PhD: Space Weather at Mid-Latitudes: Climatology, Dynamics and Drivers of Atmospheric Joule Heating
Location: Physics Department, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YB
I graduated with an Mphys in Physics at the University of Leicester in 2019, during which I completed research projects investigating space weather impacts on Mars’ and Earth’s environment, where I developed a particular interest in Earth’s environment and response due to space weather. I also completed a research project utilising machine learning for analysis of large datasets. After graduating, I spent a year working at a global technology company creating machine learning and computational solutions and I am excited to bring my computational experience to my project.
My PhD is investigating atmospheric joule heating, whereby Electric fields created by the motion of space plasmas generate currents which are resisted by Earth’s atmosphere, converting energy into heat. This heating can result in atmospheric uplift, causing drag for satellites and can trigger atmospheric gravity waves which can transport energy and momentum through the layers of Earths atmosphere and across the globe. Specifically, the project aims to investigate Joule heating at the mid-latitudes and to create a state-of-the-art model to forecast the Joule heating response.