Better understanding of space weather (6/23/2008)

The Importance of Ground-Based Solar-Terrestrial Physics

All modern societies rely heavily on space systems for communications and resource information, including meteorological, navigation and remote sensing systems.

There are high costs and high risks associated with the consequences of space weather events, as insurance companies recognise.

Intense space weather events are triggered by the explosive release of energy stored in the Sun's magnetic field.

A strong burst of electromagnetic energy reaches the Earth with the potential to disrupt many of our fundamental services, such as satellite and aviation operations, navigation, and electricity power grids. Telecommunications and information technology are likewise vulnerable to space weather.

Research by the Radio and Space Plasma Physics Group in the University of Leicester's Department of Physics and Astronomy helps our understanding of coupling processes between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere by allowing the observation of the consequences of space weather with an unprecedented resolution.

Postgraduate researcher James Borderick explained: "We introduce the importance of utilising ground-based measurements of the near space environment in conjunction with spacecraft observations and then proceed to explain the direct influences of space weather on our own technological systems.

"Utilising our new radar modes and an international array of ground-based and space-based instruments, we are ever increasing our understanding of the countless phenomena associated with the solar-terrestrial interaction."

"One day this may lead us to the accurate predictions of the occurrence and consequences of phenomena such as Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), and perhaps an active defence."

The use of ground-based radars for observations of ionospheric and magnetospheric dynamics is well established. The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) consists of networks of High-Frequency radars surrounding the northern and southern poles, which have yielded extensive data on our near space environment.

A new "double pulse" pulse sequence has been implemented on the Radio Space Plasma Physics Group's Co-operative UK Twin Located Auroral Sounding System (CUTLASS) radars. CUTLASS forms part of SuperDARN.

The new sounding mode enhances the temporal resolution of observations of plasma irregularities within the ionosphere. It increases the cadence of pulse transmissions within the same transmission time as the standard SuperDARN-operating mode.

As an undergraduate physicist at the University of Leicester, he was awarded both the Philips and Departmental Prizes in Physics and achieved the highest mark of all 4th year undergraduates in his final year. Between his penultimate and final years, he obtained a position on the prestigious SURE research programme where he conducted a preliminary investigation on the coupling processes between the Solar Wind and the Earth's magnetic field. He has just recently presented his Double Pulse findings at the SuperDARN Conference of 2008 in New South Wales, Australia. In the future, he hopes to continue in academia, forwarding science and simultaneously enthusing the next generation of scientists.

The research is being presented to the public at the University of Leicester on Thursday 26th June. The Festival of Postgraduate Research introduces employers and the public to the next generation of innovators and cutting-edge researchers, and gives postgraduate researchers the opportunity to explain the real world implications of their research to a wide ranging audience.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the University of Leicester

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