San Lorenzo High School
• Richard Styner, San Lorenzo High School
• Sean Fotrell, Castro Valley High School
• Tim Dave, Chabot Community College
• CISM Partners
• Roberta Johnson, NCAR
• Ramon Lopez, Florida Institute of Tech.
• Pat Reiff, Rice University
• Marius Schamschula, Alabama AM
• Concept Paul Mortfield

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For more informationon Space Weather Monitors
http//solar-center.stanford.edu/SID dscherrer_at_sol
ar.stanford.edu