David Holdsworth

School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

I am a Principal Scientist in Sensor Systems in Sensors and Effectors Division, Defence Science & Technology (DST) Group.

I am also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Physics.

My research interests include ionospheric physics, signal processing, and space situational awareness.

I am currently (as of 2025) supervising an Honours Physics student who is working on a novel technique using radar detections of Starlink satellites to measure total electron content (TEC) between the ground and 570 km.

I have previously supervised and/or mentored PhD and MPhil students in Physics and Honours students in Physics and EEE. I am eager to supervise students in either Physics and EEE.

My publication record is as follows:

Co-author of book chapter “Ionospheric effects on HF propagation ”, “Advances in Ionospheric Research: Current Understanding and Challenges”, Wiley/AGU, to be published August 2019
Co-author of 52 (20 as lead author) papers published in refereed journal publications, including IEEE signal processing magazine, Radio Science, Advances in Space Research, Annales Geophysicae, “Earth, Planets, Space", Geophysical Research Letters, and Journal of Atmospheric and Solar Terrestrial Physics.
Co-author of 127 (55 as lead author) presentations made at national and international conferences, symposiums and workshops.
Co-author of five invited papers at international conferences

Sample publications:

[1] D. A. Holdsworth and I. M. Reid, Ionospheric vertical TEC measurements using radar observations of Starlink satellites, URSI Asia Pacific Radio Science Conference, August 2025

[2] D. A. Holdsworth, A. J. Spargo, I. M. Reid, C. L. Adami, “Space Domain Awareness Observations Using the Buckland Park VHF Radar.”. Remote Sensing, 16(7), 1252, 2024

[3] J. R. Jonker, M. A. Cervera, T. J. Harris, D. A. Holdsworth, A. D. MacKinnon, D. Neudegg, I. M. Reid, “Observational evidence of EMIC waves propagating in the mid-latitude ionospheric waveguide using ground-based HF and VHF radar”, Advances in Space Research, 2024

[4] D. A. Holdsworth, K. Mulder, M. D. Turley, “Jindalee operational radar network: New growth from old roots”, In 2022 IEEE Radar Conference (RadarConf22) (pp. 1-6), IEEE, 2022. 9 citations

[5] M. A. Cervera, T. J. Harris, D. A. Holdsworth and D. J. Netherway, “Ionospheric effects on HF propagation”, in “Advances in Ionospheric Research: Current Understanding and Challenges”, Wiley/AGU, December 2021. 17 citations

[6] R. S. Gardiner-Garden, M. Cervera, R. Debnam, T. Harris, A. Heitmann, D. A. Holdsworth, D. Netherway et al. "A description of the Elevation sensitive Oblique Incidence Sounder Experiment (ELOISE)." Advances in Space Research, 2019. 5 citations

[7] D. A. Holdsworth, "Skywave over-the-horizon radar track registration using earth surface and infrastructure backscatter." In 2017 IEEE Radar Conference, pp. 0986-0991. IEEE, 2017. 11 citations

[8] M.D.E. Turley, R.S. Gardiner-Garden and D. A. Holdsworth, “High Resolution wide area remote sensing for HF radar track registration”, International Conference on Radar, 2013. 20 citations

[9] M. Tsutsumi, A. S. Yukimatu, D. A. Holdsworth, M. Lester, “Advanced SuperDARN meteor wind observations based on raw time series analysis technique”, Radio Science, Apr 2009. 21 citations

[10] R. J. Morris, A. R. Klekociuk and D. A. Holdsworth, “First observations of Southern Hemisphere polar mesosphere winter echoes including conjugate occurrences at 69°S latitude”, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L03811, doi:10.1029/2010GL046298. 20 citations

[11] D. A. Holdsworth, I. M. Reid and M. A. Cervera, “The Buckland Park all-sky interferometric meteor radar”, Radio Science 39, RS5009, doi:10.1029/2003RS003014.2004, 2004. 229 citations

[12] D. A. Holdsworth and I. M. Reid, “A simple model of atmospheric radar backscatter: Description and application to the full correlation analysis of spaced antenna data”, Radio Sci., 30(4), 1263-1280, 1995. 121 citations

