Friday, February 15, 2013

Flyby of an astroid

Today there is a record setting flyby of an astroid! Enjoy this podcast about it! Not really about BARREL, but still really cool!



The meteor which exploded over Russia was not related to this fly by. This really may be the year of the astroids!

Daily e-mail Feb. 15 2013


Good afternoon, 

There were another two CMEs from the western limb, but as they were off the visible side it is yet unclear if they are Earth-directed. Hopefully we'll know more tomorrow. 

Payloads up:
SANAE IV: 1T
Halley 6: 1I,



Payloads coming down:
1A was cut down on Feb. 14 at 0232 UT. 

Conjunctions: 
Feb 9 2013
Sat. A 0430 UT - 1100 UT
Sat. B 0730 UT - 1350 UT

Feb 8 2013
Sat. A 0200 UT - 0800 UT 
Sat. B 0600 UT - 1100 UT

Feb 5 2013
Sat. A 0130 UT - 0845 UT 
Sat. B 0355 UT - 1130 UT

Feb 4 2013
Sat. B 0045 UT - 0810 UT 

Feb 3-4 2013
Sat. A 2220 UT on February 3rd to 0545 on February 4th

Feb 3 2013
Sat. A 0420 UT - 1200 UT
Sat. B 0640 UT - 1420 UT

Jan 30 2013-partially cancelled
Sat. A 0140 UT - 0555 UT
Sat. B 0335 UT - 1050 UT

Jan 29 2013
Sat. A 0735 UT - 1515 UT
Sat. B 0025 UT - 0740 UT
Sat. B 0915 UT - 1650 UT
 
Jan 28-29 2013
Sat. A 2250 UT Jan 28 - 0605 UT Jan 29
 
Jan 28 2013
Sat. A 0450 UT - 1210 UT
Sat. B 0625 UT - 1345 UT
 
Jan 27 2013
Sat. A 0220 UT - 0910 UT
Sat. A 1114 UT - 1815 UT
Sat. B 0330 UT - 1020 UT
Sat. B 1215 UT - 1940 UT


Halley Bay :
Hasn't updated yet. 

GOES Electron Flux:
Have continued to be at normal to moderate levels and are expected to be the same for the next three days.
 
GOES Proton Flux:
Has stayed at background levels for the lat 24 hours and is expected to be the same over the next three days
 
Space Weather from Spaceweather.com and SWPC.noaa.gov
 
Solar wind speed is 337.9 km/s 
Solar proton density 2.0 cm^(-3) 
 
25 sunspots are now visible. NOAA has the likelihood of a M class flare at 1% (The lowest it's reached during the campaign) and a 1% chance of an X class flare. 
 
Kp is quiet kp = 1 with a 24 max of kp = 1
Bz = 1.3 nT south
Btotal = 3.9 nT 
 
There are currently no large coronal holes. 

From Kyoto:
AE: some small blips of activity
 
Dst: We have long recovered from yesterday's storm and it is now quiet again. 
 
Have a great day, 

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Daily e-mail Feb 14th 2013


Good Morning 

NO TELECON TODAY - As we are starting to wind down we have decided that we no longer need daily telecons but instead will switch to weekly telecons. Unless there is any argument against this time, the weekly telecons will be on Thursdays at 10am PST starting next Thursday. 

Early this morning the magnetosphere and solar wind proved they didn't need a solar storm to cause some geomagnetic activity. We finally had a period of sustained southward Bz and thus we got a storm. It was a small storm, but then again the SW never reached much more than 400 km/s, B_tot stayed below 15 nT, and the density was for the most part below 10 cm^-3. Even B_z was often above -5 nT. Kp reached a high of 4 and the Dst dipped to -47 nT making this the second largest storm during the BARREL 2013 campaign. All without the help of a coronal hole or CME. I think this was the magnetosphere and SW's valentine to us. 

