In May 2016 the EU 'SAINT' Innovative Training Network in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Programme was awarded a 4 Million euro grant. SAINT stands for ‘Science and Innovation with Thunderstorms’. Its 19 partners come from both academia and non-academia, such as NASA, PLASMAT and Airbus.
The research-training network comprises four work programmes: Ground Observations, Satellite Observations, Lab Experiments & Applications, and Modelling and Scientific Computing. The latter is being coordinated by Ute Ebert, who heads the Multiscale Dynamics research group at CWI. Two PhD students will start at CWI in this project in 2017. The timing depends on data from three space missions, of which two missions are on the International Space Station ISS and one is the French TARANIS satellite.
On the content of SAINT-ITN: greenhouse gases, antimatter and plasma technology
Lightning is an extremely energetic process in our atmosphere. It affects the concentration of greenhouse gases and threatens electronic devices, in particular on elevated structures like wind turbines or aircraft. The fundamental understanding of atmospheric electricity is far from complete either. New discharge processes above thunderstorms have been discovered, the Transient Luminous Events and Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes that can emit particle beams of antimatter. These phenomena are not properly investigated, neither in geophysics nor in the related fields of plasma and high-voltage technology where similar discharges appear. These challenges are approached within the SAINT project with a coordinated research program that includes satellite and ground observations, and modelling and lab experiments, with strong interfaces to plasma technology and relevant industries. Source: SAINT-ITN network (summary: CWI).
More information
The Multiscale Dynamics Group at CWI and the homepage of the MD group leader, Prof. Ute Ebert.
SAINT-ITN will have Torsten Neubert from Copenhagen as its coordinator.
