USC.edu

Leonid Didkovsky

Research Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy
Leonid Didkovsky
Pronouns He / Him / His Email leonid@usc.edu

  • Summary Statement of Research Interests

    An extensive experience and flexibility in development, build, and test of cutting-edge instruments for space and ground-based projects, including design of world-largest solar telescope with adaptive optics, electronics, mechanical, and optical modules for Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV), visible light, and infrared spectral bands. Self-motivated, team-worked, and detail-oriented professional in creating hardware and software for a wide range of scientific and technical applications. Major directions in scientific research are solar physics, helioseismology, solar internal structure and internal differential rotation, EUV spectral variability, EUV dimming, solar energetic particles.

    Detailed Statement of Research Interests

     Statement of Research and/or Teaching Interests

    1.    1.     Solar Physics, including Helioseismology, solar dynamics (solar flares, energy release in soft X-ray and EUV during solar flares, solar spectral variability in soft X-ray and EUV, CME initiation, Solar Cycle Irradiance changes and how it affects the Climate Changes), and absolute solar irradiances in soft X-ray and EUV: comparison and analyzes.

    2.     Ground-based and space instrumentation for solar and helio-physics research including detectors, imaging (telescopes) and non-imaging instruments.

    3.     Adaptive optics.

    4.     Radiation and shielding measurements and applications.

    5.     Space weather.

    6.     Degradation of soft X-ray and EUV instruments.

    7.     Cutting-edge instrumentation (optics, electronics) with a form-factor suitable for Cube and Nano-satellites.

    Submitted Proposals (NASA Solicitations):

    ·       Automated Radiation Measurements for Aerospace Safety – High altitude (ARMAS-HI), role: Co-I

    ·       Degradation-Free Spectrometers for Solar Physics-II: Critical Improvements, role: PI

    ·       An Extreme-Ultraviolet Spectrophotometer for EVE/SDO, role: PI

    ·       Developing a Solar EUV Composite Irradiance Record, role: Co-I

    Progress in unpublished manuscript

    Sounding Rocket Observations of Active Region Soft X-Ray Spectra between 0.5 and 2.5 nm using a Modified SDO/EVE Instrument. Wieman, S., Didkovsky, L., Woods, T.N., Jones, A., Moore, C.: 2016, Solar Physics, open access, DOI 10.1007/s11207-016-0999-6

    Planned Participation in Meetings, Conferences, Evaluation Panels

    AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, Dec 2016 with a presentation: Imaging Grating Spectrometer (I-GRASP) for Solar Soft X-Ray Spectral Measurements in Critically Under-Observed ~0.5 – 7 nm Spectral Range by L. Didkovsky, S. Wieman, W. Chao, T. Woods, A. Jones, E. Tiemann, and J. Mason

  • Conference Presentations

    • Variability of Five-Minute Solar Oscillations in the Corona as Observed by the Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrophotometer (ESP) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (SDO/EVE) , LWS/SDO-3/SOHO-26Talk/Oral Presentation, NASA, Stanford University, 10/30/2010 –
    • A Comparison of the First Solar EUV Irradiance Measurements from the SDO/EVE EUV Spectrophotometer (ESP) with the SOHO/CELIAS Solar EUV Monitor (SEM) Absolute Solar EUV Irradiance, , COSPARTalk/Oral Presentation, NASA, Bremen, Germany, 07/18/2010 – 07/25/2010
    • A Comparison Between ESP 30.4 nm and SEM Measurements , AIA and EVE Science MeetingTalk/Oral Presentation, NASA, Stanford University, 07/07/2010 – 07/09/2010

    Other Presentations

    • SDO-EVE-ESP Calibration, Solar EUV Irradiance Calibration and Validation Workshop, LASP, 2011-CONT
    • SDO-EVE-ESP Instrument, Solar EUV Irradiance Calibration and Validation Workshop, LASP, 2011-CONT
    • A Change of Solar HeII EUV Global Network, Chapman Conference, Key Largo, FL, 2012-2013
    • Coronal Post-Flare Dynamics of the Coronal Dimming Event, SDO-7 Exploring the Network of SDO Science, Cambridge, MD, 2012-2013
    • Climate Change, Earth’s Albedo and its Measurements., SDO/EVE Science Group Workshop, LASP, 2010-2011
    • Degradation-Free Spectrometers for EUV Measurements, SDO/EVE Science Group Workshop, LASP, 2010-2011
    • How EVE/ESP Sees Solar Flares, SDO/EVE Science Group Workshop, LASP, 2010-2011
    • A comparison of solar flare events using high-cadence EVE/ESP irradiance measurements, AIA and EVE Science Group Meeting, Stanford University, 2009-2010

  • Journal Article

    • Didkovsky, L. V., Kosovichev, A. G., Judge, D. L., Wieman, S. R., Woods, T. (2013). Variability of Solar Five-Minute Oscillations in the Corona as Observed by the Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrophotometer (ESP) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (SDO/EVE). Solar Physics/Springer. (Open Access)
    • Solomon, S., Qian, L., Didkovsky, L., Viereck, R., Woods, T. (2011). Causes of low thermospheric density during the 2007-2009 solar minimum. Journal of Geophysical Research. Vol. 116, pp. A00H07.
    • Didkovsky, L., Judge, D., Kosovichev, A., Wieman, S., Woods, T. (2011). Observations of Five-Minute Solar Oscillations in Lower Corona Using Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrophotometer (ESP) Onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (SDO/EVE). Astrophysical Journal. Vol. 738, pp. L7.
    • Solomon, S., Woods, T., Didkovsky, L., Emmert, J., Qian, L. (2010). Anomalously low solar extreme-ultraviolet irradiance and thermospheric density during solar minimum. GRL. Vol. 37, pp. L16103.
    • John W. Firor Award for outstanding publication, 2012-2013
    • NASA Group Achievement Award for outstanding designing, building, and operating of the science investigations of SDO, 2012-2013