Bio


Prof. Elschot's research involves space weather detection and modeling for improved spacecraft designs, and advanced signal processing and electromagnetic wave interactions with plasma for ground-to-satellite communication systems. These topics fall under the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) umbrella 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 associated with re-entry vehicles.

Academic Appointments


Honors & Awards


  • Space Physics and Aeronomy Richard Carrington (SPARC) Education and Public Outreach Award, American Geophysical Union (2017)
  • Vance D. and Arlene C. Coffman Faculty Scholar, Stanford University (2016-2020)
  • 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


  • 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)

Stanford Advisees


All Publications


  • Spatial decay of electromagnetic waves from hypervelocity impact plasmas INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMPACT ENGINEERING Lau, R., Lee, N., Elschot, S. 2024; 187
  • 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
  • Preliminary study of radio frequency waves in hypervelocity impact plasma INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMPACT ENGINEERING Fereydooni, K., Lee, N., Elschot, S. 2023; 179
  • 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)
  • Experimental evidence of rapid target charging electromagnetic pulse from hypervelocity impact INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMPACT ENGINEERING Estacio, B., Young, S. Q., Lee, N., Elschot, S. 2023; 173
  • Meteoroid orbit determination from HPLA radar data ICARUS Blanchard, J. T., Lee, N., Elschot, S. 2022; 386
  • 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
  • Theory of Power Generation From Spacecraft Charging IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE Young, S. Q., Stupl, J., Lee, N., Close, S. 2022; 50 (1): 141-154
  • 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. Q., Lee, N., Close, S. 2021; 152
  • 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. Q., Matthews, I., Lee, N., Close, S. 2021; 151
  • A thermodynamic analysis of hypervelocity impacts on metals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMPACT ENGINEERING Nuttall, A., Close, S. 2020; 144
  • A technique for inferring lower thermospheric neutral density from meteoroid ablation PLANETARY AND SPACE SCIENCE Limonta, L., Close, S., Marshall, R. A. 2020; 180
  • 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
  • Harvesting Electromagnetic Energy from Hypervelocity Impacts for Solar System Exploration Young, S. Q., Lee, N., Close, S., IEEE IEEE. 2020
  • Inference of meteoroid characteristics using a genetic algorithm ICARUS Tarano, A., Wheeler, L. F., Close, S., Mathias, D. L. 2019; 329: 270–81
  • 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
  • How dust makes radio waves ASTRONOMY & GEOPHYSICS Close, S., Fletcher, A. 2017; 58 (3): 7
  • 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
  • Experimental Verification of Pulsed Electrostatic Manipulation for Reentry Blackout Alleviation Steffens, L., Krishnamoorthy, S., Guelhan, A., Close, S., IEEE IEEE. 2017
  • 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
  • Mean thermo spheric density estimation derived from satellite constellations ADVANCES IN SPACE RESEARCH Li, A., Close, S. 2015; 56 (8): 1645-1657
  • 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)
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Susceptibility of Spacecraft to Impact-Induced Electromagnetic Pulses Fletcher, A., Mathias, D., Close, S., IEEE IEEE. 2015
  • Numerical Modeling of Radio Wave Scattering from Meteor Head Plasma Marshall, R. A., Close, S., IEEE IEEE. 2015: 254
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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)
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Inverse filtering of radar signals using compressed sensing with application to meteors RADIO SCIENCE Volz, R., Close, S. 2012; 47
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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