Career
Publications
Supervision
Contact

Education

Date Institution name Country Title

2009 - 2009 University of Melbourne Australia Graduate Program in Scientific Leadership

1991 - 1995 University of Adelaide Australia PhD

Date	Institution name	Country	Title
2009 - 2009	University of Melbourne	Australia	Graduate Program in Scientific Leadership
1991 - 1995	University of Adelaide	Australia	PhD

Journals

Year	Citation
2025	Hennessy, B., Yardley, H., Debnam, R., Camilleri, T. A., Spencer, N. K., Holdsworth, D. A., . . . Kharabash, S. (2025). Space Surveillance with High-Frequency Radar. Sensors, 25(7), 30 pages. DOI
2024	Jonker, J. R., Cervera, M. A., Harris, T. J., Holdsworth, D. A., MacKinnon, A. D., Neudegg, D., & Reid, I. M. (2024). Doppler variations in radar observations of resident space objects: Likely Ionospheric Pc1 plasma waves. Advances in Space Research, 74(5), 2430-2451. DOI Scopus1 WoS1
2024	SINGH, R. B., PARMAR, U. P. S., & JHANJI, V. (2024). Response to Comment on: Prevalence and Economic Burden of Keratoconus in the United States. American Journal of Ophthalmology, 260, 213. DOI
2024	Holdsworth, D. A., Spargo, A. J., Reid, I. M., & Adami, C. L. (2024). Space Domain Awareness Observations Using the Buckland Park VHF Radar. Remote Sensing, 16(7), 24 pages. DOI Scopus3 WoS3
2024	Heading, E., Nguyen, S. T., Holdsworth, D., & Reid, I. M. (2024). Micro-Doppler Signature Analysis for Space Domain Awareness Using VHF Radar. Remote Sensing, 16(8), 16 pages. DOI Scopus4 WoS3
2023	Fabrizio, G., Holdsworth, D., Ward, B., & Sinnott, D. (2023). Evolution of Over-The-Horizon Radar in Australia from Humble Origins to Operational Capabilities. IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, 38(1), 38-52. DOI Scopus14 WoS8
2020	Holdsworth, D. A., Spargo, A. J., Reid, I. M., & Adami, C. (2020). Low earth orbit object observations using the Buckland Park VHF radar. Radio Science, 55(2), 1-19. DOI Scopus12 WoS11
2019	Gardiner-Garden, R., Cervera, M., Debnam, R., Harris, T., Heitmann, A., Holdsworth, D., . . . Warne, G. (2019). A description of the Elevation sensitive Oblique Incidence Sounder Experiment (ELOISE). Advances in Space Research, 64(10), 1887-1914. DOI Scopus4 WoS3
2018	Heitmann, A. J., Cervera, M. A., Gardiner-Garden, R. S., Holdsworth, D. A., MacKinnon, A. D., Reid, I. M., & Ward, B. D. (2018). Observations and modeling of traveling ionospheric disturbance signatures from an Australian network of oblique angle-of-arrival sounders. Radio Science, 53(9), 1089-1107. DOI Scopus16 WoS11
2017	Spargo, A., Reid, I., MacKinnon, A., & Holdsworth, D. (2017). Mesospheric gravity wave momentum flux estimation using hybrid Doppler interferometry. Annales Geophysicae, 35(3), 733-750. DOI Scopus3 WoS3
2011	Morris, R., Klekociuk, A., & Holdsworth, D. (2011). First observations of Southern Hemisphere polar mesosphere winter echoes including conjugate occurrences at ∼69°S latitude. Geophysical Research Letters, 38(3), 1-6. DOI Scopus19 WoS19
2009	Morris, R. J., Klekociuk, A. R., & Holdsworth, D. A. (2009). Low latitude 2-day planetary wave impact on austral polar mesopause temperatures: revealed by a January diminution in PMSE above Davis, Antarctica. Geophysical Research Letters, 36(11), L11807-1-L11807-6. DOI Scopus14 WoS14
2009	Younger, J., Reid, I., Vincent, R., Holdsworth, D., & Murphy, D. (2009). A southern hemisphere survey of meteor shower radiants and associated stream orbits using single station radar observations. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 398(1), 350-356. DOI Scopus28 WoS28
2009	Tsutsumi, M., Yukimatu, A. S., Holdsworth, D. A., & Lester, M. (2009). Advanced SuperDARN meteor wind observations based on raw time series analysis technique. Radio Science, 44(2). DOI Scopus13
