Bio

Prof. Elschot's research involves space weather detection and modeling for improved spacecraft designs, re-entry physics, and advanced signal processing and electromagnetic wave interactions with plasma for ground-to-satellite communication systems. These topics fall under Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Space Domain Awareness (SDA) that include environmental remote sensing using satellite systems and ground-based radar. Her current efforts include using dust accelerators and light-gas guns to understand the effects of hypervelocity particle impacts on spacecraft along with Particle-In-Cell simulations, and using ground-based radars to characterize the space debris and meteoroid population remotely. She also has active programs in hypersonic plasmas to characterize and mitigate plasma formation.

Academic Appointments

Honors & Awards

  • Outstanding Mentor Award, Faculty Women's Forum, Stanford University (2025)
  • Outstanding Professor in Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University (2021)
  • Vance D. and Arlene C. Coffman Faculty Scholar, Stanford University (2020)
  • Space Physics and Aeronomy Richard Carrington (SPARC) Award, American Geophysical Union (2017)
  • DoE CAREER Award, DoE (2013-2017)
  • Outstanding Professor in Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University (2013)
  • Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), White House (2012)
  • NSF CAREER Award, National Science Foundation (2011-2016)
  • Hellman Faculty Scholar, Hellman Fellows Program (2010)
  • Magazine Cover, IEEE Spectrum (2008)
  • Joe D. Marshall Award for Outstanding Technical Briefing, AFTAC (2007)
  • 1st Place Student Paper Competition, International Union of Radio Science (2002)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

  • National Science, Technology and Security, Hoover Institute (2023 - Present)
  • AMISR Advisory Panel, AMISR (2020 - Present)
  • Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee Member, Department of Energy (2017 - Present)
  • Elected Chair Commission G, URSI (2015 - Present)
  • Guest Expert, The Weather Channel (2015 - Present)
  • Guest Expert, PBS Chasing Pluto (2015 - Present)
  • Scientific Organizing Committee, Meteoroids 2016 (2015 - Present)
  • Elected Vice Chair Commission G, URSI (2013 - 2015)
  • Member, Arecibo Science Advisory Panel (2011 - 2013)
  • Co-Host National Geographic Channel, Known Universe (2011 - 2011)
  • Guest Expert, PBS, Can We Make it to Mars (2011 - 2011)
  • Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris Panel Member, National Research Council Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (2011 - 2011)
  • Scientific Organizing Committee, Meteoroids 2010 (2010 - 2010)
  • NEO Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies Panel Member, National Research Council Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (2009 - 2010)

Contact

  • Academic
    University - Faculty Department: Aeronautics and Astronautics Position: Professor

Additional Info

Links

2025-26 Courses

Stanford Advisees

All Publications

  • Collisionless electrostatic particle-in-cell simulation of rapid target charging along an unbiased dielectric surface due to hypervelocity impact plasmas INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMPACT ENGINEERING Diallo, N., Lau, R., Lee, N., Elschot, S. 2025; 204

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2025.105360

    View details for Web of Science ID 001502086200001

  • Self-consistent charging of complex objects in flowing plasma: Implementation and analysis in WarpX COMPUTER PHYSICS COMMUNICATIONS Sam, A., Elschot, S. 2025; 314

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.cpc.2025.109680

    View details for Web of Science ID 001499547400001

  • Nonlinear evolution, propagation, electron-trapping, and damping effects of ion-acoustic solitons using fully kinetic PIC simulations PHYSICS OF PLASMAS Sam, A., Kumar, P., Fletcher, A. C., Crabtree, C., Lee, N., Elschot, S. 2025; 32 (2)

    View details for DOI 10.1063/5.0249525

    View details for Web of Science ID 001418756400003

  • A curvature-based mechanism for the spontaneous emission of electromagnetic radiation at curved plasma-vacuum interfaces PHYSICS OF PLASMAS Lau, R., Elschot, S. 2025; 32 (1)

    View details for DOI 10.1063/5.0250191

    View details for Web of Science ID 001408017100002

  • Invariant Funnels in the Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem JOURNAL OF GUIDANCE CONTROL AND DYNAMICS Blanchard, J. T., Lo, M. W., Anderson, B. D., Landau, D., Lee, N., Elschot, S. 2024

