Faculty Profile
Michael Kelley
Department: ECE
Title: James A. Friend Family Distinguished Professor of Engineering
Degrees earned:
B.S. Kent State 1964
Ph.D. CA at Berkeley 1990
Address:
Office:
318 Rhodes Hall
Ithaca, NY, 14853
Office Phone: (607) 255-7425
Biography:
After receiving his doctoral degree, Kelley was a postdoctoral researcher at Berkeley, held a joint appointment as a Von Humboldt fellow with Gerhard Haerendel at the Max Planck Institute in Garching, Germany, and then came to Cornell in 1975. He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and in 1979 he won that society's James B. Macelwane Award. Kelley has been a member of the National Academy of Science's Committee on Solar and Space Plasmas; the Management Working Group on Solar Space Plasmas of the Office of Space Science, National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and the National Science Foundation Advisory Committee on the Atmospheric Research Program. In 1981 he won the Tau Beta Pi-Cornell Society of Engineers award as the outstanding teacher in the Cornell College of Engineering. He was an Associate Editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research, has served on a number of advisory panels for NSF and NASA, was Chairman of the NSF CEDAR Steering Committee, and has served as both Adjunct Director of Atmospheric Science at the National Astronomy and Ionospheric Center and as Associate Dean for Professional Development in the Cornell College of Engineering. Dr. Kelley was chair of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Solar Terrestrial Research and chair of the Decadal Study on Atmosphere-Ionosphere-Magnetosphere Coupling. In 1998 Professor Kelley became a Weiss Presidential Fellow, the most prestigious award for teaching at Cornell University and, in 2001, was elected the James A. Friend Family Distinguished Professor of Engineering. In 2003 he was also named the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year at Kent State Honors College. Kelley is a national associate of the National Academy of Sciences and a former Fulbright Scholar (2002-03).
Research interests:
"A variety of research methods can be used to probe the upper atmosphere and the near-space regions of the earth. The techniques most suitable for graduate-student involvement are sounding-rocket measurements, ground-based radars, and lidars. Cornell has a long history of involvement in the latter, since the radar-lidar observatory at Arecibo was conceived here and continues to be operated by Cornell. Roughly one-half of my research effort involves using such observatories-there are six now operating at various sites around the world-to measure wind and wave patterns from thirty to several hundred kilometers above the surface of the earth. The rest of my research involves the use of satellites and rockets to carry Cornell instrumentation directly into the space environment. The measurements are interpreted in terms of the physics of the atmosphere and ionosphere and both global and localized features of the earth's electric field. Rockets can also be used efficiently to study in detail specific atmospheric phenomena such as thunder storms and the aurora. One of my goals was to merge my knowledge of rockets with the expertise of the Cornell radar community and mount an intensive study of the equatorial upper atmosphere. This goal was realized in March, 1983 when I led a National Aeronautics and Space Administration rocket campaign called 'Condor' that launched twenty-nine sounding rockets off the coast of Peru. Cornell personnel manned the Jicamarca radar facility, which is located just east of Lima, in this highly successful international project. Similar projects were carried out in Greenland in 1985 and 1987, in the South Pacific in 1990, and in Puerto Rico in 1992. Another project of this type took place in February 1998."
Professor Michael C. Kelley has been deeply involved in ac/dc electric field experiments in space since 1966. He has played an important role in supplying electronics and/or analyzing results for 70 rocket flights, 4 satellite missions, and numerous balloon flights. Since coming to Cornell in 1975, he has also performed experiments for neutral wind measurements using chemical tracers, for active experiments in space plasmas, and for radar and lidar scatter measurements of turbulence and dc electric fields. He has published more than 325 papers in the refereed literature, several of which were review papers concerning ac electric field and plasma density fluctuation measurements in the ionosphere and along auroral zone magnetic field lines. Twenty-five Ph.D. students have matriculated under his guidance with such diverse programs as auroral zone and equatorial ionospheric irregularities, an auroral zone neutral wind model, noctilucent cloud scattering models, thunderstorm effects on the ionosphere, and dc electric field coupling between high and low latitudes.
