CEDAR: Advancing Observations and Understanding of Intermediate Scale Ionospheric Irregularities and Scintillation over the United States

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。该奖项将支持一项研究计划，该计划将扩大观察和评估电离层不规则性和闪烁对美国大陆中部地区的影响的能力，该计划使用30个传感器网络，具有25赫兹的高采样率。该奖项还将为公民科学倡议创造机会。研究计划的科学目标是研究当前地磁活动与中纬度电离层不规则和闪烁现象发生的关系。该研究将检查地磁活动控制在美国观测到的中纬度不规则和闪烁发生的程度，并确定在地磁安静条件下观察到的中尺度不规则和闪烁。本奖项将研究的其他科学目标是电离层普遍条件对中纬度电离层不规则和闪烁的发展有何影响。更具体地说，不同类型的大规模电离层扰动（如扩大的极光椭圆等）在多大程度上与中尺度不规则性和闪烁的发展有关？此外，该奖项还将研究源自低纬度的电离层扰动对中纬度不规则和闪烁事件的影响频率。该奖项将包括直接参与该项目的研究生的培训和教育。该奖项将为本科生创造研究机会，并致力于扩大代表性不足群体的参与。该奖项将支持创建公民科学计划，这些计划可能会刺激公众参与并扩大观测能力。为了促进对中纬度电离层不规则性和闪烁（G1）的理解，该合同将支持部署一种新开发的、经过良好测试的低成本传感器，该传感器能够以高速率（25 Hz）测量电离层总电子含量（TEC）和l波段闪烁。具体的科学问题是通过将这些新的测量结果与已经为美国部门例行制作的观测结果（TEC地图）相结合来解决的。除了解决科学问题外，该奖项还将扩大评估中纬度电离层不规则和闪烁影响的能力。该项目还将通过让公众参与建造和操作闪烁监测器，为公民科学倡议创造机会。该奖项将特别针对与雪松社区的优先事项和目标非常一致的特定科学问题。此外，这项工作还听取了2013年太阳和空间物理年代际调查和国家空间天气计划的建议。一种可替代的、具有潜在变革性的观测方法的应用，能够以更低的成本和风险解决广泛的科学问题。观测基础设施的发展将对美国的中尺度电离层不规则和闪烁产生新的分布测量。这些观察结果将提供给公众和科学界。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). The award will support a research program that expands the ability to observe and assess the impact of ionospheric irregularities and scintillation over the central region of the continental US with a 30 sensor network with high sampling rates of 25 Hz. This award will also create opportunities for citizen science initiatives. The science objectives of the research plan are to study the relationship between the prevailing geomagnetic activity and the occurrence of intermediate scale-size (0.1-10 km) mid-latitude ionospheric irregularities and scintillation. The research will examine the extent that geomagnetic activity controls the occurrence of mid-latitude irregularities and scintillation observed over the US and identifies what intermediate scale irregularities and scintillation are observed during geomagnetically quiet conditions. Additional scientific objectives to be studied in this award are what prevailing ionospheric conditions influence the development of mid-latitude ionospheric irregularities and scintillation. More specifically, to what extent can different types of large-scale ionospheric disturbances (such as the expanded auroral oval, etc.) be associated with the development of intermediate-scale irregularities and scintillation? Additionally, the award would examine how often ionospheric disturbances originating at low latitudes contribute to mid-latitude irregularities and scintillation events. The award will include training and education of graduate students that will be directly involved in the project. The award will create research opportunities for undergraduate students, with commitment to broadening the participation of underrepresented groups. The award will support the creation of citizen science initiatives that may stimulate public engagement and expand observational capabilities. In order to advance understanding of mid-latitude ionospheric irregularities and scintillation (G1), the award will support the deployment of a newly developed, but well-tested, low-cost sensor capable of measuring at a high-rate (25 Hz) ionospheric total electron content (TEC) and L-Band scintillation. The specific science questions are addressed by combining these new measurements with observations (TEC maps) already being routinely made for the American sector. In addition to addressing science questions, the award would expand the ability to assess the impact of mid-latitude ionospheric irregularities and scintillation. The project will also create opportunities for citizen science initiatives by engaging the public in building and operating scintillation monitors. The award will address, in particular, specific science questions that are well-aligned with the priorities and goals of the CEDAR community. Additionally, the effort attends recommendations by the 2013 Solar and Space Physics Decadal Survey and by the National Space Weather Program. The application of an alternative and potentially transformative observational approach that allows addressing a wide range of science questions with reduced costs and risks. The development of an observational infrastructure will produce new distributed measurements of intermediate scale ionospheric irregularities and scintillation over the US. These observations will be made available to the public and scientific community.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.