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.G008088

    View details for Web of Science ID 001368629400001

  • Spatial decay of electromagnetic waves from hypervelocity impact plasmas INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMPACT ENGINEERING Lau, R., Lee, N., Elschot, S. 2024; 187

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2024.104924

    View details for Web of Science ID 001202291200001

  • Collisional particle-in-cell investigations of electromagnetic pulses in hypervelocity impact plasmas INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMPACT ENGINEERING Lau, R., Lee, N., Elschot, S. 2023; 180

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2023.104692

    View details for Web of Science ID 001035376500001

  • Preliminary study of radio frequency waves in hypervelocity impact plasma INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMPACT ENGINEERING Fereydooni, K., Lee, N., Elschot, S. 2023; 179

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2023.104667

    View details for Web of Science ID 001010564500001

  • Time-Dependent Inversion of Energetic Electron Precipitation Spectra From Ground-Based Incoherent Scatter Radar Measurements JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS Juarez Madera, D., Marshall, R. A., Elschot, S., Kaeppler, S., Reyes, P., Varney, R. H., Crew, A. B. 2023; 128 (5)

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2022JA031000

    View details for Web of Science ID 001000349000001

  • Experimental evidence of rapid target charging electromagnetic pulse from hypervelocity impact INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMPACT ENGINEERING Estacio, B., Young, S. A. Q., Lee, N., Elschot, S. 2023; 173

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2022.104473

    View details for Web of Science ID 000909612800001

  • Meteoroid orbit determination from HPLA radar data ICARUS Blanchard, J. T., Lee, N., Elschot, S. 2022; 386

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115144

    View details for Web of Science ID 000885763400007

  • Continuum to rarefied diffusive tortuosity factors in porous media from X-ray microtomography COMPUTATIONAL MATERIALS SCIENCE Ferguson, J. C., Borner, A., Panerai, F., Close, S., Mansour, N. N. 2022; 203

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.commatsci.2021.111030

    View details for Web of Science ID 000734352300010

  • Theory of Power Generation From Spacecraft Charging IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE Young, S. A. Q., Stupl, J., Lee, N., Close, S. 2022; 50 (1): 141-154

    View details for DOI 10.1109/TPS.2021.3125709

    View details for Web of Science ID 000742179900023

  • Microscopic ejecta measurements from hypervelocity impacts on aluminum and powdered regolith targets INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMPACT ENGINEERING Shohet, G., Estacio, B., Matthews, I., Young, S. A. Q., Lee, N., Close, S. 2021; 152

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2021.103840

    View details for Web of Science ID 000634855500001

  • Dust and atmospheric influence on plasma properties observed in light gas gun hypervelocity impact experiments INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMPACT ENGINEERING Estacio, B., Shohet, G., Young, S. A. Q., Matthews, I., Lee, N., Close, S. 2021; 151

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2021.103833

    View details for Web of Science ID 000633048000001

  • A thermodynamic analysis of hypervelocity impacts on metals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMPACT ENGINEERING Nuttall, A., Close, S. 2020; 144

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2020.103645

    View details for Web of Science ID 000564784000001

  • A technique for inferring lower thermospheric neutral density from meteoroid ablation PLANETARY AND SPACE SCIENCE Limonta, L., Close, S., Marshall, R. A. 2020; 180

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.pss.2019.104735

    View details for Web of Science ID 000510110900009

  • Dust Charge Modeling and Ejecta Measurements for Hypervelocity Impacts on Aluminum and Powdered Regolith Simulant Targets Shohet, G., Lee, N., Close, S., IEEE IEEE. 2020

    View details for Web of Science ID 000632276400340

  • Harvesting Electromagnetic Energy from Hypervelocity Impacts for Solar System Exploration Young, S. A. Q., Lee, N., Close, S., IEEE IEEE. 2020

    View details for Web of Science ID 000632276400277

  • Inference of meteoroid characteristics using a genetic algorithm ICARUS Tarano, A., Wheeler, L. F., Close, S., Mathias, D. L. 2019; 329: 270–81

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.icarus.2019.04.002

    View details for Web of Science ID 000469899200022

  • Meteoroid Impact Detection for Exploration of Asteroids: Small Satellites for Asteroid Characterization Lee, N., Close, S. AMER INST AERONAUTICS ASTRONAUTICS. 2018: 202–13

