Database of Aurora Data Available for Weather Research

Congratulations to Elizabeth MacDonald and Matt Heavner for their most recent Aurorasaurus publication in AGU100 Earth and Space Science titled “Aurorasaurus Database of Real-Time, Crowd-Sourced Aurora Data for Space Weather Research“.

This technical report documents the details of Aurorasaurus citizen collected science data for the period spanning 2015 and 2016. Aurorasaurus citizen science data is a collection of real time aurora borealis sightings that people can submit to the project via its website or apps and mined from social media. It is a robust data set and particularly abundant during strong geomagnetic storms when auroral precipitation models have the highest uncertainty. These data are offered to the scientific community for use through an open‐access database in its raw and scientific formats, each of which is described in detail in this technical report. One goal of the Aurorasaurus project is to demonstrate this data set’s scientific utility, and to encourage its integration into auroral research.

Read the full text of this document HERE.

If you want to contribute to Aurorasaurus by reporting local aurora borealis in your area see the Aurorasaurus website.

This research project is supported by the New Mexico Consortium. To read more see the NMC Space Science research page.