My research interest focuses on Space Physics and I have been passionate about it since my last year of high school.

Before coming to Boston University, I earned my Bachelor’s degree and my Master’s degree in Physics at the University of L’Aquila. My research there was focused on the Earth’s magnetosphere and, more in detail, on its response to interplanetary magnetic shocks. I have analyzed over 200 shocks in interplanetary space  (1998-2008) and their effects on the Earth’s magnetic field in order to compare the magnetospheric response with the Tsyganenko 2004 model that theoretically provides the terrestrial magnetic field. For any further details, please feel free to contact me.

At Boston University, I work as a Research Scientist in Prof. Wen Li‘s group of research. I focus on the loss processed occurring in terrestrial radiation belts. I am interested in understanding the driver of energetic electron precipitation in the upper atmosphere and quantifying its atmospheric impacts (e.g., HOx and NOx production, O3 losses). I use a variety of satellite data, from in-situ radiation belt observations, to LEO electron and proton flux measurements, including Solar Wind data as well. So far, we found substantial evidence that electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves drive precipitation of electrons with energy as low as hundreds of keV. This feature is quite surprising given that current theories explain precipitation due to EMIC waves only above ~1 MeV.

The wide variety and abundance of space physics data and the intrinsic correlations between phenomena from the Sun down to the ionosphere are ideal to be studied with machine and deep learning (which I find fascinating). Using supervised deep learning, I was able to develop a long short-term memory (LSTM) model that is able to identify relativistic electron precipitation and also classify these events into two main groups: precipitation driven by waves and precipitation driven by the stretching of the magnetic field lines. Right now, I am leveraging solar wind data to provide predictions of such precipitation events without having to rely on LEO satellites.

In the past, I have also studied Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), under Prof. Merav Opher‘s guidance. When a CME impacts the terrestrial magnetosphere, it can drive geomagnetic storms and all the associated space weather effects (malfunction of communication systems, damages to power grids, etc.). Some CMEs, however, undergo significant deflections, such that they change their trajectory before reaching 1 AU. My first project at BU focused on modeling the trajectory of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) with Christina Kay‘s ForeCAT model (Kay et al., 2015).
We have successfully reproduced the complex trajectory of the “Cartwheel” CME, a very peculiar CME that showed both rotation and a double latitudinal deflection (Capannolo et al., 2017). I have also used the Michigan BATS-R-US code (SWMF, Toth et al., 2012) to run simulations on CMEs, focusing on the magnetic reconnection that can occur while a CME travels in space.

 

Check out my recent publications and conference posters:

• “Properties of Relativistic Electron Precipitation: a Comparative Analysis of Wave-Induced and Field Line Curvature Scattering Processes” (Capannolo et al., 2024)
• “Unraveling the Atmospheric Energy Input and Ionization Due To EMIC-Driven Electron Precipitation From ELFIN Observations” (Capannolo et al., 2024)
• “Electron precipitation observed by ELFIN using proton precipitation as a proxy for electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves.” (Capannolo et al., 2023)
• “Identification and Classification of Relativistic Precipitation Events at Earth Using Supervised Deep Learning” (Capannolo et al., 2022)
• “Relativistic Electron Precipitation Near Midnight: Drivers, Distribution, and Properties” (Capannolo et al., 2022)
• AGU 2021 invited talk on “Evidence of Sub-Relativistic Electron Precipitation […] in Association with EMIC Waves”
• “Energetic Electron Precipitation Observed by FIREBIRD‐II Potentially Driven by EMIC Waves: Location, Extent, and Energy Range from a Multi‐Event Analysis” (Capannolo et al., 2021)
• AGU 2020 eLightning poster
• AGU 2019 eLightning poster
• “The Deflection of the Cartwheel CME: ForeCAT Results” (Capannolo et al., 2017)