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University of New Brunswick taking part in

out-of-this-world study on space weather
UNB is one of just two universities outside of Europe that will train PhD candidates and
post-doctoral students from abroad

By Damira Davletyarovaw
The Brunswickan
(University of New Brunswick)

FREDERICTON (CUP) —
Professors at the University of New
Brunswick are doing research that
is out of this world.

Research on space weather

and its influence on global
navigation systems conducted

by the department of geodesy
and geomatics and the physics
department are attracting
worldwide attention. UNB is one
of just two universities outside

of Europe that will train PhD
candidates and post-doctoral
students from abroad.

This year, UNB was invited
to take part in the project dubbed
Training Research and Application
Network to Support the Mitigation
of Ionospheric Threats, shortened
to TRANSMIT. The European
Commission granted more than
$5 million dollars to the project,
so the world’s leading experts
and organizations can train future
researchers.

Dr. Richard Langley, a
professor of geodesy and precision
navigation, said the goal of the
project is to train future researchers
in ionospheric effects on the Global
Positioning System (GPS) and
Global Navigation Satellite Systems
(GNSS) to improve the capabilities
of satellite navigation systems.

The project has emerged
amid realization that the current
navigation systems are too
disruptive for our high-tech world.
There is a dire need for precise
navigation technology.

As Dr. Langley explains,
while satellite signals make their
way through the upper layers of
atmosphere — the ionosphere — to
the Earth, they are easily affected
by space weather. Solar radiation
or flares can cause inaccuracies,
disturbances and even black outs of
signals. Experts around the world
monitor space data in order to
protect infrastructure.

“Space weather can affect
certain infrastructures like
electricity, distribution systems and
pipelines, but if we have a warning
that a significant space weather
event is coming, certain activities
can take place,” Dr. Langley said.

The TRANSMIT commission
has already chosen 16 participants
and depending on their research

6

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areas, several of them will travel
to Fredericton. They will spend
two weeks learning about how
the research is done at UNB. The
training will be rigorous.

In one of his labs in Head Hall,
for example, he has six receivers
that collect space data using the
roof antenna. It is monitored and
stored on the computers in the lab.
Faculty can use it for their research.
The data is also shared with NASA,

in the Arctic — one of the largest
monitoring networks there —

Dr. Jayachandran collects and
monitors the data for the Canadian
High Arctic lonospheric Network
(CHAIN).

“Our group is one of the few
groups in the world that operates
these kind of systems, and that is
very valuable for them [trainees] in
order to understand the effects of

ionosphere on the GPS signals,” Dr.

“This year, UNB was invited to take part in the project dubbed Training
Research and Application Network to Support the Mitigation of
lonospheric Threats, shortened to TRANSMIT. The European Commission
granted more than $5 million dollars to the project, so the world’s
leading experts and organizations can train future researchers.”

space research organizations and
other universities. In total, the
receivers collect data from 61
satellites — including those in the
United States and across Europe
and Russia.

Meanwhile, at the department
of physics, Dr. Jayachandran studies
solar winds, magnetosphere and
ionosphere, the understanding of
which is crucial to designing better
navigation systems.

With the help of dozens of
receivers in his lab, and six radars

Jayachandran said.

Dr. Jayachandran was not
surprised when he heard the
news that UNB will partner in the
TRANSMIT project.

“UNB has a very good
reputation for GPS research and
most of the time we — Dr. Langley
from engineering and myself from
physics — get involved in this
type of collaborative work,” Dr.
Jayachandran said. “And that’s the
good thing in terms of exposure
of our strength to the world

 

community.”

Indeed, the achievements of
these two departments are better
known to the scientific world
outside of New Brunswick. Dr.
Langley says UNB always was and
still is at the forefront of GPS and
GNSS research.

In 1986, Dr. Langley and
his colleagues wrote a textbook
on the GPS, which became a
technical bestseller with 11,000
copies sold and translated into
multiple languages. The program’s
graduates work around the world.
For instance, one of the post-
doctoral students is now working
as an ionosphere expert for NASA.
The research he has done for his
doctoral dissertation at UNB
landed him the Governor General’s
Gold Medal Award for academic
excellence.

Just recently, UNB faculty in
conjunction with the Canadian
Space Agency and University of
Calgary have built an instrument
for the CASSIOPE satellite that will
help to further study space weather
effects on navigation systems. The
Canadian satellite is expected to
fly on the US Falcon 9 rocket this
March.