LW
Member Since 2014
Lara Waldrop
Associate Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
My research is focused on the development of new techniques for estimating key physical state parameters of the space plasma environment surrounding Earth. My work mainly involves the remote sensing and photochemical and radiative transfer modeling of optical emissions from the uppermost atmosphere by various ground- and space-based spectroscopic, photometric, and interferometric sensors. I am the PI of NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, which is expected to launch in 2025.
Professional Experience
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Associate Professor
1998 - Present
Education
Boston University
Doctorate
2004
Honors & Awards
William B Hanson Lecture
Received December 2024
Publications
New Sensing Strategies for Estimation of Global, Exospheric Density

Reliable quantification of the global and time‐dependent structure of the Earth's outermost atmosphere, a vast region known as the exosphere,...

August 26, 2020
AGU Abstracts
Investigating the Role of Exospheric Hydrogen Density Distributions in the Ring Current Recovery Phase
RING CURRENT DYNAMICS AND ITS COUPLING WITH OTHER PARTICLE POPULATIONS II ORAL
spa-magnetospheric physics | 14 december 2023
Gonzalo Cucho-Padin, Cristian Ferradas, Mei-Ching ...
Atomic Hydrogen (H) is the most abundant component of the terrestrial exosphere, the outermost layer of the atmosphere, which features altitudes from ...
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The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory: A New Era for Exospheric Sensing at Earth
DYNAMIC EXOSPHERES OF TERRESTRIAL BODIES THROUGH THE SOLAR SYSTEM II ORAL
planetary sciences | 13 december 2023
Lara Waldrop, Thomas J. Immel, John T. Clarke, Pra...
Reliable characterization of the spatial structure and temporal variability of Earth's exosphere is notoriously difficult, owing mainly to the challen...
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Investigation of the Terrestrial Exosphere through Data-driven Modeling
DYNAMIC EXOSPHERES OF TERRESTRIAL BODIES THROUGH THE SOLAR SYSTEM I POSTER
planetary sciences | 12 december 2023
Gonzalo Cucho-Padin, Cristian Ferradas, Johannes N...
The Earth's exosphere is the uppermost region of the terrestrial atmosphere and extends from 500 km (the exobase) up to 60 Earth Radii (RE). In this v...
View Abstract
Volunteer Experience
2017 - 2018
Member
Space Physics and Aeronomy Fred L. Scarf Award Committee
Check out all of Lara Waldrop’s AGU Research!
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