2008	Latteck, R., Singer, W., Morris, R. J., Hocking, W. K., Murphy, D. J., Holdsworth, D. A., & Swarnalingam, N. (2008). Similarities and differences in polar mesosphere summer echoes observed in the Arctic and Antarctica. Annales Geophysicae, 26(9), 2795-2806. DOI Scopus41
2008	Singer, W., Latteck, R., & Holdsworth, D. A. (2008). A new narrow beam Doppler radar at 3 MHz for studies of the high-latitude middle atmosphere. Advances in Space Research, 41(9), 1488-1494. DOI Scopus35
2008	Younger, J., Reid, I., Vincent, R., & Holdsworth, D. (2008). Modeling and observing the effect of aerosols on meteor radar measurements of the atmosphere. Geophysical Research Letters, 35(15), 015812 -01-015812-04. DOI Scopus15 WoS16
2008	Holdsworth, D., Reid, I., Murphy, D., & Morris, R. (2008). Antarctic meteor observations using the Davis MST and meteor radars. Advances in Space Research, 42(1), 143-154. DOI Scopus37 WoS38
2008	Kirkwood, S., Nilsson, H., Morris, R. J., Klekociuk, A. R., Holdsworth, D. A., & Mitchell, N. J. (2008). A new height for the summer mesopause: Antarctica, December 2007. Geophysical Research Letters, 35(23), 5 pages. DOI Scopus22 WoS18
2007	Morris, R. J., Murphy, D. J., Klekociuk, A. R., & Holdsworth, D. A. (2007). First complete season of PMSE observations above Davis, Antarctica, and their relation to winds and temperatures. Geophysical Research Letters, 34(5), 5 pages. DOI Scopus33 WoS27
2007	Latteck, R., Singer, W., Morris, R. J., Holdsworth, D. A., & Murphy, D. J. (2007). Observation of polar mesosphere summer echoes with calibrated VHF radars at 69° in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Geophysical Research Letters, 34(14). DOI Scopus30
2007	Holdsworth, D., Elford, W., Vincent, R., Reid, I., Murphy, D., & Singer, W. (2007). All-sky interferometric meteor radar meteoroid speed estimation using the Fresnel transform. Annales Geophysicae-atmospheres Hydrospheres and Space Sciences, 25(2), 385-398. DOI Scopus22 WoS22
2006	Reid, I., Holdsworth, D., Morris, R., Murphy, D., & Vincent, R. (2006). Meteor observations using the Davis mesosphere-stratosphere-troposphere radar. Journal of Geophysical Research, 111(A5), 1-9. DOI Scopus25 WoS25
2006	Morris, R., Murphy, D., Vincent, R., Holdsworth, D., Klekociuk, A., & Reid, I. (2006). Characteristics of the wind, temperature and PMSE field above Davis, Antarctica. Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 68(3-5), 418-435. DOI Scopus38 WoS36
2006	Holdsworth, D., Morris, R., Murphy, D., Reid, I., Burns, G., & French, W. (2006). Antarctic mesospheric temperature estimation using the Davis mesosphere-stratosphere-troposphere radar. Journal of Geophysical Research, 111(D5), 1-13. DOI Scopus50 WoS44
2006	Hall, C. M., Aso, T., Tsutsumi, M., Höffner, J., Sigernes, F., & Holdsworth, D. A. (2006). Neutral air temperatures at 90 km and 70°N and 78°N. Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 111(14). DOI Scopus37
2005	Morris, R. J., Holdsworth, D. A., Murphy, D. J., & Monselesan, D. M. (2005). E-region bifurcation and magnetic field related Bragg backscattered spectral events observed at high-latitude by MF radar. Geophysical Research Letters, 32(23), 1-4. DOI
2005	Holdsworth, D. A. (2005). Angle of arrival estimation for all-sky interferometric meteor radar systems. Radio Science, 40(6). DOI Scopus18
2005	Morris, R. J., Terkildsen, M. B., Holdsworth, D. A., & Hyde, M. R. (2005). Is there a causal relationship between cosmic noise absorption and PMSE. Geophysical Research Letters, 32(24), 1-4. DOI Scopus14
2005	Reid, I., Holdsworth, D., Kovalam, S., Vincent, R., & Stickland, J. (2005). Mount Gambier (38°S, 141°E) prototype VHF wind profiler. Radio Science, 40(5), S5007-1-S5007-14. DOI Scopus10 WoS10
2004	Holdsworth, D., Tsutsumi, M., Reid, I., Nakamura, T., & Tsuda, T. (2004). Interferometric meteor radar phase calibration using meteor echoes. Radio Science, 39(RS5012), 1-12. DOI Scopus29 WoS28
