AGS-FIRP Track 1: Solar Eclipse Effects on Weather and Aerial Fauna (SEEWAF)

In this project, the PI and project team will deploy the Mobile Atmospheric Profiling Network (MAPNet) instrumentation suite to take observations of meteorology, aerial fauna such as insect and bird flight activity, and solar radiation changes during the total solar eclipse taking place on April 8, 2024, in central Arkansas. The MAPNet suite will be deployed to three different locations near the totality centerline including a K-12 school system, a high school, and an institute that includes graduate and undergraduate students. It is expected that hundreds of students across these three education levels will gain experience with MAPNet and the collected data. The new observations taken will advance our understanding of rapid changes in our atmospheric in response to fast solar radiation changes and will provide a unique opportunity for students across educational levels to gain experience and/or see how scientific observations are taken and processed. The MAPNet facilities, along with radiosonde balloon launches at each of the three profiling sites, will provide data on changes in vertical profiles of temperature, wind, turbulence, and clouds over the lowest 3 km of the atmosphere, including the boundary layer. The Mobile Alabama X-band (MAX) scanning radar will conduct surveillance and scans to monitor boundary layer airflow and aerial fauna behavior around the MAX radar and profiling sites. Each of the three profiling sites will include Windsond or iMet balloon soundings to document details of temperature, water vapor, and wind profiles as well as measurements of wind, temperature, humidity, and aerosol profiles at a temporal resolution of 5 min or less. Education and outreach activities will be developed for students ranging from kindergarten through the graduate level. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.