Click image to enlarge. Fig.1 Comparison of Ri (provisional) and Ra estimates for December. (Ri Source: http://sidc..oma.be/index.php3)

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Smoothed Mean Sunspot Number (Rsm) for June 2001: 121.1

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Table IV. Sunspot Observers Who Contributed Reports During 2001 AAP P. Abbott Alberta, Canada     JEFT T. Jeffrey Armona, California ANDE E. Anderson Verplanck, New York   JENJ J. Jenkins Homer, Illinois ATON A. Attanasio Tirreni, Italy   JENS S. Jenner Kent, England BARH H. Barnes Auckland, New Zealand   KAPJ J. Kaplan St. Paul, Minnesota BATR R. Battaiola Milan, Italy   KHAR R. Khan Kolkata, India BEB R. Berg Crown Point, Indiana   KNJS J&S Knight Boksburg, South Africa BEDJ J. Bedient Honolulu, Hawaii   KUZM M. Kuzmin Moscow, Russia BEGM M. Begbie Zimbabwe, Africa   LARJ J. Larriba Zaragoza, Spain BERJ J. Berdejo Zaragoza, Spain   LERM M. Lerman Ontario, Canada BLAJ J. Blackwell Northwood, New Hampshire   LEVM M. Leventhal Maroubra, Australia BMF M. Boschat Halifax, Nova Scotia   LIZT T. Lizak Tiverton, Rhode Island BOSB B. Bose Calcutta, India   MALK K. Malde Hundvaag, Norway BRAB B. Branchett Deltona, Florida   MARE E. Mariani Varese, Italy BRAD D. Branchett Deltona, Florida   MARJ J. Maranon Zaragoza, Spain BRAR R. Branch Upland, California   MAV D. Matsnev Moscow, Russia BROB R. Brown Georgetown, California   MCE E. Mochizuki Saitama, Japan BURS S. Burgess Winterport, Maine   MILJ J. Miller Bethesda, Maryland CAMP P. Campbell Alberta, Canada   MMI M. Moeller Timmendorfer Strand, Germany CARJ J. Carlson Harwich, Massachusetts   MUDG G. Mudry Ontario, Canada CHAG G. Morales Cochabamba, Boliva   OBSO IPS Observatory Narrabri, Australia CKB B. Cudnik Houston, Texas   PARN N. Parker Banning, California CLZ L. Corp Rodez, France         COLJ J. Collins Phoenix, Arizona   PENG G. Pennington Spring Creek, Nevada COMT T. Compton Birmingham, Michigan   RICE E. Richardson Yorkshire, England CORA A. Coroas Camaguey, Cuba   RITA A. Ritchie Lexington, Massachusetts CR T. Cragg Coonabarabran, Australia   SCGL G. Schott Wesel, Germany DEMF F. Dempsey Ontario, Canada   SCHG G. Scholl Allegheny, New York DGP G. Dyck Assonet, Massachusetts   SIMC C. Simpson Cleveland, Ohio DRAJ J. Dragesco St. Clements, France   STEF G. Stefanopoulos Lavrion-Attiki, Greece DUBF F. Dubois Langemark, Belgium   STEM G. Stemmler Oelsnitz, Germany ELR E. Reed Midland, Texas   STQ N. Stoikidis Larissa, Greece FEEC C. Feehrer Bedford, Massachusetts   SUZM M. Suzuki Tsu Mie, Japan FERJ J. Fernandez Santande, Spain   SZAD D. Szady Brewer, Maine FLET T. Fleming Grand Prairie, Texas   SZAK K. Szatkowski Lodzki, Poland FUJK K. Fujimori Suwa City, Japan   SZUM M. Szulc Tuchola, Poland GALM M. Gallo Buenos Aires, Argentina   TESD D. Teske Jackson, Mississippi GIOR R. Giovanoni Hagerstown, Maryland   THR R. Thompson Ontario, Canada GOTS S. Gottschalk Lowden, Iowa   URBP P. Urbanski Zychini, Poland HALB B. Halls Lancing, WSx, England   VALD D. Del Valle Aguardilla, Puerto Rico HAYK K. Hay Ontario, Canada   VARG A. Vargas Cochabamba, Boliva HRUT T. Hrutkay Indiana, Pennsylvania   VIDD D. Vidican Bacau, Romania HSF C. Hossfield Orlando, Florida   WILW W. Wilson Cordova, Tennessee IMPR R. Imperi Willard, Ohio   WITL L. Witkowski Sun City, Florida JAMD D. James Leesburg, Virginia   YESH H. Yesilyaprak Istanbul, Turkey