Payloads up:
SANAE IV: 1T
Halley 6: 1I,



Payloads coming down:
1A was cut down on Feb. 14 at 0232 UT. 

Conjunctions: 
Feb 9 2013
Sat. A 0430 UT - 1100 UT
Sat. B 0730 UT - 1350 UT

Feb 8 2013
Sat. A 0200 UT - 0800 UT 
Sat. B 0600 UT - 1100 UT

Feb 5 2013
Sat. A 0130 UT - 0845 UT 
Sat. B 0355 UT - 1130 UT

Feb 4 2013
Sat. B 0045 UT - 0810 UT 

Feb 3-4 2013
Sat. A 2220 UT on February 3rd to 0545 on February 4th

Feb 3 2013
Sat. A 0420 UT - 1200 UT
Sat. B 0640 UT - 1420 UT

Jan 30 2013-partially cancelled
Sat. A 0140 UT - 0555 UT
Sat. B 0335 UT - 1050 UT

Jan 29 2013
Sat. A 0735 UT - 1515 UT
Sat. B 0025 UT - 0740 UT
Sat. B 0915 UT - 1650 UT
 
Jan 28-29 2013
Sat. A 2250 UT Jan 28 - 0605 UT Jan 29
 
Jan 28 2013
Sat. A 0450 UT - 1210 UT
Sat. B 0625 UT - 1345 UT
 
Jan 27 2013
Sat. A 0220 UT - 0910 UT
Sat. A 1114 UT - 1815 UT
Sat. B 0330 UT - 1020 UT
Sat. B 1215 UT - 1940 UT


Halley Bay :
Hasn't updated yet. 

GOES Electron Flux:
Have continued to be at normal to moderate levels and are expected to be the same for the next three days.
 
GOES Proton Flux:
Has stayed at background levels for the lat 24 hours and is expected to be the same over the next three days
 
Space Weather from Spaceweather.com and SWPC.noaa.gov
 
Solar wind speed is 397.8 km/s 
Solar proton density 2.0 cm^(-3) 
 
26 sunspots are now visible. NOAA has the likelihood of a M class flare at 5% and a 1% chance of an X class flare. 
 
Kp is quiet kp = 3 with a 24 max of kp = 4
Bz = 2.3 nT south
Btotal = 3.5 nT 
 
There are currently no large coronal holes. 

From Kyoto:
AE: Lots of activity! AE has yet to reach 1000 nT, but it has come pretty close. 
 
Dst: A Storm! Dst reached a min of -47 nT
 
Have a great day, 

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Daily e-mail Feb. 13th 2013


Good Morning 

There were two CME's today, but no word yet if they will be geo effective. They originated in the South West region of the Sun, which give us a better than average chance. Fingers crossed! That said, space weather.com is saying that it's not going to hit us. 

Payloads up:
SANAE IV: 1T
Halley 6: 1I, 1A



Payloads coming down:
nothing to report
 

Conjunctions: 
Feb 9 2013
Sat. A 0430 UT - 1100 UT
Sat. B 0730 UT - 1350 UT

Feb 8 2013
Sat. A 0200 UT - 0800 UT 
Sat. B 0600 UT - 1100 UT

Feb 5 2013
Sat. A 0130 UT - 0845 UT 
Sat. B 0355 UT - 1130 UT

Feb 4 2013
Sat. B 0045 UT - 0810 UT 

Feb 3-4 2013
Sat. A 2220 UT on February 3rd to 0545 on February 4th

Feb 3 2013
Sat. A 0420 UT - 1200 UT
Sat. B 0640 UT - 1420 UT

Jan 30 2013-partially cancelled
Sat. A 0140 UT - 0555 UT
Sat. B 0335 UT - 1050 UT

Jan 29 2013
Sat. A 0735 UT - 1515 UT
Sat. B 0025 UT - 0740 UT
Sat. B 0915 UT - 1650 UT
 
Jan 28-29 2013
Sat. A 2250 UT Jan 28 - 0605 UT Jan 29
 
Jan 28 2013
Sat. A 0450 UT - 1210 UT
Sat. B 0625 UT - 1345 UT
 
Jan 27 2013
Sat. A 0220 UT - 0910 UT
Sat. A 1114 UT - 1815 UT
Sat. B 0330 UT - 1020 UT
Sat. B 1215 UT - 1940 UT


Halley Bay :
very quiet

GOES Electron Flux:
Have continued to be at normal to moderate levels and are expected to be the same for the next three days.
 