2004	Holdsworth, D., & Reid, I. (2004). Comparisons of full correlation analysis (FCA) and imaging Doppler interferometry (IDI) winds using the Buckland Park MF radar. Annales Geophysicae-atmospheres Hydrospheres and Space Sciences, 22(11), 3829-3842. DOI Scopus23 WoS22
2004	Holdsworth, D., Reid, I., & Cervera, M. (2004). Buckland Park all-sky interferometric meteor radar. Radio Science, 39(RS5009), 1-12. DOI Scopus188 WoS177
2004	Cervera, M., Holdsworth, D., Reid, I., & Tsutsumi, M. (2004). Meteor radar response function: Application to the interpretation of meteor backscatter at medium frequency. Journal of Geophysical Research, 109(A11), 1-10. DOI Scopus5 WoS5
2004	Holdsworth, D., & Reid, I. (2004). The Buckland Park MF radar: routine observation scheme and velocity comparisons. Annales Geophysicae-atmospheres Hydrospheres and Space Sciences, 22(11), 3815-3828. DOI Scopus26 WoS26
2004	Morris, R., Murphy, D., Reid, I., Holdsworth, D., & Vincent, R. (2004). First polar mesosphere summer echoes observed at Davis, Antarctica (68.6°S). Geophysical Research Letters, 31(L16111), 1-4. DOI Scopus42 WoS40
2002	Vuthaluru, R., Vincent, R., Holdsworth, D., & Reid, I. (2002). Collision frequencies in the D-region. Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 64(18), 2043-2054. DOI Scopus16 WoS18
2002	Holdsworth, D., Vuthaluru, R., Reid, I., & Vincent, R. (2002). Differential absorption measurements of mesospheric and lower thermospheric electron densities using the Buckland Park MF radar. Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 64(18), 2029-2042. DOI Scopus21 WoS22
2001	Hobbs, B., Reid, I., & Holdsworth, D. (2001). A comparison of tropospheric VHF Doppler beam steering and full correlation analysis measurements of aspect sensitivity. Radio Science, 36(5), 955-964. DOI Scopus7 WoS7
2001	Holdsworth, D., Vincent, R., & Reid, I. (2001). Mesospheric turbulent velocity estimation using the Buckland Park MF radar. Annales Geophysicae-atmospheres Hydrospheres and Space Sciences, 19(8), 1007-1017. DOI Scopus29 WoS30
2000	Hobbs, B., Reid, I., & Holdsworth, D. (2000). Evidence of titled layers in angle of arrival and Doppler beam steering power measurements. Radio Science, 35(4), 983-997. DOI Scopus6 WoS6
1999	Holdsworth, D. A. (1999). Spatial correlation analysis revisited: theory, and application to 'radar backscatter model' data. Radio Science, 34(3), 629-641. DOI Scopus8
1999	Holdsworth, D. A. (1999). Influence of instrumental effects upon the full correlation analysis. Radio Science, 34(3), 643-655. DOI Scopus24
1999	Tsutsumi, M., Holdsworth, D., Nakamura, T., & Reid, I. (1999). Meteor observations with an MF radar. Earth Planets Space, 51(7-8), 691-699. DOI Scopus31 WoS30
1997	Holdsworth, D., & Reid, I. (1997). The spatial correlation analysis revisited. Advances in Space Research, 20(6), 1281-1284. DOI Scopus1 WoS1
1997	Holdsworth, D., & Reid, I. (1997). An investigation of biases in the full correlation analysis technique. Advances in Space Research, 20(6), 1269-1272. DOI Scopus13 WoS13
1997	Holdsworth, D. A. (1997). An investigation of biases in the full spectral analysis technique. Radio Science, 32(2), 769-782. DOI Scopus4
1995	Holdsworth, D., & Reid, I. (1995). Spaced antenna analysis of atmospheric radar backscatter model data. Radio Science, 30(5), 1417-1434. DOI Scopus23 WoS25
1995	Holdsworth, D., & Reid, I. (1995). A simple model of atmospheric radar backscatter: Description and application to the full correlation analysis of spaced antenna data. Radio Science, 30(4), 1263-1995. DOI Scopus85 WoS75
1993	Barrett, R. F., & Holdsworth, D. A. (1993). Frequency Tracking Using Hidden Markov Models with Amplitude and Phase Information. IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, 41(10), 2965-2976. DOI Scopus27
-	Antarctic meteor observations using the Davis MST and meteor radars (n.d.).

