Local News

New Paper Out! Exploring the relationship between STEVE and SAID during three events observed by SuperDARN

2024.08.26

Macho EP, Bristow W, Gallardo-Lacourt B, Shepherd SG, Ruohoniemi JM and Correia E (2024) Exploring the relationship between STEVE and SAID during three events observed by SuperDARN. Front. Astron. Space Sci. 11:1422164. doi: 10.3389/fspas.2024.1422164 Abstract: The phenomenon known as strong thermal emission velocity enhancement (STEVE) is a narrow optical structure that may extend longitudinally for thousands of kilometers. Initially observed by amateur photographers, it has recently garnered researchers’ attention. STEVE has been associated with a rapid westward flow of ions in the ionosphere, known as subauroral ion drift (SAID). In this work, we investigate three occurrences of STEVE, using data from one of the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) ground-based all-sky imagers (ASIs) located at Pinawa, Manitoba, and from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN). This approach allows us to verify the correlation between STEVE and SAID, as well as analyze the temporal variation of SAID observed during STEVE events. Our results suggest that the SAID activity starts before the STEVE, and the magnitude of the westward flow decreases as the STEVE progresses toward the end of its optical manifestation. Read the full paper at https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/astronomy-and-space-sciences/articles/10.3389/fspas.2024.1422164/full

New Paper! Solar Wind Drivers of Auroral Omega Bands

2024.08.26

Cribb, V., Pulkkinen, T. I., Kepko, L., Gallardo-Lacourt, B., & Donovan, E. (2024). Solar wind drivers of auroral omega bands. Geophysical Research Letters, 51, e2024GL109756. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL109756 Omega bands are eastward moving wave-like structures in the aurora that typically appear at the equatorward border of the auroral oval during periods of enhanced activity in Earth's magnetosphere. However, the specific drivers of these structures are not well understood. In this work, we perform a statistical analysis of spacecraft observations taken from multiple omega band events to identify potential drivers of these structures. We find that the solar wind exhibits increased speed, pressure, and particle density when omega bands appear overhead. These features are consistent with localized compression in the solar wind generated when a fast solar wind stream interacts with a slower leading stream. Our work suggests that the appearance of omega bands is driven by this compression. Read the full paper at https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL109756

New Paper Published: A Survey of EMIC Waves in Van Allen Probe Data

2024.08.26

Inglis, A. R., Murphy, K. R., & Halford, A. (2024). A Survey of EMIC waves in Van Allen Probe data. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 129, e2024JA032666. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JA032666 Summary: Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron (EMIC) waves are found throughout Earth's magnetosphere and the solar system. These waves in Earth's magnetosphere interact with the ring current and radiation belt population and push these particles into our atmosphere. Thus, it is useful to know when and where these waves occur. In this paper, we present a new approach toward identifying these waves in large data sets. Using this new approach, we identified 500 hr of EMIC waves from the Van Allen Probe B data set between Jan 2013–July 2019. Our catalog of events follows similar statistics found for EMIC waves by others, validating our methodology. Like others, we found that the waves occur more frequently on the dayside of the Earth. Higher amplitude waves were found at greater distances from the Earth, close to the edge of the magnetosphere. It was also found that the wave activity was greater during periods of geomagnetic activity than during quiet conditions. And in the interest of open science, we have made both the detection code and the list of waves available to the public. The full paper can be found at https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JA032666

New paper published in Physical Review Letters!

2024.07.22

"New Regime of Inertial Alfvén Wave Turbulence in the Auroral Ionosphere" was published in Physical Review Letters on July 22nd, 2024, by Francesca Di Mare (Catholic University of America and NASA Goddard ITM lab ) and Gregory G. Howes (Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa). The DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.045201

New Paper! A Quantitative Analysis of the Uncertainties on Reconnection Electric Field Estimates Using Ionospheric Measurements

2024.06.21

New paper published by our own Sara Gasparini (Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway and the NASA/GSFC ITM Lab) et al in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space physics. Gasparini, S., Hatch, S. M., Reistad, J. P., Ohma, A., Laundal, K. M., Walker, S. J., & Madelaire, M. (2024). A quantitative analysis of the uncertainties on reconnection electric field estimates using ionospheric measurements. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 129, e2024JA032599. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JA032599

Doug Rowland received the 2023 NASA Agency Honor Awards for the Outstanding Leadership Medal

2024.03.22

We have some great news to share. Our own Doug Rowland (675) has won one of the 2023 Agency Honor Awards for the Outstanding Leadership Medal! We are so proud of the work and leadership he provided for the development of our lab and now with GDC.

2023 Poster Party Blowout winners announced

2023.02.16

We had over 175 posters from all four science divisions, as well as a few select entries from the Engineering and Technology Directorate. As one of the few yearly events that brings together the whole Sciences and Exploration Directorate, the large turnout (including GSFC and HQ VIPs) and collaborative communication made the event a great success! While there were so many fantastic contributions, awards were given for outstanding posters in 5 categories:

• Best Poster Title:
  Francesco Civilini (690.1) - How to Train your Lander: Automatic moonquake detection using machine learning
• Best Graphic Design:
  Douglas Rowland (675) - The Geospace Dynamics Constellation mission: NASA's next Living With a Star mission to explore the upper atmosphere
• Best Science as Food:
  Maryam Rahmani (665) - Cosmic Microwave Background/Line Intensity Mapping cake and jell-o
• Best Science Story:
  Shipra Sinha (670) - The Mystery of Magnetospheric Substorms
• Piers Sellers Interdisciplinary Award:
  Erin Delaria (614) - The NASA Carbon Airborne Flux Experiment (CARAFE): Observations of Greenhouse Gas Exchange in the Florida Everglades

Doug Rowland (675) gave the 2022 Birkeland Lecture to the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

2022.09.23

Doug Rowland (675) gave the 2022 Birkeland Lecture to the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. His talk was about the Grand Challenge Initiative-Cusp and the results of the VISIONS-2 (VISualizing Ion Outflow via Neutral Atom Sensing-2) sounding rocket mission. The talk was titled "Fountains in the sky: Following Earth's leaky atmosphere into space

Robert Pfaff (675) was named the 2022 AGU Marcel Nicolet lecturer

2022.09.16

Robert Pfaff (675) was named the 2022 AGU Marcel Nicolet lecturer, which is a significant honor and recognition of Rob's work in electric field instrumentation and electrodynamics research in the ionosphere. Rob will give the Nicolet lecture at this year's Fall AGU Meeting in Chicago the week of December 12.

Poster Blowout 2019 is in the books!

2019.02.27

Photos from this year's Poster Blowout are available now. Congratulations to everyone, especially this year's winners!

Notes from the Field Blog: Ambushing the Aurora

2018.11.29

Like the isbjørn (polar bears), we are ambush hunters. Our prey are atmospheric fountains, jets of gas being shot into space under the impact of the cusp aurora.

Notes from the Field: Night Life

2018.11.24

Without the regular rising and setting of the Sun to bring a sense of duration, the long winter nights in Ny-Ålesund can seem timeless.

Notes from the Field: Going to the Top of the World to Touch the Sky

2018.11.21

We have journeyed to Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, the northernmost town in the world, so that we can touch the sky.