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Click here to search FindAPhD.com for PhD studentship opportunitiesAbout the Project
This project uses data from a unique single-site electrostatic lightning de-tector recently developed by private industry to warn of local thunderstorm activity at airports. The unique dataset provided by this instrument shall be used to investigate changes in the atmosphere’s electric field between 1-45 Hz, associated with all forms of lightning, including the search for sig-nals from Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) in the upper atmosphere. Anomalously strong signals from lightning several hundred kilometres away is of particular interest to this project, since these new observations are not consistent with current theory.
These research challenges are approached within the SAINT project (Sci-ence And INnovation with Thunderstorms) supported by the European Commission. SAINT is a coordinated program of research that includes satellite and ground observations, modelling and lab experiments – mostly from a geophysical perspective, but with strong interfaces to plasma tech-nology and relevant industries. The SAINT consortium is composed of 10 academic institutions and 9 industrial partners and it employs 15 PhD students to integrate leading techniques from different sectors toward an investigation of the fundamental mechanisms of atmospheric discharges.
The successful candidate will participate in meetings with the teams around two novel space missions, the Atmosphere-Space Interaction Monitor (ASIM) of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the micro-satellite TARANIS of the French Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), and gain insights into the next generation of lightning imagers on-board of geostationary satellites (GOES-R, MTG and FY-4).
The project is allied by field work in southern Europe, summer schools and training events throughout the duration of the project.
At the end of the project, the successful candidate will be able to plan and conduct complex projects and manage the implications of research toward applications in industry and for the needs of governmental agencies.
The successful candidate will have a first class degree in science, e.g., physics (astronomy, plasma physics, geoscience, meteorology), mathematics, or electronic and electrical engineering and is interested and fit to participate in demanding field work in southern Europe.
Funding Notes
Preferred start date: Between March-September 2017, flexible to suit the successful candidate.
References
(1) Bennett, A. J. (2013). Identification and ranging of lightning flashes using co-located antennas of different geometry, Measurement Sci-ence and Technology, doi:10.1088/0957-0233/24/12/125801.
(2) Bennett, A. J. and Harrison, R. G., (2013). Lightning-Induced Extensive Charge Sheets Provide Long Range Electrostatic Thunderstorm Detec-tion, Physical Review Letters, doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.045003.