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The effects of solar flares in the D-region ionosphere at two high-latitude stations: Maitri (70.75°S, 11.75°E) and Abisko (68.4°N, 18.9°E), located in different hemispheres are studied. We analyzed 37 M-class flares and 6 X-class flares of the year 2014, which occurred when either or both stations were in the sun-lit side of the Earth. Cosmic Noise Absorption (CNA) curves are obtained using the datasets of riometers located at the two stations and are analyzed for all the 43 events under study. This paper discusses: 1) relationship between CNA and flare magnitude, 2) relationship between CNA and solar zenith angle (SZA), 3) hemispheric asymmetry in the observed solar flare associate CNA (or SCNA), and 4) the effect of background ionospheric condition in the SCNA magnitude at the two high latitude stations. It is observed that the solar flare effect in SCNA strongly depends on the SZA and flare intensity. Our analysis reveals that the flare response in SCNA for the year 2014 was stronger at Abisko than at Maitri. There is an observed hemispheric asymmetry in the solar flare ionization at D-region ionosphere for the given latitude. This asymmetry can be attributed to the previously enhanced background ionospheric ionization during particle precipitation processes. This study shows the need to establish an empirical relationship between the observed CNA vs. flare intensity, SZA and latitudinal position; especially when we go higher in latitudes.

Abstract Spectral Resonance Structures (SRS) of Ionospheric Alfven Resonator (IAR) are investigated by analysing the magnetic field data of a high sampling frequency induction coil magnetometer, installed at a low latitude Indian station, Shillong $$(25.56^\circ N, 91.86^\circ E, dipole L=1.08 )$$ ( 25 . 56 ∘ N , 91 . 86 ∘ E , d i p o l e L = 1.08 ) . One of the distinguishing features of IAR resonance structure observed at this latitude is the excitation of two spectral resonance structures simultaneously, one with a small frequency separation and the other with a large frequency separation of subsequent harmonics. The seasonal variation shows that the occurrence of double SRS is more favoured during winter, where, out of the total IAR events observed during winter, about $$47\%$$ 47 % show clear signatures of double SRS and no double SRS are observed during summer. We have examined the altitudinal variation of refractive index using IRI 2016 model to understand the role of local ionospheric conditions in the formation of double spectral resonance structures. Our study reveals that the excitation of double SRS is related to the E-region to F-region variability of refractive index of the ionosphere. We also report that the double spectral resonance structures at Shillong are always observed only in the $${B}_{x}$$ B x component of the magnetic field variation. Graphical Abstract

Due to the introduction of zero-till wheat in the Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP) in India, irrigation and fertilizer nitrogen (N) management needs to be modified from that followed under conventionally tilled fields. A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of irrigation and N levels on yield and N uptake by zero-till wheat, fertilizer N-use efficiency, and distribution of nitrate-N (NO3-N) in a soil profile under zero-till conditions in an acidic alluvial soil of the eastern IGP. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with four levels of irrigation as main plots (I0-no irrigation, rain-fed, I1-122 mm in one irrigation at 21 days after sowing (DAS), I2-263 mm in two irrigations at 21 and 42 DAS, and I3-386 mm in three irrigations at 21, 42, and 84 DAS) and 4 N levels [0 (N0), 60 (N1), 120 (N2), and 150 (N3) kg N ha−1] as subplots. Grain and straw yields were significantly higher at the irrigation level-I2 and 120 kg N ha−1-N2 over the control (I0 and N0) and were at par with the highest applied levels of irrigation and N (I3 and N3). The nitrogen uptake by wheat followed a trend similar to yield for irrigation levels; however, it increased significantly up to 150 kg N ha−1. After the harvest of wheat crop, more NO3-N was observed in the 60–90 cm subsurface soil layer than in the surface 0–15 cm and/or 15–30 cm and 30–60 cm subsurface soil layers. The highest NO3-N concentration was recorded in the treatment I2N2. Accumulation of NO3-N in the soil increased up to irrigation levels I2 and with increasing doses of fertilizer N application. Combined applications of irrigation and N had a positive and significant influence on agronomic efficiency (AE) and apparent N recovery (ANR) but had no significant effect on physiological efficiency (PE). This study suggests that an appropriate combination of irrigation and N levels in zero-till wheat can lead to not only high-yield levels and N-use efficiency but also adequately control NO3-N leaching under acidic alluvial soils in the eastern IGP.

