Seminar: Leveraging Radar Systems and Ambient Radio Signals for Remote Sensing of the Terrestrial and Space Environment - Sept. 25
Sean Peters
Assistant Professor, Smead Aerospace
Friday, Sept. 25 | 10:40 A.M. | AERO 111
Abstract: Radar remote sensing observations are critical for understanding and predicting our evolving Earth and planetary systems. However, traditional radars must transmit their own powerful electromagnetic pulses to measure surface and subsurface properties from echo reflections. As such, these systems are resource-intensive in terms of cost, power, and logistics, particularly when aiming to continuously monitor extreme environments (e.g., ice sheets, the space environment, and planetary bodies) across their evolving characteristic spatial and temporal scales.Ìý
In this talk, I will describe our group’s work to develop passive radar systems and signal processing techniques that leverage ambient electromagnetic signals (natural, radio-astronomical, and anthropogenic) for remote sensing observations, reducing the need for active transmission. In particular, I will present the design, development, and field experiments in Death Valley and Iceland of the Passive Autonomy, Navigation, Topography, and Habitability Exploration Radar (PANTHER); this includes an in-situ demonstration of echo detection using high frequency (HF) Jovian radio bursts, which is a key step towards developing a low-resource passive HF radar for future planetary missions.Ìý
In the second part of my talk, I will describe how my group extends radar remote sensing across terrestrial and planetary domains. Terrestrially, this includes forward modeling of radar return signatures of wildfire smoke plumes. On the planetary side, this includes modeling passive radar mission concepts using alternative radio-astronomical sources (such as Saturn's kilometric radiation for investigating Titan and Enceladus). Lastly, I will present our work to develop a fast, coherent, 3D radar sounder simulator for complex subsurfaces at planetary scales, with the potential to bridge both domains. This work highlights how recycling ambient electromagnetic signals and advancing radar techniques can enable new pathways for Earth and planetary remote sensing, offering both scientific insights and potential advantages in challenging environments.
Bio: Dr. Sean Peters is an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the °Ç¸ç³Ô¹Ï. His research bridges radar engineering, signal processing, and geophysics to develop low-resource radar remote sensing technologies for observing terrestrial, planetary, and space environments. He received his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Rice University in 2015, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 2017 and 2020, respectively. Before joining CU °Ç¸ç³Ô¹Ï, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and a Space Systems Academic Group faculty affiliate at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA. Prior to NPS, he was a Technical Staff Member in the Airborne Radar Systems and Techniques Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.