Book Chapters

Year	Citation
2021	Cervera, M. A., Harris, T. J., Holdsworth, D. A., & Netherway, D. J. (2021). Ionospheric Effects on HF Radio Wave Propagation. In Ionosphere Dynamics and Applications (pp. 441-492). Wiley. DOI Scopus15

Conference Papers

Year	Citation
2023	Jonker, J., Cervera, M., Holdsworth, D., Neudegg, D., Harris, T., MacKinnon, A., & Reid, I. (2023). Impact of Ionospheric Doppler Perturbations on Space Domain Awareness Observations. In Proceedings of the IEEE Radar Conference (pp. 1-6). Online: IEEE. DOI Scopus2
2023	Hennessy, B., Yardley, H., Holdsworth, D. A., Debnam, R., Jessop, M., & Warne, G. (2023). Velocity Ambiguity Resolution using Opposite Chirprates with LFM Radar. In Proceedings of the IEEE Radar Conference (pp. 1-6). IEEE. DOI Scopus4
2023	Hennessy, B., Holdsworth, D. A., Yardley, H., Debnam, R., Warne, G., & Jessop, M. (2023). Effects of Range Doppler-rate Coupling on High Frequency Chirp Radar for Accelerating Targets. In Proceedings of the IEEE Radar Conference (pp. 1-6). IEEE. DOI Scopus1
2022	Holdsworth, D. A., Mulder, K., & Turley, M. D. E. (2022). Jindalee Operational Radar Network: New Growth from Old Roots. In Proceedings of the IEEE Radar Conference (pp. 1-6). IEEE. DOI Scopus9
2022	Heading, E., Nguyen, S. T., Holdsworth, D., Field, D., & Reid, I. (2022). Analysis of RF Signatures for Space Domain Awareness using VHF radar. In Proceedings of the IEEE Radar Conference (pp. 6 pages). New York, NY: IEEE. DOI Scopus4 WoS3
2017	Holdsworth, D. A. (2017). Skywave over-the-horizon radar track registration using earth surface and infrastructure backscatter. In 2017 IEEE Radar Conference Radarconf 2017 (pp. 0986-0991). IEEE. DOI Scopus10
2017	Heitman, A. J., Cervera, M. A., Gardiner-Garden, R. S., Holdsworth, D. A., MacKinnon, A. D., Reid, I. M., & Ward, B. D. (2017). Observations and modeling of traveling ionospheric disturbance signatures from an Australian network of oblique angle-of-arrival sounders. In Proceedings of the 32nd General Assembly and Scientific Symposium of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI GASS 2017) Vol. 2017-January (pp. 1-4). Montreal, Canada: IEEE. DOI Scopus2 WoS1
2013	Holdsworth, D. A. (2013). Over-the-horizon radar continuous-wave interference suppression using harmonic least-squares fitting. In 2013 International Conference on Radar Beyond Orthodoxy New Paradigms in Radar Radar 2013 (pp. 106-111). IEEE. DOI Scopus1
2013	Turley, M. D. E., Gardiner-Garden, R. S., & Holdsworth, D. A. (2013). High-resolution wide area remote sensing for HF radar track registration. In 2013 International Conference on Radar Beyond Orthodoxy New Paradigms in Radar Radar 2013 (pp. 128-133). IEEE. DOI Scopus19
2012	Holdsworth, D. A. (2012). An over-the-horizon radar performance assessment module for use in cognitive radar. In Iet Conference Publications Vol. 2012 (pp. 34). Institution of Engineering and Technology. DOI Scopus5