Iodine chemistry has noteworthy impacts on the oxidising capacity of the marine boundary layer (MBL) through the depletion of ozone (O3) and changes to HOx (OH∕HO2) and NOx (NO∕NO2) ratios. Hitherto, studies have shown that the reaction of atmospheric O3 with surface seawater iodide (I−) contributes to the flux of iodine species into the MBL mainly as hypoiodous acid (HOI) and molecular iodine (I2). Here, we present the first concomitant observations of iodine oxide (IO), O3 in the gas phase, and sea surface iodide concentrations. The results from three field campaigns in the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean during 2015–2017 are used to compute reactive iodine fluxes in the MBL. Observations of atmospheric IO by multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) show active iodine chemistry in this environment, with IO values up to 1 pptv (parts per trillion by volume) below latitudes of 40∘ S. In order to compute the sea-to-air iodine flux supporting this chemistry, we compare previously established global sea surface iodide parameterisations with new region-specific parameterisations based on the new iodide observations. This study shows that regional changes in salinity and sea surface temperature play a role in surface seawater iodide estimation. Sea–air fluxes of HOI and I2, calculated from the atmospheric ozone and seawater iodide concentrations (observed and predicted), failed to adequately explain the detected IO in this region. This discrepancy highlights the need to measure direct fluxes of inorganic and organic iodine species in the marine environment. Amongst other potential drivers of reactive iodine chemistry investigated, chlorophyll a showed a significant correlation with atmospheric IO (R=0.7 above the 99 % significance level) to the north of the polar front. This correlation might be indicative of a biogenic control on iodine sources in this region.

The in-hand study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of intervention program on the intelligence quotient, focus factor, decision making ability, creative quotient and academic achievement of students. The longitudinal study was conducted on a sample of 4822 boys and girls aged between 7 and 16 years of age in Chandigarh and Punjab Students of these age groups were the target for the research because this wide range was helpful to analyse the impact of intervention program among respondents of experimental group. In the present research study, socio demographic data sheet, cognitive ability assessment and multiple intelligence scale were used to get the primary quantitative data for further analysis. The procedure involved eleven stages. These stages were followed with the timeline so as to get the reliable findings. The program lasted for around 12 months. During this one year, the respondents in both the groups were assessed 5 times. Academic scores were taken pre and post assessment for analysis. During this time span, a total of 720 customised tasksheets were given to only the respondents belonging to the experimental group while no tasksheet was given to students of the control group. The study found vibrant increase in the cognitive abilities and academic achievement of students.

Educational process is complete when the objectives are met, and with this purpose, teachers select instructional methods, media and evaluation. The study was conducted on a sample of 493 students who were 14 years of age. The sample was selected from private schools of Punjab and Chandigarh. They were divided into experimental and control groups. During the programme, five assessments were conducted on all the respondents but the worksheets were given only to the subjects in experimental group. The entire programme was taken up in around 12 months. Eventually, it was found that owing to the personalized instructions system to teach students in experimental group, there was witnessed significant soar in their cognitive abilities and academic achievement. In contrast, insignificant changes were witnessed among their control group counterparts after the intervention programme.

Cyclone Ockhi hit Sri Lanka and southern parts of India in Nov–Dec 2017 with a devastating social impact. The present paper reports that the cyclone had a significant effect on the γ-ray flux measured by NaI (Tl) detector. An overall decrease is observed in the γ-ray flux during the passage of cyclone; however, a detailed investigation revealed that different energies show varying results. In the energy range between 250 – 450 keV, a decrease up to ~14% is observed, whereas an increase up to ~45% is observed in the energy range between 600 keV – 2.7 MeV. The energies above 2.7 MeV do not show any change. This is the first-ever observation of the varying effects of the cyclone with the energy bands of the γ-ray spectrum. We found that the increase observed in the energy range of 600 keV – 2.7 MeV is primarily due to the increase in the terrestrial radioactivity (peaks of 222Rn daughters), which is brought over by the rainfall accompanied with the cyclone. The study indicates that the decrease in the lower energy range of the γ-ray flux could be due to the attenuation caused by the increased tropospheric air-mass associated with the cyclone over the observation site. The high energy γ-rays are not affected due to the cyclone.

