Below are the abstracts presented during the 2023 Boulder Solar Alliance REU Symposium, held during the final week of the program. The students had the opportunity to present the results of their research to the Boulder solar science community.
Space Weather Datasets for NOAA’s Science on a Sphere*
Ethan Balderrama1, Mark Miesch2,3, Rodney Viereck2,3
1Pennsylvania State University, 2 CIRES/University of Colorado Boulder,3NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
*special presention on Monday July 31 at Fiske Planetarium using the Science on a Sphere.
NOAA’s Science on a Sphere (SOS) is a room-sized, spherical projection system that allows for the visualization of planetary data in an exciting and interactive way. Sitting at
over six feet in diameter, this powerful tool uses computers and video projectors to create various eye-catching animations. The SOS is a powerful outreach tool that we at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center use to display awe-inspiring and pertinent space weather datasets. This space weather includes aurora and solar images, providing useful information and an educational experience to the viewer. The OVATION Prime model uses solar wind to forecast the aurora with a 20–50-minute lead time and is used to create aurora loops from the past, as well as nowcast and forecasts. Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) images from the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) on NOAA’s GOES satellite are used to produce solar images and loops on the SOS. As we develop more advanced technology and rely on it more continually, the impacts of space weather continue to grow, making the understanding of this data more important. SOS is an ideal vessel for allowing experience via visualization, with minimal distortion of data, as its spherical nature aligns with the true shape of the Earth and Sun. Future exploits include getting real-time data and forecasts onto the SOS, giving viewers even more resources to learn about space weather.
Preparing for the 2024 Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse (CATE) project
Amelia Bettati 1 , Amir Caspi 2 , and Dan Seaton 2
1 Elon University, North Carolina, U.S., 2 Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado,
U.S.
The CATE 2024 project will produce next-generation polarized observations of the solar corona during the April 8th, 2024, total solar eclipse (TSE) that will cross the continental U.S. These observations will be made by 35 teams of citizen scientists along the path who will gather continuous images of the lower and middle solar corona. The recruited teams will consist of students and amateurs whose collective observations will be combined into a 1-hour-long movie of the solar corona. The polarization data collected will answer questions such as determining connectivity in the solar corona, measuring the nascent solar wind flow, and identifying and characterizing reconnection in the middle corona.
During the summer of 2023, we mapped out potential rural, urban, and tribal communities surrounding target CATE 2024, observing sites as possible citizen scientists for our project. We focused on underrepresented communities. We also tested and characterized observing setups, specifically cameras that will be distributed to the teams along the path of the TSE, as well as telescope equipment and software. During analysis, we characterized each of the cameras’ four polarization channels to analyze their performance and suitability for the high dynamic range imaging required for the CATE 2024 project. Based on the individual performance of different camera models, one will be chosen to be distributed in bulk across the teams. We found that the camera and telescope equipment meet all requirements, approving them for the 2024 TSE.
Currently, we are preparing to begin recruitment for the community teams and are creating teaching materials that will be used as a universal training curriculum for our volunteer observers. We will present the results of our outreach planning and recruiting plans and expand on the characterization process of our equipment and plans for the CATE 2024 project.
Study on occulting disk blocking transmission efficiency in solar coronagraphs.
Andrea Borlovan 1 , Scott Sewell 1 , and Patrick Zmarzly1
1 High Altitude Observatory/National Center for Atmospheric Research
A solar coronagraph’s optical system is crucial technology in producing clear interpretable images for the study of space weather. Stray light caused by diffraction is a fundamental limitation to the ultimate performance of a solar coronagraph. Our ability to track coronal mass ejections is limited by this stray light. This work presents theoretical modeling done in FRED, and experimental results produced in the NCAR Vacuum Tunnel Facility (NVTF class-10,000 clean room). The focus was on suppressing the diffraction within the external occulter system, while significantly improving the efficiency of low stray interference through 1-3 occulting disks. The diffraction from a circular aperture of 32 mm in diameter, was modeled assuming a solar source of 1 mW/cm^2. Additionally, measurements of the diffracted light were taken from 820 mm away using a FLIR camera system. The measured intensity of the diffraction ring was 300 w/m^2 and the peak percentage values are within 99.8% of the modeled value for a single disk occulted system. The transmitted irradiance efficiency with and without a single disk occulter was measured to be 5×10^-3, this is a factor of 10 higher than other experimental measurements in the literature. While not perfect, they were reasonable agreement with the theoretical models, suggesting better optical alignment in future work. The disagreement of the values suggests work in a new area, perhaps analytical and experimental set up can be reviewed. Plans to extend this analysis into a triple disk external occulting system lead to theoretical predictions of a greater factor of efficiency of reduced signal compared to the single disk occulter. The advancements towards reducing stray light interference within solar coronagraphs, is crucial in capturing clear images of our history, and effectively conquering space weather predictions.
