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INSTITUTET FÖR RYMDFYSIK	UPPSALA

Swedish Institute of Space Physics	(59°50.272′N, 17°38.786′E)

IRF-U Space Plasma Physics

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Welcome to the research programme

Space Plasma Physics

General

News
What we do
What we have in space
Who we are
- Phone and mail

Publications and Presentations

Seminars
Publication lists from earlier years
2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
2006 2005 2004 2003 2002

Education

Other resources

NEWS -- see also our page in Swedish

	8 Nov 2022: We form part of the proposing teams for two of the five medium-class mission proposals ESA will study in detail for a decision next year, M-MATISSE for exploration of space around Mars and Plasma Observatory for detailed plasma studies around Earth.
	27 Sep 2022: Katerina Stergiopoulou defended her PhD thesis on the induced magnetospheres and magnetotails of Mars and Venus at Uppsala University. Faculty opponent was professor Lasse Clausen, University of Oslo.
	20 May 2022: A paper by Daniel Graham and co-authors showing how the electrical resistivity in a space plasma can be high despite the almost complete absence of particle collisions is now published by Nature Communications. More details in our press release.

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:

Dec 2019: In a paper in Physical Review Letters, our PhD student Konrad Steinvall have used the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) satellites to demonstrate that electron space-phase holes can radiate whistler waves.
Jan 2018: In a paper in Physical Review Letters, Lina Hadid and co-workers reveal the energy flow in the turbulence in the Earth's magnetosheath.
Oct 2016: In a paper in Physical Review Letters, our PhD student Andreas Johlander have used the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) satellites to find out the details of shock waves in space. See also our press release.
Oct 2016: In a paper in Journal of Geophysical Research, our PhD student Elin Eriksson suggests new ways electrons can be accelerated in a shocked solar wind, based on the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) satellite data. The paper was selected as Editor's Highlight.
May 2014: The properties of asymmetric magnetic reconnection, important for storage and release of magnetic energy in a variety of cosmic contexts, could be explored in detail with our and other instruments on ESA's Cluster satellites. The results were published in Physical Review Letters.
Jul 2013: Magnetic reconnection can be more efficient in accelerating electrons to high energy when variable rather than steady, we show in a paper in Nature Physics.
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

For the moment, we are responsible for or have significant contribution to the following instruments in space:

Solar Orbiter -- ESAs mission to investigate the Sun at close distance, launched in February 10, 2020. We have provided parts of the RPW instrument to study the electric field in the solar wind close to its source.
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. Launched in October 2018 for arrival at Mercury 2026. More on Bepi and MEFISTO at KTH.
4 x MMS -- NASA's Magnetospheric MultiScale mission, launched March 13, 2015, for which we provided 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.
3 x Swarm -- ESA's three satellites for study of the geomagnetic field, launched in November 22, 2013. We provide instruments to measure the plasma density and temperature in the Earth's ionosphere.
4 x Cluster -- our instruments are exploring Earth's magnetosphere on a flotilla of four ESA spacecraft, launched summer 2000

Upcoming:

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.
Comet Interceptor -- ESA's mission to a comet so new that it may not have been discovered even when we launch in 2028! Together with LPC2E in Orléans and a larger European collaboration we provide instrumentation for investigating the comet plasma environment.

Our previous instruments in space, no longer operational:

Cassini -- launched by NASA in 1997, explored the environment of Saturn 2004-2017, with our Langmuir probe onboard.
Rosetta -- carried our instrument in orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, launched by ESA in 2004, impact landing on the comet 30 September 2016.
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

Senior scientific staff:

Mats André, PhD, professor -- PI Cluster EFW
David Andrews, PhD, docent -- scientist (Cassini, Mars)
Jan Bergman, PhD -- scientist, JUICE RPWI project manager
Stephan Buchert, PhD -- scientist (Swarm)
Andrew Dimmock, PhD -- scientist (space weather, SolO)
Niklas Edberg, PhD -- scientist (Comet Interceptor, Cassini, Rosetta)
Anders Eriksson, PhD -- scientist (Rosetta, Cluster)
Daniel Graham, PhD -- scientist (Cluster, MMS)
Yuri Khotyaintsev, PhD, docent -- head of research programme
Vanina Lanabere, PhD -- postdoc
Michiko Morooka, PhD -- scientist (Cassini)
Luca Sorriso-Valvo, PhD -- guest scientist (MMS, SolO)
Erik Vigren, PhD, docent -- scientist (Cassini, Rosetta)
Jan-Erik Wahlund, PhD, docent -- JUICE RPWI PI, Cassini RPWS-LP lead CoI, BepiColombo lead CoI
Emiliya Yordanova, PhD -- scientist (MMS, SolO)

Engineers and computing support:

Ilona Benko, software engineer -- JUICE
Martin Berglund, PhD, research engineer -- electronics
Vicki Cripps, research engineer -- PA/QA
Jesper Fredriksson, research engineer -- analog electronics
Reine Gill, research engineer -- flight s/w, s/c operations
Erik Johansson, PhD, research engineer -- data handling
Jan Karlsson, programmer -- data archiving and computer system manager
Björn Mårtensson, software engineer -- JUICE
Thomas Nilsson, research engineer -- data handling
Dan Ohlsson, research engineer -- system engineer
Walter Puccio, senior research engineer -- electronics
Farid Shiva, engineer -- electronics design and manufacturing

Graduate students (see also our PhD projects page):

Jordi Boldu -- Solar Orbiter
Joshua Dreyer -- Saturn's ionosphere (Cassini)
Konstantin Kim -- Titan's ionosphere (Cassini)
Ahmad Lalti -- collisionless shocks (MMS)
Louis Richard -- turbulence and plasma jet fronts (MMS)
Ida Svenningsson -- Electron heating in turbulent space plasma (MMS, Cluster)

Project students (see also our student projects page):

Massimo Chimenti [SolO/LSV], The role of coherent structures in the plasma heating near CMEs
Cornelia Ekvall [JUICE/JW], Subsurface ocean detection at Europa
Karan Pal [SolO/EY], Solar wind heating observed by Solar Orbiter
Viktor Sparrman [Rosetta/AE], Adaption of Inertial Confinement Fusion Results to Spherical Plasma Expansion at Comets

På svenska, tack
https://www.space.irfu.se/index.html
last modified on Wednesday, 07-Jun-2023 13:39:29 CEST

https://www.space.irfu.se/index.html
last modified on Wednesday, 07-Jun-2023 13:39:29 CEST

Welcome to the research programme Space Plasma Physics