Open AccessAn established numerical method applied to geophysics
Author(s) -
Simpson Jamesina J.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2012eo290001
Subject(s) - maxwell's equations , electromagnetic radiation , whistler , physics , electromagnetic field , inhomogeneous electromagnetic wave equation , geophysics , schumann resonances , classical mechanics , computational physics , magnetic field , optical field , ionosphere , optics , quantum mechanics
Electromagnetic fields and waves play an important role in many geophysical applications. Lightning, sprites, whistler waves, auroras, space weather, geomagnetically induced currents, remote sensing, radar, solar energy harvesting, and satellite communications are all grounded in electromagnetic theory. Maxwell's equations, formulated approximately 150 years ago, represent a fundamental unification of electric and magnetic fields, predicting electromagnetic wave phenomena from ultralow frequencies (ULF) through visible light. But for 130 years after Maxwell formulated his equations, that is until about 1990, solutions of Maxwell's equations for electromagnetic wave interactions with material structures were invariably in the Fourier (frequency) domain, i.e., the sinusoidal steady state. Principal techniques involved closed form and infinite series analytical solutions, high‐frequency asymptotic methods, integral equations, and finite elements.