Abstract Rashba spin-orbit splitting in the magnetic materials opens up a new perspective in the field of spintronics. Here, we report a giant Rashba spin-orbit splitting on the PrGe [010] surface in the paramagnetic phase with Rashba coefficient α R = 5 eVÅ. We find that α R can be tuned in this system as a function of temperature at different magnetic phases. Rashba type spin polarized surface states originates due to the strong hybridization between Pr 4f states with the conduction electrons. Significant changes observed in the spin polarized surface states across the magnetic transitions are due to the competition between Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction and exchange interaction present in this system. Presence of Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction on the topological surface give rise to Saddle point singularity which leads to electron-like and hole-like Rashba spin split bands in the $$\bar{{\boldsymbol{Z}}}^{\prime} -\bar{{\boldsymbol{\Gamma }}}-\bar{{\boldsymbol{Z}}}$$ Z ¯ ′ − Γ ¯ − Z ¯ and $$\bar{{\boldsymbol{X}}}^{\prime} -\bar{{\boldsymbol{\Gamma }}}-\bar{{\boldsymbol{X}}}$$ X ¯ ′ − Γ ¯ − X ¯ directions, respectively. Supporting evidences of Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction have been obtained as anisotropic magnetoresistance with respect to field direction and first-order type hysteresis in the X-ray diffraction measurements. A giant negative magnetoresistance of 43% in the antiferromagnetic phase and tunable Rashba parameter with temperature makes this material a suitable candidate for application in the antiferromagnetic spintronic devices.

Introduction: Anti-thyroid antibodies not only cause thyroid dysfunction but have independent adverse outcomes in the fetus and mother during pregnancy and after birth. Chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis as a presentation of immune system deregulation may be associated with a generalized activation of the immune system at the fetus–maternal unit, the placenta. This interference could be associated with pregnancy morbidities in m o t h e r a n d fetus. This study was done to find out the frequency of autoimmune thyroid disease and its effect on maternal and fetal outcomes in a tertiary care facility in Jharkhand. Method: This is an Observational Prospective Study done during an 18-month period on 254 pregnant women in their second trimester who came to the antenatal clinic (ANC) clinic with singleton pregnancy at RIMS Ranchi. Result: 222 (87.4%) out of the 254 pregnant women had anti- TPO antibodies less than 35 IU/ml. Anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) antibody positivity with values greater than 35 IU/ml was found in 32 patients (12.6%). Anti-TPO antibody mean value was 22.54 ± 19.67 IU/ml. Among the 222 individuals who tested negative for the anti-TPO antibody, 7 (3.3%) had miscarriages, 182 (88.3%) gave birth vaginally, and 33 (14.9%) underwent a cesarean section. Of the 32 individuals who tested positive for the anti-TPO antibody, 2 (6.3%) had miscarriages, 24 (75.0%) had vaginal deliveries, and 6 (18.8%) had cesarean sections. Using the Chi-square test, a P value of 0.549 was calculated, indicating statistical insignificance (Pearson Chi-square test value = 0.200a). Conclusion: Anti-TPO antibody positivity was significantly related to miscarriage and anemia. Other complications like preterm delivery, pre-eclampsia, and low birth weight were higher in anti-TPO antibody-positive patients as compared to anti-TPO antibody-negative patients. However, these findings were not statistically significant.

