Bronwyn Dolman

Dr Bronwyn Dolman

School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences

College of Sciences

My research interests range from weather at the ground to satellites in LEO.  If you are interested in radar or atmospheric physics please feel free to get in touch - happy to discuss projects to suit you.  Two of my current projects which could incorporate 2026 Honours Physics projects are:
 
Meteor fireball analysis
 
Fireballs are large meteors, visible to the naked eye as they enter the atmosphere and colloquially called shooting stars.  Fireballs are reflective to radar, and the resulting echo can be analysed to deternine the meteors orbit, and study the effects of the meteor entering the atmosphere.  As these meteors are visible, additional information can be gained through simultaneous video of the event.  Depending on interests, potential student projects in this area could be related to designing and building a camera, radar data analysis, or machine learning techniques to classify echoes.
 
Bat radar
 
Microbats are typically studied using acoustic and thermal imaging techniques.  Studying and classifying micobats using radar is a relatively new but very promising technique.  Student projects in this area could focus on techniques to track the bat within the radar beams or building low cost RPi based acoustic sensors to complement radar detections.

I hold an adjunct position with the University, while working as Principal Scientist for ATRAD Pty Ltd, an Adelaide based radar research, development and manufacturing company.  While much of my research is focused on radar software, there are always some fun side projects!  Some of my current research topics are:

  • Optimising hardware and developing software to create an ecological radar to monitor birds and bats
  • Analysing non-traditional meteor echoes
  • Sensor fusion and incorporating machine learning into atmospheric sensing

I am happy to create and supervise student projects at any level, and can in some cases provide industry experience.  If you have an interest in atmospheric remote sensing please get in touch.

Date Position Institution name
2024 - ongoing Principal Scientist Atrad (Australia)
2010 - 2024 Senior Scientist Atrad (Australia)

Year Citation
2018 Verrall, G., Dolman, B., & Best, T. (2018). Applying physical science principles to mid-substance Achilles tendinopathy and the relationship to eccentric lengthening exercises. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 28(3), 1159-1165.
DOI Scopus6 WoS5 Europe PMC4
2018 Dolman, B. K., Reid, I. M., & Tingwell, C. (2018). Stratospheric tropospheric wind profiling radars in the Australian network. Earth, Planets and Space, 70(1), 10 pages.
DOI Scopus29 WoS24
2016 Verrall, G., & Dolman, B. (2016). Deducing a mechanism of all musculoskeletal injuries. Muscles, Ligaments and Tendons Journal, 6(2), 174-182.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC2
2014 Dolman, B., & Reid, I. (2014). Bias correction and overall performance of a VHF Spaced Antenna boundary layer profiler for operational weather forecasting. Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 118(A), 16-24.
DOI Scopus11 WoS6
2014 Li, G., Ning, B., Wan, W., Reid, I., Hu, L., Yue, X., . . . Dolman, B. (2014). Observational evidence of high-altitude meteor trail from radar interferometer. Geophysical Research Letters, 41(19), 6583-6589.
DOI Scopus7 WoS7
2014 Dolman, B., Verrall, G., & Reid, I. (2014). Physical principles demonstrate that the biceps femoris muscle relative to the other hamstring muscles exerts the most force: implications for hamstring muscle strain injuries. MLTJ : Muscles, Ligaments and Tendons Journal, 4(3), 371-377.
DOI Scopus27 Europe PMC23
2014 Li, G., Ning, B., Chu, Y. -H., Reid, I., Hu, L., Dolman, B., . . . Yan, C. (2014). Structural evolution of long-duration meteor trail irregularities driven by neutral wind. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 119(12), 10348-10357.
DOI Scopus11 WoS12
2013 Vincent, R., Alexander, M., Dolman, B., MacKinnon, A., May, P., Kovalam, S., & Reid, I. (2013). Gravity wave generation by convection and momentum deposition in the mesosphere-lower thermosphere. Journal of Geophysical Research; Atmospheres, 118(12), 6233-6245.
DOI Scopus20 WoS20
2012 Li, G., Ning, B., Hu, L., Chu, Y., Reid, I., & Dolman, B. (2012). A comparison of lower thermospheric winds derived from range spread and specular meteor trail echoes. Journal of Geophysical Research, 117(3), 1-12.
DOI Scopus35 WoS35
- Holdsworth, D. A., Reid, I. M., Dolman, B. K., Woithe, J. M., & Mayo, R. C. (2026). Ionospheric Vertical Total Electron Content Measurements Using VHF Radar Observations of Starlink Satellites. Remote Sensing, 18(8), 1165.
DOI

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