Table V. SID Observers Who Contributed Reports During 2001 A29 A. Clerkin Bedford, Massachusetts     A90 J. Mandaville Tucson, Arizona A50 J. Winkler Houston, Texas   A93 G. DiFillipo Teramo, Italy A52 D. Overbeek Edenvale, South Africa   A95 T. Poulos Brookline, Massachusetts A52 D. Toldo Edenvale, South Africa   A96 R. Battaiola Milan, Italy A62 A. Stokes Hudson, Ohio   A97 J. Wallace Torrington, Connecticut A63 J. Ellerbe Nerja, Spain   A98 NJAA Montclair, New Jersey A83 A. Panzer Parma, Ohio   A99 M. King London, England A84 W. Moos Koenitz, Switzerland   A100 P. Campbell Alberta, Canada A87 M. Hill Marlborough, Massachusetts   A101 G. Bressan Udine, Italy

Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance Report

Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances (SID) Recorded During December 2001

The events listed above meet at least one of the following criteria

Reported in at least two observer reports Visually analyzed with definiteness rating = 5 Reported by overseas observers with high definiteness rating

Solar Events

December saw an apparent drop in activity from past months. As can be seen by the graph below, there were no more than 10 X-Ray flares on any given day, with the average being more around 5. There was a total of 204 of these X-Ray flares detected by the Goes-8 Satellite. Of these, 47 were M-Class events and 3 were X-Class events. There were no B-Class events. So although there was less apparent activity, most of the flares were fairly energetic, with some very large ones on the 11th, 13th and 28th. Observers detected 72 correlated SID events. The trend of these followed that of the flares, with the majority of them having 2 and 2+ importance ratings with more than usual 3 and 3+ events. These were, of course, due to the large X-Class flares.

Thanks to all of you for working with me to get your reports into the correct format. I have been in touch with a number of you to work out individual problems and everyone has been very cooperative. It is important to get these reports into standard format as it causes problems with the analysis processing software that I use if they are not.

I want to welcome a new observer, or actually a set of observers. The New Jersey Astronomical Association is now contributing data with a newly completed monitoring station. They are reporting under the ID of A98. This is being done as a group project, something that this club does with a lot of their endeavors. A warm welcome to all of you.

Casper H. Hossfield, SID Sup. Editor PO Box 23 New Milford, NY 10959, USA

SUDDEN IONOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES RECORDED DURING December, 2001