Precipitation of high-energy electrons (EEP) into the polar middle atmosphere is a potential source of significant production of odd nitrogen, which may play a role in stratospheric ozone destruction and in perturbing large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns. High-speed streams of solar wind (HSS) are a major source of energization and precipitation of electrons from the Earth's radiation belts, but it remains to be determined whether these electrons make a significant contribution to the odd-nitrogen budget in the middle atmosphere when compared to production by solar protons or by lower-energy (auroral) electrons at higher altitudes, with subsequent downward transport. Satellite observations of EEP are available, but their accuracy is not well established. Studies of the ionization of the atmosphere in response to EEP, in terms of cosmic-noise absorption (CNA), have indicated an unexplained seasonal variation in HSS-related effects and have suggested possible order-of-magnitude underestimates of the EEP fluxes by the satellite observations in some circumstances. Here we use a model of ionization by EEP coupled with an ion chemistry model to show that published average EEP fluxes, during HSS events, from satellite measurements (Meredith et al., 2011), are fully consistent with the published average CNA response (Kavanagh et al., 2012). The seasonal variation of CNA response can be explained by ion chemistry with no need for any seasonal variation in EEP. Average EEP fluxes are used to estimate production rate profiles of nitric oxide between 60 and 100 km heights over Antarctica for a series of unusually well separated HSS events in austral winter 2010. These are compared to observations of changes in nitric oxide during the events, made by the sub-millimetre microwave radiometer on the Odin spacecraft. The observations show strong increases of nitric oxide amounts between 75 and 90 km heights, at all latitudes poleward of 60° S, about 10 days after the arrival of the HSS. These are of the same order of magnitude but generally larger than would be expected from direct production by HSS-associated EEP, indicating that downward transport likely contributes in addition to direct production.

The temperature dependent structural studies carried out on the spin-correlated system A2FeCoO6 (A= Sm, Eu, Dy and Ho) or AFCO (A= Sm, E, D and H), using synchrotron radiation is presented. Owing to the large absorption cross-sections of the rare earths; Eu, Sm and Dy for neutrons, synchrotron radiation is one of the best available candidates for probing the system. The perovskite phase formation is inferred from laboratory XRD with Cu Kα source. The temperature dependent synchrotron X-ray diffraction (SXRD) experiments show the coexistence of monoclinic P21/n and orthorhombic Pbnm phases in Ho and Dy, while Eu and Sm are formed in single phase Pbnm. The temperature dependent DC magnetization measurements infer the presence of many interesting features such as thermal hysteresis, magnetic irreversibility, spin re-orientation, re-entrant magnetization and negative magnetization.

With the introduction of x-ray free electron laser sources around the world, new scientific approaches for visualizing matter at fundamental length and time-scales have become possible. As it relates to magnetism and ‘magnetic-type’ systems, advanced scattering methods are being developed for studying ultrafast magnetic responses on the time-scales at which they occur. We describe three capabilities which have the potential to seed new directions in this area and presentoriginal results from each: pump-probe x-ray scattering with low energy excitation, x-ray photon fluctuation spectroscopy, and ultrafast diffuse x-ray scattering. By combining these experimental techniques with advanced modeling together with machine learning, we describe how the combination of these domains allows for a new understanding in the field of magnetism. Finally, we give an outlook for future areas of investigation and the newly developed instruments which will take us there.

The westward flowing toroidal ring current at about 2–7 RE in the Earth's equatorial plane consists of symmetric and asymmetric parts. Zonal mean of H disturbances from longitudinally distributed low latitude stations represents the symmetric contribution, whereas departure from the zonal mean gives local time dependent asymmetric component at each of the stations. Through a standard analysis of closely spaced low latitude geomagnetic data we demonstrate 24 h periodicity in the asymmetric component of the storm-time ring current, which is related to the changing local time due to rotation of the Earth. Detailed examination of shorter period oscillations, when observed globally, often show westward propagating modes. Eastward propagating mode was also observed in one case. Based on satellite and radar observations covering a narrow longitude region, westward and eastward propagating modes had been reported in earlier studies. In this study, we report that similar propagating modes which are available on global scale, can be identified using ground-based magnetometer data. These globally propagating modes, observed from ground-based studies, find obvious practical application in diagnostics of the magnetosphere, especially the ring current region. Simultaneous use of satellite and ground-based data should establish the morphology of such modes.

Globalization is an extremely complex phenomenon and it is the interactive co-evolution of multiple technological, cultural, economic, institutional, social and environmental trends at all conceivable spatio-temporal scales. The commercialization of agriculture in Punjab through the Green Revolution led to the effects, which were far-reaching and irreversible. The Green Revolution replaced indigenous agriculture with modern agriculture led to the use of high yielding seed varieties leading to a loss of indigenous varieties of various crops; the contamination of soils and water systems from the use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, modern irrigation systems and dependency on modern machinery and technology. The data is collected from various secondary sources and arranged into three sections. The first section of the research paper deals with concepts of globalization and health. The theoretical framework relating globalization and health is the content of second section. The impact of globalization, in the form of Green Revolution technologies on the health in the Indian state of Punjab, is the content of last section. The research paper proposes a theoretical model for health impacts of globalization in Punjab. The proposed model indicates that the globalization led to three kinds of changes in context of Punjab, namely, economic changes, socio-cultural changes and environmental changes. All these changes had profound effects on health such that the people of Punjab are battling health problems including a noticeable rise in cancer cases, kidney ailments, pre-mature ageing and infertility.