Spatio-temporal Variability in Acoustic Mode Parameters of Solar Oscillations
Nick Cebula1, Sushanta Tripathy2, Kiran Jain2
1Macalester College, 2 National Solar Observatory
Helioseismology measures acoustic oscillating waves that are observed on the surface of the Sun to learn about the interior dynamics. In this investigation we use a local helioseismic technique of ring diagrams to study the power, energy and damping rates of local high degree solar acoustic modes. Our data is derived from the Global Oscillations Network Group (GONG) and covers the period 2001-2022 i.e. starting from the maximum phase of solar cycle 23 to the ascending phase of cycle 25. The goal is to examine the variations in the mode parameters, e.g., mode amplitude, line width, with solar activity as well as the differences and similarities between different cycles since each solar cycle behaves differently. For this, we use different proxies of solar activity. In particular, we use 10.7 radio flux measurements and a local measure of magnetic flux known as magnetic activity index calculated from magnetograms. The current results of this project have so far confirmed the correlation between intensity of magnetic flux and mode width which is proportional to the damping rate. Thus we find that the modes are damped during the period of maximum solar activity. with periods of high magnetic flux leading to higher values of mode width. We further confirm that the mode amplitude is in anti-phase with magnetic flux, where amplitude values are found to be decreasing during periods of high magnetic flux. This relation has held true for the majority of the years analyzed here. However there are a few anomalous periods of time where the amplitude values appear to be in phase with magnetic flux. While the exact reason for this has not been found yet, we do not rule out an instrumental origin. We will explore the reasons for this anomaly. We will further investigate variations in the northern and southern hemispheres to characterize the progress of the solar cycle and to highlight the differences between the two hemispheres.
Validating Solar atmosphere models using high spectral resolution, center-to-limb observations of solar Balmer lines
Tyler Case1, Serena Criscuoli2, Odele Coddington3
1Lycoming College, 2 National Solar Observatory,3Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
The variations in solar irradiance have an effect on the Earth’s atmosphere and climate. Irradiance variations occur at different temporal scales (second to millennia), and their amplitude largely depend on the spectral region. This variability is driven by magnetic activity on the solar surface such as sunspots, facula, etc. Continuous monitoring of solar irradiance only started in the late 1970s (other indicators of solar activity were monitored prior to this date), therefore, in order to estimate irradiance variability over long temporal scales (decades to millennia), we resort to using synthetic models of the solar spectrum. These synthetic spectra may also be used to model stellar atmospheres that could help characterize exoplanets’ atmospheres and their habitability, as well as help validate assumptions about magnetic features on the solar surface. We are validating several quiet Sun synthetic spectra obtained with atmosphere models that are commonly used to describe properties of the Sun and sun-like stars. This is done by comparing them to recent spatially resolved, high spectral resolution, center-to-limb observations from the Institut für Astrophysik (IAG), Germany, and the FTS quiet Sun reference spectrum. We focus on the alpha, beta, and gamma Hydrogen Balmer lines, which sample different depths of the solar atmosphere.
