Communications and Space Sciences Lab
The Communications and Space Sciences Laboratory (CSSL)
is an interdisciplinary and intercollege component of Penn
State's Department of Electrical Engineering.
Founded in 1949 by Arthur H. Waynick as the Ionosphere Research Laboratory (IRL), it
became the Communications and Space Sciences Laboratory in 1985 because of the diversity
of its research activities.
CSSL educational and research activities center on
electromagnetic (EM) phenomena either directly or as tools for probing the structure and
dynamics of the atmosphere and ionosphere. For example, we are using a variety of radar,
lidar, radiometer, and rocket-borne probing techniques to investigate atmospheric and
ionospheric processes and coupling between atmospheric regions. Much of the
instrumentation is conceived, designed, and built in-house. CSSL is also concerned with
the study of EM phenomena, such as pulse propagation and scattering in a variety of media,
and with the design of antennas. We utilize an array of computer codes to study EM
processes and to visualize these and other processes.
