Recruiting Aurora Chasers for CINEMA-MOVIE: Workflows and Communication for Participatory-Science Contributions

Talk presented at European Space Weather Week 2026 (ESWW 2026) in Florence, Italy, on November 5, 2026, in session OTH4, Education and Outreach in Space Weather: Engaging Communities and Shaping the Next Generation. The files are the slides as PowerPoint (movies embedded) and as a PDF. Abstract CINEMA (Cross-Scale INvestigation of Earth's Magnetotail and Aurora) is a NASA Small Explorer mission that will use a constellation of satellites carrying particle, magnetic-field, and auroral-imaging instruments to study connections between Earth's magnetotail and the aurora. MOVIE (Multi-platform Observations from Volunteers: Ionospheric Experiments) is CINEMA's citizen-science component, linking spacecraft measurements to coordinated ground-based observations from volunteer and enthusiast communities, including aurora chasers and amateur radio operators. This presentation focuses on the techniques and workflows being developed to recruit the aurora chasing community and integrate their observations into CINEMA science. Aurora chasers can supply ground-based context in regions and conditions that fixed all-sky imager networks do not fully cover, including mid-latitude aurora during enhanced geomagnetic activity, subauroral emissions such as STEVE and SAR arcs, gaps between camera fields of view, and multi-viewpoint observations of the same auroral structure. We describe the framework being established before mission operations: a selected advisory group of aurora chasers drawn from major northern and southern hemisphere observing communities; a layered communication model built around a public project website, a moderated announcement email list, and a rapid coordination channel; candidate photo and data submission workflows; and a plan for volunteer recognition and reciprocity. We summarize expected participation, draw lessons from past participatory-science engagement with the aurora community, and outline open questions relevant to the broader space weather community for planning volunteer campaigns.