Post Doctoral Research Associate, Solar physics group, UCL Department of Space and Climate Physics, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London
Interests
I'm a open-source software advocate! But as a researcher this includes open science, and I believe the future of science depends on open access, open review, open software and open data. As a scientists or developer I do most of my work collaboratively, enjoying testing new collaborative tools and finding new ways to improve collaborations.
Research
I'm a solar physicists, that type of astronomy that studies our closest star: the Sun. I've been characterising various features that appear on the Sun such as sunspots, bright points or coronal holes by using image processing techniques. At the moment I'm working in the development of an algorithm to detect automatically big waves on the sun - solar tsunamis - observed from ground based telescopes. The detection of such waves provides us with a method of characterisation of Coronal Mass Ejections- big explosive events that can cause auroras on Earth but also disruptions in electrical and communication systems (space weather).
I'm one of the core developers of SunPy, a project that tries to remove a 20-year dependency on the solar physics community of a very expensive software library. Additionally I'm one of the researchers behind the Susnpotter citizen science project, where with the help of thousands of volunteers we are obtaining a new classification of sunspots.
In the last ten years as part of my research I haven't stayed more than four years in the same country. I did my undergrad in Tenerife (Spain) and then obtained my PhD in Armagh Observatory and Queen's University Belfast(UK). Since then I've been working in multiple projects of e-infrastructures and space weather in Trinity College Dublin, the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the South African National Space Agency, and now at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory(University College London). In all this time I've learnt from the best experts and enjoyed amazing experiences.
Check out contributions by and mentions of David Perez-Suarez on www.software.ac.uk