James Ryan
University of New Hampshire, NH·Physics
Cosmic rays and bursts of particles from the Sun strike Earth's atmosphere constantly. At ground level, the atmosphere and Earth's magnetic field shield us from them.
- Fields
Physics
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Earth & Environmental Science
- Topics
neutron monitor
cosmic rays
solar energetic particles
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through May 2029
What they work on
- Operate and maintain the Simpson Neutron Monitor Network of ground-based detectors that record cosmic-ray intensity, delivering real-time count rates, archived datasets and high-resolution data.
- Run the Ground Level Enhancement (GLE) Alert System and cosmic-ray anisotropy monitoring to give real-time notice of solar particle events and of the direction particles arrive from.
- Deploy a neutron monitor on Haleakala volcano in Hawaii to detect solar neutrons and galactic cosmic rays above a 13 GV rigidity cutoff, giving earlier warning of solar energetic particle events.
- Compare solar energetic particle events measured in space by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer with ground neutron monitor data, using propagation models to test atmospheric shower and nuclear interaction models.
More about the research
At airplane altitudes and in orbit, however, exposure is much higher. These particles can harm astronauts and damage or disable electronics in space. Ryan's grants use ground-based particle detectors called neutron monitors, together with measurements from space, to track these particles. The work aims to understand the Sun's influence on the solar system and to give early warning of space weather events.
Why it matters
Solar particle storms threaten astronauts, high-altitude flights, satellites and microelectronics. Real-time neutron monitor data and the GLE alert system serve space weather forecasters, space scientists and the electronics industry. Early detection of solar neutrons could give several extra minutes of warning before more dangerous particles arrive. This may help protect infrastructure and support a national plan to reduce the effects of space weather.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Veronica Bindi
University of Hawaii at Manoa, HI·Physics
Operate and maintain the Simpson Neutron Monitor Network, ground detectors counting cosmic-ray secondaries, and deliver real-time count rates plus archived and high-resolution datasets to the research community.
Xinlin Li
University of Colorado Boulder, CO·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Analyze more than 12 solar energetic particle events seen by the REPTile-2 CubeSat detector, combined with NOAA/POES, MetOp and ground riometer data, to measure how storms shift the latitudes where particles reach the polar atmosphere.
Paolo Desiati
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Simulate about 10 million cosmic-ray trajectories through heliospheric magnetic field models to calculate how particles from interstellar space are deflected before reaching Earth.
The school
University of New Hampshire: 5 labs on PI Pages, $230M a year on research, 79 research doctorates a year.
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