Hong Zhao Assistant Professor

Research Areas: Space Plasma Physics

My research mainly focuses on energetic particle dynamics and wave-particle interaction in Earth’s magnetosphere. I have been extensively involved in data analysis and modeling of energetic particles in Earth’s radiation belts and ring current as well as instrumentation development and mission design. My current research projects include: analysis and interpretation of particle and field data from a variety of satellites, e.g., Van Allen Probes, MMS, GOES, THEMIS, LANL-GEO, DEMETER, SAMPEX, and CubeSats; analysis and simulation of energy- and pitch angle-dependent dynamics of radiation belt electrons; analysis of the effects of solar wind/geomagnetic conditions on the radiation belt electron dynamics; and analysis and simulation of deep penetration of energetic electrons and ions into the low L region.