GOES Proton Flux:
Has stayed at background levels for the lat 24 hours and is expected to be the same over the next three days
 
Space Weather from Spaceweather.com and SWPC.noaa.gov
 
Solar wind speed is 344.0 km/s 
Solar proton density 4.4 cm^(-3) 
 
55 sunspots are now visible. NOAA has the likelihood of a M class flare at 5% and a 1% chance of an X class flare. 
 
Kp is quiet kp = 1 with a 24 max of kp = 2
Bz = 1.7 nT north
Btotal = 6.3 nT 
 
There are currently no large coronal holes. 

From Kyoto:
AE: small amounts of activity
 
Dst: quiet. 
 
Have a great day, 

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Daily e-mail Feb 12th 2013


Good Morning 

There was a CME on Saturday and an HSS which should both be hitting us today but it looks more and more certain that they may have been too far north and south respectively to be very geo-effective. 

Payloads up:
SANAE IV: 1T
Halley 6: 1I, 1A



Payloads coming down:
1H was terminated yesterday 
   
Conjunctions: 
Feb 9 2013
Sat. A 0430 UT - 1100 UT
Sat. B 0730 UT - 1350 UT

Feb 8 2013
Sat. A 0200 UT - 0800 UT 
Sat. B 0600 UT - 1100 UT

Feb 5 2013
Sat. A 0130 UT - 0845 UT 
Sat. B 0355 UT - 1130 UT

Feb 4 2013
Sat. B 0045 UT - 0810 UT 

Feb 3-4 2013
Sat. A 2220 UT on February 3rd to 0545 on February 4th

Feb 3 2013
Sat. A 0420 UT - 1200 UT
Sat. B 0640 UT - 1420 UT

Jan 30 2013-partially cancelled
Sat. A 0140 UT - 0555 UT
Sat. B 0335 UT - 1050 UT

Jan 29 2013
Sat. A 0735 UT - 1515 UT
Sat. B 0025 UT - 0740 UT
Sat. B 0915 UT - 1650 UT
 
Jan 28-29 2013
Sat. A 2250 UT Jan 28 - 0605 UT Jan 29
 
Jan 28 2013
Sat. A 0450 UT - 1210 UT
Sat. B 0625 UT - 1345 UT
 
Jan 27 2013
Sat. A 0220 UT - 0910 UT
Sat. A 1114 UT - 1815 UT
Sat. B 0330 UT - 1020 UT
Sat. B 1215 UT - 1940 UT


Halley Bay :
very quiet

GOES Electron Flux:
Have continued to be at normal to moderate levels and are expected to be the same for the next three days.
 
GOES Proton Flux:
Has stayed at background levels for the lat 24 hours and is expected to be the same over the next three days
 
Space Weather from Spaceweather.com and SWPC.noaa.gov
 
Solar wind speed is 362.9 km/s 
Solar proton density 1.5 cm^(-3) 
 
60 sunspots are now visible. NOAA has the likelihood of a M class flare at 10% and a 1% chance of an X class flare. 
 
Kp is quiet kp = 1 with a 24 max of kp = 2
Bz = 1.3 nT south
Btotal = 1.6 nT 
 
It looks like there may be a small coronal hole about halfway across the sun which is hiding behind a pair of sunspots. 

From Kyoto:
AE: very quiet
 
Dst: quiet. 
 
