Sciences and Exploration Directorate

Antti Aleksi Pulkkinen (he/him/his)

(Director)

Antti Aleksi Pulkkinen (he/him/his)'s Contact Card & Information.
Email: antti.a.pulkkinen@nasa.gov
Phone: 301.286.0652
Org Code: 670
Address:
NASA/GSFC
Mail Code 670
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer:
NASA

Brief Bio


Dr. Pulkkinen is the Director of the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), a position he has held since 2021 after serving as Acting Director from 2020 to 2021. He joined NASA GSFC in 2004 as a postdoctoral researcher with the nonlinear dynamics group, focusing on the complex nonlinear dynamics of the magnetosphere-ionosphere system and the ground-level impacts of space weather. Dr. Pulkkinen earned his Ph.D. studying space weather effects and later expanded his expertise as an Associate Director at the Institute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences and as an Associate Professor at The Catholic University of America (CUA) from 2011 to 2013.


In 2013, Dr. Pulkkinen became a NASA civil servant, leading the Space Weather Research Center, which provides critical heliophysics science and space weather services for NASA’s robotic missions. From 2017 to 2021, he served as Deputy Director of the NASA GSFC Heliophysics Science Division, where he played a key role in advancing space weather research and operations.


Throughout his career, Dr. Pulkkinen has led numerous space weather projects that integrate empirical and first-principles modeling with real-world applications, fostering collaboration between scientists and end-users. His work has included analyzing data from NASA heliophysics missions, investigating the effects of solar activity on ground-based and spaceborne systems, and enhancing the resilience of critical infrastructure to space weather impacts. For his contributions, Dr. Pulkkinen received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Award in 2015 and the prestigious International Kristian Birkeland Medal in 2016, recognizing his efforts to address the vulnerabilities of power grids to space weather.

Positions/Employment


Director, Heliophysics Science Division

NASA, GSFC - Greenbelt, MD

June 2021 - Present


Acting Director, Heliophysics Science Division

NASA, GSFC - Greenbelt, MD

September 2020 - June 2021


Deputy Director, Heliophysics Science Division

NASA - Greenbelt, MD

August 2018 - September 2020


Acting Deputy Director, Heliophysics Science Division

NASA, GSFC - Greenbelt, MD

June 2017 - August 2018


Research Astrophysicist

NASA - GSFC

April 2013 - June 2017

 


Associate Director

Institute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences, The Catholic University of America - Washington, DC and Greenbelt, MD (NASA GSFC)

September 2011 - April 2013

 


Research Associate

The Catholic University of America - Washington, DC and NASA GSFC

September 2010 - September 2011

 


Associate Research Scientist

University of Maryland, Baltimore County - NASA GSFC

January 2009 - August 2010

 