Exploring the Effect of a Faint Young Sun on Venus’ Cloud Structure
Grace Fassio1, Kevin McGouldrick2, Erika Barth3
1Whitman College, 2 Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, 3 Southwest Research Institute
Sulfuric acid clouds entirely cover Venus today. The production of this sulfuric acid is caused by a photochemical reaction that consumes sulfur dioxide, water vapor, and sunlight. Venus has been exposed to varying amounts of solar intensity throughout its history due to a fainter young Sun. During the Archean eon (3.8 to 2.5 billion years ago), it is believed that the Sun was 20-25% less luminous. We explored the effects of this “Faint Young Sun” on Venus’ cloud structure by using a microphysics model. PlanetCARMA is a model for atmospheres that simulates physical processes, including nucleation, condensation, and evaporation. We mimicked the effects of the Faint Young Sun by varying the photochemical production and loss rates. Our expectation was that the reduced insolation would result in lower sulfuric acid production hence fewer clouds; in this presentation we report on the findings of our simulations.
Evaluation of the Dynamics of Ion Populations Upstream of Quasi-Perpendicular Shocks Using Spacecraft Measurements
Julia Hand1, Hadi Madanian2
1Grand Canyon University, 2 Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Earth’s bow shock lies against the continuous flow of supersonic, magnetized solar wind. Understanding the particle activity around shock crossings drives a broader understanding of the physical processes of the bow shock. This project assesses ion populations upstream of Earth’s bow shock with a quasi-perpendicular geometry using satellite data from NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. Spacecraft measurements taken in regions of supercritical crossings are used to analyze upstream activity, which comprise magnetic field amplification and ion energy scattering. To better understand the fate and trajectories of assorted ion populations, multipoint 3-D ion distributions are analyzed by projecting the measurements on 2-D planes parallel and perpendicular to the shock surface. From these planes can various distributions of ions be defined, aiding to establish the dynamics of interaction with magnetic enhancement. The investigation of these ion populations allows a broader understanding of the microphysics occurring at quasi-perpendicular shocks.
GPS Satellite Observations of a Radiation Belt Dropout Event in the Post-RBSP Era
Lexy Hensely1, Harriet George2, David Malaspina2, Milla Kalliokoski2
1Berea College, 2Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, 3Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency/JAXA ISAS
The Earth’s radiation belts present a space weather hazard to satellites and astronauts in orbit. The gold-standard radiation belt observations were provided by the Van Allen probes (RBSP) from 2012 to 2018. We demonstrated the use of the Global Position System (GPS) satellite data to investigate a radiation belt dropout event, thus examining the feasibility of using GPS satellites to continue to monitor the radiation belts in a post-RBSP era. A dropout of relativistic electrons from Earth’s outer radiation belt occurred on 14 May 2019 and was analyzed using the GPS constellation.Most GPS satellites carry a Combined X-Ray Dosimeter (CXD) instrument that provides electron count data. These count data have been cross-calibrated with RBSP electron flux observations to calculate electron fluxes from the GPS observations. We analyzed this dropout event using electron flux data provided by 19 different GPS satellites to investigate the driving mechanism and timescales of the losses. Electron flux losses of an order of magnitude were observed at all evaluated L-shell in the 4 MeV population. These flux losses were rapid and closely corresponded with a strong compression of the magnetopause. The magnetopause was abruptly compressed from its nominal location by ∼ 2RE, with the inward incursion starting at approximately 4 AM. Analysis of the phase space density
(PSD) calculated from GPS fluxes showed a total loss of the 3433 MeV /G and 0.11 G1/2RE population at L∗ > 4.5 was observed between the inward pass of ns65 satellite at 3:20 AM and its outbound at 4:50 AM. Further examination of the PSD revealed that radial diffusion transported particles across the magnetopause after the initial compression, moreover contributing to the dropout event. This analysis demonstrates the feasibility of using GPS data to evaluate rapid changes in the radiation belts, especially in the post-RBSP era.
Understanding the Change in Flare Properties in the Ascending Phase of the Solar Cycle 25
Maheen Khan1, Larisza Krista2,3
1Pikes Peak State College, 2Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences/University of Colorado Boulder (CIRES/CU), 3National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Solar flares are eruptions that occur in the solar corona that produce X-ray and extreme ultraviolet radiation that can interfere with modern life by affecting power grids, GPS navigation, and telecommunication. Our research is focused on understanding the evolution of solar flare properties over the solar cycle. Using data from GOES’s 16 and 18 Extreme Ultraviolet Irradiance Sensors (EXIS) instrument, we analyze the magnitude and duration of flares during the descending phase of solar cycle 24 and the ascending phase of solar cycle 25. Our results show that the duration of solar flares is not correlated with their magnitude. However, we find the frequency, magnitude, and duration of solar flares to be positively correlated with the sunspot number over the solar cycle. These results are in agreement with previous research that has shown a relationship between solar flare frequency and the solar cycle.
