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I'm working on using smartphone sensors to detect anything they can relating to weather, including space weather - magnetic storms. I've been fascinated with cr

I'm working on using smartphone sensors to detect anything they can relating to weather, including space weather - magnetic storms. I've been fascinated with crowdsourcing mobile sensor data for like 10 years now and it's only going to get more interesting: air quality sensors should be making their way to phones soon, others as well. My open source library with limited sensor features is here: https://github.com/JacobSheehy/AllClearSensorLibrary https://github.com/JacobSheehy/AllClearSensorLibrary for Android 'background' access to sensors (using foreground library). I don't think that I've got magnetic data there yet but it's mostly a matter of adding another field. I've got this running live in an Android app if you want to check it out: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.allclearweather.android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.allclearwe... (US-only for now, sorry about that, international weather data is pricey) I typically track hurricanes with obvious low-pressure curves but there's a lot more that can be done. Crowdsourcing sensor data from phones: Accelerometers can detect earthquakes, Microphones can detect noise pollution, Magnetometers can detect solar activity, Barometers can detect weather changes Most phones have those sensors now, and I'm looking out for UV sensors, air quality sensors, and more. The applications of crowdsourcing sensor data are immense and constantly improving as new sensors get added. -- The main issues honestly are privacy and noise filtering. Ensemble kalman filters running on device can reduce noise dramatically, and you can use anonymizing features like geographic bounding boxes (where sensors can go in and out and only their bounding box is used as location data)

mulmen 5y ago
I can see benefits for local phenomenon like air quality and even temperature. But what’s the advantage for using cell phone arrays for cosmic scale events like solar storms? Are the effects of solar storms that different over small geographic areas?
- cryptoz 5y ago
  I don't know, but there's only one way to find out! Lots of people told me that there was no use at all in measuring air pressure on scales smaller than the US already does with official measurements. But years later, there are multiple papers published and I think IBM now uses their mobile apps to crowdsource barometer data as it improves their weather forecasts. I'm sure there will be naysayers who even say crowdsourcing magnetometer data is useless, but I don't really care or think they're right. AFAIK there isn't a large-scale effort yet to study crowdsourced magnetometer data, so we really just don't know yet. > Are the effects of solar storms that different over small geographic areas? I don't know but now I'm extremely curious how small the measurable variations are in solar storm effects on Earth. And amazingly, there are billions of deployed sensors all around Earth right now that are simply not contributing to a central network. A simple code library is all that's needed to know this answer, which to me, is amazing, and a reason enough to try it out.
  - mulmen 5y ago
    Yeah after considering this for the last few minutes it makes more sense as just capturing all available sensor data in advance of any specific question. I’m not sure that solar storm data specifically is useful, maybe interesting. But widespread magnetometer data could have all kinds of unexpected applications. Detecting solar storms with such an array just seems like a proof of concept.
- wiml 5y ago
  The article headline has been simplified a bit[1]; the storms in question are geomagnetic storms[2]. Geomagnetic storms are perturbations of Earth's magnetic field by changes in the solar wind (i.e. solar storms). Having a high-spatial-resolution record of the way the Earth's field changes when interacting with the plasma presumably yields extra insights into how space weather behaves. [1] The paper: https://doi.org/10.1029/2020SW002669 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020SW002669 [2] https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/geomagnetic-storms https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/geomagnetic-storms
  - mulmen 5y ago
    Ah thanks, the site and article raised a lot of red flags so I didn’t dig deeper. Thanks for the clarification.
diegoperini 5y ago
I'm okay with giving up my privacy to produce public domain data for science.
tectonic 5y ago
Can the camera be monitored for ionizing radiation?
- cozzyd 5y ago
  if you want to kill your battery, yes, it does make a very inefficient (small area) ionizing radiation detector. Keep in mind that the size of the sensor is O(1 cm^2). It would be easier if the phone had a shutter. Look up Crayfis or DECO.
- _Microft 5y ago
  Yes, it does not work too well, though. Check back tomorrow, I will provide a link.
  - _Microft 5y ago
    Sorry, I was sure I had a page about that in my bookmarks.
glenneroo 5y ago
You might be interested in Luftdaten.info. I could even see a collaboration between your projects, as I'm fairly certain they are all about open-data and opensource. I personally just discovered them and ordered an EnviroPI+ and a Raspberry Pi Zero W (with an L-shaped GPIO extender and case with a big hole to avoid heat discrepancies from the Pi) so that I can also contribute. Would also love to run your app but I'm in Europe :(

mulmen 5y ago

I can see benefits for local phenomenon like air quality and even temperature. But what’s the advantage for using cell phone arrays for cosmic scale events like solar storms? Are the effects of solar storms that different over small geographic areas?

cryptoz 5y ago
I don't know, but there's only one way to find out! Lots of people told me that there was no use at all in measuring air pressure on scales smaller than the US already does with official measurements. But years later, there are multiple papers published and I think IBM now uses their mobile apps to crowdsource barometer data as it improves their weather forecasts. I'm sure there will be naysayers who even say crowdsourcing magnetometer data is useless, but I don't really care or think they're right. AFAIK there isn't a large-scale effort yet to study crowdsourced magnetometer data, so we really just don't know yet. > Are the effects of solar storms that different over small geographic areas? I don't know but now I'm extremely curious how small the measurable variations are in solar storm effects on Earth. And amazingly, there are billions of deployed sensors all around Earth right now that are simply not contributing to a central network. A simple code library is all that's needed to know this answer, which to me, is amazing, and a reason enough to try it out.
- mulmen 5y ago
  Yeah after considering this for the last few minutes it makes more sense as just capturing all available sensor data in advance of any specific question. I’m not sure that solar storm data specifically is useful, maybe interesting. But widespread magnetometer data could have all kinds of unexpected applications. Detecting solar storms with such an array just seems like a proof of concept.
wiml 5y ago
The article headline has been simplified a bit[1]; the storms in question are geomagnetic storms[2]. Geomagnetic storms are perturbations of Earth's magnetic field by changes in the solar wind (i.e. solar storms). Having a high-spatial-resolution record of the way the Earth's field changes when interacting with the plasma presumably yields extra insights into how space weather behaves. [1] The paper: https://doi.org/10.1029/2020SW002669 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020SW002669 [2] https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/geomagnetic-storms https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/geomagnetic-storms
- mulmen 5y ago
  Ah thanks, the site and article raised a lot of red flags so I didn’t dig deeper. Thanks for the clarification.

diegoperini 5y ago

I'm okay with giving up my privacy to produce public domain data for science.

tectonic 5y ago

Can the camera be monitored for ionizing radiation?

cozzyd 5y ago
if you want to kill your battery, yes, it does make a very inefficient (small area) ionizing radiation detector. Keep in mind that the size of the sensor is O(1 cm^2). It would be easier if the phone had a shutter. Look up Crayfis or DECO.
_Microft 5y ago
Yes, it does not work too well, though. Check back tomorrow, I will provide a link.
- _Microft 5y ago
  Sorry, I was sure I had a page about that in my bookmarks.

glenneroo 5y ago

You might be interested in Luftdaten.info. I could even see a collaboration between your projects, as I'm fairly certain they are all about open-data and opensource. I personally just discovered them and ordered an EnviroPI+ and a Raspberry Pi Zero W (with an L-shaped GPIO extender and case with a big hole to avoid heat discrepancies from the Pi) so that I can also contribute. Would also love to run your app but I'm in Europe :(