The Firefly Satellite Mission at Siena

Student Participation

• 12 Undergraduates• 3 High-school Students• 3 Departments

– Physics & Astronomy– Computer Science– Environmental Studies

• Classroom Integration– PHYS 230: Electronics– PHYS 250: Computational

Selected Student Projects

• VLF Receiver Design• Data Processing• Digital Filter Design• GIS & Lightning Mapping

Students building satellites!

Some Firefly Team Members

Some Cool Lightning Facts

Lightning Strikes

What are VLF and ELF Waves?

VLF waves recorded at

Siena College

VLF Waves at About 24.8 KHz

How to make this Computation?Speed of light: c = 186,000 Miles/Sec (300,000 KM/Sec)Frequency: f = 24,800 Cycles/SecWave Length: = c / f Miles (or KM) / Cycle

1 Cycle = 7.5 Miles (12 KM)

Amplitude (Peak-to-Peak)

Distance traveled over time

Radio S

ignal

Lighting-VLF Studies in Antarctica?

7

Ground-basedVLF Monitors

SID– Low Cost

(~$150)– Single band– 1 sample/5

seconds– Preassembled &

tuned– Students build

antenna– Available free

to underserved schools from Stanford University.

AWESOME– Moderate cost (~$3000) – Broadband; sample rate of

100kHz on each channel – Capture ELF/VLF frequencies ~30 Hz - 50kHz– Dual use system: Daytime: monitor solar

activity Nighttime: monitor

atmospheric phenomena (e.g. lightning)

– So sensitive that nearly any signal above the ambient Earth noise floor can be detected

– Data useable for ionospheric and solar researchers

See http://solar-center.stanford.edu/~SID

What is a VLF RECEIVER

AWESOME VLF RECEIVER

http://solar-center.stanford.edu/SID/AWESOME/

Student Deployed VLF Antennas at Siena College

Summer in NY Winter in NY

11

Firefly will employ on-board and

ground-based VLF measurements.

12Courtesy of Stanford University

• Undergraduate physics major Robert Carroll was the student lead on the lightning photodetector design.

• A primary task was to calculate the field of view of the photodetector and the overlap function.

• Minimum and maximum field of view were calculated based on the geometry of the photo detector and collimator.

Students building satellites!

The Firefly Satellite MissionStudent Profile

Firefly’s Optical and VLF Board

• Andrew, a junior high school student, works on the Lego MINDSTORM mission.

Students building satellites!

The Firefly Satellite MissionStudent Profile