The Identification and Characterizing of Dark Spots on the Solar Surface**
Yoshi Levey1, Kevin Reardon2
1Fort Lewis College, 2National Solar Observatory
**Poster session only
On the solar surface are cell shaped structures called granules caused by convective currents. In the interior of these granules, it is sometime possible to see small, usually round “dark dots”. These dark spots might correspond to colder gas that is sinking back into the solar interior, due to convective flow within the sun. To better understand the magnetohydrodynamics of these features, imaging data from the Daniel K Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) is utilized. Sequential images of regions of the sun allow for the tracking of these dark spots as they appear and disappear. We wrote a python script to efficiently label coordinates of dark spots on an image sequence, guiding the user in creating a table of temporal and spatial coordinates.
In addition to determining the lifetimes, sizes, occurrence rates of these features, we plan to correlate the identified positions with spectral data to reveal information such as downward (or upward) velocities.
This labelled data set can be used for training and validation of future machine learning algorithms to identify dark spots on the solar surface. The machine learning algorithm can process image data faster to better understand and characterize this phenomenon, and the sun’s broader dynamics.
The Characteristics of Active Regions and its Relevance to Space Weather Forecast
Ysabella Lopez1, Andrés Muñoz-Jaramillo2
1Spelman College, 2 Southwest Research Institute
Active Regions occur throughout areas on the Sun’s surface where there is an abundance of magnetism. Extensive understanding and research on the properties of active regions is imperative to the future of space exploration and aerospace machine innovation. In this research journey, we extracted the data from files that recorded the activity of active regions over the span of about 40 years. The extracted data was converted from IDL files to Python to modernize it and make it accessible to a new generation of scientists. With this data, we used the contents to create a set of data features/high-level quantities to enable space weather forecast. These features were then input into a logistic regression to output predictions of solar flares.
MiniMag: A Magnetometer Based on the Faraday Effect for Space Applications
Kaitlin H. McAllister1,2, Dmytro A. Bozhko1, Zbigniew J. Celinski1, Joey Espejo2, Kush Tyagi2, Maria E. Usanova2
1University of Colorado Colorado Springs, 2 Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Accurate measurements of the magnetic fields of the Sun, Earth, and other planets are necessary to answer important questions in physics and better understand how these magnetic fields affect satellites and communications on Earth. Future space exploration will benefit from highly sensitive magnetometers able to measure magnetic fields over a wide range of frequencies. We present a concept of a magnetometer based on the Faraday effect that offers improvements over magnetometers currently used in space. Unlike other magnetometers, our design will be small enough to fit on a CubeSat, enabling easier and less expensive magnetic field measurements in space, and it offers better sensitivity over a larger range of frequencies. The Faraday effect is a phenomenon in which polarized light traveling through a magnetic material along the magnetization direction experiences a rotation of the polarization direction of the light. The magnetization depends on the applied magnetic field and rotates the polarization direction of the light. Our magnetometer uses infrared laser light traveling through a small sensing element of yttrium iron garnet, a magnetic material. By measuring the rotation of the light’s polarization direction, we determine the magnetic field. We discuss the design of the magnetometer and its performance, including work done to improve its sensitivity and ability to measure magnetic fields at high frequencies, and future plans to further improve the magnetometer’s sensitivity and develop a flight-ready design.