We report anomalous x-ray diffraction studies on Co ferrite with composition Co1.5Fe1.5O4 to obtain the distribution of transition metal ions in tetrahedral and octahedral sites. We synthesize spinel oxide (Co1.5Fe1.5O4) through co-precipitation and subsequent annealing route. The imaginary part (absorption) of the energy dependent anomalous form factor is measured and the real part is calculated theoretically through Kramers–Krönig transformation to analyze anomalous x-ray diffraction peak intensities. Fe and Co K-edge x-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra are used to estimate charge states of transition metals. Our analysis, within experimental errors, suggests 44% of the tetrahedral sites contain Co in +2 oxidation state and the rest 56% sites contain Fe in +2 and +3 oxidation states. Similarly, 47% of the octahedral sites contain Fe in +3 oxidation states, whereas, the rest of the sites contain Co in +2 and +3 oxidation states. While a distinct pre-edge feature in the Fe K-edge XANES is observed, Co pre-edge remains featureless. Implications of these results to magnetism are briefly discussed.

The dynamic spectrum of ULF waves from magnetic field data obtained by the elliptically orbiting Cluster satellites (with an apogee of 119000km, perigee of 19000km and the orbital period of 57h) have been prepared in the frequency range 0 to 120mHz when the satellite was near its perigee. The existence of field line oscillations, with increasing frequency in the inbound sector and decreasing frequency in the outbound sector, is seen in the transverse components, indicating the presence of independently oscillating local magnetic flux tubes in the form of transverse standing Alfvén waves. The results show that toroidal and poloidal modes are excited simultaneously. The analysis of simultaneous ground magnetometer data at the footprint of the satellite suggests that these modes are also excited due to coupling to magnetospheric waveguide modes. The clear signature of a resonant fundamental mode is seen in the ground data whereas Cluster detects a harmonic of this frequency. Lower frequency modes indicative of waveguide oscillations are seen in both the ground data and the compressional field at Cluster.

Ionospheric scintillations of radio waves at low-latitudes are associated with electron density irregularities. These irregularities are field-aligned and can provide excitation energy all along the field line to non-local field-aligned oscillations, such as the local field line oscillations. Eigen-periods of toroidal field line oscillations at low-latitudes, computed by using the dipole magnetic field and ion distributions obtained from the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) for typical nighttime conditions, fall in the range of 20–25 s. When subjected to spectral analysis, signal strength of the radio waves recorded on the 250 MHz beacon at Pondicherry (4.5° N dip), Mumbai (13.4° N dip) and Ujjain (18.6° N dip) exhibit periodicities in the same range. For the single event for which simultaneous ground magnetic data were available, the geomagnetic field also oscillated at the same periodicity. The systematic presence of a significant peak in the 20–25 s range during periods of strong radio wave scintillations, and its absence otherwise suggests the possibility that field line oscillations are endogenously excited by the irregularities, and the oscillations associated with the excited field line generate the modulation characteristics of the radio waves received on the ground. The frequency of modulation is found to be much lower than the characteristic frequencies that define the main body of scintillations, and they probably correspond to scales that are much larger than the typical Fresnel scale. It is possible that the refractive mechanism associated with larger scale long-lived irregularities could be responsible for the observed phenomenon. Results of a preliminary numerical experiment that uses a sinusoidal phase irregularity in the ionosphere as a refracting media are presented. The results show that phase variations which are large enough to produce a focal plane close to the ground can reproduce features that are not inconsistent with our observations.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (magnetosphere – ionosphere interactions) Ionosphere (ionosphere – magnetoshere interactions; ionospheric irregularities)

