Project Grant 2419186
- This $137,356 federal Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Mathematical and Physical Sciences program aims to advance the understanding of solar flare physics. The award, effective September 1, 2024 through August 31, 2027, will fund collaborative research to characterize the energy release and heating mechanisms during solar flares. The project will combine numerical modeling with analysis of high-resolution observational data from the Daniel K. Inouye Solar...
- This $303,253 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation's Geosciences Program (CFDA 47.050) to Montana State University aims to advance the understanding of solar flare heating mechanisms. The research team will conduct high-cadence, high-resolution observations of solar flares using the Goode Solar Telescope and upcoming X-ray instruments to study the temporal, spatial, and magnetic structures of the fundamental energy release processes, known as "elementary bursts."...
- This $305,598 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Astronomical Sciences, under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049), will fund collaborative research between the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the University of Alabama, Huntsville to study solar flare-producing active regions. The researchers will leverage high-resolution observations from the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope and other ground-based and space-based telescopes, along...
- This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, under the Geosciences federal grant program (CFDA 47.050), provides $550,926 to the New Jersey Institute of Technology to develop deep learning tools and models for understanding solar flare initiations. Over a three-year period from September 2022 to August 2025, the awardee will train graduate students and high school interns while undertaking five interrelated tasks. These include creating...
- This National Science Foundation (NSF) Geosciences Program (CFDA 47.050) Project Grant award of $594,076 to the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) supports a collaborative research project to advance the understanding of solar flare energy deposition into the solar chromosphere. The project will utilize a combination of high-spatial resolution imaging spectroscopy from the Big Bear Solar Observatory's 1.6m Goode Solar Telescope and state-of-the-art radiation hydrodynamic modeling to: 1)...
- This Project Grant award of $320,709 from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Geosciences Program (CFDA 47.050) supports research to investigate the correlation between quiet-time ionosphere day-to-day variability and quiet-time thermosphere composition day-to-day variability over the American continent. The project aims to characterize how these quiet-time variabilities impact one another, which is essential for effective space weather forecasting. The research utilizes ground-based...
- This $713,805 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation's Geosciences Program (CFDA 47.050) will support the development of an advanced, low-cost ionospheric scintillation and total electron content (TEC) monitor. The instrument will provide high-resolution measurements comparable to state-of-the-art commercial monitors, but at a fraction of the cost. This will enable the deployment of dense monitoring networks to improve understanding of atmospheric disturbances related to events...
- This National Science Foundation (NSF) Geosciences Program (CFDA 47.050) Project Grant award totaling $172,015 will support collaborative research led by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) to investigate the role of supra-arcade downflows (SADs) in energy transfer during solar flares. The research aims to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of energy release in the above-the-loop-top (ALT) regions of solar flares, which are critical to comprehending these highly energetic...
- This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences Program (CFDA 47.050) provides $210,153 to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to conduct collaborative research on the ionospheric density response to solar eclipses across the United States. The research project aims to quantify the impact of solar eclipses on the ionosphere, a crucial region of the atmosphere that affects radio communication and navigation, and to identify the key factors driving these ionospheric...
- This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, under the Geosciences federal grant program (CFDA 47.050), provides $437,703 to Utah State University to advance interdisciplinary research connecting heliophysics and computer science. The award supports the development of novel graph neural network models to leverage time series similarities of photospheric vector magnetic field parameters for improved solar flare prediction. Researchers will...
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: EVOLUTION OF THE GLOBAL TOTAL ELECTRON CONTENTS (TEC) DURING SOLAR FLARES -SOLAR FLARES, AS THE MOST INTENSE ERUPTIONS OF SOLAR RADIATION, CAN CAUSE ENHANCED IONIZATION IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE ON A GLOBAL SCALE. THIS ENHANCEMENT CAN IMPACT AVIATION, MARITIME, AND MILITARY COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS AND GLOBAL NAVIGATION SYSTEMS. HOWEVER, OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE FLARE-TO-FLARE VARIATIONS IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE IS STILL ILLUSIVE AND THUS PROHIBITS FORECASTING CAPABILITIES. THE RESULTS OF THIS PROJECT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY DEEPEN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF FLARE-TO-FLARE VARIATIONS IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE AND IMPROVE OUR PREDICTABILITY OF THE GLOBAL UPPER ATMOSPHERE DURING SOLAR FLARES. AS SOLAR CYCLE 25 IS APPROACHING ITS MAXIMUM ACCOMPANIED BY MORE FREQUENT AND INTENSE SOLAR FLARES, IT IS TIMELY TO CARRY OUT THE RESEARCH THAT WILL INVESTIGATE THE SOLAR FLARES? IMPACT ON THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE IN DETAIL. THIS PROJECT WILL BE VALUABLE IN MITIGATING THE IMPACT OF SOLAR FLARES ON AVIATION, MARITIME, AND MILITARY COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS AND GLOBAL NAVIGATION SYSTEMS, WHICH ARE CRITICAL FOR BOTH EVERYDAY LIFE AND NATIONAL SECURITY. THE OVERARCHING SCIENCE GOAL IS TO INVESTIGATE THE EVOLUTIONS OF THE GLOBAL IONOSPHERIC TOTAL ELECTRON CONTENTS (TEC) DURING SOLAR FLARES AND TO IMPROVE OUR ABILITY TO PREDICT THE RESPONSES OF THE GLOBAL TEC TO SOLAR FLARES. SPECIFIC SCIENCE QUESTIONS THAT THIS PROJECT AIMS TO ADDRESS INCLUDE: 1. WHAT IS THE TEMPORAL EVOLUTION OF THE GLOBAL TEC DURING SOLAR FLARES? 2. HOW DO THE DIFFERENT PHASES OF SOLAR FLARES (E.G., CORONAL DIMMING AND EUV LATE PHASE) IMPACT THE RESPONSES OF THE GLOBAL TEC? 3. HOW CAN WE PREDICT THE RESPONSE OF GLOBAL TEC TO SOLAR FLARES USING MACHINE LEARNING (ML) MODELS? TO ADDRESS THESE SQS, THE RESEARCH TEAM PLANS TO UTILIZE TEC DATA FROM THE WORLDWIDE GNSS RECEIVERS, PERFORM DETAILED ANALYSIS WITH AN AIM TO INVESTIGATE ITS RESPONSES TO SOLAR FLARES. THE SOLAR SPECTRAL IRRADIANCE DURING SUCH EVENTS WILL BE FROM EMPIRICAL MODELS (E.G., FISM2) OR OBSERVATIONS (E.G., SDO EVE). THE INVESTIGATION WILL USE STATE-OF-THE-ART PHYSICS-BASED NUMERICAL MODELS (E.G., GITM) TO INVESTIGATE THE RESPONSES OF THE TEC DURING DIFFERENT PHASES OF SOLAR FLARES, ESPECIALLY THE EUV LATE PHASE AND CORONAL DIMMING. THE PROJECT PLANS TO DEVELOP ML MODELS TO PREDICT THE GLOBAL TEC RESPONSES TO SOLAR FLARES. TO CARRY OUT THE TASKS, A TEAM INCLUDING EXPERTS IN GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS, NUMERICAL MODELING, AND MACHINE LEARNING WOULD BE INVOLVED IN THE RESEARCH. THE OUTCOME OF THIS PROJECT CAN HELP MITIGATE THE IMPACT OF SOLAR FLARES ON OUR TECHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY. THE PROJECT WILL SUPPORT AN EARLY CAREER RESEARCHER AND PROMOTE INTEGRATION OF RESEARCH AND EDUCATION. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $223.8k | 8/14/25 | ||
| Not listed | $112.5k | 6/28/24 |