Education


Ph.D. in theoretical physics University of Helsinki, Finland 2003

M.Sc. in theoretical physics University of Helsinki, Finland 1999

Publications


Refereed

2021. "Oceanic and Atmospheric Correlations to Cetacean Mass Stranding Events in Cape Cod Massachusetts, USA." Geophysical Research Letters [10.1029/2021gl093697] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "Recreating the Horizontal Magnetic Field at Colaba during the Carrington Event with Geospace Simulations." Space Weather 19 e2020JA028284 [10.1029/2020sw002585] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Application Usability Levels: A Framework for Tracking Project Product Progress." J. Space Weather Space Clim. 9 A34 [https://doi.org/10.1051/swsc/2019030] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Geomagnetically induced currents: Science, engineering, and applications readiness." Space Weather 15 (7): 828-856 [10.1002/2016sw001501] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Prediction of shock arrival times from CME and flare data." Space Weather 14 (8): 544–562 [10.1002/2016sw001361] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "Ensemble Modeling of CMEs Using the WSA–ENLIL+Cone Model." Sol Phys 290 (6): 1775-1814 [10.1007/s11207-015-0692-1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "Predicting the magnetic vectors within coronal mass ejections arriving at Earth: 1. Initial architecture." Space Weather 13 374 [Full Text] [10.1002/2015SW001171] [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "Spatio-Temporal Scaling of Turbulent Photospheric Line-of-Sight Magnetic Field in Active Region NOAA 11158." SOLAR PHYSICS 290 335-350 [10.1007/s11207-014-0636-1] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "CalcDeltaB: An efficient postprocessing tool to calculate ground-level magnetic perturbations from global magnetosphere simulations." SPACE WEATHER-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS 12 553-565 [10.1002/2014SW001083] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "Modeling extreme 'Carrington-type' space weather events using three-dimensional global MHD simulations." JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS 119 4456-4474 [10.1002/2013JA019661] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Forecasting propagation and evolution of CMEs in an operational setting: What has been learned." Space Weather 11 (10): 557-574 [10.1002/swe.20096] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "The SCORE Scale: A Coronal Mass Ejection Typification System Based on Speed." Space Weather [10.1002/swe.20058] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Ensemble forecasting of coronal mass ejections using the WSA-ENLIL with CONED Model." SPACE WEATHER-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS 11 95-106 [10.1002/swe.20019] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Community-wide validation of geospace model ground magnetic field perturbation predictions to support model transition to operations." SPACE WEATHER-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS 11 369-385 [10.1002/swe.20056] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "On the performance of global magnetohydrodynamic models in the Earth's magnetosphere." Space Weather 11 313-326 [10.1002/swe.20055] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "A major solar eruptive event in July 2012: Defining extreme space weather scenarios." SPACE WEATHER-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS 11 585-591 [10.1002/swe.20097] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Simulation of the 23 July 2012 extreme space weather event: What if this extremely rare CME was Earth directed?." SPACE WEATHER-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS 11 671-679 [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Tracking the momentum flux of a CME and quantifying its influence on geomagnetically induced currents at Earth." Space Weather 11 245-261 [10.1002/swe.20038] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Numerical simulation of CMEs and SEPs in the inner heliosphere in August 2010." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 2017- [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Evaluating predictions of ICME arrival at Earth and Mars." Space Weather 9 [0-10.1029/2011SW000682] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Geomagnetically induced currents - physics, applications and extreme events." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 1- [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Geospace Environment Modeling 2008-2009 Challenge: Ground magnetic field perturbations." SPACE WEATHER-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS 9 [10.1029/2010SW000600] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Modeling of coronal mass ejections that caused particularly large geomagnetic storms using ENLIL heliosphere cone model." SPACE WEATHER-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS 9 [10.1029/2010SW000642] [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Automatic Determination of the Conic Coronal Mass Ejection Model Parameters." Solar Physics 261 115-126 [10.1007/s11207-009-9473-z] [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Modeling geomagnetically induced currents in Hokkaido, Japan." Advances in Space Research 46 1087-1093 [10.1016/j.asr.2010.05.024] [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "CMEs at Earth and Mars." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A1810- [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Modeling and forecasting geomagnetically induced currents in Hokkaido, Japan." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A4- [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Dynamics of ring current and electric fields in the inner magnetosphere during disturbed periods: CRCM-BATS-R-US coupled model." Journal of Geophysical Research (Space Physics) 115 [5210-10.1029/2009JA014621] [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Modeling of Coronal Mass Ejections That Caused Particularly Large Geomagnetic Storms Using ENLIL Heliosphere Cone Model." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 1690- [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Dynamics of ring current and electric fields in the inner magnetosphere during disturbed periods: CRCM–BATS-R-US coupled model." J. Geophys. Res. 115 (A5): A05210 [10.1029/2009JA014621] [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Systematic evaluation of ground and geostationary magnetic field predictions generated by global magnetohydrodynamic models." J. Geophys. Res. 115 (A3): A03206 [10.1029/2009JA014537] [Journal Article/Letter]

