TWINNING PROGRAM WITH UKRAINE

Alexander Nikolaenko of the Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics in Kharkiv spent one month at MIT beginning in mid-November 2001. He and his host, Earle Williams, began work on their project to study large transient excitations of the earth-ionosphere cavity, including various types of transient luminous events that occur in conjunction with powerful lightning discharges. In particular, they focused on the applicability of various geophyiscal and heuristic models in interpreting data on Schumann resonance, a phenomenon that occurs in the cavity formed by the highly conducting surface of the Earth and the lower diffusive boundary of the atmosphere. Nikolaenko’s visit coincided with the arrival of a new electronics package for vertical electric field measurement that was installed on the antenna at MIT’s Rhode Island field station. The Ukrainian specialist had the opportunity to be involved in the installation and testing work on the antenna, and a software package he developed was also used in making comparisons with data collected at the field station. In 2002, Nikolaenko plans another visit of approximately one month, while Williams will make his first visit to Ukraine to continue the project.