Space Weather Impact on Radio Wave Propagation with Norbert Jakowski

Propagation parameters of electromagnetic waves such as amplitude, phase and polarization are impacted when traveling within the ionospheric plasma of the Earth. Related effects can be used on one hand to monitor and study the ionosphere by analysing the changes of measured propagation parameters. On the other hand, space weather impact on the ionosphere may cause unwanted distortions of signal detection in modern ground and space-based radio systems applied in telecommunication, positioning, navigation and remote sensing. After clarifying the main terms, the talk will focus on the discussion of space weather induced changes of the ionospheric plasma and associated impact on radio wave propagation used in diverse applications. Besides ionizing solar radiation and ionospheric plasma dynamics also solar radio bursts may seriously impact the functionality of radio systems via interference.

Norbert Jakowski received the diploma in physics in 1973 from the University of Rostock and was awarded a PhD in 1974 from the same university. Since 1974 he has been working in the Institute of Space Research, since 1991 in the German Aerospace Center (DLR) at their branch in Neustrelitz. His research activities include monitoring, modeling and predicting ionospheric processes related to space weather conditions and studying ionospheric impact on radio wave propagation through the ionosphere. He was/is involved in numerous national as well as ESA and European Commission funded projects related to ground and space based ionospheric monitoring and related research for correcting and mitigating space weather impact primarily in GNSS applications. He is author/co-author of more than 200 papers in refereed journals and books, associate editor of the Journal of Space Weather and Climate, and co-leads an International Space Weather Action Team (ISWAT) on ionospheric indices and scales.