Have a great day

Monday, February 11, 2013

1H terminated

1H was terminated today (Feb. 11th) at 16:16 UTC. It now has the longest record having flown for 22 days. 1I will beat it once it's cut down, and who knows, maybe 1A and 1T will also give it a run for it's money.

Daily e-mail Feb. 11th 2013


Good Morning 

There was a CME on Saturday, but it looks more certain that it may have been too far north to be very geo-effective. 

Payloads up:
SANAE IV: 1T
Halley 6:  1H, 1I, 1A


Payloads coming down:
1I and 1H are starting to (or have already) dipped below 27 km and may be terminated in the next few days. 

Conjunctions: 
Feb 9 2013
Sat. A 0430 UT - 1100 UT
Sat. B 0730 UT - 1350 UT

Feb 8 2013
Sat. A 0200 UT - 0800 UT 
Sat. B 0600 UT - 1100 UT

Feb 5 2013
Sat. A 0130 UT - 0845 UT 
Sat. B 0355 UT - 1130 UT

Feb 4 2013
Sat. B 0045 UT - 0810 UT 

Feb 3-4 2013
Sat. A 2220 UT on February 3rd to 0545 on February 4th

Feb 3 2013
Sat. A 0420 UT - 1200 UT
Sat. B 0640 UT - 1420 UT

Jan 30 2013-partially cancelled
Sat. A 0140 UT - 0555 UT
Sat. B 0335 UT - 1050 UT

Jan 29 2013
Sat. A 0735 UT - 1515 UT
Sat. B 0025 UT - 0740 UT
Sat. B 0915 UT - 1650 UT
 
Jan 28-29 2013
Sat. A 2250 UT Jan 28 - 0605 UT Jan 29
 
Jan 28 2013
Sat. A 0450 UT - 1210 UT
Sat. B 0625 UT - 1345 UT
 
Jan 27 2013
Sat. A 0220 UT - 0910 UT
Sat. A 1114 UT - 1815 UT
Sat. B 0330 UT - 1020 UT
Sat. B 1215 UT - 1940 UT


Halley Bay :
quiet

GOES Electron Flux:
Have continued to be at normal to moderate levels and are expected to be the same for the next three days.
 
GOES Proton Flux:
Has stayed at background levels for the lat 24 hours and is expected to be the same over the next three days
 
Space Weather from Spaceweather.com and SWPC.noaa.gov
 
Solar wind speed is 352.4 km/s 
Solar proton density 0.6 cm^(-3) 
 
45 sunspots are now visible. NOAA has the likelihood of a M class flare at 10% and a 1% chance of an X class flare. 
 
Kp is quiet kp = 0 with a 24 max of kp = 1
Bz = 2.2 nT north
Btotal = 5.2 nT 
 
The third and final coronal hole from this last bunch is now on the western limb but may be too far south to be geo-effective. If we see solar winds from this hole, they are expected to reach us on Feb. 12th. 

From Kyoto:
AE: small amounts of activity
 
Dst: quiet. 
 

Have a good day! 

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Daily e-mail Feb. 10th 2013


Good Morning 

NO TELECON TODAY!!!

There was a CME last night, but it looks like it may have been too far north to be very geo-effective. Hopefully we'll find out more in the next few days. 

Payloads up:
SANAE IV: 1T
Halley 6:  1H, 1I, 1A




Payloads coming down:
1I and 1H are starting to (or have already) dipped below 27 km and may be terminated in the next few days. 
   
