REU Projects for Summer 2012
at MIT Haystack Observatory
- Characterizing Planetary Wave Signatures in the Ionosphere
- Exploring the Extended Mass Loss Histories of Red Giants
- Observing Black Holes with the Event Horizon Telescope
- Development of a Near-field Holographic Imaging Technique for Radio Telescope Thermal and Gravitational Deformation Characteriz
ation
- Development of a New Generation Small Radio Telescope (SRT)
- Advanced Geospace Software Radar
- Advanced Digital Receiver for Distributed Instrument Arrays
- Low Cost GPS Synchronization for Distributed Instrument Arrays
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Characterizing Planetary Wave Signatures in the Ionosphere
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Student Qualifications:
We are seeking a student with a strong background and interest in the solar-terrestrial environment and atmospheric sciences. MATLAB programming experience is a plus but is not required.
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Project Description:
The focus of this project is to investigate the signatures of planetary waves in the Earth's ionosphere, the atmospheric region that is formed by the ionization of the neutral atmosphere by solar radiation. The ionosphere begins around 100 km and extends upward to 1000 km or higher. Planetary waves are large slow-moving, "planetary-scale" waves that can wrap around the entire Earth. They are generated in the troposphere (the lowest part of the atmosphere which extends from the ground to 10-15 km) or in the mesosphere (the region between ~60-90 km above the ground) by variety of forces and exist due to the Earth's rotation and the conservation of absolute vorticity. The planetary wave perturbations have wavelike form in the longitudinal and vertical directions and often also in the latitude direction. Time- varying or dissipating planetary waves can be a strong source of variation in multiple atmospheric parameters on time scales from 2 to 20 days. This project is designed to look at planetary wave signatures in the ionosphere during different seasons. To do this, we will access a large database of GPS derived total electron content (TEC) measurements.
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Exploring the Extended Mass Loss Histories of Red Giants
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Student Qualifications:
Applicants for this project should have a background in basic physics and astronomy.
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Project Description:
During the late stages of stellar evolution, stars with masses comparable to our Sun undergo copious mass-loss, leading to the formation of extensive circumstellar envelopes. These envelopes are a primary source of dust and heavy element enrichment in the Galaxy, affect the structure of the interstellar medium on small scales, and are precursors to the formation of planetary nebulae. Recent observations at radio, infrared, and far-ultraviolet wavelengths have shown that the circumstellar debris shed by mass-losing red giants can be extended on scales of a parsec or more and that it is often swept into "tails", shells, and other structures by the interaction between the mass-losing star and the surrounding interstellar medium. In this project, the student will analyze optical spectroscopy of background stars as a means of probing the extent, chemical composition, and kinematics of the outer reaches of circumstellar envelopes. The results will be used to complement radio wavelength studies.
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Observing Black Holes with the Event Horizon Telescope
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Student Qualifications:
This project is well suited to a student with a background in basic physics and astronomy. Experience in computer programming or a high-level scientific analysis package is desirable.
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Project Description:
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is an array of millimeter-wavelength facilities that observe the nearest supermassive black holes using the technique of very long baseline interferometry. The EHT is uniquely capable of resolving structures on angular scales of a few Schwarzschild radii around the black holes in the Galactic Center (Sgr A*) and the nearby giant elliptical galaxy Virgo A (M87). The goals of the EHT include testing general relativity and furthering our understanding of the astrophysics of accretion and outflow processes around black holes.
EHT observations of Sgr A* in recent years have been used to establish that Sgr A* has an event horizon, to identify the inclination of the accretion disk, to place limits on the spin of the black hole, and to verify that the mechanism of variability occurs at the inner edge of the accretion flow. We are in the process of analyzing and interpreting data from the latest EHT observations, and additional observations are expected in spring 2012. We are seeking a student to assist in the analysis and calibration of EHT data.
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Development of a Near-field Holographic Imaging Technique for Radio Telescope Thermal and Gravitational Deformation Characterization
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Student Qualifications:
We are seeking a student to assist in the development and coding of the near-field holographic imaging algorithm and with time permitting apply the signal processing to an actual data collection. This project is suited for a 3rd or 4th year electrical engineering or physics student, ideally with an interest in antennas, receivers, remote sensing, astronomy, or geophysics. Experience programming in MATLAB or another high level scientific analysis package is desirable.
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Project Description:
Changes in the Earth's shape can be measured with an accuracy of better than a centimeter on transcontinental distances using a radio astronomical observing technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). These measurements have been used to validate the concept of plate tectonics by measuring the changes in distances between the plates with an accuracy of about 0.1 mm/year. VLBI is also used to measure the Earth's rate of rotation and the orientation of the spin axis relative to quasars and other extragalactic radio sources. These measurements form the basis for time on the Earth and for learning about the fundamental properties of the solid iron core of the Earth.
