- Research Astrophysicist (2022 - present), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
- Associate Professor (2021 - 2022), University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK
- Assistant Professor (2017 - 2021), University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK
- Postdoctoral researcher (2014 - 2017), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
- Postdoctoral Researcher (2012 - 2014), University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Hyunju K Connor
(Associate Chief)
| Email: | hyunju.k.connor@nasa.gov |
| Phone: | 301.286.7417 |
| Org Code: | 673 |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 673 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: |
Brief Bio
Education
- Ph.D. in Physics, 2012, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA.
- M.S. in Astronomy and Atmospheric Sciences, 2004, Kyungpook National University, South Korea.
- B.S. in Physics, 2002, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea.
- B.S. in Astronomy and Atmospheric Sciences, 2002, Kyungpook National University, South Korea.
Professional Service
- GEM ML-GEM Resource Group Primary Chair, Jan 2024 – present
- Deputy Mission Scientist of the NASA TRACERS mission, May 2022 – present
- SMILE modeling working group chair, Mar 2018 – present
- Frontier Development Laboratory (FDL) Management Committee, May 2023 - March 2025
- GEM Encourage & Elevate Mentoring Program Lead Organizer, Jan 2021 – Aug 2023
- GEM workshop steering committee member, Jun 2018 – Aug 2023
- GEM focus group leader, Dec 2016 – Jun 2022
- Science and Technology Definition Team member for NASA next LWS spacecraft mission “Geospace Dynamics Constellation”, May 2018 – Aug 2019
- GEM-CEDAR joint workshop organization member, 2018 – 2019
- Convener of AGU, GEM, CEDAR, and SMILE meetings.
- Review panel member and external reviewer of NASA & NSF proposals.
- Reviewer of JGR and GRL papers and AGU books.
- Referee of AGU fellow nominee and University laboratory staff.
- External reviewer of University research faculty promotion.
- Judge for student presentation awards at the AGU, EGU, and GEM meetings.
Awards
- NASA Robert H. Goddard Honor Award of Science, 2023, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- T. K. Moore Award for excellence in research and collaboration, 2020, UAF Geophysical Institute, Fairbanks, AK, USA
- NASA Heliophysics Peer Award, 2016, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- NSF AGS Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, 2015, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA.
- NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowship, 2014, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD.
- Outstanding Student Paper Award, 2011, American Geophysical Union Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
- Best Poster Award, 2009, International School for Space Simulation 9, France.
- National Ph.D. Fellowship, 2005, Korean Science and Engineering Foundation, South Korea.
- KNU President Award (Summa cum laude), 2002, Kyungpook National University, South Korea.
Publications
Refereed
2025. "Eigen‐Swarm: Swarm's Thermospheric Mass Density Modeling via Eigen‐Decomposition.", Space Weather, 23 (7): e2025SW004351 [10.1029/2025sw004351] [Journal Article/Letter]
2025. "SMILE Modeling Working Group: Modeling and Analysis of X-ray and Ultraviolet Images of Solar Wind – Earth Interactions.", Space Science Reviews, 221 (4): 46 [10.1007/s11214-025-01172-8] [Journal Article/Letter]
2025. "Exospheric neutral density at the 10 RE subsolar point during solar maximum: estimates from XMM soft X-ray observations.", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 12 [10.3389/fspas.2025.1568929] [Journal Article/Letter]
2025. "The first analysis of the outward H fluxes measured by IBEX-Lo in 20–50 RE geocentric distances.", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 12 [10.3389/fspas.2025.1529064] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Relation between magnetopause position and reconnection rate under quasi-steady solar wind dynamic pressure.", Earth, Planets and Space, 76 (1): 165 [10.1186/s40623-024-02101-9] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "The global mapping of electron precipitation and ionospheric conductance from whistler-mode chorus waves.", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 11 [10.3389/fspas.2024.1442009] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Simulation of the charged particle deflection from the sweeping magnet array in the Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray imager.", Review of Scientific Instruments, 95 (12): [10.1063/5.0230759] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Automatic Detection and Classification of Aurora in THEMIS All‐Sky Images.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Machine Learning and Computation, 1 (4): [10.1029/2024jh000292] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Determining the quantum detection efficiency of a soft x-ray micro-channel plate detector for the lunar mission, LEXI.", Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics XXVI, 29 [10.1117/12.3027783] [Proceedings]