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.A33928

    View details for Web of Science ID 000431139200019

  • Plasma distributions in meteor head echoes and implications for radar cross section interpretation Marshall, R. A., Brown, P., Close, S. PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. 2017: 203-208

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.pss.2016.12.011

    View details for Web of Science ID 000405050600030

  • How dust makes radio waves ASTRONOMY & GEOPHYSICS Close, S., Fletcher, A. 2017; 58 (3): 7

    View details for DOI 10.1093/astrogeo/atx074

    View details for Web of Science ID 000404389400011

  • Particle-in-cell simulations of an RF emission mechanism associated with hypervelocity impact plasmas PHYSICS OF PLASMAS Fletcher, A. C., Close, S. 2017; 24 (5)

    View details for DOI 10.1063/1.4980833

    View details for Web of Science ID 000400817900057

  • A CubeSat Platform for Characterizing the Reliability of Electronic Components Tarantino, P., Lee, N., Close, S., IEEE IEEE. 2017: 75–76

    View details for Web of Science ID 000425854800038

  • Experimental Verification of Pulsed Electrostatic Manipulation for Reentry Blackout Alleviation Steffens, L., Krishnamoorthy, S., Guelhan, A., Close, S., IEEE IEEE. 2017

    View details for Web of Science ID 000405199503077

  • Detection of hypervelocity impact radio frequency pulses through prior constrained source separation RADIO SCIENCE Nuttall, A., Kochenderfer, M., Close, S. 2016; 51 (10): 1660-1675

    View details for DOI 10.1002/2016RS006108

    View details for Web of Science ID 000388949900005

  • Mean thermo spheric density estimation derived from satellite constellations ADVANCES IN SPACE RESEARCH Li, A., Close, S. 2015; 56 (8): 1645-1657

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.asr.2015.07.022

    View details for Web of Science ID 000362604300008

  • Simulating plasma production from hypervelocity impacts PHYSICS OF PLASMAS Fletcher, A., Close, S., Mathias, D. 2015; 22 (9)

    View details for DOI 10.1063/1.4930281

    View details for Web of Science ID 000362571800117

  • THE SOUTHERN ARGENTINA AGILE METEOR RADAR ORBITAL SYSTEM (SAAMER-OS): AN INITIAL SPORADIC METEOROID ORBITAL SURVEY IN THE SOUTHERN SKY ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL Janches, D., Close, S., Hormaechea, J. L., Swarnalingam, N., Murphy, A., O'Connor, D., Vandepeer, B., Fuller, B., Fritts, D. C., Brunini, C. 2015; 809 (1)

    View details for DOI 10.1088/0004-637X/809/1/36

    View details for Web of Science ID 000361653500036

  • An FDTD model of scattering from meteor head plasma JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS Marshall, R. A., Close, S. 2015; 120 (7): 5931-5942

    View details for DOI 10.1002/2015JA021238

    View details for Web of Science ID 000360381400051

  • Design for CubeSat-based dust and radiation studies at Europa ACTA ASTRONAUTICA Goel, A., Krishnamoorthy, S., Swenson, T., West, S., Li, A., Crew, A., Phillips, D. J., Screve, A., Close, S. 2015; 136: 204-218

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.actaastro.2017.03.016

    View details for Web of Science ID 000401676700021

  • Design and testing of miniaturized plasma sensor for measuring hypervelocity impact plasmas REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS Goel, A., Tarantino, P. M., Lauben, D. S., Close, S. 2015; 86 (4)

    View details for DOI 10.1063/1.4917276

    View details for Web of Science ID 000353837700019

    View details for PubMedID 25933852

  • Electrical Anomalies on Spacecraft due to Hypervelocity Impacts Goel, A., Close, S., IEEE IEEE. 2015

    View details for Web of Science ID 000380501301070

  • Susceptibility of Spacecraft to Impact-Induced Electromagnetic Pulses Fletcher, A., Mathias, D., Close, S., IEEE IEEE. 2015

    View details for Web of Science ID 000370748300062

  • Numerical Modeling of Radio Wave Scattering from Meteor Head Plasma Marshall, R. A., Close, S., IEEE IEEE. 2015: 254

