From an amateur radio station at the University of Scranton, faculty, students and the public plan to make space science more accessible to communities nationwide.
NASA’s Science Activation program awarded the university a $5.5 million grant — one of the largest in the school’s history — to lead a space education and citizen science initiative focused on space weather and amateur radio.
Nathaniel Frissell, associate professor of physics and engineering, will serve as principal investigator of the project, titled “Discovering the SPARC: Space Physics Through Amateur Radio Connections.” The project builds on Frissell’s research and previous National Science Foundation grants.
Solar flares and other space weather affect cell phone service and scramble GPS navigation. Using amateur radio, Frissell and his students study how what happens in space affects communications on earth.
The project includes the deployment of space weather monitors throughout the country, along with discovery stations at public venues that will allow visitors to see real-time space weather data.
“I want people to get some sort of additional interest and understanding of the bigger world around us,” Frissell said. “Earth is connected with space, with things that the sun and the solar wind are doing, and that influences the technologies we use on a daily basis.”
What is space weather?
The sound of static and the voices of radio operators travel down the hallway of the “penthouse” level of the Loyola Science Center.
It’s nearly 8 p.m., and students and members of the public fill the university’s amateur radio station — call sign W3USR. The university opened it two years ago, and the radio club, including the public, meet every Thursday night when school is in session.
They make connections around the world — and learn about the atmosphere high above the earth through ham radio.
The ionosphere, located about 50 to 400 miles above sea level, is home to all the charged particles in the earth's atmosphere. Amateur radio operators bounce radio signals off the ionosphere for communication. The strength of the bounce provides many clues about the ionosphere, including how it’s impacted by weather in space.
Activity on the sun’s surface creates space weather. Magnetic activity within the sun causes intense solar storms, which can include explosions called solar flares. Solar flares send energy “whizzing through space” at the speed of light, according to NASA. When charged particles get caught in earth's magnetic field, they can create auroras.
Frissell and his students can detect disturbances through their ham radio signals. When the aurora borealis was visible in Northeast Pennsylvania about a year ago, students could hear radio signals flutter, Frissell said.
“Space weather is any time where some event from space, especially from the sun and solar wind, has some sort of an impact on our technology, and that could affect satellites. It could affect radio signals going through the atmosphere,” he said. “It can even affect how our power is distributed from the power plant to your home.”
National reach
The project will bring scientific discovery out of research laboratories and into schools, libraries, museums and communities across the nation.
Collaborating institutions include the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Space Science Institute, MIT Haystack Observatory, University of Alabama and New Jersey Institute of Technology. The grant totals $5,495,781 and will be administered as a five-year agreement through 2031.
“I think it's amazing that we're able to be entrusted with these large resources and to lead a national team,” Frissell said. “Being the leader of this, it's a large responsibility. But it's also really exciting … It really shows that we are a leader in this field, and it really means that our hard work is paying off.”
Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J., president of the University of Scranton, said the school is honored to be chosen by NASA and to work alongside such “distinguished institutions.”
“Under Dr. Frissell’s leadership, the station has become a center for discovery and innovation, connecting students, faculty and the public with a global community of amateur radio operators and citizen scientists in the pursuit of knowledge,” Marina said in a statement. “The university’s commitment to amateur radio is rooted in the belief that meaningful research and hands-on learning can advance scientific understanding while serving the common good. This NASA cooperative agreement is a powerful affirmation of that vision.”
“Discovery Stations” at public venues will allow visitors to see real-time space weather data. Approximately 85 Citizen Science Space Weather Monitors will be distributed throughout the country, collecting data on radio signals and ionospheric conditions, contributing observations to a national research network while also serving as education tools for the public.
The American Radio Relay League Teachers Institute will provide educators with curriculum materials that will connect classroom lessons to live NASA data.
“By distributing our personal space weather station receivers around the world and analyzing the data that we get back from them, we work to better understand many of the complexities of the upper atmosphere,” Frissell said.
Inspiring students
Frissell’s first exposure to ham radio was on a Boy Scout trip in middle school. That opportunity inspired him, eventually leading him to study space weather in the atmosphere.
Now at the university, he inspires students to study the world around them — and the atmosphere above them.
Liam Miller is the president of the amateur radio club and helps Frissell with the research. The sophomore physics and philosophy student from Honesdale works on models to better understand solar flares.
He called working on NASA-funded research a “dream.”
“It is awe-inspiring that I have this opportunity to do something on such a big project and on a global scale like this, especially at the University of Scranton,” he said.
