New server based SID monitor for Space Physics projects at schools

Abstract

Earths ionosphere has a strong influence on the propagation of radio signals. The ionosphere reacts strongly on solar x-ray and UV radiation released during solar flare, solar storm, or coronal mass ejection. The ionospheric reaction is the so-called sudden ionospheric disturbances (SID). The German solar ionospheric monitor network (SIMONE) is a public outreach project targeting K-12 school classes and is operating since 2007 in Germany VLF radio receivers with the aim to detect SID. By monitoring signal strength from a so distant VLF transmitter that the radio waves are bounce off the ionosphere one can detect SID. Recently a next generation radio receiver including an ethernet server was developed and deployed to test users at schools in Finland and Germany. Their data and experiences of their SID school projects are gathered on a new internet platform for the SIMONE project operated at DLR in Neustrelitz. This presentation reports on pre-liminary results obtained from the new server based SID monitor. Web page: http://swaciweb.dlr.de/