Physics of Satellite Surface Charging: Causes, Effects, and Applications

This book will explore the fundamentals of spacecraft charging: why it occurs, when it occurs, where it occurs, how to measure it, and its side effects. It will discuss state-of-the-art spacecraft charging technologies, which will be explained in detail and with pedagogical emphasis. Exercises for further learning will be included to facilitate a deeper understanding of the material.

It will be of interest to advanced undergraduate and graduate students, in addition to researchers working in physics and engineering keen to understand more about spacecraft interactions with space plasmas.

Key Features:

• Translates complex terminology into accessible language
• Authored by experts in the field
• Provides worked examples and exercises for further learning

SHU T. LAI earned his Ph.D. and M.A. from Brandeis University

and his B.Sc. from the University of Hong Kong. He earned his

Certificate of Special Studies in Administration and Management from

Harvard University. He did research at AFRL. He is currently affiliated

with the Space Propulsion Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of

Technology, and the Institute of Scientific Research, Boston College. A

recognized leader in spacecraft interactions with space plasmas, he has

written more than one hundred publications and owns three patents. He is

a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEEE), a Fellow of the

Institute of Physics, and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. He

has served as the Chair of the AIAA Atmospheric and Space

Environments Technical Committee and the Chair of the AIAA

Atmospheric and Space Environments Standards Committee. He is now

serving as a Senior Editor of IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science.

REZY PRADIPTA earned his Ph.D. and S.M. in Nuclear Science and

Engineering and his S.B. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology. He did his postdoctoral work at the Institute for Scientific

Research, Boston College. He is currently a senior research scientist at

the Institute for Scientific Research, Boston College. His research is about

space plasma phenomena and their potential impacts on technological

systems using observations from multi-diagnostic instruments such as

radars and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). These space

phenomena include ionospheric plasma density irregularities, traveling

ionospheric disturbances (TIDs), acoustic-gravity waves (AGWs), and

equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs). In addition to research activities, he

also teaches an upper level undergraduate course (Space Weather and

Consequences) at the Department of Earth and Environmental Science,

Boston College.