Veronica Bindi
University of Hawaii at Manoa, HI·Physics
The Sun releases bursts of extremely energetic particles. These can damage electronics in orbit and put astronauts and high-altitude flights at risk.
- Fields
Physics
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Earth & Environmental Science
- Topics
space weather
cosmic rays
neutron monitor
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through May 2029
What they work on
- 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.
- Run the Ground Level Enhancement Alert System for real-time notification of solar particle events, and monitor cosmic-ray anisotropy, the direction-dependent arrival of particles, across the global network.
- Deploy a neutron monitor on the Haleakala summit to detect solar neutrons and galactic cosmic rays above a 13 GV rigidity cutoff, providing warning minutes before slower solar energetic particles arrive.
- Analyze solar energetic particle events measured by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station, using models of particle propagation through the heliosphere, magnetosphere and atmosphere.
- Compare space-based AMS measurements with ground neutron monitor counts to test models of atmospheric shower cascades and of low-energy nuclear interactions involving iron and light elements.
More about the research
Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field shield us at ground level, but ground-based detectors can still catch the signatures of these bursts and provide early warning. The lab's work links a worldwide network of ground detectors, a new detector on a Hawaiian volcano, and measurements from a particle detector in space.
Why it matters
Solar particle storms can harm astronauts and degrade or disable spacecraft electronics. Earlier, more reliable alerts could give satellite operators, space agencies and aviation time to protect people and hardware. Neutron monitor data and real-time alerts also serve space weather forecasters and the microelectronics industry, and support national efforts to limit space weather damage to infrastructure.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
James Ryan
University of New Hampshire, NH·Physics
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.
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 Hawaii at Manoa: 23 labs on PI Pages, $376M a year on research, 182 research doctorates a year.
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