INSTITUTET FÖR RYMDFYSIK	UPPSALA
Swedish Institute of Space Physics	(59o50.272'N, 17o38.786'E)

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Welcome to the research programme

Space Plasma Physics

NEWS -- see also our page in Swedish 24-28 June 2013: We host a Cassini Project Science Group Meeting here in Uppsala. 3 May 2013: What does a magnetic explosion in space sound like? With our and other instruments on ESA's Cluster satellites, PhD student Henrik Viberg and co-workers have mapped the waves, some of them at audible frequencies, at magnetic reconnection sites in the Earth's magnetic tail. The results are published in Geophysical Research Letters, and ESA has a good summary available. 21 Feb 2013: To Ganymede, by Jove! ESA has selected our consortium of European, American and Japanese teams to build an instrument for investigating waves, fields and plasmas in space around Jupiter and its icy moons, particularly Ganymede, on the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE).

What we do

We investigate what goes on in space using instruments we build ourselves and fly on spacecraft, ground based instruments, computer simulations and plasma theory. Here are some samples of our research:

• Aug 2012: Exploring the properties of thin sheets in space, we have for the first time been able to verify the properties of so called lower hybrid drift waves in space around Earth, using our instruments on the multi-spacecraft Cluster mission. The results were published in Physical Review Letters: see also our press release.
• Jan 2012: Cold plasma previously hidden in the magnetosphere is revealed by our instruments on the Cluster satellites in a study we publish in Geophysical Research Letters, also featured in National Geographic Daily News and an AGU news release.
• Jan 2012: We show that dusty plasma around Enceladus affects Saturn's magnetosphere. See the NASA mission news feature or the editor's highlight in Journal of Geophysical Research.
• Jul 2011: Plasma jets are common in the universe, and now we know the details of what happens when they hit an obstacle, using our instruments on the Cluster satellites in the Earth's magnetic tail. ESA highlights the study, published in Physical Review Letters.
• Oct 2010: Small pulse-like waves known as electron holes dwell at the heart of a magnetically explosion in space, known as reconnection, we show from our Cluster data in study in Physical Review Letters. See also our press release.
• Oct 2010: We contribute to a study in Science showing th at pulsating aurora is caused by waves in space known as chorus emissions. See also the National Geographic news feature.
• March 2010: Pressure fronts in the solar wind help erode the atmosphere of Mars, we show in Geophysical Research Letters. See also our press release.
• July 2009: How is the solar wind heated? Part of the answer is turbulence, as shown in a study in Physical Review Letters. See also NASA's and ESA's press releases.
• March 2009: Is space turbulent? Yes! In a study in Physical Review Letters, we present detailed Cluster studies of turbulence in space. See ESA's press release.
• Dec 2008: We have tracked a previously invisible ion wind from the Earth far out in space using Cluster. Published in Nature Geoscience, presented in our press release and in an ESA Cluster top story.
• March 2007: We found that magnetic field reconnection occurs in turbulent plasmas, too. Published in Nature Physics, presented in an ESA news feature.
• Nov 2006: We reveal the inner structure of a region of space close to a magnetic reconnection site. Published in Physical Review Letters.
  
• Aug 2005: We discovered Alfvén vortices, a kind of whirlpools in space, near the boundary of the Earth's magnetosphere. Published in Nature, presented in our press release and in an ESA news feature.
• May 2005: On arrival at Saturn, our Langmuir probe on Cassini immediately detected cold plasma around Titan and plasma interaction with ring dust. Published in Science and Geophysical Research Letters.
  

What we have in space

• 4 x Cluster -- our instruments are exploring Earth's magnetosphere on a flotilla of four ESA spacecraft, launched summer 2000
• Cassini -- launched by NASA in 1997, exploring the environment of Saturn since June 2004, with our Langmuir probe onboard.
• Rosetta -- launched by ESA in 2004, now carrying our instrument to a comet for arrival in 2014.

• 3 x Swarm -- we provide instruments to study the plasma density and temperature in the Earth's ionosphere, for ESA's three Swarm satellites. Launch 2013.
  
• 4 x MMS -- Another four-spacecraft flotilla: NASA's Magnetospheric MultiScale mission, for launch in 2014, for which we will provide sensor coating and test equipment for the electric field instruments built by the University of New Hampshire and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). More info on the SMART instrument suite for MMS at SwRI.
• BepiColombo -- an ESA-JAXA (Europe-Japan) mission to Mercury, where we are responsible for the electronics and probe surfaces for the MEFISTO sensors of the PWI instrument on the magnetospheric orbiter. Launch 2014, orbit insertion at Mercury 2020. More on Bepi and MEFISTO at KTH.
  
• Solar Orbiter -- ESAs mission to investigate the Sun at close distance, for launch in 2017. We are building parts of the RPW instrument to study the solar wind close to its source.
• JUICE -- ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission. Together with a large team of European, Japanese and American laboratories, we will provide instrumentation for investigating waves, fields and plasmas in the Jovian system. Launch 2022, arrival at Jupiter in 2030.

• Smart-1 -- orbited the moon with our Langmuir probes onboard, launched September 2003, impact landing on the moon 3 September 2006
  
• Astrid-2 -- the Swedish microsatellite (only 29 kg) carrying our LINDA instrument to the Earth's upper ionosphere 1998-1999
• Freja -- detailed measurements of the Earth's upper ionosphere 1992-1996, including our wave investigations
• Viking -- exploring the Earth's magnetosphere 1986-1987 by means of our wave instrument (and of course other instruments as well)
• Numerous sounding rockets during the sixties, seventies, and eighties.