2024. "Storm-time variability of terrestrial hydrogen exosphere: kinetic simulation results.", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 11 [10.3389/fspas.2024.1421196] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Overlapping cusp ion dispersions formed by flux ropes on the day-side magnetopause.", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 11 [10.3389/fspas.2024.1430966] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Modeling Soft X‐Ray Emissions at the Dayside Magnetopause.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 129 (8): [10.1029/2024ja032687] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Editorial: Ionospheric signatures of magnetic reconnection in Earth’s magnetosphere.", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 11 [10.3389/fspas.2024.1430813] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Target and science visibility of the solar-terrestrial observer for the response of the magnetosphere (STORM) global imaging mission concept.", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 11 [10.3389/fspas.2024.1394655] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "The Lunar Environment Heliophysics X-ray Imager (LEXI) Mission.", Space Science Reviews, 220 (4): 37 [10.1007/s11214-024-01063-4] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "A feasibility study of 4-D tomography of soft X-ray magnetosheath emissivities using multi-spacecraft measurements.", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 11 [10.3389/fspas.2024.1379321] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Calculating the High‐Latitude Ionospheric Electrodynamics Using a Machine Learning‐Based Field‐Aligned Current Model.", Space Weather, 22 (4): [10.1029/2023sw003683] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Localized Magnetopause Erosion at Geosynchronous Orbit by Reconnection.", Geophysical Research Letters, 51 (5): [10.1029/2023gl107085] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Statistical analysis of overlapping double ion energy dispersion events in the northern cusp.", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 10 [10.3389/fspas.2023.1228475] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Mshpy23: a user-friendly, parameterized model of magnetosheath conditions.", Earth and Planetary Physics, 8 (1): 89-104 [10.26464/epp2023065] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Estimating the subsolar magnetopause position from soft X-ray images using a low-pass image filter.", Earth and Planetary Physics, 8 (1): 173-183 [10.26464/epp2023069] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Preface to the Special Issue on Modeling and Data Analysis Methods for the SMILE mission.", Earth and Planetary Physics, 8 (1): 1-4 [10.26464/epp2023089] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "Finding the magnetopause location using soft X-ray observations and a statistical inverse method.", Earth and Planetary Physics, 8 (1): 1-20 [10.26464/epp2023070] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "The complexity of the day-side X-line during southward interplanetary magnetic field.", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 10 [10.3389/fspas.2023.1175697] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "Hybrid-Vlasov simulation of soft X-ray emissions at the Earth’s dayside magnetospheric boundaries.", Earth and Planetary Physics, 8 (1): 1-19 [10.26464/epp2023052] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "Probabilistic Forecasting of Ground Magnetic Perturbation Spikes at Mid‐Latitude Stations.", Space Weather, 21 (6): [10.1029/2023sw003446] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "Transpolar Pc1 Wave Ducting: Swarm, DMSP, and Ground Observations.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 128 (4): [10.1029/2022ja031184] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "Quantifying the global solar wind-magnetosphere interaction with the Solar-Terrestrial Observer for the Response of the Magnetosphere (STORM) mission concept.", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 10 [10.3389/fspas.2023.1138616] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "EXOSpy: A python package to investigate the terrestrial exosphere and its FUV emission.", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 10 [10.3389/fspas.2023.1082150] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Global Driving of Auroral Precipitation: 1. Balance of Sources.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 127 (7): [10.1029/2022ja030323] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Revisiting the Ground Magnetic Field Perturbations Challenge: A Machine Learning Perspective.", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 9 [10.3389/fspas.2022.869740] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Multi-Variate LSTM Prediction of Alaska Magnetometer Chain Utilizing a Coupled Model Approach.", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 9 [10.3389/fspas.2022.846291] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Solar Minimum Exospheric Neutral Density Near the Subsolar Magnetopause Estimated From the XMM Soft X‐Ray Observations on 12 November 2008.