2009. "A Preliminary Comparison Between SuperDARN Flow Vectors and Equivalent Ionospheric Currents From the GIMA, Greenland, MACCS, THEMIS, CARISMA, and CANMOS Ground Magnetometer Arrays." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A1703- [Journal Article/Letter]

2009. "Automatic determination of the conic coronal mass ejection model parameters." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A8- [Journal Article/Letter]

2009. "Validation of the coronal mass ejection predictions at the Earth orbit estimated by ENLIL heliosphere cone model." SPACE WEATHER-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS 7 [10.1029/2008SW000448] [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Solar wind drivers of large geomagnetically induced currents during the solar cycle 23." Space Weather 6 [10002-10.1029/2007SW000374] [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Equivalent ionospheric currents from the GIMA, Greenland, MACCS, and THEMIS ground magnetometer arrays." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A1693- [Journal Article/Letter]

2007. "Determination of ground conductivity and system parameters for optimal modeling of geomagnetically induced current flow in technological systems." Earth, Planets, and Space 59 999-1006 [Full Text] [10.1186/BF03352040] [Journal Article/Letter]

2007. "Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the Ground Electromagnetic Field Fluctuations in the Auroral Region and Implications on the Predictability of Geomagnetically Induced Currents." Space Weather : Research Towards Applications in Europe 2nd European Space Weather Week (ESWW2) 344 [299-10.1007/1-4020-5446-7_26] [Journal Article/Letter]

2007. "Metrics analysis of the coupled Block Adaptive-Tree Solar Wind Roe-Type Upwind Scheme and Fok ring current model performance." SPACE WEATHER-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS 5 (11): [10.1029/2007SW000321] [Journal Article/Letter]

2007. "First-principles modeling of geomagnetically induced electromagnetic fields and currents from upstream solar wind to the surface of the Earth." ANNALES GEOPHYSICAE 25 (4): 881-893 [Journal Article/Letter]

2006. "S-transform view of geomagnetically induced currents during geomagnetic superstorms." 36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly 36 2502- [Journal Article/Letter]

2006. "Estimation of geomagnetically induced current levels from different input data." 36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly 36 2500- [Journal Article/Letter]

2006. "S-transform analysis of geomagnetically induced currents during intense geomagnetic storms." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 5- [Journal Article/Letter]

2006. "Comparative study of the spatiotemporal scaling behavior of the ground geomagnetic field fluctuations and auroral UV emissions." 36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly 36 2509- [Journal Article/Letter]

2005. "Magnetospheric substorms are strongly modulated by interplanetary high-speed streams." Geophysical Research Letters 32 [16104-10.1029/2005GL023318] [Journal Article/Letter]

2005. "The role of 3-D geomagnetic induction in the determination of the ionospheric currents from the ground geomagnetic data." Annales Geophysicae 23 909-917 [10.5194/angeo-23-909-2005] [Journal Article/Letter]

2005. "Nonlinear Modeling of the High-Latitude Geomagnetic Field and dB/dt." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A317- [Journal Article/Letter]

2005. "The role of random fluctuations in the magnetosphere-ionosphere system: a dynamic stochastic model for AE-index variations." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A408- [Journal Article/Letter]

2004. "Ionospheric currents estimated simultaneously from CHAMP satellite and IMAGE ground-based magnetic field measurements: a statisticalstudy at auroral latitudes." Annales Geophysicae 22 417-430 [10.5194/angeo-22-417-2004] [Journal Article/Letter]

2004. "Fast computation of the geoelectric field using the method of elementary current systems and planar Earth models." Annales Geophysicae 22 101-113 [10.5194/angeo-22-101-2004] [Journal Article/Letter]

2004. "The role of 3D geomagnetic induction in the determination of the ionospheric currents from the ground geomagnetic data." 35th COSPAR Scientific Assembly 35 646- [Journal Article/Letter]

2004. "Indicator for the effects of geomagnetically induced currents on power transmission systems." 35th COSPAR Scientific Assembly 35 644- [Journal Article/Letter]

