Tomoko Matsuo
University of Colorado Boulder, CO·Earth & Environmental Science
The thin, electrically charged upper atmosphere is the region where satellites fly and through which radio, navigation and positioning signals travel. Small changes in this region can disrupt communication and spacecraft.
- Fields
Earth & Environmental Science
Engineering
Physics
- Topics
space weather
ionosphere
thermosphere
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Jul 2028
What they work on
- Identify the causes of day-to-day and longitude-to-longitude changes in the equatorial electrojet, a strong current near the magnetic equator, by assimilating ground and Swarm satellite magnetic data into the TIEGCM upper-atmosphere model.
- Test how Earth's magnetic field geometry and atmospheric waves from surface sources shape electrojet variability, using a 4-D ensemble variational data assimilation method and a 3-D electrodynamo model.
- Connect electrojet variability to equatorial plasma drifts, the equatorial ionization anomaly and related currents, using COSMIC-2 and ICON data and checking results against radars, ionosondes and GNSS receivers.
- Build one simulation framework for very low Earth orbit that works across thin- and thicker-gas flow regimes by adding vLEO physics to Direct Simulation Monte Carlo, a particle-based gas simulation method.
- Use DSMC simulation datasets to train data-driven closure techniques adapted from computational fluid dynamics, and test the prototype in a representative vLEO scenario for consistency and scalability.
More about the research
This research builds computer models that combine physics with real observations to explain and predict how this region behaves. One project focuses on electric currents near the equator. The other focuses on the very low orbits that companies increasingly want to use.
Why it matters
Better models of the charged upper atmosphere could improve forecasts of plasma irregularities and radio scintillation, the signal flickering that disrupts communication, navigation and GPS-type positioning. Predictive models of very low Earth orbit could support the design and efficient operation of spacecraft in that region, which would benefit commercial space companies and defense applications.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Sigrid Elschot
Stanford University, CA·Earth & Environmental Science
Determine how meteoroids deposit mass in the thermosphere and create localized regions of dense extraterrestrial material, using a new combined Direct Simulation Monte Carlo – Finite Element Method (DSMC-FEM) model of meteoroid material loss.
Xian Lu
Clemson University, SC·Physics
Determine the role of Alfvén waves in producing auroral arcs, compared with steady particle precipitation, using midnight short-wave infrared all-sky imaging combined with photometers, imagers and the PFISR radar at Poker Flat.
James Sherwood
University of Massachusetts-Lowell, MA·Engineering
Establish a tenure-track faculty line in Electrical and Computer Engineering focused on space weather, especially how disturbances in the ionosphere affect communication and navigation technologies.
The school
University of Colorado Boulder: 36 labs on PI Pages, $718M a year on research, 447 research doctorates a year.
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