A new 2-14 GHz broadband observing strategy has been developed with the goal of reducing the uncertainty in the distance between antennas in the network to close to 1mm. However, in this case thermal and gravitational deformations of the radio telescope present a significant source of systematic error which must be quantified in order to achieve the target accuracy for these observations. Radio telescope holographic imaging is a well-known technique for diagnosing antenna deformations and incorporates radio-emitting satellites in the far-field of the telescope. Unfortunately, these satellites provide a limited angular extent over which thermal and gravitational deformations may be assessed and this problem is exacerbated by the fact that the limits of this angular extent are dependent on the geographical location of the antenna, time of day etc. A near-field holographic approach librates such diagnosis from these drawbacks inherent in far-field holography at the expense of the need to accurately position the near-field radio-emitting source and for a more complicated image processing algorithm.
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Development of a New Generation Small Radio Telescope (SRT)
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Student Qualifications:
This is an engineering and software project suitable for students interested pursing a career in radio instrumentation. Students in EE with a background in hardware and software are encouraged to apply.
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Project Description:
In 1998 MIT Haystack Observatory Developed a Small Radio Telescope known as the "SRT". The SRT used a 2.4 meter satellite TV dish with a receiver covering the 1400 - 1427 MHz radio astronomy band. The antenna pointing and spectrometer processing are under computer control via a software package which can be downloaded from the Haystack website. The complete SRT was available until recently from a commercial source and several hundred units have been installed around the world. The SRT is used to make observations of the Sun as well as the 21-cm hydrogen line. There are many projects available which include "Measuring the Galactic rotation curve of our Galaxy".
The 2.4 meter satellite TV dishes are no longer manufactured and many of the parts of the custom build spectrometer and digital downconverter are obsolete. While the new SRT will probably use a smaller dish the power of the spectrometer will be greatly enhanced by doing the Fourier transforms in software.
This project involves the development of some new software along with web based instructions to allow an individual, college or high school to put together their own new generation SRT. The goal is to make the new design one that can be built by students with simple tools using commercially available cables without PC board assembly or custom programming of DSPs or FPGAs. The new design will also include the capability to easily link 2 SRTs to form an interferometer.
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Advanced Geospace Software Radar
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Student Qualifications:
Computer Science, Software Engineering, or Electrical Engineering student interested in Geospace Radar, Software Radar architectures, stream signal processing, data formats and protocols, and realtime distributed messaging. Some experience with modern object oriented programming on a Linux / Unix platform is needed (e.g. Python).
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Project Description:
Software based approaches to radar and radio science signal processing have become a fundamental basis of modern radio science instruments. The low level signals processed by these systems must be represented and manipulated effectively to enable realtime signal processing and visualization. In this project we will work to develop and prototype an advanced Software Radar architecture for Geospace science applications. The work will focus on the development of a voltage level software radar protocol for the transport and processing of streaming radar data. As a start we will examine existing formats and approaches which are currently in use as well as other existing standards of a similar nature. We will define a modernized protocol, develop the libraries needed to support it, and interface it with existing systems. We will also integrate the protocol into a distributed message queue system for the network transport and processing of Geospace radar signals.
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Advanced Digital Receiver for Distributed Instrument Arrays
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Student Qualifications:
Computer Engineering, EE, or Physics student interested in digital receiver systems and software radios for radio science applications. Basic knowledge of digital electronics is needed including some familiarity with Field Programmable Gate Array design (FPGA) or embedded software development in the 'C' programming language. Knowledge of Xilinx, Matlab, and Simulink would be useful. Some experience with the testing of digital electronics in a laboratory environment would be helpful.
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Project Description:
The reception of radio signals using digital receivers and software radio systems is an important basis for scientific study of the near space environment. Modern digital receivers are highly complex devices implemented using configurable digital electronics, precision analog to digital converters, and embedded computing systems. It has recently become possible to produce highly integrated receivers which are suitable for use in low cost distributed instrument arrays. Radio receiver arrays can be used to receive a wide range of signals for scientific studies. Examples include monitoring of satellite borne radio beacons and passive radar observations using commercial FM radio broadcasts. We will implement a prototype digital receiver using an FPGA development kit. This effort will include development of the firmware and software necessary to demonstrate the reception of radio signals, data buffering and signal processing, and delivery of this information to a network interface. We will debug the prototype hardware platform and gradually implement additional functionality. Testing will be both in the laboratory and with real world signals as appropriate.
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Low Cost GPS Synchronization for Distributed Instrument Arrays
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Student Qualifications:
Computer Engineering, EE, or Physics student interested in embedded software, time synchronization, and the application of the global positioning system to software radio for radio science applications.
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Project Description:
The reception of radio signals using digital receivers and software radio systems is an important basis for scientific study of the near space environment. One important part of these systems is the generation of clock and timing signals synchronized to GPS. It has recently become possible to produce highly integrated GPS synchronization solutions which are suitable for use in low cost distributed instrument arrays. This project will focus on the integration of a GPS based synchronization system for use in such distributed instrument systems. We will work to debug and evaluate a prototype GPS based timing synchronization board which is comprised of the hardware, firmware, and software necessary to generate timing and RF signals for use in digital receivers. We will debug the prototype hardware platform and gradually implement additional functionality. Testing will be both in the laboratory and with real world signals as appropriate.
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Final projects will be selected based on matching student applicant capabilities and interests with those of the sponsoring staff members.
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Application deadline: February 1, 2012
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781.981.5400 