Quantum-inspired evolutionary algorithm (QEA) has been designed by integrating some quantum mechanical principles in the framework of evolutionary algorithms. They have been successfully employed as a computational technique in solving difficult optimization problems. It is well known that QEAs provide better balance between exploration and exploitation as compared to the conventional evolutionary algorithms. The population in QEA is evolved by variation operators, which move the Q-bit towards an attractor. A modification for improving the performance of QEA was proposed by changing the selection of attractors, namely, versatile QEA. The improvement attained by versatile QEA over QEA indicates the impact of population structure on the performance of QEA and motivates further investigation into employing fine-grained model. The QEA with fine-grained population model (FQEA) is similar to QEA with the exception that every individual is located in a unique position on a two-dimensional toroidal grid and has four neighbors amongst which it selects its attractor. Further, FQEA does not use migrations, which is employed by QEAs. This paper empirically investigates the effect of the three different population structures on the performance of QEA by solving well-known discrete benchmark optimization problems.

Global climate change, soil and water scarcity, soil degradation and increasing population are putting tremendous pressure on current agriculture and food production systems. These factors are threatening the food– and nutritional– security not only at regional level but also at global scale. In addition to these, mismanagement of agro-industrial waste and rampant burning of crop residues has adverse impact on the environment putting the public health at risk. As a result, in order to maintain food and nutritional security, it is critical to improve waste management and recycling for farming and other allied sectors. Mushroom farming has the potential to alleviate poverty, hunger, malnutrition and also fulfil nutritional security. Mushrooms are a highly nutritious food that are used all over the world as a tonic, medicine, and dietary food. Mushrooms are grown on lignocellulose substrates such as crop residue, processed waste, horticultural waste, saw dust, and wood chips. So, mushroom cultivation converts low–quality and low value waste materials to high–quality food. In this review, we discuss future strategies for improving mushroom quality including breeding aspect and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission/global warming. Further, we interlink soil health with various substrate quality and quantity for mushroom farming, and review the role of mushroom farming in environment and food and nutritional security, and zero waste farming.

Bearings are pivotal components of rotating machines where any defects could propagate and trigger systematic failures. Once faults are detected, accurately predicting remaining useful life (RUL) is essential for optimizing predictive maintenance. Although data-driven methods demonstrate promising performance in direct RUL prediction, their robustness and practicability need further improvement regarding physical interpretation and uncertainty quantification. This work leverages variational neural networks to model bearing degradation behind envelope spectra. A convolutional variational autoencoder for regression (CVAER) is developed to probabilistically predict RUL distributions with confidence measures. Enhanced average envelope spectra (AES) are used as network input for its physical robustness in bearing condition assessment and fault detection. The use of the envelope spectrum ensures that it contains only bearing-related information by removing other rotor-related frequencies, hence it improves the RUL prediction. Unlike traditional variational autoencoders, the probabilistic regressor and latent generator are formulated to quantify uncertainty in RUL estimates and learn meaningful latent representations conditioned on specific RUL. Experimental validations are conducted on vibration data collected using multiple accelerometers whose natural frequencies cover bearing resonance ranges to ensure fault detection reliability. Beyond conventional bearing diagnosis, envelope spectra are extended for statistical RUL prediction integrating physical knowledge of actual defect conditions. Comparative and ablation studies are conducted against benchmark models to demonstrate their effectiveness.

With the development of world towards industrialization, globalization, higher economic growth, population growth and living standards, the consumption of natural resources has been raised a lot. However, there is a limited capacity of our planet to meet the increasing demands for natural resources and to absorb emissions and wastes resulting from us. Ecovillage is a solution for healing the planet as it demonstrates a viable, sustainable human and planetary future. In this research paper Ecovillage design patterns will be analyzed and evaluated for environmental conservation. Case study of Dayalbagh is also presented to evaluate its performance as an Ecovillage.

The technological growth of ‘avionics systems’ has outpaced the service-life of aircraft, resulting in avionics upgrade as a preferred cost-effective option to new design. Mid-life upgrade of “avionics systems“ by state-of-the-art mission systems has been a challenging engineering task. The complexity of avionics upgrade process is due to the design rigidity of avionics systems architecture. An avionics architecture with growth potential is required to optimise avionics upgrade with state-of-the-art systems. A research program that partially addresses avionics systems upgrade by developing a methodology to design an avionics architecture with in-built growth potential is discussed in this research paper. A ‘system approach’ is adopted to develop a methodology that identifies the design parameters that will facilitate design of an avionics architecture with upgrade potential.