The real-time state of the aurora:a research to operations need with a citizen science solution?

A prototype citizen science application called Aurorasaurus has been developed and launched in 2014. The goal of this platform is crowdsourcing observations of the aurora in real-time in order to assess global visibility of the aurora for the public. Users can submit observations, verify relevant social media observations, learn about the aurora, and receive location-based alerts based on verified reports, all in near real-time. The size and distribution of the citizen scientist community around the world has tremendous potential both for documenting the visible manifestations of global space weather impacts as well as providing quality control on the reported sightings. Information with high spatial and temporal resolution of the largest, most dynamic and mysterious space weather events is made possible by this solution, and this data can be integrated with other ground and space based measures of auroral activity. We will present initial results during the large geomagnetic events of 2015 and comparison to other measures of auroral activity. Our findings indicate the prototype application can be a valuable tool for real-time aurora knowledge and should be included in discussions of real-time aurora nowcasting needs. We will discuss those needs and assess the feasibility of available systems for meeting them