Title:

Directly Measuring Electrical Current in the Aurora Borealis Using a Rogowski Coil

The objective of this project was to design a device capable of directly measuring the electrical current in the aurora borealis. This current has never been directly measured and doing so will provide important information on how energy is coupled from the magnetosphere to the ionosphere. To accomplish this task, Jonathon Amrein designed the mechanical device while Joe Lazzaro designed the electronics and Jessie Greenhalgh created a computer program to model the instrument. A Rogowski coil, comprised of 10,000 turns of copper wire around a magnetic torus, was chosen as the device to capture the auroral current. Jonathon designed the prototype Rogowski coil as well as legs and separators to mount the coil onto a holder. Joe designed electronics to filter, amplify, and digitize the signal exiting the coil. Jessie created a computer model of the coil response to compare the theoretical and tested response as well as allow for future modifications.The designed device serves as a prototype for a device that will be on a NASA rocket in 2021.

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