RI-Scale - AI-Driven Radar Operations: Smart Scheduling and Space Debris Detection on the RI-SCALE DEP

About the webinar

This webinar explores how the RI-SCALE Data Exploitation Platform (DEP) optimises radar operations and data analysis for atmospheric physics and space situational awareness through two complementary EISCAT use cases:

AI-Supported Scheduling for Radar Experiments: Demonstrates how AI models learn from historical experiments and real-time space weather data to optimise radar usage, automate experiment scheduling, and improve operational efficiency.

Space Debris & Anomaly Detection in Radar Data: Highlights automated AI workflows used to detect, classify, and track space debris and rare ionospheric events within complex radar datasets. This process converts raw anomalies into actionable orbital tracks while filtering out debris interference from scientific data streams.

Together, these use cases demonstrate how integrating scalable compute, AI models, and real-time data streams on the DEP maximises the scientific and operational value of radar facilities like EISCAT.

Target Audience

• Radar facility operators, engineers, and schedule planners
• Researchers in space weather, atmospheric physics, and ionospheric conditions
• Satellite operators, space agencies, and Space Situational Awareness (SSA) specialists tracking space debris
• AI/ML developers working with time-series, signal processing, and anomaly detection in large physical science datasets.

Agenda

• Presentation “EISCAT and EISCAT_3D – a brief introduction”
• Presentation “Intelligent Scheduling of Radar Observations and Experiments” + Q&A
• Presentation “Space Debris & Anomaly Detection in Radar Data” + Q&A

About the speakers

Dr Thomas Ulich is the Head of Science at EISCAT AB. He has an extensive background in space physics, ionospheric research, and atmospheric geospace science, having previously served as Head of Observations at the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (University of Oulu, Finland). His work focuses on ionospheric physics and upper atmosphere climatolory using, among others, radar observations of the upper atmosphere and near-Earth space. From the beginning, he has been involved with the development of the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) Landmark EISCAT_3D, the next-generation incoherent scatter radar in Norway, Sweden, and Finland, which is a fully computer-controlled, software-defined radio -based, phased-array radar.

Dr. Carl-Fredrik Enell is a research scientist and software/data engineer at the EISCAT AB. With a background in atmospheric physics, space science, and lower-ionosphere chemistry, his work at EISCAT focuses on e-infrastructure, radar data management, and software solutions. He has been heavily involved in data pilots and software integration for the next-generation EISCAT_3D radar system, addressing challenges in big data architecture, distributed data workflows, and user access tools across northern Europe.