Selected Publications:
Fejer, B.G., and M.C. Kelley, Ionospheric Irregularities, Rev. Geophys. Space Phys., 18, 401-454, 1980.
Kelley, M.C., The Earth's Ionosphere: Plasma Physics and Electrodynamics, Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 1989.
Cho, J.Y.N., and M.C. Kelley, Polar mesosphere summer radar echoes: Observations and current theories, Rev. Geophys., 31(3), 243-265, 1993.
Kagan, L.M., M.C. Kelley, F. Garcia, P.A. Bernhardt, F.T. Djuth, M.P. Sulzer, and C.A. Tepley, The structure of electromagnetic wave-induced 557.7 nm emission associated with a sporadic E-event over Arecibo, Phys. Rev. Lett., 85(1), 218-221, 2000.
Kelley, M.C., J.J. Makela, B.M. Ledvina, and P.M. Kintner, Observations of equatorial spread-F from Haleakala, Hawaii, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30(23), 2003, 2002.
Kelley, M.C.,C. Kruschwitz, J. Drummond, C. Gardner, L. Gelinas, J. Hecht, E. Murad, and S. Collins, A new explanation of persistent double meteor trains, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30(23), 2202, 2003.
Nicolls, M., M.C. Kelley, A. Coster, S. Gonzalez, and J. Makela, Imaging the structure of a large-scale TID using ISR and TEC data, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31(9), 2004.
Aponte, N., M.J. Nicolls, S.A. Gonzalez, M.P. Sulzer, M.C. Kelley, E. Robles, and C.A. Tepley, Instantaneous electric field measurements and derived neutral winds at Arecibo, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, 12107, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2005GL022609
Kagan, L.M., M.J. Nicolls, M.C. Kelley, H.C. Carlson, V.V. Belikovich, N.V. Bakhmet'eva, G.P. Komrakov, T.S. Trondsen, and E. Donovan, Observation of radio-wave-induced red hydroxyl emission at low altitude in the ionosphere, Phys. Rev. Lett., 94, 095004, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.095004
Makela, J.J., and M.C. Kelley, Two-dimensional imaging of the development phase of plasma instabilities in the earth's ionosphere, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci., 33, 502-503, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPS.2005.845119
Nicolls, M.J., and M.C. Kelley, Strong evidence for gravity wave seeding of an ionospheric plasma instability, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, 05108, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2004GL020737
Nicolls, M.J., M.C. Kelley, and C. Erdogan, Small-scale structure on the poleward edge of a stable auroral red arc, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci., 33, 412-413, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPS.2005.845008
Vlasov, M.N., M.C. Kelley, and E.A. Gerken, On the energy distribution of suprathermal electrons produced by HF heating in the F2 region, J.Atmos. Solar-Terr. Phys., 67, 405-412, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2004.08.006
Kelley, M.C., J.J. Makela, and O. de La Beaujardiere, Convective ionospheric storms: A major space weather problem, Space Weather, 4(2), S02C04, doi:10.1029/2005SW000144, 2006.
de La Beaujardiére, O., J. Retterer, M. Kelley, D. Hunton, and L. Jeong, New satellite will forecast ionospheric disturbances, Space Weather, 4, S03C05, doi:10.1029/ 2005SW000145, 2006.
Nicolls, M.J., M.N. Vlasov, M.C. Kelley, and G.G. Shepherd, Discrepancy between the nighttime molecular ion composition given by the International Reference Ionosphere model and airglow measurements at low latitudes, J. Geophys. Res., 111, A03304, doi:10.1029/2005JA011216, 2006.
Nicolls, M.J., M.C. Kelley, M.N. Vlasov, Y. Sahai, J.L. Chau, D.L. Hysell, P.R. Fagundes, F. Becker-Guedes, and W.L.C. Lima, Observations and modeling of post-midnight uplifts near the magnetic equator, Ann. Geophys., 24(5), 1317-1331, 2006.
Makela, J.J., M.C. Kelley, and M.J. Nicolls, Optical observations of the development of secondary instabilities on the eastern wall of an equatorial plasma bubble, J. Geophys. Res., 111, A09311, doi:10.1029/ 2006JA011646, 2006.
