Hanumant Shankar Sawant

Hanumant Shankar Sawant (13 August 1939 – 27 December 2025) was a radio astronomer and one of the pioneers of the Brazilian solar radio astronomy. He was the key scientist behind the concept, design, and installation of the Brazilian Decimetric Array (BDA).[1] Under his leadership, an outstanding group in radio astrophysics was built at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in Brazil.[2]

Hanumant Shankar Sawant
Born(1939-08-13)13 August 1939
Pune, British India
Died27 December 2025(2025-12-27) (aged 86)
CitizenshipBrazilian
Alma materFergusson College
Known forBrazilian Decimetric Array (BDA)
Scientific career
Doctoral advisorRajaram Vishnu Bhonsle

Early life and education

Hanumant Sawant was born at Pune, India, in 1939. He received a BSc degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from the University of Bombay in 1964, an MSc in Physics in 1971 from Ahmedabad University, and a PhD in Physical Sciences from the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in 1977. He was at the Department of Astronomy of the University of Maryland (1978–1979) and the Space Science Laboratory of the University of California, Berkeley, USA (1980–1981). In 1982, he became an Associate Researcher of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in Brazil. He became Project Director of the BDA in 2002 and retired from INPE in 2015.

Major contributions

His main contributions involved observational and theoretical precursor studies of fine structures in solar noise storms at decametric frequencies and high-energy solar flares, in collaboration with leading scientists such as R.V. Bhonsle, S.K. Alurkar, S.S. Degaonkar, M. Kundu, P. Kaufmann and S.R. Kane.[3][4][5][6] In 1982, he participated in the innovative investigation on the interplanetary effects of solar flares that occurred in 1979; in 1984, he published the results [7] in partnership with S.R. Kane and A. Hewish, the Nobel Prize winner in physics in 1974. This was pioneering work in the scientific field that is now known as space weather.

He was the lead researcher for the development of several instruments in solar radio astronomy: ROI Millimeter Radiometer (18–23 GHz) at the Itapetinga Radio Observatory (Atibaia, SP),[8] the Decimetric Solar Spectrometer (1.2-1.7 GHz), the Brazilian Solar Spectroscope (BSS) (1.0-2.5 GHz),[9] and the Brazilian Decimetric Array (BDA), for which he served as General Coordinator from 2001.

Personal life

Prof. Hanumant Sawant was married to Ratna Sawant and resided in São José dos Campos, state of São Paulo, Brazil. He had one daughter, Vidula Sawant, and one son, Abhijit Sawant (married to Sandra). He was the grandfather of Kyle, Enzo, and Enya. Sawant died on 27 December 2025.

References

  1. ^ Sawant, H. S.; Gopalswamy, N; Rosa, R. R.; Sych, R. A.; Anfinogentov, S. A.; Fernandes, F. C. R.; Cecatto, J. R.; Costa, J. E. R. (2011). "The Brazilian decimetric array and space weather". Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics. 73 (11–12): 1300–1310. Bibcode:2011JASTP..73.1300S. doi:10.1016/j.jastp.2010.09.009. ISSN 1364-6826.
  2. ^ "Brazilian Decimetric Array (BDA)". Archived from the original on 18 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  3. ^ Sawant, H. S.; Alurkar, S. K.; Bhonsle, R. V. (1975). "New microstructure of decametre solar radio bursts". Nature. 253 (5490): 329–330. Bibcode:1975Natur.253..329S. doi:10.1038/253329a0. ISSN 0028-0836. S2CID 4156131.
  4. ^ Sawant, H. S.; Gergely, T. E.; Kundu, M. R. (1982). "Positions of type II fundamental and harmonic sources in the 30?100 MHz range". Solar Physics. 77 (1–2): 249–254. Bibcode:1982SoPh...77..249S. doi:10.1007/BF00156107. ISSN 0038-0938. S2CID 119689947.
  5. ^ Bhonsle, R.V.; Sawant, H.S.; Degaonkar, S.S. (1979). "Exploration of the solar corona by high resolution solar decametric observations". Space Science Reviews. 24 (3): 259. Bibcode:1979SSRv...24..259B. doi:10.1007/BF00212422. ISSN 0038-6308. S2CID 121751213.
  6. ^ Sawant, H.S.; Kaufmann, P.; Correia, E.; Costa, J.E.R.; Zlobec, P.; Messerotti, M.; Fornasari, L. (1984). "Association of time structures of solar bursts at millimetric and at metric waves". Advances in Space Research. 4 (7): 251–254. doi:10.1016/0273-1177(84)90192-3. ISSN 0273-1177.
  7. ^ Kane, S. R.; Bird, M. K.; Domingo, V; Green, G.; Gapper, G. R.; Hevish, A.; Howard, R. A.; Iwers, B.; Jackson, B. v.; Koren, U.; Kunow, H.; Muller-Mellin, R.; Roupolt, B.; Sanahuja, B.; Sawant, H. S.; et al. (1984). "Energetics and Interplanetary Effects of the August 14 and 18, 1979 Solar Flares: Summary of Observations Made during the Smy/stip Event no" (PDF). Solar/Interplanetary Intervals: 175. Bibcode:1984sii..conf..175K. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 August 2019.
  8. ^ Sawant, H. S.; Rosa, R. R.; Cecatto, J. R.; Gopalswamy, N. (1994). "Solar Simple Bursts Observed with High Spectral Resolution in the 18-23 GHZ Range". International Astronomical Union Colloquium. 142: 693–695. doi:10.1017/S0252921100077976. ISSN 0252-9211.
  9. ^ Sawant, H.S.; Cecatto, J.R.; Mészárosová, H.; Faria, C.; Fernandes, F.C.R.; Karlický, M.; de Andrade, M.C. (2009). "Highlights of the Brazilian Solar Spectroscope". Advances in Space Research. 44 (1): 54–57. Bibcode:2009AdSpR..44...54S. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2009.03.019. ISSN 0273-1177.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.