Building an AI-Ready Calibrated and Denoised Dataset of Magnetic Anomalies
using Citizen Science Contributed CrowdMag Measurements
Emma Opper1, Manoj C. Nair2, Rob Redmonl3,4
1University of California Santa Barbara, 2Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) University of Colorado Boulder, 3NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), 4NOAA Center for AI
Deviations in local magnetic field strengths from what is expected are known as magnetic anomalies, whose proper detection can reveal various geophysical features and help understand geological history. NOAA’s current magnetic anomaly map is known as EMAG2_v3, which is a compilation of data from airborne, shipborne, and satellite measurements. However, the resolution of this map is limited by the spacing between these measurements. To improve its magnetic reference models and maps, NOAA introduced CrowdMag, a citizen science project that harnesses data contributed by the public through a mobile app that utilizes the magnetometers embedded in modern smartphones. But because the magnetometers in smartphones are lower quality and therefore influenced by surrounding magnetic interference, the collected data is extremely noisy. To overcome this challenge, a type of deep neural network known as an autoencoder (AE) is employed to denoise the data. An AE learns to reconstruct its input data by effectively compressing the information into a lower-dimensional representation and then reconstructing it to remove noise. This artificial intelligence (AI) technique is trained using intentionally noised and masked EMAG2_v3 data (Figure 1b) and its hyperparameters optimally tuned before being applied to the noisy CrowdMag data. This tuning includes but is not limited to, altering input size, epoch size, loss function, masking and randomization level, and compression ratio. Once the optimal parameters are established, an AI-ready calibrated and
denoised dataset of magnetic anomalies is produced. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time autoencoders have been applied to this sector of geoscience. The outcomes of this project can be extended to other fields of science where noisy datasets are prevalent. Additionally, this initiative promotes the utilization of citizen science-collected measurements, fostering greater public involvement in scientific research.
The Lost Art of Harnessing: Designing for Optimization
Jordan Richardson1,2, Aimee Merkel2
1University of Colorado Boulder, 2 Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
The purpose of this study is to research the next generation of harnessing techniques and configurations to optimize overall system performance potentially extending the operational mission life of CubeSats and create a notional design for the DYNAGLO CubeSat harnessing system.
Harnessing is an often-overlooked subject in the world of engineering. Much of this aspect of engineering is often reduced to a second thought, when it should be a key design performance parameter. Due to this prioritization, wiring complications may occur causing more problems later in the system lifecycle. This is not the case for DYNAGLO, DYNamics Atmosphere GLObal Connection (DYNAGLO). It is the first-of-its-kind two 6U CubeSat that provides global thermosphere gravity waves (GW) measurements along with characteristics for correlation with known GW sources both terrestrial and geomagnetic to the science community. Funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division, DYNAGLO aims to achieve NASA’s mission goal to contribute to the fundamental understanding of how vertical coupling by atmospheric waves relate to the energy and momentum balance in the thermosphere.
Using Draw.io and SolidWorks CAD designs, the research study will show modest low-cost modifications to a satellite’s harness and wiring design can not only increase power output but potentially extend the mission lifespan of a satellite.
Concluding results and expected outcomes include baseline of current CubeSat design configurations and the potential areas of focus for future next-gen harness and wiring designs. The new CAD model notional design created shows a new low-cost approach and the potential to increase power and extend satellite mission lifespan on orbit.
An Investigation of the Vertical Properties of Thermospheric Gravity Waves Using FUV Stellar Occultation SORCE Data
Pepper Rivera1, Josh Elliott2, Ed Thiemann2
1Arkansas Tech University, 2 Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Atmospheric gravity waves play an important role in the dynamics of the Earth’s atmosphere, facilitating the transfer of energy and momentum throughout all atmospheric layers. Observing gravity waves in the thermosphere, the layer of Earth’s atmosphere above 90 km, is especially challenging. The horizontal component of these waves has been studied using primarily satellite accelerometer data at altitudes above 200 km but their vertical properties are poorly understood. The region in Earth’s atmosphere from 100 km to 200 km is called the ‘thermospheric gap’ because of the lack of study of waves in this region. This presentation outlines the process of attempting to find thermospheric gravity waves within this gap region from 120 km to 200 km. This was done using stellar occultation data collected from the Solar Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE) aboard the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) spacecraft. In particular, the vertical properties of these waves were considered.
