Extremely low frequency (ELF) radio-waves (3 Hz to 3 kHz) can be generated from atmospheric events, such as lightning discharges, and have been observed to propagate over large distances, e.g., completely around the earth. This occurs as the radio-waves get `trapped', bouncing between the surface of the earth and layers of the ionosphere. The goal of this project is to investigate how the properties of the earth and ionosphere can influence the long-distance propagation of ELF radio-waves. To accomplish this, the students will implement (in an appropriate programming language) a two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) algorithm in cylindrical coordinates to model a cross-section of the earth and the ionosphere. The FDTD method is widely used to study electromagnetic field interactions and can be scaled to earth-sized problems. A two-dimensional implementation is chosen to reduce the computational requirements, but still allows for a meaningful analysis.
Undergraduate
One of the students should be enrolled in ELECTENG721 (SE & CSE students should discuss with the supervisor prior to selecting this project).
Lab allocations have not been finalised