October 6, 2017

Please join us for a CUSP seminar with Trevor Bowen, 5th year PhD student (Physics) and NASA Earth and Space Science Fellow (Heliophysics) from the University of California, Berkeley.

Extracting Maximal Information from Urban Magnetic Fields

Abstract

The magnetic signatures of an urban environment are investigated with a network of synchronized magnetometers distributed in Berkeley, California. An overview of the sensor hardware, which records magnetic fields at 3960 samples/second with timing synchronized to 100us, is provided. The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is identified as the dominant low frequency signal in our observations contributing both broadband and narrow spectral features to the urban magnetic environment. A method to extract the BART signal is developed using a Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) of individual observations of the periodic BART signature. Additionally, the initial results on a statistical study of elevator usage is presented, as well as our efforts to study 60 Hz power line signals. These ongoing projects serve as a basis for our planned deployment of the network to New York City.

Bio

Trevor Bowen is a 5th year PhD student (Physics) and NASA Earth and Space Science Fellow (Heliophysics) at the University of California, Berkeley. His research primarily focuses on in-situ observations of solar wind plasma, the development of algorithms for magnetometer calibration, and applications of space physics instrumentation and techniques to urban science and informatics.