2009	Morris, R. J., Klekociuk, A. R., Latteck, R., Singer, W., Holdsworth, D. A., & Murphy, D. J. (2009). Inter-hemispheric asymmetry in polar mesosphere summer echoes and temperature at 69° latitude. In R. L. Collins, S. M. Bailey, U. Bailey, F. -J. Luebken, & A. W. Merkel (Eds.), Global Perspectives on the Aeronomy of the Summer Mesopause Region: Eighth International Workshop on Layered Phenomena in the Mesopause Region, as published in Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics Vol. 71 (pp. 464-469). Fairbanks, Alaska: Elsevier. DOI Scopus19 WoS16
2008	Holdsworth, D. A., & Fabrizio, G. A. (2008). HF interference mitigation using STAP with dynamic degrees of freedom allocation. In Proceedings of the 2008 International Conference on Radar Radar 2008 (pp. 317-322). IEEE. DOI Scopus4
2008	Fabrizio, G. A., & Holdsworth, D. A. (2008). Adaptive mitigation of spread clutter in high frequency surface-wave radar. In Proceedings of the 2008 International Conference on Radar Radar 2008 (pp. 235-240). IEEE. DOI Scopus5
2007	Fabrizio, G., Holdsworth, D., & Farina, A. (2007). Experimental HF radar trial of real-time STAP. In 2007 International Waveform Diversity and Design Conference Wdd (pp. 316-320). IEEE. DOI Scopus9
2005	Singer, W., Latteck, R., Friedrich, M., Dalin, P., Kirkwood, S., Engler, N., & Holdsworth, D. (2005). D-region electron densities obtained by diffeeential absorption and phase measurements with a 3-MHz Doppler radar. In European Space Agency Special Publication ESA SP (pp. 233-237). Scopus6
2003	Holdsworth, D., Reid, I., Vuthaluru, R., & Vincent, R. (2003). Mesospheric and lower thermospheric observations using the Buckland Park medium frequency radar. In D. Sinnott (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Radar 2003 (pp. CDROM 276-CDROM 281). CDROM: IEEE. DOI Scopus1

Datasets

Year	Citation
-	Holdsworth, D., Spargo, A., Reid, I., & adami, C. (n.d.). Low Earth Orbit object observations using the Buckland Park VHF radar by Holdsworth et al, Radio Science 2019. DOI
-	Holdsworth, D., Reid, I., Spargo, A., & adami, C. (n.d.). <b>Space Domain Awareness Observations Using the </b><b>Buckland Park VHF Radar</b>. DOI

Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

Date	Role	Research Topic	Program	Degree Type	Student Load	Student Name
2018 - 2020	Co-Supervisor	Characterising Spatial and Temporal Ionospheric Variability with a Network of Oblique Angle-of-arrival and Doppler Ionosondes	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Part Time	Mr Andrew James Heitmann

Email: david.holdsworth@adelaide.edu.au

David Holdsworth

Education

Journals

Book Chapters

Conference Papers

Datasets

Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

Connect With Me

External Profiles