    View details for Web of Science ID 000380575300254

  • Plasma turbulence of nonspecular trail plasmas as measured by a high-power large-aperture radar JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES Yee, J., Close, S. 2013; 118 (24): 13449-13462

    View details for Web of Science ID 000329971100005

  • Impact-Induced ESD and EMI/EMP Effects on Spacecraft-A Review IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE Garrett, H. B., Close, S. 2013; 41 (12): 3545-3557

    View details for DOI 10.1109/TPS.2013.2286181

    View details for Web of Science ID 000328703500032

  • First Preliminary Results from US Round-Robin Tests IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE Vayner, B. V., Ferguson, D. C., Hoffmann, R. C., Wheelock, A. T., Likar, J. J., Prebola, J. L., Crider, D. H., Schneider, T. A., Vaughn, J. A., Hoang, B., Steele, K., Close, S., Goel, A., Crofton, M. W., Young, J. A., Bodeau, J. M. 2013; 41 (12): 3310-3322

    View details for DOI 10.1109/TPS.2013.2262639

    View details for Web of Science ID 000328703500003

  • Detection of electromagnetic pulses produced by hypervelocity micro particle impact plasmas PHYSICS OF PLASMAS Close, S., Linscott, I., Lee, N., Johnson, T., Strauss, D., Goel, A., Fletcher, A., Lauben, D., Srama, R., Mocker, A., Bugiel, S. 2013; 20 (9)

    View details for DOI 10.1063/1.4819777

    View details for Web of Science ID 000325399400004

  • Curved pleat folding for smooth wrapping PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY A-MATHEMATICAL PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES Lee, N., Close, S. 2013; 469 (2155)

    View details for DOI 10.1098/rspa.2013.0152

    View details for Web of Science ID 000319387800012

  • The Meteoroid Input Function and predictions of mid-latitude meteor observations by the MU radar ICARUS Pifko, S., Janches, D., Close, S., Sparks, J., Nakamura, T., Nesvorny, D. 2013; 223 (1): 444-459

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.icarus.2012.12.014

    View details for Web of Science ID 000315977600032

  • Theory and experiments characterizing hypervelocity impact plasmas on biased spacecraft materials PHYSICS OF PLASMAS Lee, N., Close, S., Goel, A., Lauben, D., Linscott, I., Johnson, T., Strauss, D., Bugiel, S., Mocker, A., Srama, R. 2013; 20 (3)

    View details for DOI 10.1063/1.4794331

    View details for Web of Science ID 000317295200050

  • Plasma Turbulence of Non-Specular Trail Plasmas as Measured by a High Power Large Aperture Radar US-National-Committee-of-URSI National Radio Science Meeting Yee, J., Close, S. IEEE. 2013

    View details for Web of Science ID 000324678400033

  • Theory and experiments characterizing hypervelocity impact plasmas: Toward weatherproof spacecraft systems US-National-Committee-of-URSI National Radio Science Meeting Lee, N., Close, S. IEEE. 2013

    View details for Web of Science ID 000324678400032

  • Clustering and Confidence Intervals for Radar Target Identification and Estimation US-National-Committee-of-URSI National Radio Science Meeting Volz, R., Close, S., Erickson, P. J. IEEE. 2013

    View details for Web of Science ID 000324678400133

  • Inverse filtering of radar signals using compressed sensing with application to meteors RADIO SCIENCE Volz, R., Close, S. 2012; 47

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2011RS004889

    View details for Web of Science ID 000308891600001

  • Determining meteoroid bulk densities using a plasma scattering model with high-power large-aperture radar data ICARUS Close, S., Volz, R., Loveland, R., Macdonell, A., Colestock, P., Linscott, I., Oppenheim, M. 2012; 221 (1): 300-309

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.icarus.2012.07.033

    View details for Web of Science ID 000309620200027

  • Measurements of freely-expanding plasma from hypervelocity impacts INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMPACT ENGINEERING Lee, N., Close, S., Lauben, D., Linscott, I., Goel, A., Johnson, T., Yee, J., FLETCHER, A., Srama, R., BUGIEL, S., Mocker, A., Colestock, P., Green, S. 2012; 44: 40-49

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2012.01.002

    View details for Web of Science ID 000301473600005

  • Analysis of electromagnetic and electrostatic effects of particle impacts on spacecraft ADVANCES IN SPACE RESEARCH Kelley, M. C., Pancoast, S., Close, S., Wang, Z. 2012; 49 (6): 1029-1033

