lead supervisor name: keith ryden, university of surrey  (co-supervisors: c. bridges, university of surrey; d. jackson, met office; and g. taylor, national physical laboratory

Solar storms can create sudden increases in ionizing radiation at typical flight altitudes leading to the risk of malfunctions in aircraft microelectronic systems and unquantified radiation dose to passengers and crew. in extreme cases there is the risk of an ‘ash cloud’ scenario where aircraft may have to be grounded or diverted. to-date in-flight observations of this radiation have been extremely sparse due to very limited flight opportunities for the relevant instruments. this project, supported by the met office, public health england and npl, combines new technology using solid-state radiation detectors, smart phones and satellite applications to enable a revolutionary increase in the number of observations of atmospheric radiation at flight altitude. the aim of the project is to develop and prove in a number of flight-trials a miniaturized detector which can be issued to co-operating passengers and crew members to operate with their smart phone or tablet during a flight to record the radiation environment. The data will be downloaded via the web on landing or en route. flight trials on met office and commercial aircraft will be carried out and data analysed as the first step towards a new and unique system of global observations of a key space weather hazard.

This project has case co-funding from the met office including provision of aircraft flights for system trials and a placement of 4 months to conduct the trial.

This project is ideal for students with a good degree in physics or electronic engineering who have a keen appetite for working on environmental observations and instrumentation. the student should have an aptitude for practical experimental work. An interest in aerospace and modern mobile information technology is beneficial.

Funding includes a stipend of £13726 per year, payment of fees, training plus travel and subsistence. full funding is only available to students from the uk, and other eu citizens who have been resident in the uk for 3 years. funding without the stipend is available to all eu citizens.

Please visit our website: http://www.reading.ac.uk/nercdtp to see the range of projects on offer and instructions on how to apply.