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CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
PRODID:UW-Madison-Physics-Events
BEGIN:VEVENT
SEQUENCE:0
UID:UW-Physics-Event-4389
DTSTART:20170505T203000Z
DURATION:PT1H0M0S
DTSTAMP:20260415T203546Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170505T194106Z
LOCATION:2103 Chamberlin hall
SUMMARY:Simulating the Ionosphere\, one electron at a time\, Physics D
 epartment Colloquium\, Meers Oppenheim\, Boston University\, Astronomy
  Department
DESCRIPTION:All planetary atmospheres have a region where solar radiat
 ion ionizes the air\, creating an ionosphere\; a plasma extending from
  the upper atmosphere to the space environment.  For the Earth\, the i
 onosphere extends from 80 km above the ground\, where neutrals outnumb
 er ions by over 8 orders of magnitude\, to around 1000 km\, where ions
  and neutrals have similar numbers.  This region absorbs the majority 
 of EUV and X-rays from the Sun.  Energetic particles from the magnetos
 phere\, the solar wind\, and the cosmos slam into it.  Billions of met
 eors deposit tons of materials in it\, daily.  From below\, winds and 
 turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere push it around.  All these inte
 ractions make the ionosphere complex and interesting.  NASA and the sp
 ace community need accurate models of the ionosphere since the Interna
 tional Space Station and most of our spacecraft exist within it\, and 
 can experience harmful radiation and electric charging. The ionosphere
  was first discovered because of its impact on radio communication and
  its interference with Earth to Space communications and GPS remain cr
 itical issues.  This talk will present the basics of ionospheric plasm
 a physics\, present a method of simulating ionospheric plasmas\, the P
 article-in_Cell (PIC) method.  It will then show how we used this meth
 od to study a number of turbulent processes in the ionosphere and what
  we have learned from these studies.
URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=4389
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