Ernesto Aguilar-Rodriguez

Dr. Ernesto Aguilar-Rodriguez


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

22Years (2005-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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14 November 2024 in Space Weather
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
J. Americo Gonzalez-EsparzaJ. Americo Gonzalez-Esparza
J. Americo Gonzalez-Esparza
ESE. Sanchez‐Garcia
E. Sanchez‐Garcia
MSMaria A. Sergeeva
Maria A. Sergeeva
PCPedro Corona-Romero
Pedro Corona-Romero
LGL. X. Gonzalez‐Mendez
L. X. Gonzalez‐Mendez
EHE. Hernandez‐Quintero
E. Hernandez‐Quintero
On 10 May 2024, a severe geomagnetic storm coinciding with Mother's Day in Mexico lasted over 40 hr and produced polar auroras observable at low latitudes. This storm, the most intense since 2003, resulted from a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections from active region 3664. The event was significant for space weather studies in Mexico, marking a milestone by enabling comprehensive measurements of its effects. The Mexico Space Weather Service (SCIESMEX) and the National Space Weather Laboratory (LANCE) had prepared for such an event since their inception. LANCE's instrument networks recorded solar chromospheric images, solar radio bursts, geomagnetic variations, Schumann resonances, ionospheric disturbances, and energetic particle flows. They also monitored Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GICs) in three strategic substations of the national electrical system. This provided unprecedented insights into the dynamics of severe space weather events at the North‐American low‐latitude environment. Citizen science efforts documented auroras and regional responses, capturing variations in geomagnetic indices, ionospheric disturbances, cosmic ray fluxes, GICs, and technological impacts. SCIESMEX worked with the National Civil Protection System (SINAPROC) to issue warnings, ensuring public awareness and preparedness. This coordination underscores the importance of effective communication and collaboration in mitigating impacts. The May 2024 geomagnetic storm demonstrated the critical role of preparedness, research, and public education in reducing the effects of future space weather events in Mexico.

6 October 2005 in Journal of Geophysical Research
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Journal Article
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EAErnesto Aguilar-Rodriguez
Ernesto Aguilar-Rodriguez
NGNat Gopalswamy
Nat Gopalswamy
RMR. MacDowall
R. MacDowall
SYS. Yashiro
S. Yashiro
MKM. L. Kaiser
M. L. Kaiser
We present a study on the spectral properties of interplanetary type II radio bursts observed by the Radio and Plasma Wave (WAVES) experiment on board the Wind spacecraft. We investigated the relative bandwidth of the type II radio bursts observed by WAVES from 1997 up to 2003. We obtained three sets of events, based on the frequency domain of occurrence: 109 events in the low‐frequency domain (30 KHz to 1000 kHz, detected by the RAD1 receiver), 216 events in the high‐frequency domain (1–14 MHz, observed by the RAD2 receiver), and 73 events that spanned both domains (RAD1 and RAD2). Statistical results show that the average bandwidth‐to‐frequency ratio (BFR) was 0.28 ± 0.15, 0.26 ± 0.16, and 0.32 ± 0.15 for RAD1, RAD2, and RAD1 + RAD2, respectively. We compared our results with those obtained for ISEE‐3 type II bursts and found a difference in the average BFR, which seems to be due to a selection effect. The BFR of the WAVES type II bursts is similar to that of metric type II bursts reported in published works. This suggests that the BFR is a universal characteristic, irrespective of the spectral domain. Finally, we also studied the BFR evolution with heliocentric distance using white‐light observation of the associated coronal mass ejections. We found that the BFR remains roughly constant in the SOHO/LASCO field of view (i.e., from 2.1 to 32 solar radii), while the bandwidth itself decreases.

29 May 2010 in Solar Physics
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JMJ. C. Mejia-Ambriz
J. C. Mejia-Ambriz
PVP. Villanueva-Hernandez
P. Villanueva-Hernandez
J. Americo Gonzalez-EsparzaJ. Americo Gonzalez-Esparza
J. Americo Gonzalez-Esparza
EAErnesto Aguilar-Rodriguez
Ernesto Aguilar-Rodriguez
SJS. Jeyakumar
S. Jeyakumar
The Mexican Array Radio Telescope (MEXART) consists of a 64×64 (4096) full-wavelength dipole antenna array, operating at 140 MHz, with a bandwidth of 2 MHz, occupying about 9660 square meters (69 m × 140 m) ( http://www.mexart.unam.mx ). This is a dedicated radio array for Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) observations located at latitude 19°48′N, longitude 101°41′W. We characterize the performance of the system. We report the first IPS observations with the instrument, employing a Butler Matrix (BM) of 16×16 ports, fed by 16 east – west lines of 64 dipoles (1/4 of the total array). The BM displays a radiation pattern of 16 beams at different declinations (from −48, to +88 degrees). We present a list of 19 strong IPS radio sources (having at least 3σ in power gain) detected by the instrument. We report the power spectral analysis procedure of the intensity fluctuations. The operation of MEXART will allow us a better coverage of solar wind disturbances, complementing the data provided by the other, previously built, instruments.

