Magnetometer deployment to measure Geomagnetic Induced Currents

Advisor: Rachael Filwett

In this project you will be helping deploy and characterize a magnetometer on the Montana State University Campus as part of a larger public outreach program known as Space Weather UnderGround (SWUG). This outreach program looks to train high school science educators in the topics related to heliophysics, so they can implement it in their curriculum. Along with curriculum development, SWUG looks to place science-ready magnetometers at high schools across Montana, which can then be used to study space weather effects on the ground, such as geomagnetic induced currents.

Specific tasks you will be responsible for include familiarizing yourself with magnetometer instrumentation and data products, calibrating our local magnetometer, and analyzing some magnetometer data from either this instrument or similar ones in the Pacific Northwest region. Any previous experience working in the lab with magnetometers, or familiarity with coding languages such as Python, would be beneficial, but not mandatory.