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THE NEAR-EARTH SPACE ENVIRONMENT CONTAINS A DYNAMIC MIX OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND CHARGED PARTICLES (PLASMA) THAT CAN AFFECT TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE. FOR EXAMPLE PLASMA WAVES IN THIS REGION CAN GENERATE HIGH-ENERGY SATELLITE-DAMAGING RADIATION AND CREATE ELECTRIC CURRENTS THAT DAMAGE POWER GRIDS MAKING THESE WAVES A HIGH PRIORITY FOR STUDY. SPACE PLASMA WAVES OFTEN TAKE THE FORM OF STANDING WAVES AND RESONANCES THAT ARE ANALOGOUS TO MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS SUCH AS HARPS BELLS AND ORGANS. HOWEVER UNLIKE THE SYNCHRONOUS SOUND WAVES EMITTED BY PRECISELY TUNED INSTRUMENTS PLAYING TOGETHER IN A SYMPHONY THESE SPACE PLASMA WAVES ARE MORE LIKE A CACOPHONY OF MANY OVERLAPPING WAVES WITH HIGHLY VARIED TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT CANNOT EASILY BE ISOLATED FROM EACH OTHER. OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THIS COMPLICATED MIX OF WAVES IS LIMITED BY A LACK OF ROBUST DETECTION METHODS PARTICULARLY DURING CONDITIONS WHEN SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS ON TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE ARE EXPECTED. WE WILL ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES THROUGH AUDIFICATION OF NASA SATELLITE MEASUREMENTS THAT WILL BE EXAMINED BY CITIZEN SCIENTISTS. AUDIFICATION IS A ONE-TO-ONE MAPPING OF DATA SAMPLES IN A TIME SERIES TO AUDIO SAMPLES AND IT IS AN EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR WAVE EVENT DETECTION. THE RECENTLY COMPLETED MAGNETOSPHERIC UNDULATIONS SONIFIED INCORPORATING CITIZEN SCIENTISTS (MUSICS) PROJECT IN THE UNITED KINGDOM PROVES THAT CITIZEN SCIENTISTS CAN EFFECTIVELY IDENTIFY PLASMA WAVES THROUGH AUDIFICATION AND MAKE MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTIONS TO PEER REVIEWED HELIOPHYSICS RESEARCH. THE PROPOSED HELIOPHYSICS AUDIFIED: RESONANCES IN PLASMAS (HARP) PROJECT AIMS TO BUILD ON AND EXPAND MUSICS IN THREE WAYS: 1) ADAPT MUSICS TO A FULLY REMOTE AUDIENCE IN THE UNITED STATES RATHER THAN THE BLEND OF IN PERSON AND REMOTE DISCUSSIONS THAT WERE CONDUCTED WITH LONDON HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS AND STUDENTS. WE WILL DEVELOP TOOLS THAT STREAMLINE THE TRAINING PROCESS MAKE EVENT DETECTION MORE USER FRIENDLY AND IMPROVE VISUALIZATION OF RESULTS SO CITIZEN SCIENTISTS CAN SEE THE IMPACT OF THEIR WORK. 2) USE EXISTING NATIONAL CENTER OF INTERACTIVE LEARNING (NCIL PART OF SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE) PARTNERSHIPS TO BETA-TEST THE NEW TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES WITH CITIZEN SCIENTISTS. 3) USE EVENT DATA COLLECTED FROM CITIZEN SCIENTISTS TO ADDRESS THE OUTSTANDING QUESTION WHAT TYPES OF ULTRA LOW FREQUENCY RESONANCES OCCUR DURING SPACE WEATHER EVENTS? THE CITIZEN SCIENTISTS WILL USE MAGNETIC AND ELECTRIC FIELD MEASUREMENTS FROM NASA S THEMIS SATELLITES TO IDENTIFY AND CLASSIFY EVENTS THEN TEAM MEMBERS WILL WORK WITH THE CITIZEN SCIENTISTS TO INTERPRET THE RESULTS AND PREPARE THEM FOR PUBLICATION. THIS WORK IS RELEVANT TO THE NASA CSSFP BECAUSE (1) IT WILL SUPPORT THE BETA-TESTING OF AUDIFICATION CITIZEN SCIENCE TOOLS DURING A CRITICAL TRANSITION PERIOD (ADAPTING TOOLS FROM IN PERSON AUDIENCES IN THE UK TO A FULLY REMOTE AUDIENCE IN THE US) (2) THE WORK WILL ADDRESS AN OUTSTANDING QUESTION IN HELIOPHYSICS RESEARCH THAT IS RELEVANT TO THE HIGH-LEVEL DECADAL SURVEY GOAL DETERMINE THE DYNAMICS AND COUPLING OF EARTH S MAGNETOSPHERE IONOSPHERE AND ATMOSPHERE AND THEIR RESPONSE TO SOLAR AND TERRESTRIAL INPUTS AND THE HELIOPHYSICS PROGRAM OBJECTIVE EXPLORE AND CHARACTERIZE THE PHYSICAL PROCESSES IN THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT FROM THE SUN TO THE HELIOPAUSE AND THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE (3) THE WORK WILL PAVE THE WAY FOR FUTURE AUDIFICATION CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECTS THAT ADDRESS A WIDER RANGE SCIENCE QUESTIONS AND BETTER ENGAGE THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED IN HELIOPHYSICS RESEARCH. THERE IS A HIGH IMPACT POTENTIAL FOR THIS PROJECT SINCE THE AUDIFICATION TOOLS THAT ARE DEVELOPED WILL INTERFACE WITH EXISTING NASA SPACE PHYSICS DATA FACILITY TOOLS THUS THEY COULD BE READILY ADAPTED TO A WIDE RANGE OF OTHER DATASETS AND SCIENCE OBJECTIVES. THE PROPOSING TEAM INCLUDES EXPERTISE ON PLASMA WAVE RESEARCH SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH AND SONIFICATION/AUDIFICATION CITIZEN SCIENCE.

$82,998FY2021National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

Space Science Institute, Boulder CO

Investigators

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