arXiv subjects

Foteini Vervelidou

Publications and source records attributed to Foteini Vervelidou.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

The deployment of a geomagnetic variometer station as auxiliary instrumentation for the study of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena

Witness reports of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) occasionally associate UAP sightings with local electromagnetic interferences, such as spinning magnetic compasses onboard aircraft or sudden malfunctions of mechanical vehicles. These reports have motivated the incorporation of a magnetometer into the instrumentation suite of the Galileo Project (GP), a Harvard-led scientific collaboration whose aim is to collect and analyze multi-sensor data that collectively could help elucidate the nature of UAP. The goal of the GP magnetometry investigation is to identify magnetic anomalies that cannot be readily explained in terms of a natural or human-made origin, and analyze these jointly with the data collected from the other modalities. These include an ensemble of visible and infrared cameras, a broadband acoustic system and a weather-monitoring system. Here, we present GP's first geomagnetic variometer station, deployed at the GP observatory in Colorado, USA. We describe the calibration and deployment of the instrumentation, which consists of a vector magnetometer and its data acquisition system, and the collection and processing of the data. Moreover, we present and discuss examples of the magnetic field data obtained over a period of 6 months, including data recorded during the May 2024 G5 extreme geomagnetic storm. We find that the data meet and even surpass the requirements laid out in GP's Science Traceability Matrix. Key to the evaluation of our data is the proximity of the variometer station to the USGS magnetic observatory in Boulder, Colorado. By comparing the two sets of data, we find that they are of similar quality. Having established the proper functioning of the first GP variometer station, we will use it as the model for variometer stations at future GP observatories.

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arXiv2025

Galileo Project Observatory Class System Architecture

Scientific investigation of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) is limited by poor data quality and a lack of transparency. Existing data are often fragmented, uncalibrated, and missing critical metadata. To address these limitations, the authors present the Observatory Class Integrated Computing Platform (OCICP), a system designed for the systematic and scientific study of UAPs. OCICP employs multiple sensors to collect and analyze data on aerial phenomena. The OCICP system consists of two subsystems. The first is the Edge Computing Subsystem which is located within the observatory site. This subsystem performs real-time data acquisition, sensor optimization, and data provenance management. The second is the Post-Processing Subsystem which resides outside the observatory. This subsystem supports data analysis workflows, including commissioning, census operations, science operations, and system effectiveness monitoring. This design and implementation paper describes the system lifecycle, associated processes, design, implementation, and preliminary results of OCICP, emphasizing the ability of the system to collect comprehensive, calibrated, and scientifically sound data.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2023

The Scientific Investigation of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Using Multimodal Ground-Based Observatories

(Abridged) Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) have resisted explanation and have received little formal scientific attention for 75 years. A primary objective of the Galileo Project is to build an integrated software and instrumentation system designed to conduct a multimodal census of aerial phenomena and to recognize anomalies. Here we present key motivations for the study of UAP and address historical objections to this research. We describe an approach for highlighting outlier events in the high-dimensional parameter space of our census measurements. We provide a detailed roadmap for deciding measurement requirements, as well as a science traceability matrix (STM) for connecting sought-after physical parameters to observables and instrument requirements. We also discuss potential strategies for deciding where to locate instruments for development, testing, and final deployment. Our instrument package is multimodal and multispectral, consisting of (1) wide-field cameras in multiple bands for targeting and tracking of aerial objects and deriving their positions and kinematics using triangulation; (2) narrow-field instruments including cameras for characterizing morphology, spectra, polarimetry, and photometry; (3) passive multistatic arrays of antennas and receivers for radar-derived range and kinematics; (4) radio spectrum analyzers to measure radio and microwave emissions; (5) microphones for sampling acoustic emissions in the infrasonic through ultrasonic frequency bands; and (6) environmental sensors for characterizing ambient conditions (temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind velocity), as well as quasistatic electric and magnetic fields, and energetic particles. The use of multispectral instruments and multiple sensor modalities will help to ensure that artifacts are recognized and that true detections are corroborated and verifiable.

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