1. 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

2. Some Cool Lightning Facts

3. Lightning Strikes

4. What are VLF and ELF Waves? VLF waves recorded at Siena College

5. 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/Sec Wave Length: = c / f Miles (or KM) / Cycle 1 Cycle = 7.5 Miles (12 KM) Amplitude (Peak-to-Peak)  Distance traveled over time   Radio Signal 

6. Lighting-VLF Studies in Antarctica?

7. 7 Ground-based VLF 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

8. What is a VLF RECEIVER

9. AWESOME VLF RECEIVER http://solar-center.stanford.edu/SID/AWESOME/

10. Student Deployed VLF Antennas at Siena College Summer in NY Winter in NY 

11. 11 Firefly will employ on-board and ground-based VLF measurements.

12. 12 Courtesy of Stanford University

14. 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 Mission Student Profile Firefly’s Optical and VLF Board

15. Andrew, a junior high school student, works on the Lego MINDSTORM mission. Students building satellites! The Firefly Satellite Mission Student Profile