@article{ef538170d7d4499196536ccf23deefbe,
title = "Citizen Radio Science: An Analysis of Amateur Radio Transmissions With e-POP RRI",
abstract = "We report the results of a radio science experiment involving citizen scientists conducted on 28 June 2015, in which the Radio Receiver Instrument (RRI) on the Enhanced Polar Outflow Probe (e-POP) tuned in to the 40- and 80-m ham radio bands during the 2015 American Radio Relay League Field Day. We have aurally decoded the Morse coded call signs of 14 hams (amateur operators) from RRI's data to help ascertain their locations during the experiment. Through careful analysis of the hams' transmissions, and with the aid of ray tracing tools, we have identified two notable magnetoionic effects in the received signals: plasma cutoff and single-mode fading. The signature of the former effect appeared approximately 30 s into the experiment, with the sudden cessation of signals received by RRI despite measurements from a network of ground-based receivers showing that the hams' transmissions were unabated throughout the experiment. The latter effect, single-mode fading, was detected as a double-peak modulation on the individual dots and dashes of one of the ham's Morse coded transmissions. We show that the modulation in the ham's signal agrees with expected fading rate for single-mode fading. The results of this experiment demonstrate that ham radio transmissions are a valuable tool for studying radio wave propagation and remotely sensing the ionosphere. The analysis and results provide a basis for future collaborations in radio science between traditional researchers in the academia and industry, and citizen scientists in which novel and compelling experiments can be performed.",
keywords = "citizen science, ionosphere, radio propagation, radio science, satellite",
author = "Perry, {G. W.} and Nathaniel Frissell and Miller, {E. S.} and M. Moses and A. Shovkoplyas and Howarth, {A. D.} and Yau, {A. W.}",
note = "Funding Information: We acknowledge the support of the Natural Science and Engineering Research Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant Program and Discovery Accelerator Supplement Program for this research and the support of Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and MacDonald Dettwiller Associates (MDA) for e-POP mission and science operations. e-POP RRI data can be accessed at epop-data.phys.ucalgary.ca. We are grateful to Manuel Cervera, Defense Science and Technology Group, Australia (manuel.cervera@dsto.defence.gov.au), for the HF propagation toolbox, PHaRLAP, which was used for the ray tracing simulations in this study. The authors acknowledge the use of IDL GEOPACK DLM in the production of the RRI data products used in this work. The authors also thank Robert Gillies for his valuable discussions; the e-POP ESOC team: Greg Enno, Troy Kachor, Jamie Roberts, and Andrew White, for their valuable contributions to CASSIOPE operations; and the McHenry County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), also known as K9ESV, for their participation in this work. The authors also thank R. G. Gillies for their many fruitful discussions. Funding Information: We acknowledge the support of the Natural Science and Engineering Research Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant Program and Discovery Accelerator Supplement Program for this research and the support of Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and MacDonald Dettwiller Associates (MDA) for e-POP mission and science opera tions. e-POP RRI data can be accessed at epop-data.phys.ucalgary.ca. We are grateful to Manuel Cervera, Defense Science and Technology Group, Australia (manuel.cervera@dsto. defence.gov.au), for the HF propagation toolbox, PHaRLAP, which was used for the ray tracing simulations in this study. The authors acknowledge the use of IDL GEOPACK DLM in the production of the RRI data products used in this work. The authors also thank Robert Gillies for his valuable discussions; the e-POP ESOC team: Greg Enno, Troy Kachor, Jamie Roberts, and Andrew White, for their valuable contributions to CASSIOPE operations; and the McHenry County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), also known as K9ESV, for their participation in this work. The authors also thank R. G. Gillies for their many fruitful discussions. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright}2018. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.",
year = "2018",
month = aug,
doi = "10.1029/2017RS006496",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "53",
pages = "933--947",
journal = "Radio Science",
issn = "0048-6604",
publisher = "American Geophysical Union",
number = "8",
}