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

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.