Conjunctions: 
Feb 9 2013
Sat. A 0430 UT - 1100 UT
Sat. B 0730 UT - 1350 UT

Feb 8 2013
Sat. A 0200 UT - 0800 UT 
Sat. B 0600 UT - 1100 UT

Feb 5 2013
Sat. A 0130 UT - 0845 UT 
Sat. B 0355 UT - 1130 UT

Feb 4 2013
Sat. B 0045 UT - 0810 UT 

Feb 3-4 2013
Sat. A 2220 UT on February 3rd to 0545 on February 4th

Feb 3 2013
Sat. A 0420 UT - 1200 UT
Sat. B 0640 UT - 1420 UT

Jan 30 2013-partially cancelled
Sat. A 0140 UT - 0555 UT
Sat. B 0335 UT - 1050 UT

Jan 29 2013
Sat. A 0735 UT - 1515 UT
Sat. B 0025 UT - 0740 UT
Sat. B 0915 UT - 1650 UT
 
Jan 28-29 2013
Sat. A 2250 UT Jan 28 - 0605 UT Jan 29
 
Jan 28 2013
Sat. A 0450 UT - 1210 UT
Sat. B 0625 UT - 1345 UT
 
Jan 27 2013
Sat. A 0220 UT - 0910 UT
Sat. A 1114 UT - 1815 UT
Sat. B 0330 UT - 1020 UT
Sat. B 1215 UT - 1940 UT


Halley Bay :
quiet

GOES Electron Flux:
Have continued to be at normal to moderate levels and are expected to be the same for the next three days.
 
GOES Proton Flux:
Has stayed at background levels for the lat 24 hours and is expected to be the same over the next three days
 
Space Weather from Spaceweather.com and SWPC.noaa.gov
 
Solar wind speed is 364.8 km/s 
Solar proton density 0.6 cm^(-3) 
 
58 sunspots are now visible. NOAA has the likelihood of a M class flare at 10% and a 1% chance of an X class flare. There was a CME last night, but may be too far north to be geo-effective. 
 
Kp is quiet kp = 1 with a 24 max of kp = 1
Bz = 2.3 nT south
Btotal = 3.9 nT 
 
The third and final coronal hole from this last bunch is now on the western limb but may be too far south to be geo-effective. If we see solar winds from this hole, they are expected to reach us on Feb. 12th. 

From Kyoto:
AE: small amounts of activity
 
Dst: quiet. 
 
Enjoy this day off from the telecons!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Daily e-mail Feb. 9th 2013


Good Morning 

It appears that we have been plagued with mostly northward Bz and so not much came of the first CME or the HSS. Too bad. 

Payloads up:
SANAE IV: 1T
Halley 6:  1H, 1I, 1A



Payloads coming down:
1U was cut down today, February 9th, at 0421 UT
1I and 1H are starting to (or have already) dipped below 27 km and may be terminated in the next few days. 

Conjunctions: 
Feb 9 2013
Sat. A 0430 UT - 1100 UT
Sat. B 0730 UT - 1350 UT

Feb 8 2013
Sat. A 0200 UT - 0800 UT 
Sat. B 0600 UT - 1100 UT

Feb 5 2013
Sat. A 0130 UT - 0845 UT 
Sat. B 0355 UT - 1130 UT

Feb 4 2013
Sat. B 0045 UT - 0810 UT 

Feb 3-4 2013
Sat. A 2220 UT on February 3rd to 0545 on February 4th

Feb 3 2013
Sat. A 0420 UT - 1200 UT
Sat. B 0640 UT - 1420 UT

Jan 30 2013-partially cancelled
Sat. A 0140 UT - 0555 UT
Sat. B 0335 UT - 1050 UT

Jan 29 2013
Sat. A 0735 UT - 1515 UT
Sat. B 0025 UT - 0740 UT
Sat. B 0915 UT - 1650 UT
 
Jan 28-29 2013
Sat. A 2250 UT Jan 28 - 0605 UT Jan 29
 
Jan 28 2013
Sat. A 0450 UT - 1210 UT
Sat. B 0625 UT - 1345 UT
 
Jan 27 2013
Sat. A 0220 UT - 0910 UT
Sat. A 1114 UT - 1815 UT
Sat. B 0330 UT - 1020 UT
Sat. B 1215 UT - 1940 UT


Halley Bay :
A large in frequency range, but short in time EMIC wave from ~0030 UT - 0130 UT I think, the time scale is hard to read on the plot. Yesterday there were some good EMIC wave activity as well as lower frequency ULF waves. 