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.asr.2011.12.023

    View details for Web of Science ID 000301636200001

  • Targeted Parameter Inflation Within Ground-Based Augmentation Systems to Minimize Anomalous Ionospheric Impact JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT Seo, J., Lee, J., Pullen, S., Enge, P., Close, S. 2012; 49 (2): 587-599

    View details for DOI 10.2514/1.C031601

    View details for Web of Science ID 000302758400023

  • Meteoroid head echo polarization features studied by numerical electromagnetics modeling RADIO SCIENCE Vertatschitsch, L. E., Sahr, J. D., Colestock, P., Close, S. 2011; 46

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2011RS004774

    View details for Web of Science ID 000298748500002

  • Coherent matched filter signal-processing algorithms for probing the ionosphere using broadband RF data JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS Close, S., FLETCHER, A., Dunham, M., Linscott, I. 2011; 116

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2011JA016992

    View details for Web of Science ID 000297978200002

  • A medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbance observed from the ground and from space RADIO SCIENCE Dymond, K. F., Watts, C., Coker, C., Budzien, S. A., Bernhardt, P. A., Kassim, N., Lazio, T. J., Weiler, K., Crane, P. C., Ray, P. S., Cohen, A., Clarke, T., Rickard, L. J., Taylor, G. B., Schinzel, F., Pihlstrom, Y., Kuniyoshi, M., Close, S., Colestock, P., Myers, S., Datta, A. 2011; 46

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2010RS004535

    View details for Web of Science ID 000295609800001

  • Analysis of ALTAIR 1998 meteor radar data JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS Zinn, J., Close, S., Colestock, P. L., MacDonell, A., Loveland, R. 2011; 116

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2010JA015838

    View details for Web of Science ID 000289646400001

  • Comparison of methods of determining meteoroid range rates from linear frequency modulated chirped pulses RADIO SCIENCE Loveland, R., MacDonell, A., Close, S., Oppenheim, M., Colestock, P. 2011; 46

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2010RS004479

    View details for Web of Science ID 000288605200002

  • Development and error analysis of nonlinear ionospheric removal algorithm for ionospheric electron density determination using broadband RF data JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS Lay, E. H., Close, S., Colestock, P., Bust, G. 2011; 116

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2010JA015862

    View details for Web of Science ID 000287534800001

  • Polarization and scattering of a long-duration meteor trail JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS Close, S., Kelley, M., Vertatschitsch, L., Colestock, P., Oppenheim, M., Yee, J. 2011; 116

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2010JA015968

    View details for Web of Science ID 000286522900005

  • Electromagnetic pulses generated by meteoroid impacts on spacecraft JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS Close, S., Colestock, P., Cox, L., Kelley, M., Lee, N. 2010; 115

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2010JA015921

    View details for Web of Science ID 000285639300013

  • Dependence of radar signal strength on frequency and aspect angle of non-specular trails J. Geophys. Res. Close, S., Hamlin, T., Oppenheim, M., Cox, L., Colestock, P. 2008; 113: A06203

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2007JA012647

  • Meteor head echo radar data: Mass-velocity selection effects Icarus Close, S., Brown, P., Campbell-Brown, M., Oppenheim, M., Colestock, P. 2007; 186: 547-556
  • A new method for determining meteoroid mass from head echo data J. Geophys. Res. Close, S., Oppenheim, M., Durand, D., Dyrud, L. 2005; 110: A09308

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2004JA010950

  • A technique for calculating meteor plasma density and mass from radar head echo scattering Icarus Close, S., Oppenheim, M., Hunt, S., Coster, A. 2004; 168: 43-52
  • Scattering characteristics of high-resolution meteor head echoes detected at multiple frequencies J. Geophys. Res. Close, S., Oppenheim, M., Hunt, S., Dyrud, L. 2002; 107: 1295

    View details for DOI 10.1029/2002JA009253

  • Analysis of Perseid meteor head echo data collected using the Advanced Research Projects Agency Long-Range Tracking and Instrumentation Radar (ALTAIR) Radio Sci. Close, S., Hunt, S., Minardi, M., McKeen, F. 2000; 35: 1233-1240
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8637-9175