Welcome

Welcome on the Sudden Ionospheric Monitoring Station A118 website!

This station aims at detecting ionospheric effects resulting from solar flares. Those effects are known as Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances, or SIDs.

This station is an amateur observatory located in France. It is operational since early 2006 and it has received the AAVSO observer code A118 in July 2006.

The current VLF signal level data may be viewed in a daily chart. Detailed data for SID events observed so far is also available.

General information related to ionosphere, as well as Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances and detection principle are available.

You will also found information for building your own station. Details related to each part are provided: the VLF antenna, the VLF receiver and the data acquisition and processing software.

I hope you will enjoy this site. Comments and suggestions are more than welcome, so do not hesitate!

The origins...

Early 2005, a Sky & Telescope article mentioned the recording by an amateur astronomer of the effect of a GRB (Gamma Ray Burst) on the Earth ionosphere. This amateur was monitoring radio signals transmitted by VLF (Very Low Frequency) stations hundreds to thousands miles away.

As a child, I used to spend many hours in astronomy books or under the skies. Today, professional constraints impose me to live under light polluted skies and to be less and less available for watching the stars. The monitoring of SID (Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances) appeared to me as a good means to come back to astronomy and gave me the opportunity of discovering a whole new world...
Less than a year after reading the S&T article, after hundreds of hours surfing the web and seeking information, making the VLF receiver and writing software, the SID Monitoring Station was operational.

Latest News

GOES Primary and Secondary Satellite Change
12 Feb 2008 12:00 UTC
The SWPC (Space Weather Prediction Center) has posted on its website the following information related to GOES X-ray data measurements:

GOES-10 X-ray Data Returns
GOES-11 Xray Data LOST

February 12, 2008 -- GOES-10 data has resumed and GOES-10 has been designed the SWPC primary GOES Satellite for X-ray data.
GOES-11 Xray Data has become unavailable and is not expected to return.
GOES-11 Data Lists ended on Feb 10, 2008.
GOES-11 Data Lists have been discontinued.

The X-ray measurements shown on this site account for this change that took place on February 12, 2008.
Happy New Year 2008
01 Jan 2008 00:00 UTC
I wish you and your loved ones a very Happy New Year!
Website update: Radio Noise and Antenna Theory
28 Dec 2007 20:15 UTC
The website has been updated with some more theoretical additions:
  • a page describing the radio noise
  • mathematical description and SPICE simulations of the antenna theory, applicable to air-core and ferrite-core loops
Website update: Solar Activity and VLF transmitters list
06 Dec 2007 17:45 UTC
The website has been updated with the following additions:
GOES Primary and Secondary Satellite Change
27 Nov 2007 12:00 UTC
The SEC (Space Environment Center) has posted on its website the following information related to GOES X-ray data measurements:

GOES-12 X-ray Lists End
November 27, 2007 -- the GOES-12 X-ray list has been discontinued because the X-ray sensor is not operating.

The X-ray measurements shown on this site account for this change that took place on November 27, 2007.

[View News Archive...]

Last Update: 24 Oct 2007 Total Visits: 000134 since May 09,2008
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