Engineering topics

Carter, Brett A.

Publications and source records attributed to Carter, Brett A..

3 records

DOE OSTI2023

Space Weather in the Popular Media, and the Opportunities the Upcoming Solar Maximum Brings

The media interest/coverage of space weather has been increasing as we approach solar maximum and the private space industry has grown significantly since the last significant solar maximum in 2000–2002. It is not uncommon for space weather media coverage to use hyperbole with frequent references to the infamous “Carrington event.” The implications of associating each of the many upcoming moderate-to-severe storms with the Carrington event are discussed, and we encourage the curbing of hyperbole whenever possible. While there is an excellent but small cohort of space weather researchers actively engaging with the media, we urge more (particularly early-to-mid career) to take advantage of media training resources and to join in. We also call for these efforts to be broadly supported by peers and institutions for the benefit of space weather as a discipline.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2023

New Space Companies Meet a “Normal” Solar Maximum

The monthly mean sunspot number has been larger in June–July 2023 than the double peak of solar cycle 24 (146 in February 2014 and 139 in November 2011) and brings us back to the sunspot level of solar cycle 23. However, the number of rocket launches, satellites in orbit and private space companies has increased dramatically in the past 20 years. Additionally, there is a growing interest for space exploration beyond Earth's orbit, to the Moon and beyond, which comes with higher risk of being affected by space weather. Here, we discuss some of these trends and the role of the journal to improve awareness of space weather impacts.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2019

Application usability levels: a framework for tracking project product progress

The space physics community continues to grow and become both more interdisciplinary and more intertwined with commercial and government operations. This has created a need for a framework to easily identify what projects can be used for specific applications and how close the tool is to routine autonomous or on-demand implementation and operation. We propose the Application Usability Level (AUL) framework and publicizing AULs to help the community quantify the progress of successful applications, metrics, and validation efforts. This framework will also aid the scientific community by supplying the type of information needed to build off of previously published work and publicizing the applications and requirements needed by the user communities. In this paper, we define the AUL framework, outline the milestones required for progression to higher AULs, and provide example projects utilizing the AUL framework. This work has been completed as part of the activities of the Assessment of Understanding and Quantifying Progress working group which is part of the International Forum for Space Weather Capabilities Assessment.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