Home
Up
Lightning Detection
Magnetometry
Radiation
Radio Science
Seismometer
Time
Weather
Malfunction Junction
Meteor
Natural Disasters
Serious News

 

Radio Science

Radio Science covers all aspects of electromagnetic phenomena including propagation through and interaction of electromagnetic waves with geophysical media, biological media, plasmas, and man-made structures. Our primary interests are ionospheric propagation at high frequencies, radio astronomy including solar emissions at HF, VHF and UHF and very low frequency propagation and phenomena.

Radio Science projects undertaken so far mostly have been associated with radio astronomy and include radio exploration of Jupiter and the Sun and investigation of cosmic (galactic) radio noise. Other projects include propagation studies, in particular a Lunar Echo Experiment involving the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) facility near Gulkana, Alaska.


Click on the links below for access to descriptions and additional links.

Active Crossed-Dipole Antenna ~ Long Wavelength Array Antenna

Active Crossed-Dipole Antenna ~ Murchison Widefield Array Antenna

Jupiter Emissions

Low Frequency Propagation

Lunar Echo Experiment

Radio Astronomy Facilities

Radio Frequency Interference at Reeve Observatory

Radio Systems and Antenna Farm at Reeve Observatory

Raspberry Pi Applications

Solar Emissions

Special RF Applications

Telecommunications and Radio Astronomy Publications

Very Low Frequency Propagation


Jupiter Emissions

Click here to see charts and listen to audio recordings associated with our Jupiter and Radio JOVE observations.

The radio exploration of Jupiter has been in conjunction with the Radio JOVE project.  Radio JOVE is a radio astronomy educational project sponsored by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration (NASA) that studies radio frequency emissions (radio storms) from the planet Jupiter. Click here to go to NASA's RadioJove homepage. Click here for a Jupiter fact-sheet including comparisons with Earth. 

Jupiter emissions were first recorded in 1950 but were not recognized as coming from Jupiter until 1955. The cause of these emissions is not yet completely understood. Observations over the last 50+ years have shown that as one of Jupiter's moon, Io, orbits the planet, it interacts with and disturbs Jupiter's magnetic field. These disturbances result in radio emissions (radio storms) that are beamed to outer space and are received on Earth when Jupiter, Io and Earth are in certain orbital relationships. Click here to go to an animation that shows these relationships as drawn by Professor Kazumasa Imai of the Kochi National College of Technology in Japan.
 

Click here to read an article written for radio listening enthusiasts that appeared as a 2-part series in the September and October 2009 issues of Radio User magazine. The article file is quite large (~7 MB): Listening to Jupiter's Radio Storms

 

Click here for a copy of a presentation made at the Campbell Creek Science Center in Anchorage Alaska on December 10, 2009. The file is quite large (~8 MB): Listening to Jupiter's Radio Storms

 


Solar Emissions

Click here to go to the Solar webpage and access to systems, charts, spectrograms and audio associated with our observations

The Sun is a huge source of radio frequency emissions that interfere with all types of radio communications over very wide frequency ranges. We started detecting solar bursts May 8, 2009 (UTC). We captured our first burst just before 2108, May 8, 2009 (UTC) and another one at 1614, May 9, 2009 (UTC). 

Click here to read an article, Listening to the Sun's Radio Storms, written for radio listening enthusiasts that appeared in the March 2010 issue of Radio User magazine.

For the most part, these solar radio storms are not predictable. For a current space weather report prepared by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service, click here.


Lunar Echo Experiment:  On January 19 and 20, 2008, the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) in Alaska, and the Long Wavelength Array (LWA) in New Mexico, conducted a bi-static high-frequency lunar radar experiment. The experimenters invited radio amateurs and others to monitor the signal transmissions and lunar echoes and to submit receiving reports. We participated as a voluntary observer and submitted a report to the HAARP researchers a few days after the experiments.

Click here to read an article, The Lunar Echo Experiment, describing the experiment and our observations. A version of this article appeared as a 2-part series in the August and September 2008 issues of RadioUser magazine under First British Serial Rights. 


Low Frequency Propagation: We monitor and log the LF band from approximately 30 to 300 kHz and the lower portion of the MF band from approximately 300 to 530 kHz. Click here for a description of this activity.

Very Low Frequency Propagation: We monitor and log the VLF band from approximately 3 to 30 kHz. Click here for a description of this activity.