capaavso@aol.com Fax 973 853 2588

The above SES recording was made by station A-98 which recently became a contributing member to the AAVSO's SID program. A-98 is a club station built by the New Jersey Astronomical Association in High Bridge, New Jersey. I first heard about NJAA's plans to build this station from Bill Anthony, the clubs Research Director, back last spring. He found a club member who is an electronics expert and likes to build homemade instruments. Several other members helped and by this fall the station was up and running and sending monthly data reports to AAVSO SID analyst, Mike Hill, A-87. Over the years I have helped other clubs build SID stations but this is the first club I know of that got one going properly on its own. Bill Anthony is the driving force that kept the project on track. He now analyzes the charts to prepare the monthly SID reports for the AAVSO. Another fortunate circumstance is the clubs observatory is located in Voorhees Park, an interference free location. You can see a picture of the A-98 station at the clubs Website, < NJAA.org >. Take a look at this site and you will see a beautiful example of one of Art Stokes's Gyrator II receivers with a Stokes square loop antenna recording in DOS on a laptop computer. Bill plotted its DAT file Using PicLogger32D to make the chart above and sent it to me as an email attachment. The SID station will hopefully be on exhibit for the public to see sometime in the not too distant future. Posters are being made describing how the SID system works. At the very least a fastened down Plexiglas cover needs to made for the receiver so people don't twirl the dials and detune it, or worse. Below are three other SES charts that recorded the same big SES on 29 December, 2001. The first of these three is by Cap Hossfield, A-5 in Orlando, Florida recording NAA in Cutler Maine transmitting on 24 kHz. The second is by Jerry Winkler, A-50, in Houston Texas recording the VLF station in La Mourie, North Dakota on 25.2 kHz. The third, on the next page, is by Al McWilliams, A-94, in St. Cloud, Minnesota also recording the station in La Moure ND. Three smaller SESs can be seen following the big one reaching maximum at 1645 UT

Three charts below show a big SES created by an X3 solar flare on 28 December by the same three observers. These recordings are of a much bigger flare than Caused the SESs above on 29 December. The first is by A-94, and shows several inversions. The second is by A-50 and shows a similar complicated inversion pattern. Both are recordings of the 25.2 kHz Station in La Mourie. The third chart is by A-5 and a normal enhancement of the 24 kHz signal from NAA in Cutler, Maine, USA. The signal goes off scale at 2015 UT and has returned to normal by 2115 UT (9:15 0n the chart). The sudden rise to off scale starting at 2230 UT is the normal sunset rise to the nighttime signal level.

The Solar Flare activity at the end of December also produced a small magnetic storm that is shown below. This magnetogram was made by sunspot observer Andries Sol. He is a new contributor to the SID Supplement who lives in Neerpelt, Belgium. Here, in his own words, is a description of his homemade McWilliams magnetometer that he used to make the recording below:

"The magnetometer (Mc Williams design) I use is made of scrap items all out of aluminium parts and non-magnetic chrome nickel steel bolts and nuts, except for the magnets and the violin string, to avoid any influence on the results. The three magnets are single grown cristals made out of a special alloy. Three magnets coupled to form one long quite heavy magnet of about 20 cm. This magnet hangs on a thin violin string and is torsioned away form the north to the west for about 30° to work as a torsion meter and not for direction variations of the earth magnetic field. The movement of the magnet is detected by means of an aluminium strip (shadow vane) attached to the magnet which shuts partly off the CS photocell on the left or on the right side of the magnet, depending on the direction of the movement of the magnet. The two CS photocells are coupled in a simple electric system (Wheatstone bridge) ; the difference electric signal is recorded with aid of an old strip chart recorder, the strip chart is moved with 4 cm/hour. The strip chart is adapted for simple paper strip rolls used for calculators. Due to the small paper strip, a heavy magnetic storm can't be recorded, only a range of +/- 1 Voltage (+/- 2 cm) can be recorded. The system works on direct voltage 12 V, this caused in the beginning a lot of problems, due to variations in the 220 V net system, but an electric feed system of an old computer delivers exactly stable voltage without any disturbance all day and night. The whole magnetometer is shielded off with black plastic foil to avoid disturbance of external light to the two photocells. I don't use a damping system for the movement of the magnet, the movement is slow during a magnetic storm, only a car passing by gives a quick disturbance, which dies out in a few minutes. The magnetometer is mounted against the wall in the basement under the house."

Roberto Battaiolo, A-95, made the SES recording below of a sudden ionospheric disturbance caused by a solar flare on 11 December. Roberto sent it as a DAT file and I plotted it using Piclogger32D. Roberto lives in Italy and records the signal from HWU,the French Naval transmitter in Le Blanc, France, transmitting on 20.9 kHz. The Piclogger32D plotting software is available free to anyone who wants a copy. It can plot most any DAT file as a Rustrak format strip chart and has options that includes plotting at ¼ inch/hr for magnetograms.

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