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 127 (3): [10.1029/2021ja029676] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "A Survey of Uncertainty Quantification in Machine Learning for Space Weather Prediction.", Geosciences, 12 (1): 27 [10.3390/geosciences12010027] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Isolated Proton Aurora Driven by EMIC Pc1 Wave: PWING, Swarm, and NOAA POES Multi‐Instrument Observations.", Geophysical Research Letters, 48 (18): [10.1029/2021gl095090] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Global Survey of Electron Precipitation due to Hiss Waves in the Earth’s Plasmasphere and Plumes.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 126 (8): [10.1029/2021ja029644] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Changes in the Magnetic Field Topology and the Dayside/Nightside Reconnection Rates in Response to a Solar Wind Dynamic Pressure Front: A Case Study.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 126 (7): [10.1029/2020ja028768] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Terrestrial exospheric dayside H-density profile at 3–15 R<sub>e</sub> from UVIS/HDAC and TWINS Lyman-α data combined.", , [10.5194/angeo-2021-36] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "The Cusp Plasma Imaging Detector (CuPID) CubeSat Observatory: Mission Overview.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 126 (4): [10.1029/2020ja029015] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Soft X‐ray and ENA Imaging of the Earth's Dayside Magnetosphere.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 126 (3): [10.1029/2020ja028816] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Comparison of Deep Learning Techniques to Model Connections Between Solar Wind and Ground Magnetic Perturbations.", Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 7 [10.3389/fspas.2020.550874] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Deriving the Magnetopause Position from the Soft X‐Ray Image by Using the Tangent Fitting Approach.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 125 (9): [10.1029/2020ja028169] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Global Survey of Plasma Sheet Electron Precipitation due to Whistler Mode Chorus Waves in Earth's Magnetosphere.", Geophysical Research Letters, 47 (15): [10.1029/2020gl088798] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "All Hands on Deck for Ionospheric Modeling.", Eos, 101 [10.1029/2020eo144365] [Journal Article/Letter]
2019. "Exospheric Neutral Hydrogen Density at the Nominal 10 R E Subsolar Point Deduced From XMM‐Newton X‐Ray Observations.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 124 (3): 1612-1624 [10.1029/2018ja026187] [Journal Article/Letter]
2018. "Magnetopause Surface Reconstruction From Tangent Vector Observations.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 123 (12): [10.1029/2018ja025763] [Journal Article/Letter]
2018. "MMS/FEEPS Observations of Electron Microinjections Due to Kelvin‐Helmholtz Waves and Flux Transfer Events: A Case Study.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 123 (7): 5364-5378 [10.1029/2018ja025244] [Journal Article/Letter]
2018. "Imaging Plasma Density Structures in the Soft X-Rays Generated by Solar Wind Charge Exchange with Neutrals.", Space Science Reviews, 214 (4): 79 [10.1007/s11214-018-0504-7] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "High-Latitude Thermosphere Neutral Density Response to Solar Wind Dynamic Pressure Enhancement.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 122 (11): 11,559-11,578 [10.1002/2017ja023889] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Modeling the ionosphere-thermosphere response to a geomagnetic storm using physics-based magnetospheric energy input: OpenGGCM-CTIM results.", J. Space Weather Space Clim., 6 A25 [10.1051/swsc/2016019] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Wide field-of-view soft X-ray imaging for solar wind-magnetosphere interactions.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 121 (4): 3353-3361 [10.1002/2016ja022348] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "THE SOLAR WIND CHARGE-EXCHANGE PRODUCTION FACTOR FOR HYDROGEN.", The Astrophysical Journal, 808 (2): 143 [10.1088/0004-637x/808/2/143] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "Relation between cusp ion structures and dayside reconnection for four IMF clock angles: OpenGGCM‐LTPT results.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 120 (6): 4890-4906 [10.1002/2015ja021156] [Journal Article/Letter]
2014. "The relation between transpolar potential and reconnection rates during sudden enhancement of solar wind dynamic pressure: OpenGGCM-CTIM results.", JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS, 119 3411-3429 [10.1002/2013JA019728] [Journal Article/Letter]
2012. "Dynamic modeling of cusp ion structures.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 117 (A4): [10.1029/2011ja017203] [Journal Article/Letter]
Selected Public Outreach
Space Weather UnderGround (SWUG)
October 2020 - Present
Space Weather UnderGround (SWUG) is an educational outreach program that high school and undergraduate students build an array of magnetometers across the United States for space weather research.