Richard Dowden (scientist)

Richard Dowden is a New Zealand physicist and academic, known for his work in the fields of very low frequency (VLF) radio wave propagation in the ionosphere and magnetosphere, and the study of lightning. He is particularly recognized for his contributions to the understanding of whistlers, which are VLF radio waves generated by lightning and guided along magnetic field lines.

Dowden's research has focused on the use of whistlers and other VLF signals to probe the properties of the Earth's magnetosphere, including plasma density, electron temperature, and magnetic field configurations. His work has involved the development and deployment of specialized VLF receivers and signal processing techniques to analyze these signals.

He has held academic positions at the University of Otago, where he has supervised numerous postgraduate students and contributed significantly to physics education. His research has been published in leading scientific journals.