NairaBet 2023

ELF/VLF waves give us the only reliable and continuous means of monitoring the lower ionosphere, and thereby, inferring communications outages. For instance, we can monitor ionospheric communication outages from gamma ray bursts from outer space. When satellites are launched into space, they are immediately bombarded by a population of energetic charges particles that are trapped by the Earth’s magnetic field, called the Van Allen radiation belts. Over time, these particles can degrade and destroy satellite electronics. In periods of strong solar activity, the number of energetic particles can go through the roof, and stay there for years. ELF/VLF waves from lightning has been shown to be a key driver of the removal of these trapped particles, by propagating as a `whistler’ wave (named for how it sounds in an audio playback) through the magnetosphere, and the Stanford ELF/VLF group is active engaged in understanding how this process works, through experiments and theoretical modeling. …