March 31, 2001 geomagnetic storm

Objectives, project plan, status report

by Volker Grassmann, DF5AI, May 22, 2005

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Start page

data acquisition

storm history

operational results

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science cooperation

tools

Auroral activity

POES vs. QSOs

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objectives

locating Auroras

IMF

QSO distances

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Objectives

1. Study the global impact of geomagnetic disturbances on Aurora dx communication on very high frequencies by analysing a well documented geomagnetic storm event from recent years
2. Describe the nature and the main characteristic of that storm event by referring to scientific material
3. Access the world-wide community of VHF radio amateurs to obtain Aurora dx reports corresponding to that storm event
4. Describe the characteristic of the Aurora dx opening(s) by analysing the dx reports
5. Develop data analysis methods and appropriate tools supporting direct comparison of the scientific findings and the dx observations made by VHF radio amateurs
6. Focus, in particular, on global features and identify their local signature in Aurora dx communication in different continents
7. Electronic media are exclusively considered when accessing data and material, i.e. all information originates from internet resources and email correspondence

Project plan

The project considers the following work units and milestones:

1. Identify an appropriate geomagnetic storm event capable to support the project's objectives - done
2. Call for QSO data by using the DF5AI.NET web site, email reflectors, personal email communication etc. - done
3. Design the database for data management, data validation and verification, data analyses, backup etc. - done
4. Data acquisition phase: receive data from the amateur radio community, upload data into the database - done
5. BREAKPOINT: cancel project if too few data becomes available - breakpoint passed, continue project
6. Acquire scientific background data - main data is available, waiting for additional information: in progress
7. Implement info webpages which report early results and the actual project status - done (this webpages)
8. Communicate the data acquisition closing date, close the database, create master backup - done
9. Clean up data: identify missing grid locators, reject double counts etc. - done
10. Data analysis phase - in progress
11. Compare findings to scientific background data - in progress
12. Replace info webpage by final report - not yet applicable

Actual status report

Date: May 30, 2005

1. The project's documentation in the internet (this webpages) has been revised and has been restructured to define the individual work packages more clearly.
2. Three new pages provide latest results including an animation of the POES data, an animation displaying POES data together with QSO data and an extended discussion of the QSO distances on March 31, 2001.
3. The next phase in the data analysis program requires support by the new BeamFinder release 3 which is however not yet available (it will probably not appear before end of 2005). To fill the gap, a modified version of BeamFinder's actual release 2.1.3 is considered as an alternative, however, no final decision has yet been made.

From: http://www.df5ai.net