Information Technology in Space Science
Many hardware and software aspects of Information Technology are involved in Space Instrumentation, on-board data processing, ground-based processing of space acquired data, and subsequent science exploitation. The Space Science Centre has now flown over 80 computers in space.
The Space Science Centre is actively researching various topics of Information Technology, including:
IT Hardware Aspects:
On-board computers; Multi-Processors; Parallel Processing; Fault-Tolerant Systems; Microprocessors; Field Programmable Gate Arrays; 'Silicon Subroutines'.
IT Software Aspects:
On-Board Intelligence; Artificial Neural Networks; Associative Memory; Digital Signal Processing; Autonomous Operation; Smart Instruments; Evolutionary Instruments; Data Compression; DataBase Access; Automatic Data Analysis; and Human-Machine Interaction.
Space Science
The Space Science Centre is persuing research in Solar-Terrestrial Relations, a branch of Geophysics. This work involves the study of space plasma in the near Earth environment and its response as "Space Weather" to changes in the solar wind caused by activity on the surface of the sun. Resulting geomagnetic storms and sub-storms manifest themselves as brilliant auroral displays, disturbances to terrestrial radio communications, and power-line distribution systems as well as having adverse effects on spacecraft. In particular the Centre is interested in space plasma phenomena which cover a wide range of scales:
Small-scale phenomena
In the low density of space the different charged particle populations of the space plasma exchange energy primarily via wave-particle interactions(rather than the collisions which dominate lower in the atmosphere).Phenomena scales are determined, for example, by the electron radius of gyration in the Earth's magnetic field, ranging typically from centimetres to 100's of metres.
Large-scale phenomena
The Earth's magnetosphere is the region of space controlled by the Earth's magnetic field and extends some 15-20 earth radius in the sunward direction and much greater in other directions. Large scale phenomena range from auroral forms of kilometre width to some phenomena which involve the whole magnetosphere.
Space Instrumentation
To study the above phenomena the Space Science Centre is involved in making instruments with subsequent data analysis both for measurements made in space and for measurements made on the ground:
Space Instrument: Particle Correlation
The particle correlation technique uses the above techniques of Information Technology within space instruments to provide a unique plasma diagnostic. Particles which have interacted with waves are directly identified along with the wave frequency and hence wave mode(type) that they interact with.
Ground Based: Auroral TV
All-sky and Narrow angle TV recordings made in Scandinavia and Svalbad (Spitzbergen) provide a monitor of auroral forms and enables auroral arc motion and development to be studied as a function of geomagnetic storms and sub-storms development.
Space Plasma Theory and Computer Particle Simulations
Data interpretation and science exploitation is supported by extensive theory and computer simulations on powerful workstations.
Simulations of Wave-Particle Interactions
Wave-particle interactions are simulated on computers with 1-D, 2-D, and 2.5D particle codes. The space instrument characteristics are folded into the simulations to make the simulation results as close as possible to space acquired data. In this way we can better interpret space instrument observations.
Magnetic Reconnection Theory
Combining the observed auroral arc measurements with theory enables us to directly infer distant magnetic reconnection. This merging takes place at the sunward boundary of the magnetosphere where the interplanetary (solar) magnetic field lines connect or merge up with those of the Earth.