TY - JOUR
T1 - NetPICOmag
T2 - A low-cost networked magnetometer and its applications
AU - Schofield, I.
AU - Connors, M.
AU - Russell, C. T.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments. Data for Fig. 10 was obtained from the Principal Investigator of the CANOPUS magnetic array at the time, Gordon Rostoker. Fort St. John magnetometer operations are conducted in cooperation with Kanji Hayashi (University of Tokyo, retired) with the support of Neil Thompson. The AUTUMN Red Deer magnetometer is operated through the cooperation of Dr. B. Martin (King’s University College), and Mrs. E. Martin. USGS CMO data was obtained through Intermagnet. Mapping of auroral camera data was done with the help of Emma Spanswick. Thanks to Ali M. Al-Asadi (Grande Prairie Regional College) for obtaining and installing a NPM (GPR). We acknowledge CDAWeb for access to data, J. H. King and N. Papatashvilli for OMNI data, and the Government of Canada through the Canadian Space Agency and NRCan for magnetometer data (including partial funding of auroranet.org development). NPM instruments were developed using support associated with a Canada Research Chair. Implementation of cross-correlation analysis was aided by code placed online by P. Bourke at http://local.wasp.uwa.edu.au. Special thanks to Jill Mattock at Paul Rowe Jr./Sr. High School and the information technology staff at the Peace River School District for their installation and testing of the first school-installed NPM.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - NetPICOmag (NPM) is the culmination of a design effort to build a compact, low-cost, laboratory-grade, networked magnetometer designed for remote autonomous operation, suited for research and education. NPM allows wide placement of magnetometers sensitive enough to detect auroral activity and the daily variation, and is suitable for education projects and a range of geophysical applications. The use of networked microcontrollers and GPS timing is applicable to other small instruments for field or local deployment, and an onboard data logging capability has also been demonstrated. We illustrate the value of the placement of low-cost magnetometers to increase coverage in an area through the study of a Pc 5 pulsation event which took place on September 4, 2010. By combining results with those from auroral zone magnetometers supporting the THEMIS project, we find that the phase velocity of these morning sector pulsations was northward on the ground. The event took place under very quiet solar wind conditions, and credible mapping associates it with the inner magnetosphere. Another aspect beyond increasing areal coverage is increasing density of coverage, which becomes feasible with instruments of very low cost. We examine aspects of the April 5, 2010 space weather event which are possible to deduce from closely spaced magnetometers.
AB - NetPICOmag (NPM) is the culmination of a design effort to build a compact, low-cost, laboratory-grade, networked magnetometer designed for remote autonomous operation, suited for research and education. NPM allows wide placement of magnetometers sensitive enough to detect auroral activity and the daily variation, and is suitable for education projects and a range of geophysical applications. The use of networked microcontrollers and GPS timing is applicable to other small instruments for field or local deployment, and an onboard data logging capability has also been demonstrated. We illustrate the value of the placement of low-cost magnetometers to increase coverage in an area through the study of a Pc 5 pulsation event which took place on September 4, 2010. By combining results with those from auroral zone magnetometers supporting the THEMIS project, we find that the phase velocity of these morning sector pulsations was northward on the ground. The event took place under very quiet solar wind conditions, and credible mapping associates it with the inner magnetosphere. Another aspect beyond increasing areal coverage is increasing density of coverage, which becomes feasible with instruments of very low cost. We examine aspects of the April 5, 2010 space weather event which are possible to deduce from closely spaced magnetometers.
KW - Education
KW - Instrumentation
KW - Pc 5
KW - Pulsation
KW - Substorm
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84876380678&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5047/eps.2011.10.001
DO - 10.5047/eps.2011.10.001
M3 - Journal Article
AN - SCOPUS:84876380678
SN - 1343-8832
VL - 64
SP - 279
EP - 297
JO - Earth, Planets and Space
JF - Earth, Planets and Space
IS - 3
ER -