Pediction of the Occurrence of Solar Eruptions

The Earth's environment is affected by space weather conditions. The most profound effects on the Earth are driven by solar eruptions, such as solar flares and solar storms. Such phenomena produce magnetic disturbances in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere, which can be powerful enough to adversely affect electronic equipment. For example, the instrumentation on orbiting satellites can be irreversibly damaged. My research seeks to accurately predict the occurrence of solar eruptions, in order to mitigate their negative effects on space-borne and ground-based communications equipment. The proposed research is expected to benefit the Ontario aerospace and telecommunications industries, since these industries rely on such equipment in their basic day-today operations. My role in the research effort will be to provide cutting-edge theoretical and computational tools for the analysis of signals emitted by the sun. The physical interpretation of the results will be aided by partnership with the Geomagnetic Laboratory of Natural Resources Canada.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. David J. Thomson

Student:

Azadeh Moghtaderi

Partner:

Discipline:

Mathematics

Sector:

Aerospace and defense

University:

Queen's University

Program: