↓ Skip to main content

Science Advances

New science in plain sight: Citizen scientists lead to the discovery of optical structure in the upper atmosphere

Overview of attention for article published in Science Advances, March 2018
Altmetric Badge

About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (99th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (98th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
113 news outlets
blogs
18 blogs
twitter
242 X users
facebook
10 Facebook pages
wikipedia
8 Wikipedia pages
googleplus
13 Google+ users
reddit
2 Redditors
video
6 YouTube creators

Citations

dimensions_citation
111 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
62 Mendeley
Title
New science in plain sight: Citizen scientists lead to the discovery of optical structure in the upper atmosphere
Published in
Science Advances, March 2018
DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aaq0030
Pubmed ID
Authors

Elizabeth A. MacDonald, Eric Donovan, Yukitoshi Nishimura, Nathan A. Case, D. Megan Gillies, Bea Gallardo-Lacourt, William E. Archer, Emma L. Spanswick, Notanee Bourassa, Martin Connors, Matthew Heavner, Brian Jackel, Burcu Kosar, David J. Knudsen, Chris Ratzlaff, Ian Schofield

Abstract

A glowing ribbon of purple light running east-west in the night sky has recently been observed by citizen scientists. This narrow, subauroral, visible structure, distinct from the traditional auroral oval, was largely undocumented in the scientific literature and little was known about its formation. Amateur photo sequences showed colors distinctly different from common types of aurora and occasionally indicated magnetic field-aligned substructures. Observations from the Swarm satellite as it crossed the arc have revealed an unusual level of electron temperature enhancement and density depletion, along with a strong westward ion flow, indicating that a pronounced subauroral ion drift (SAID) is associated with this structure. These early results suggest the arc is an optical manifestation of SAID, presenting new opportunities for investigation of the dynamic SAID signatures from the ground. On the basis of the measured ion properties and original citizen science name, we propose to identify this arc as a Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement (STEVE).

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 242 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 62 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 62 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 14 23%
Student > Master 10 16%
Student > Ph. D. Student 8 13%
Student > Bachelor 5 8%
Student > Doctoral Student 3 5%
Other 7 11%
Unknown 15 24%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Physics and Astronomy 17 27%
Earth and Planetary Sciences 9 15%
Engineering 5 8%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 2 3%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 2 3%
Other 7 11%
Unknown 20 32%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1174. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 31 December 2023.
All research outputs
#12,371
of 25,552,205 outputs
Outputs from Science Advances
#172
of 12,370 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#238
of 352,265 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Science Advances
#4
of 237 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,552,205 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 12,370 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 119.9. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 352,265 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 237 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.