DASI Track 2: Space Weather UnderGround (SWUG)

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project supported by the Geospace Facilities Distributed Arrays of Small Instruments (DASI) will support the construction and deployment of a magnetometer array in northern New England as well as the construction of a data center. The Space Weather Underground (SWUG) network will bring a scientific investigation into the high school physics and engineering classrooms in northern New England. Students will continue ongoing projects to build fluxgate magnetometers and support hardware (photovoltaics, radio telemetry, and GPS) and then deploy the magnetometers at locations around the region. This array is capable of measuring local dynamics in Earth's Ionosphere in response to space weather events. Faculty at the University of New Hampshire will support the development effort and the data analysis efforts that will result in a manner that brings physics-driven computer programming tasks into the schools. The data generated from this network will be made publicly available to the scientific community.This magnetometer array will support existing magnetometers around the globe, monitor space weather, and provide insights into the small-scale ionospheric dynamics at mid-latitudes that result from solar wind transients. The spatial scale is designed to provide a measure of local dynamics as disturbances move through the region. It will provide unique measurements of mid-latitude dynamics that can be combined with global ground-based measurements, magnetospheric measurements from orbiting satellites, and solar wind data from Lagrange Point 1 (L1). This project also places a space physics research tool into the back yards of schools in northern New England and thereby serves to bring space science into the classroom. The same school-provided computers that serve the node data to the SWUG Data Center will have real-time graphics showing the state and activity of the local node. These magnetometers will constitute a network that will provide students and teachers with project-based activities that support inquiry and promote access to real scientific data. Participating schools will be provided with lessons to teach students the basics of magnetic forces, induction, geomagnetic fields, the solar wind and space weather.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.