Climate & Space postdoctoral research fellow is first author on new paper

Recent PhD and postdoctoral research fellow Dr. Alex Hegedus is first author on a new paper published in the AGU journal Radio Science.

Prof. Justin Kasper is co-author on the paper, titled “Measuring the Earth’s Synchrotron Emission From Radiation Belts With a Lunar Near Side Radio Array”. 

Dr. Hegedus summarizes the paper:

“The Earth’s ionosphere is home to a large population of energetic electrons that live in the balance of many factors including input from the Solar wind and the influence of the Earth’s magnetic field. These energetic electrons emit radio waves as they traverse Earth’s magnetosphere, leading to short‐lived, strong radio emissions from local regions, as well as persistent weaker emissions that act as a global signature of the population breakdown of all the energetic electrons. Characterizing this weaker emission (synchrotron emission) would lead to a greater understanding of the energetic electron populations on a day‐to‐day level.

A radio array on the near side of the Moon would always be facing the Earth and would be well suited for measuring its low‐frequency radio emissions. In this work we simulate such a radio array on the lunar near-side, to image this weaker synchrotron emission. The specific geometry and location of the test array were made using the most recent lunar maps made by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. This array would give us unprecedented day‐to‐day knowledge of the electron environment around our planet, providing reports of Earth’s strong and weak radio emissions, giving both local and global information.”

Congratulations, Dr. Hegedus!