The Ionosphere, Shortwave Radio, and Propagation

Philip Erickson
MIT Haystack Observatory

Dr. Philip J. Erickson, W1PJE, is an assistant director and head of the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences group at Haystack Observatory, operated by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Since the late 1950s, MIT Haystack, located in Westford, MA, has used radio science to conduct frontier research into the properties of the near-Earth space environment, including the ionosphere, neutral atmosphere, overlying plasmasphere, and the magnetosphere that surrounds our planet. Dr. Erickson is a licensed Extra class amateur and a member of ARRL, RSGB, the Nashoba Valley Amateur Radio Club (NVARC), and the HamSCI initiative. He holds B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and space plasma physics from Cornell University and is a member of both the American Geophysical Union and the International Radio Science Union. Dr. Erickson is the lead principal investigator of a National Science Foundation sponsored UHF megawatt class ionospheric radar at MIT Haystack, and has authored or co-authored 75+ refereed articles in the areas of ionospheric and magnetospheric phenomena and radio physics. Dr. Erickson started his radio career with a random wire and a Hallicrafters SX-110 receiver, and enjoys 6 meter and HF propagation, QRP, EME, RF design, and digital weak signal modes.

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