A case study of electron precipitation fluxes due to plasmaspheric hiss

We find that during a large geomagnetic storm in October 2011 the trapped fluxes of >30, >100, and >300 keV outer radiation belt electrons were enhanced at L=3-4 during the storm main phase. A gradual decay of the trapped fluxes was observed over the following 5–7 days, even though no significant precipitation fluxes could be observed in the Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite (POES) electron precipitation detectors. We use the Antarctic-Arctic Radiation-belt (Dynamic) Deposition - VLF Atmospheric Research Konsortium (AARDDVARK) receiver network to investigate the characteristics of the electron precipitation throughout the storm period. Weak electron precipitation was observed on the dayside for 5–7 days, consistent with being driven by plasmaspheric hiss. Using a previously published plasmaspheric hiss-induced electron energy e-folding spectrum of E0=365 keV, the observed radiowave perturbation levels at L=3-4 were found to be caused by >30 keV electron precipitation with flux ~100 el. cm−2 s−1 sr−1. The low levels of precipitation explain the lack of response of the POES telescopes to the flux, because of the effect of the POES lower sensitivity limit and ability to measure weak diffusion-driven precipitation. The detection of dayside, inner plasmasphere electron precipitation during the recovery phase of the storm is consistent with plasmaspheric hiss wave-particle interactions, and shows that the waves can be a significant influence on the evolution of the outer radiation belt trapped flux that resides inside the plasmapause

Geomagnetically Induced Currents and Harmonic Distortion: High time Resolution Case Studies

High time resolution (1‐5 s) magnetometer, geomagnetically induced current (GIC), and mains harmonic distortion data from the Halfway Bush substation in Dunedin, New Zealand are analyzed. A recently developed technique using VLF radio wave data provides high resolution measurements of mains harmonic distortion levels. Three case studies are investigated, each involving high rates of change of local geomagnetic field, but with different timescales of magnetospheric driver mechanisms, and different substation transformer configurations. Two cases of enhanced GIC during substorm events are analyzed, and one case of a storm sudden commencement. Time delays between magnetic field fluctuations and induced transformer currents are found to be ~100 s for substorm events, but only ~20 s for the storm sudden commencement containing higher frequency variations. Boxcar averaging of the magnetic field fluctuations using running windows of ± 2 minutes leads to spectral power profiles similar to those of GIC profiles, with reduced power at frequencies >0.003 Hz (periods 5 minutes). This low frequency component of the magnetic field power spectrum appears necessary for mains harmonic distortion to occur

Long-lasting geomagnetically induced currents and harmonic distortion observed in New Zealand during the 07-08 September 2017 Disturbed Period

Several periods of Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GIC) were detected in the Halfway Bush substation in Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand, as a result of intense geomagnetic storm activity during 06 to 09 September 2017. Unprecedented data coverage from a unique combination of instrumentation is analyzed, i.e., measurements of GIC on the single phase bank transformer T4 located within the substation, nearby magnetic field perturbation measurements, very low frequency (VLF) wideband measurements detecting the presence of power system harmonics, and high‐voltage harmonic distortion measurements. Two solar wind shocks occurred within 25 hours, generating four distinct periods of GIC. Two of the GIC events were associated with the arrival of the shocks themselves. These generated large but short‐lived GIC effects that resulted in no observable harmonic generation. Nearby and more distant magnetometers showed good agreement in measuring these global‐scale magnetic field perturbations. However, two subsequent longer‐lasting GIC periods, up to 30 minutes in duration, generated harmonics detected by the VLF receiver systems, when GIC levels continuously exceeded 15 A in T4. Nearby and more distant magnetometers showed differences in their measurements of the magnetic field perturbations at these times, suggesting the influence of small‐scale ionospheric current structures close to Dunedin. VLF receiver systems picked up harmonics from the substation, up to the 30th harmonic, consistent with observed high‐voltage increases in even harmonic distortion, along with small decreases in odd harmonic distortion

Cinema-going trajectories in the digital age

The activity of cinema-going constantly evolves and gradually integrates the use of digital data and platforms to become more engaging for the audiences. Combining methods from the fields of Human Computer Interaction and Film Studies, we conducted two workshops seeking to understand cinema audiences’ digital practices and explore how the contemporary cinema-going experience is shaped in the digital age. Our findings suggest that going to the movies constitutes a trajectory during which cinemagoers interact with multiple digital platforms. At the same time, depending on their choices, they construct unique digital identities that represent a set of online behaviours and rituals that cinemagoers adopt before, while and after cinema-going. To inform the design of new, engaging cinemagoing experiences, this research establishes a preliminary map of contemporary cinema-going including digital data and platforms. We then discuss how audiences perceive the potential improvement of the experience and how that would lead to the construction of digital identities

Supporting the design of location-based experiences by creative individuals

This paper discusses the creative practice of independents and individuals and their requirements for tools to author location-based experiences (LBE), including location-based games (LBG). The work describes and presents initial findings from a questionnaire study and a workshop. Both studies focused upon the working practices of individuals and small independent artists, hackers and researchers, rather than designers or developers in large commercial companies or small to medium sized enterprises. A qualitative analysis of findings from the studies were used to inform user requirements and design of next-generation authoring tools through a process of co-design. It was identified that creative individuals typically used a complex and wide-ranging set of design and development tools. These often varied for each project, and were sometimes bespoke. Requirements for future creative design tools could be grouped into higher levels categories to support: flexibility and extendability of authoring tools; in-situ authoring and the seamless transition between desktop and mobile locations; improved positioning; and authoring beyond maps