Gravity Wave Zoo: Citizen Science and Atmospheric Gravity Waves over Poker Flat, Alaska

The Gravity Wave Zoo - an ongoing citizen science project - has improved the understanding of seasonal, high-latitude atmospheric gravity wave (AGW) events by rapidly classifying high-cadence, all-sky hydroxyl (OH) airglow images captured over multiple winters. Recent statistical analysis has demonstrated the reliability of citizen scientist responses, with accuracy = 0.82, precision = 0.87, recall = 0.92, and p-value = 1*10^(-5). This underscores the value of this work for effectively diagnosing the monthly-to-seasonal prevalence of AGWs, which are dominant drivers of middle-atmosphere circulation and momentum transport. With 3,300+ registered volunteers and 84,000+ classifications across 700,000+ OH-layer images, we present recent updates to the Gravity Wave Zoo, including an active expansion to classify AGW propagation directions. We further emphasize the advantages of citizen science in the near-space research subfield as a means of science education and outreach.