Who we are

• Mats André, PhD, professor -- head of research programme, PI Cluster EFW
• David Andrews, PhD -- postdoc, Mars aeronomy
• Stephan Buchert, PhD -- magnetospheric and ionospheric science
• Andrey Divin, PhD -- postdoc (Magnetospheric physics, Cluster)
  
• Niklas Edberg, PhD -- postdoc (Cassini)
  
• Anders Eriksson, PhD -- PI Rosetta LAP, Cluster EFW operations and data, MMS
• Daniel Graham, PhD -- postdoc (Cluster)
  
• Yuri Khotyaintsev, PhD -- research assistant (Cluster)
  
• Meghan Mella, PhD -- postdoc (Cluster/MAARBLE)
• Hermann Opgenoorth, PhD, professor -- magnetospheres and ionospheres at Earth and other planets
• Ulrich Taubenschuss, PhD -- postdoc (Cluster)
• Andris Vaivads, PhD, docent -- auroral and magnetospheric physics (Cluster)
  
• Jan-Erik Wahlund, PhD, docent -- Cassini RPWS-LP lead CoI, BepiColombo lead CoI
• Emiliya Yordanova, PhD -- research assistant (Cluster)
  
• Tatjana Zivkovic, PhD -- postdoc (Cluster/ECLAT)
  

• Liza Dackborn, system programmer -- Cassini, Rosetta, ISDAT
• Reine Gill, research engineer -- flight s/w, s/c operations, ISDAT
• Sven-Erik Jansson, senior research engineer -- digital electronics
• Walter Puccio, senior research engineer -- electronics
• Farid Shiva, research engineer -- electronics design and manufacturing
  
• Lennart Åhlén, senior research engineer -- analog electronics

• Madeleine Holmberg -- the space environment of Saturn (Cassini); former project student
• Cecilia Norgren -- reconnection studies (Cluster), former project student
• Shotaro Sakai -- guest from Hokkaido University winter 2013 (Cassini)
• Oleg Shebanits -- pre-biotic conditions at Titan (Cassini), former project student
• Henrik Wiberg -- reconnection studies (Cluster)

• Pedro Cervantes Correa [JUICE/AE], Geometry considerations for the JUICE Langmuir probes
• Ilka Engelhardt [Cassini/JW/AE], Plasma structures in the Enceladus plume
• Fredrik Johansson [Rosetta/AE], Numerical modeling of Rosetta Langmuir probe measurements
• Andreas Karnthaler [SolO/AV], Generation of artificial data series for ESA Solar Orbiter mission
• Elias Odelstad [JUICE/AV], Investigation of antenna noise sources for the JUICE mission
• Wictor Pansar [SolO/AV], Investigation of antenna noise sources for the Solar Orbiter mission
• Noemi Vitos [Rosetta/AE], Analytical models for plasma environments of comets

• Karin Ågren -- did her did her PhD with us (2012, Cassini)
• Rico Behlke -- defended his PhD thesis in December 2005, now at Svalbard
• Rolf Boström, professor (retired) -- Cassini, former Rosetta LAP PI
• Tobia Carozzi -- PhD, former scientist and ISDAT maintainer, now at the Onsala Space Observatory
• Chris Cully -- research assistant (2007-2012), now at the University of Calgary
  
• Erik Engwall -- PhD student (Cluster) 2003-2009, defended his PhD thesis 20 May 2009, now at Scania.
• Huishan Fu, PhD -- postdoc (Cluster) 2010-2012, now at Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
  
• Philippe Garnier, PhD -- Cassini post-doc 2007-2008, now at CESR Toulouse.
  
• Hans Gunnarsson -- former technician, now retired
  
• Georg Gustafsson, professor (retired) -- former Viking V4L and Cluster EFW PI
• Jan-Ove Hall, PhD -- former visiting scientist, now at FOI
  
• Bengt Holback -- former Viking V4L and Freja F4 PI, now at the Ångström laboratory, Uppsala University
  
• Gunnar Holmgren -- former scientist, now at Seabased
  
• Anita Kullen -- post doc, auroral and magnetospheric physics, 2005-2008, now at KTH.
  
• Shiyong Huang -- guest researcher from Wuhan University (Cluster, 2011-2012)
• Kristoffer Hultgren -- student project (2009), now PhD student at MISU
• Tiera Laitinen, PhD -- post doc (Cluster) 2008-2009, now at FMI
• Sara Lindgren -- project student (2010), now PhD student in astrophysics at Uppsala University
• Tomas Lindstedt -- licentiate thesis in December 2009, now at ABB in Ludvika.
• Ronan Modolo, PhD -- Former postdoc and research assistant, now at CETP-IPSL Velizy, France
  
• Michiko Morooka, fil dr -- postdoktor (Cluster), gästforskare (Cassini), now at Tohoku university
• Annika Olsson, PhD, docent -- now project manager at Uppsala University Innovation
  
• Frederic Pitout -- did his PhD (2002) with us, now at Laboratoire de Planétologie, Grenoble
• Alessandro Retinò -- did his PhD (2007) with us, now at the Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, France
• Lisa Rosenqvist -- did her PhD (2008) with us, now at FOI
• Fouad Sahraoui, PhD -- visiting scientist from CETP Vélizy, France, spring 2005
• Muhammad Shafiq -- post doc 2008-2010 (Cassini)
• Gabriella Stenberg, PhD -- post doc (Cluster) 2005-2009, now at IRF Kiruna
  
• David Sundkvist -- did his PhD (2005) with us, now at Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley
• Harley Thomas -- mechanical engineering, retired 2009
  
• Anders Tjulin -- did his PhD (2003) with us, now at EISCAT, Kiruna

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http://www.space.irfu.se/index.html
last modified on Wednesday, 22-May-2013 16:15:42 CEST