As far ultraviolet (FUV) stellar light passes through the atmosphere, a percentage of the light is absorbed by O2 in the atmosphere creating the occultation profiles used in the study. Stellar irradiance measurements from the instrument were then used to calculate the density of the thermosphere at various altitudes, at which point efforts were made to find statistically significant vertical oscillations which indicate the presence of thermospheric gravity waves. This stellar occultation approach has been recently used with great success by the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission (MAVEN) to study atmospheric waves in Mars’ atmosphere. Finally, we performed comparison tests between the data observed and theoretical models for
gravity waves in this region of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Coronal Dimmings and CME Onset
Jeff Robinson1, Karin Dissauer2, K.D. Leka2,3, Graham Barnes2
1Harriett L. Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University, 2 NorthWest Research Associates, 3Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research Nagoya University
Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are highly energetic eruptions in the sun in which magnetized plasma evacuates the sun’s corona at high speeds. CMEs have the potential to heavily influence space weather in the near-Earth environment and are therefore a topic of interest; however, the coronagraphs used in observing CMEs are limited in resolving the lower corona and thus present a challenge in cataloging the details of the CME’s onset. This limitation may be circumvented by observing associated phenomena of CMEs known as “coronal dimming”. Dimmings are transient regions within the solar corona that become dim due to reduced emissions in that location; this reduced emission is a result of the expansion and evacuation of plasma during a CME eruption. This project seeks to investigate coronal dimmings for two populations within an active region’s evolution: an active phase leading up to a CME eruption and a quiet phase of the same active region, the latter occurring within a 24-hour window around the active phase where no activity occurs. Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) image data of the events are processed through a dimming detection algorithm where the pixels representative of dimming are marked for each timestep. A time profile of the dimming’s cumulative area and area growth rate during the active and quiet phase is extrapolated from the algorithm’s output. Taking comparisons of the area growth rate between the active and quiet phases may reveal systematic changes in the pre-eruption behavior of an active region, which can then be analyzed to better understand when a CME is to occur. Preliminary results show that some events display a patterned deviation of the active phase’s dimming area growth rate to the trend established in that of the quiet phase. Some events however are not characteristic of this pattern and as such, additional parameters are being considered in order to detect systematic changes.
Minor Pick-Up Ions from the Martian Corona
Martina Salichs1,2, Robin Ramstad2, Yaxue Dong2, James McFadden3, Shannon Curry3
1University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, 2 Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of California Berkeley
The SupraThermal and Thermal Ion Composition (STATIC) instrument onboard the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft measures angular, energy, and mass distributions of suprathermal ions over a range of altitudes near Mars. We studied pick-up ions that are created and escape when neutrals in Mars’ exosphere get ionized and accelerated by the solar wind’s motional electric field. We analyzed mass-energy spectra to identify minor species of pick-up ions, i.e. ions other than O+ or H+. For this project, we analyzed time intervals when the spacecraft was in the solar wind and excluded ions that were co-moving with the solar wind. We successfully detected minor pick-up ion species by statistical analysis to determine signal significance. We report the confirmed minor ion species, their spatial distributions, and abundances. The prevalence of these minor pick-up ions constrains the ongoing escape of Mars’ upper atmosphere and its evolution over time.
Magnetic Reconnection Insights from Flare Ribbon Behavior in Solar Flares
Rose Sosa1, Ryan French2, Marcel Corchado2, Cole Tamburri2
1Whitman College, 2 National Solar Observatory
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process within solar flares, resulting in a change in local magnetic topography. Magnetic reconnection involves the release of magnetic free energy as particle acceleration, light, and plasma heating. Although magnetic reconnection is a crucial process in solar flare dynamics, it is not yet fully understood. During a solar flare, flare ribbons mark the intersection between the chromosphere and flaring corona. Due to their magnetic connectivity to the reconnection site, flare ribbons must be imprinted with information of the flare reconnection dynamic. This study utilized this connectivity to investigate the process of magnetic reconnection by analyzing flare ribbon behavior of multiple solar flares. We used image and time series analysis of data from NASA’s Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) Slit-Jaw Imager (SJI) data to study oscillations in flare ribbon position, intensity, separation velocity, and physical width. Finally, we compared our results with expectations from different models of magnetic reconnection in solar flares, in particular the tearing-mode instability.