Plenary Lecture

Electromagnetic Low Frequency Radiation from Natural Phenomena - Data Analysis and Modelling

Professor Ernst D. Schmitter
University of Applied Sciences
Department of Engineering and Computer Sciences
Albrechtstr. 30, 49076 Osnabrueck
GERMANY

Abstract: Can severe weather conditions, volcanic eruptions or even earthquakes be predicted from monitoring and analyzing electromagnetic radiation especially in very and ultra low frequency ranges? What signatures in this frequency range leave solar wind, solar flare eruptions or gamma ray bursts from distant stars within the earths magnetosphere and ionosphere? The propagation properties of very low, extremeley low and ultra low frequency radiation (VLF/ELF/ULF, i.e. 30 kHz down to some milliHz) within the earths magnetosphere, ionosphere and lithosphere allow to deal with these questions and a lot of research has been done during the last decades. In some cases the generating physical process is obvious – as for example VLF sferic signals from lightnings. In other cases reliable modelling and confirmation is due yet - as with electromagnetic earthquake precursor signals. This survey will try to mediate some aspects of the advanced data analysis and data modelling procedures used to gain information out of the received signals despite of a usually very noisy background. Fourier- and wavelet transform based as well as statistically based features are used as input to neuro-fuzzy classifiers together with physical process models to form hybrid approaches to these complex systems.

Brief Biography of the Speaker:
Dr. Schmitter is professor for mathematics and software technology at the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrueck, Germany since 1990. He is a member of the faculty of Engineering and Computer Sciences and teaches courses on applied mathematics, simulation (for example Finite-Element-Methods) and data analysis.
He wrote several books in the computational intelligence area and published papers on data and signal analysis and modelling topics applied to material sciences and geophysics.