Aaron W Breneman (he/him)
(Rsch AST, Atmospheres and Ionospheres)
| Email: | aaron.w.breneman@nasa.gov |
| Phone: | 301.286.7794 |
| Org Code: | 675 |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 675 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: |
Missions & Projects
Brief Bio
I'm a Civil Servant Scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center studying plasma wave/particle interactions and the impacts of energetic electron precipitation on the ionosphere/atmosphere system using data from satellites, sounding rockets, and ground-based instrumentation. This precipitation drives variations in Space Weather by enhancing satellite drag, disrupting communication systems, and can be hazardous to satellite systems and astronauts. I’m also leading efforts to bridge knowledge and structural gaps that traditionally separate researchers from the ionosphere/magnetosphere communities from effectively collaborating with those in the high-altitude neutral atmosphere community.
I received my Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 2008, studying the propagation of chorus waves under Dr. Craig Kletzing. From 2008 until 2021 I was a Research Scientist at the University of Minnesota, and from 2011 until 2019 I was a member of the Van Allen Probes Electric Fields and Waves (EFW) team, providing data, analysis, calibration, and production of electric and magnetic field data. A large focus of this effort was spent on collaborations with other teams including the BARREL balloon missions.
Past projects include the study of lightning- and transmitter-generated whistler mode waves and their strong coupling to low altitude density irregularities, whistler mode waves in the solar wind, cyclotron harmonic waves at the bow shock, the large-scale coupling of different plasma regions in response to external solar wind driving and ultra-low frequency waves.
Current Projects
Analysis of proton Bernstein waves in the sunlit polar cap on the Endurance sounding rocket
SPI: Space Precipitation Impacts medium energy group lead.
Analysis of POES and SAMPEX bounce loss cone data resolved by storm phase
Chapman conference on Particle Precipitation: Drivers, Properties, and Impacts on Atmosphere, Ionosphere, Magnetosphere (AIM) Coupling
Primary convener. Conference to be held in Melbourne, AU Feb 17-21, 2025
Quantifying the Size and Duration of Microburst-Producing Chorus Regions
Magnetospheres
Primary work done by Dr. Sadie Elliott, University of Minnesota
Imaging Microburst Precipitation with Atmospheric X-ray emissions (IMPAX) CubeSat Mission
CubeSat that combines an X-ray imager and particle detector to quantify microburst fluxes and properties
Positions/Employment
Civil Servant Scientist in the Ionospheric, Thermospheric, Mesospheric (ITM) Physics Laboratory
NASA GSFC - Greenbelt, MD
January 2021 - Present
Research Scientist, Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Minnesota - Minneapolis, MN
August 2008 - January 2021
Education
Ph.D. in Physics, University of Iowa, 2008
Professional Societies
American Geophysical Union
member
2005 - Present
European Geosciences Union
member
2023 - Present
Professional Service
Editor, AOGS Geoscience Letters Solar and Terrestrial Sciences
Primary Convener for the AGU Chapman conference Particle Precipitation: Drivers, Properties, and Impacts on Atmosphere, Ionosphere, Magnetosphere (AIM) Coupling, Feb 17-21, 2025, Melbourne, AU
Awards
-NASA Group Achievement Award for the NASA Rocketship Endurance, 2022.
-2016 Editors’ Citation for Excellence in Refereeing - Geophys. Res. Lett.
-NASA Group Achievement Award for the Van Allen Probes, 2013.
-2002 AGU Outstanding Student Paper award
Publications
Refereed
2022. "The Van Allen Probes Electric Field and Waves Instrument: Science Results, Measurements, and Access to Data.", Space Science Reviews, 218 (8): 69 [10.1007/s11214-022-00934-y] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Science of the Van Allen Probes Science Operations Centers.", Space Science Reviews, 218 (8): 66 [10.1007/s11214-022-00919-x] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "The Effect of Compression Induced Chorus Waves on 10s to 100s eV Electron Precipitation.", Geophysical Research Letters, [10.1029/2022gl098842] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Quantifying the Size and Duration of a Microburst‐Producing Chorus Region on 5 December 2017.", Geophysical Research Letters, 49 (15): [10.1029/2022gl099655] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "ARTEMIS Observations of Plasma Waves in Laminar and Perturbed Interplanetary Shocks.", The Astrophysical Journal, 913 (2): 144 [10.3847/1538-4357/abf56a] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "The Rapid Variability of Wave Electric Fields Within and Near Quasiperpendicular Interplanetary Shock Ramps: STEREO Observations.", The Astrophysical Journal, 904 (174): 14 [Full Text] [10.3847/1538-4357/abbeec] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Driving of Outer Belt Electron Loss by Solar Wind Dynamic Pressure Structures: Analysis of Balloon and Satellite Data.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 125 (12): [10.1029/2020ja028097] [Journal Article/Letter]
2020. "Why Are There so Few Reports of High‐Energy Electron Drift Resonances? Role of Radial Phase Space Density Gradients.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 125 (8): e2020JA027924 [10.1029/2020ja027924] [Journal Article/Letter]
2017. "Lower hybrid frequency range waves generated by ion polarization drift due to electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves: analysis of an event observed by the Van Allen Probe B.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, [10.1002/2016ja022814] [Journal Article/Letter]
2015. "Global-scale coherence modulation of radiation-belt electron loss from plasmaspheric hiss.", Nature, 523 (7559): 193-195 [10.1038/nature14515] [Journal Article/Letter]