The Ionosphere, Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere (iMLT) region is notoriously difficult to measure because it is too high for balloon flight and two low for sustained space flight. For this reason, the iMLT is often referred to as the “ignorosphere”. The Ionospheric Impacts section at the AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate is charged with providing expertise on and trying to find solutions / mitigation techniques for ionospheric phenomena that impact Department of Defense (DoD) systems. The development of new remote sensing techniques is a primary area of research within this group.

AFRL recognizes the need to innovate new radio frequency (RF) and optical remote sensing techniques applicable to all geomagnetic latitudes. The team is comprised of a multidisciplinary group of scientists and engineers with backgrounds in ionospheric physics, radio astronomy, RF engineering, chemistry and optical science and engineering. We operate numerous instruments and collaborate with multiple academic institutions, providing access to state-of-the-art meteor radars, radio telescopes, distributed high frequency (HF) radars, meteor cameras, airglow imagers, and Fabry-Pérot interferometers, all of which contribute to our iMLT remote sensing work.

We welcome research ideas that utilize, improve and/or add to our existing array of measurement techniques. Projects could include data analysis, instrumentation, calibration, field campaigns, or some combination thereof. Possible research areas include iMLT dynamics (e.g. neutral winds), whole iMLT and lower atmosphere coupling, atmospheric waves in the iMLT, sporadic E, geomagnetic storm induced irregularities, meteor plasma physics, or RF propagation in the ionosphere.

key words

radio imaging; sporadic-E; meteor radar; remote sensing; ionosphere; traveling ionospheric disturbances; ionospheric irregularities

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral and Senior applicants