GOES Electron Flux:
Have continued to be at normal to moderate levels and are expected to be the same for the next three days. However they do appear to be rising at the moment in the plot. 
 
GOES Proton Flux:
Has stayed at background levels for the lat 24 hours and is expected to be the same over the next three days
 
Space Weather from Spaceweather.com and SWPC.noaa.gov
 
Solar wind speed is 376.2 km/s 
Solar proton density 0.2 cm^(-3) 
 
57 sunspots are now visible. NOAA has the likelihood of a M class flare at 10% and a 1% chance of an X class flare. 
 
Kp is quiet kp = 0 with a 24 max of kp = 2
Bz = 0.4 nT south
Btotal = 4.7 nT 
 
There is a relatively large coronal hole in the northern hemisphere and it appears that we are starting to encounter the SW from this region. 

From Kyoto:
AE: vey quiet
 
Dst: A small storm occurred this yesterday and is currently in its recovery phase. The min Dst was -33 nT. 
 
 
Have a good day and remember to back up your computer!

Friday, February 8, 2013

Daily e-mail Feb 8th 2013


Good Morning 
 
The first of the two CME's is expected to hit today as is the start of the SW from the coronal hole. NOAA has increased their forecast of kp to 5. If we do indeed reach a kp = 5, it would be the max throughout the entire BARREL Campaign. 

Here are two movies of the flare from yesterday from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. 


Payloads up:
SANAE IV: 1T, 1U
Halley 6:  1H, 1I, 1A


Payloads coming down:
1I and 1H are starting to (or have already) dipped below 27 km and may be terminated in the next few days. 
 

Conjunctions: 
Feb 5 2013
Sat. A 0130 UT - 0845 UT 
Sat. B 0355 UT - 1130 UT

Feb 4 2013
Sat. B 0045 UT - 0810 UT 

Feb 3-4 2013
Sat. A 2220 UT on February 3rd to 0545 on February 4th

Feb 3 2013
Sat. A 0420 UT - 1200 UT
Sat. B 0640 UT - 1420 UT

Jan 30 2013-partially cancelled
Sat. A 0140 UT - 0555 UT
Sat. B 0335 UT - 1050 UT


Jan 29 2013
Sat. A 0735 UT - 1515 UT
Sat. B 0025 UT - 0740 UT
Sat. B 0915 UT - 1650 UT
 
Jan 28-29 2013
Sat. A 2250 UT Jan 28 - 0605 UT Jan 29
 
Jan 28 2013
Sat. A 0450 UT - 1210 UT
Sat. B 0625 UT - 1345 UT
 
Jan 27 2013
Sat. A 0220 UT - 0910 UT
Sat. A 1114 UT - 1815 UT
Sat. B 0330 UT - 1020 UT
Sat. B 1215 UT - 1940 UT


Halley Bay :
 quiet

GOES Electron Flux:
Have continued to be at normal to moderate levels and are expected to be the same for the next three days
 
GOES Proton Flux:
Has stayed at background levels for the lat 24 hours and is expected to be the same over the next three days
 
Space Weather from Spaceweather.com and SWPC.noaa.gov
 
Solar wind speed is 445.1 km/s 
Solar proton density 2.2 cm^(-3) 
 
58 sunspots are now visible. NOAA has the likelihood of a M class flare at 10% and a 1% chance of an X class flare. 
 
Kp is quiet kp = 3 with a 24 max of kp = 3
Bz = 0.4 nT north but changing quickly
Btotal = 3.1 nT 
 
There is a relatively large coronal hole in the northern hemisphere and it appears that we are starting to encounter the SW from this region. 

From Kyoto:
AE: We've seen some activity in the AE index peaking over 500 nT. 
 
Dst: A small storm occurred this yesterday and is currently in its recovery phase. The min Dst was -33 nT. 
 
 
Have a good day and remember to back up your computer!