lpetrich
Contributor
That is often done in a very hand-waving sort of way, but I've discovered an attempt to quantify it. To give numerical values for quality of purported evidence (what is being claimed) vs. reliability of that evidence.
It ws inspired by several other scales, the Beaufort scale of wind speed, the Richter magnitude scale of earthquake intensity, the Modified Mercalli intensity scale of earthquake effects, the Volcanic Explosivity Index of how much was material ejected, NOAA Space Weather Scales | NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center of geomagnetic storms, solar-radiation storms, and radio blackouts resulting from solar activity, the Torino Impact Hazard Scale of asteroid/comet impact threat, a combination of probability and impact energy, and the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale which is:
log10( (probability) / (background probability) ).
Coming closer to this subject is the San Marino Scale for evalulating METI (messages to ETI: active SETI) transmissions. It is:
log10( (signal flux) / (quiet solar flux) ) + (character)
where the character is
It ws inspired by several other scales, the Beaufort scale of wind speed, the Richter magnitude scale of earthquake intensity, the Modified Mercalli intensity scale of earthquake effects, the Volcanic Explosivity Index of how much was material ejected, NOAA Space Weather Scales | NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center of geomagnetic storms, solar-radiation storms, and radio blackouts resulting from solar activity, the Torino Impact Hazard Scale of asteroid/comet impact threat, a combination of probability and impact energy, and the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale which is:
log10( (probability) / (background probability) ).
Coming closer to this subject is the San Marino Scale for evalulating METI (messages to ETI: active SETI) transmissions. It is:
log10( (signal flux) / (quiet solar flux) ) + (character)
where the character is
- 5: Reply to an extraterrestrial signal or message (if they are not yet aware of us)
- 4: Continuous, broadband transmission of a message to ETI
- 3: Special signal targeting a specific star or stars, at a preselected time, in order to draw the attention of ETI astronomers
- 2: Sustained, untargeted message with the intention to reach ETI
- 1: A beacon without any message content (e.g., planetary radar)