14 December 2016 in Space Weather
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Journal Article
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J. Americo Gonzalez-EsparzaJ. Americo Gonzalez-Esparza
J. Americo Gonzalez-Esparza
VLV. De la Luz
V. De la Luz
PCPedro Corona-Romero
Pedro Corona-Romero
JMJ. C. Mejia‐Ambriz
J. C. Mejia‐Ambriz
LGL. X. Gonzalez
L. X. Gonzalez
EAErnesto Aguilar-Rodriguez
Ernesto Aguilar-Rodriguez
Legislative modifications of the General Civil Protection Law in Mexico in 2014 included specific references to space hazards and space weather phenomena. The legislation is consistent with United Nations promotion of international engagement and cooperation on space weather awareness, studies, and monitoring. These internal and external conditions motivated the creation of a space weather service in Mexico. The Mexican Space Weather Service (SCiESMEX in Spanish) (www.sciesmex.unam.mx) was initiated in October 2014 and is operated by the Institute of Geophysics at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). SCiESMEX became a Regional Warning Center of the International Space Environment Services (ISES) in June 2015. We present the characteristics of the service, some products, and the initial actions for developing a space weather strategy in Mexico. The service operates a computing infrastructure including a web application, data repository, and a high‐performance computing server to run numerical models. SCiESMEX uses data of the ground‐based instrumental network of the National Space Weather Laboratory (LANCE), covering solar radio burst emissions, solar wind and interplanetary disturbances (by interplanetary scintillation observations), geomagnetic measurements, and analysis of the total electron content (TEC) of the ionosphere (by employing data from local networks of GPS receiver stations).

1 March 2017 in Space Weather
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PCPedro Corona-Romero
Pedro Corona-Romero
J. Americo Gonzalez-EsparzaJ. Americo Gonzalez-Esparza
J. Americo Gonzalez-Esparza
CPC. A. Perez‐Alanis
C. A. Perez‐Alanis
EAErnesto Aguilar-Rodriguez
Ernesto Aguilar-Rodriguez
VDV. De‐La‐Luz
V. De‐La‐Luz
JMJ. C. Mejia‐Ambriz
J. C. Mejia‐Ambriz

18 December 2018 in Space Weather
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Journal Article
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J. Americo Gonzalez-EsparzaJ. Americo Gonzalez-Esparza
J. Americo Gonzalez-Esparza
MSM. A. Sergeeva
M. A. Sergeeva
PCPedro Corona-Romero
Pedro Corona-Romero
JMJ. C. Mejia‐Ambriz
J. C. Mejia‐Ambriz
LGL. X. Gonzalez
L. X. Gonzalez
Esmeralda Romero-HernandezEsmeralda Romero-Hernandez
Esmeralda Romero-Hernandez
In the interval of 4–10 September 2017, the Sun presented multiple solar flares from active region AR 2673. There were also coronal mass ejections that interacted with the Earth's magnetosphere. This solar activity produced several space weather events. These events were observed with ground‐based instruments of the Mexican Space Weather Service. The Mexican Array RadioTelescope detected highly perturbed solar transits associated with Type I radio emissions from active regions. The Compact Astronomical Low‐frequency, Low‐cost Instrument for Spectroscopy in Transportable Observatories‐Mexican Array RadioTelescope station detected several radio bursts including a Type III associated with the X8.2 flare on 10 September. The magnetometer detected variations reaching a regional K index of 8.3 during the geomagnetic storm. The ionosphere over Mexico was disturbed by different space weather phenomena with the dominant effects of the geomagnetic storm. We used total electron content data to study latitudinal and longitudinal ionospheric effects in this interval. The cosmic rays monitor detected a Forbush decrease associated also with the geomagnetic storm. This low‐latitude instrumental network in Mexico allowed estimating the regional response to space weather events. Coincidentally with the space weather events referred above, there were also two other types of natural hazards affecting the country at that moment, the hurricane Katia category 2 in the Gulf of Mexico, and two major earthquakes (7 and 19 September 2018). The conjunction of these natural phenomena were close to creating a worst‐case scenario in terms of civil protection reaction.