Katy Fallows

Katy Fallows

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
215 followers 205 connections

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Experience

  • Allergan Data Labs Graphic

    Allergan Data Labs

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    Greater Philadelphia Area

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    Philadelphia

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    Boston, MA

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    Boston, MA

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    Boston, MA

Education

Licenses & Certifications

Publications

  • Response of the Mars ionosphere to solar flares: Analysis of MGS radio occultation data

    Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics

    Increased soft X-ray irradiance during solar flares produces increased electron densities in the lower ionosphere of Mars, and the relative changes in electron density during a flare are greater for lower altitudes and larger flares. However, this relationship has not been quantified. This has impeded the validation of simulations of the ionospheric response to flares, which are necessary for developing accurate descriptions of the physical processes governing ionospheric behavior under extreme…

    Increased soft X-ray irradiance during solar flares produces increased electron densities in the lower ionosphere of Mars, and the relative changes in electron density during a flare are greater for lower altitudes and larger flares. However, this relationship has not been quantified. This has impeded the validation of simulations of the ionospheric response to flares, which are necessary for developing accurate descriptions of the physical processes governing ionospheric behavior under extreme conditions. Here we develop a response function, a mathematical expression for the change in electron density during a solar flare as a function of the change in solar flux and an optical depth proxy. This function is based on analysis of 20 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) radio occultation electron density profiles measured during solar flares. We find that characterizing the response as a function of optical depth, rather than altitude, provides the best description of ionospheric variability during a flare. A separate response function, determined from analysis of a numerical simulation of the response to a solar flare, was found to be grossly similar to the observationally based response function, though with a weaker dependence on optical depth. We identify 15 MGS profiles with an apparent solar flare response, but no coincident detected solar flare. We suggest that the observed response function can be used to detect flares not visible from Earth and to give an approximation of their strength. Additionally, it can estimate ionospheric electron densities during a flare; however, precision is limited by a small number of observations.

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  • An observational study of the influence of solar zenith angle on properties of the M1 layer of the Mars ionosphere

    Journal of Geophysical research

    Other authors
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  • Numerical simulations of the ionosphere of Mars during a solar flare

    Journal of Geophysical Research

    Other authors
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Courses

  • Computational Physics

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  • Cosmic Gas Dynamics

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  • Gravitational Astrophysics

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  • Ionospheres

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  • Observational Techniques

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  • Planetary Atmospheres

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  • Plasma Physics

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  • Radiative Processes

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  • Spectroscopy

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Honors & Awards

  • 2016 Editors’ Citation for Excellence in Refereeing for JGR-Space Physics

    American Geophysical Union, Journal of Geophysics Research

    Awarded to <1% of reviewers each year, in recognition of outstanding peer reviews of articles submitted for publication to the American Geophyisical Union's Journal of Geophysical Research.

    https://eos.org/agu-news/in-appreciation-of-agus-outstanding-reviewers-of-2016

  • NASA Earth and Space Sciences Fellowship

    NASA

    Two year fellowship to fund graduate research studying the upper atmosphere of Venus.

Organizations

  • American Geophysical Union

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    - Present

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