Nicolls, M.J., M.C. Kelley, J.L. Chau, O. Veliz, D. Anderson, and A. Anghel, The spectral properties of low latitude daytime electric fields inferred from magnetometer observations, J. Atmos. Solar-Terr. Phys., 69(10-11), 1160-1173, 2007.
Kelley, M.C., M.J. Nicolls, D. Anderson, A. Anghel, J.L. Chau, R. Sekar, K.S.V. Subbarao, and A. Bhattacharyya, Multi-longitude case studies comparing the interplanetary and equatorial ionospheric electric fields using an empirical model, J. Atmos. Solar-Terr. Phys., 69(10-11), 1174-1181, 2007.
Oh, S.-J., M.C. Kelley, L.J. Paxton, S.L. England, E. Talaat, K.-W. Min, and S.-Y. Su, Longitudinal structure of the vertical E × B drift and ion density seen from ROCSAT-1, H. Kil, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L14110, doi:10.1029/2007GL030018, 2007.
Vlasov, M.N., M.C. Kelley, and D.L. Hysell, Eddy turbulence parameters inferred from radar observations at Jicamarca, Ann. Geophys., 25, 475-481, 2007.
Kelley, M.C., R.A. Cuevas, and D.L. Hysell, Radar scatter from equatorial electrojet waves: An explanation for the constancy of the Type I Doppler shift with zenith angle, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L04106, doi:10.1029/ 2007GL032848, 2008.
Kelley, M.C., Waves from whistlers, Nature Geosci., 1, 93-94, doi:10.1038/ngeo112, 2008.
Kelley, M.C., and J. Retterer, First successful prediction of a convective equatorial ionospheric storm using solar wind parameters, Space Weather, 6, S08003, doi:10.1029/2007SW000381.
Nicolls, M.J., M.C. Kelley, R.H. Varney, and C.J. Heinselman, Spectral observations of polar mesospheric summer echoes at 33 cm (450 MHz) with the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar, J. Atmos. Solar-Terr. Phys., doi:10.1016/j.jastp.2008.04.019, 2008.
Varney, R.H. M.J. Nicolls, C.J. Heinselman, and M.C. Kelley, Observations of polar mesospheric summer echoes using PFISR during the summer of 2007, J. Atmos. Solar-Terr. Phys., doi:10.1016/ j.jastp.2009.01.002, 2008.
Makela, J.J., M.C. Kelley, and R.T. Tsunoda, Observations of midlatitude ionospheric instabilities generating meter-scale waves at the magnetic equator, J. Geophys. Res., 114, A01307, doi:10.1029/ 2007JA012946, 2009.
Varney, R.H., M.C. Kelley, and E. Kudeki, Observations of electric fields associated with internal gravity waves, J. Geophys Res., 114, A02304, doi:10.1029/2008JA013733, 2009.
Kelley, M.C., R.R. Ilma, M. Nicolls, P. Erickson, L. Goncharenko, J.L. Chau, N. Aponte, and J. Kozyra, Spectacular low and mid-latitude electrical fields and neutral winds during a superstorm, J. Atmos. Solar-Terr. Phys., in press, 2009.
Kelley, M.C., G. Crowley, and D.R. Weimer, Comparison of the Hill-Siscoe polar cap potential theory with the Weimer and AMIE models, J. Atmos. Solar-Terr. Phys., in press, 2009.
Kagan, L.M., J.W. MacDougall, and M.C. Kelley, A mechanism for extraordinary bright radiowave-induced aurora in the ionospheric E region, J. Atmos. Solar-Terr. Phys., doi:10.1016/j.jastp.2009.01.006, in press, 2009.
Vlasov, M.N., M.C. Kelley, and E.A. Gerken, On the energy distribution of suprathermal electrons produced by HF heating in the F2 region, J. Atmos. Solar-Terr. Phys., in press, 2009.
Kelley, M.C., The Earth's Ionosphere: Plasma Physics and Electrodynamics, 2nd edition, Elsevier, London, in press, 2009.
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