2004. "Auroras Now! - Auroral nowcasting service for Hotels in Finnish Lapland and its performance during winter 2003-2004." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 246- [Journal Article/Letter]

2004. "A dynamic model of the high-latitude geomagnetic field." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A6- [Journal Article/Letter]

2003. "Mesoscale and semiglobal scale view of the ionospheric electrodynamics of auroral torches." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A97- [Journal Article/Letter]

2003. "April 2000 geomagnetic storm: ionospheric drivers of large geomagnetically induced currents." Annales Geophysicae 21 709-717 [10.5194/angeo-21-709-2003] [Journal Article/Letter]

2003. "Separation of the geomagnetic variation field on the ground into external and internal parts using the spherical elementary current system method." Earth, Planets, and Space 55 117-129 [Full Text] [10.1186/BF03351739] [Journal Article/Letter]

2002. "April 2000 Geomagnetic Storm: Ionospheric Drivers of Large Geomagnetically Induced Currents." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A495- [Journal Article/Letter]

2001. "Time derivative of the horizontal geomagnetic field as an activity indicator." Annales Geophysicae 19 1107-1118 [10.5194/angeo-19-1107-2001] [Journal Article/Letter]

2001. "At substorm onset, 40% of AL comes from underground." Journal of Geophysical Research 106 13119-13134 [10.1029/2000JA900135] [Journal Article/Letter]

2001. "Breakdown caused by a geomagnetically induced current in the Finnish telesystem in 1958." Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 63 1099-1103 [10.1016/S1364-6826(01)00021-9] [Journal Article/Letter]

2000. "On the Coordinated use of MIRACLE and Satellite Observations - a Case Study of a Space Weather Event." Cluster-II Workshop Multiscale / Multipoint Plasma Measurements 449 295- [Journal Article/Letter]

Non-Refereed

2015. "Solar Storm GIC Forecasting: Solar Shield Extension—Development of the End-User Forecasting System Requirements." Space Weather 13 (9): 531--532 [10.1002/2015SW001283] [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "Community Coordinated Modeling Center: Paving the Way for Progress in Space Science Research to Operational Space Weather Forecasting." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 2235- [Journal Article/Letter]

2013. "'Where to Hide?': A Tele-Robotic Application for HEOMD's Earth-Moon L2 Mission." Lunar and Planetary Institute Science Conference Abstracts 44 2514 [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Enabling Space Weather research, analysis, and forecasting at the Community Coordinated Modeling Center." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 2- [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Community Coordinated Modeling Center tools for solar and space physics higher education." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 812- [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Real time modeling of coronal mass ejections using WSA/ENLIL cone model." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A1935- [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC): Providing Access to Space Weather Models and Research Support Tools." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A1999- [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Analyses of the Recent Space Weather Events Using a Suite of Models and Observations." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 1866- [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Utilizing real-time and near real-time data in the iNtegrated Space Weather Analysis System." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 8- [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Space Weather Services at Goddard Space Flight Center." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A1746- [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Dst index in the 2008 GEM Modeling Challenge - Model performance for Moderate and Strong Magnetic Storms." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A1744- [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "AFWA-CCMC partnership to advance USAF space weather forecasting capabilities." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A1747- [Journal Article/Letter]

2009. "Scientific Benefits of Space Science Models Archiving at Community Coordinated Modeling Center." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 8- [Journal Article/Letter]

2009. "AFWA-CCMC Partnership to Augment USAF Space Weather Forecasting Capabilities." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A3- [Journal Article/Letter]

2009. "Validation of the coronal mass ejection predictions at the Earth orbit estimated by ENLIL heliosphere cone model." Space Weather 7 [3004-10.1029/2008SW000448] [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Modeled cross-polar cap potential response after sudden IMF changes." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A1667- [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Inner magnetosphere--global MHD coupled code: initial results." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A1571- [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "First-principles-based modeling of geomagnetically induced currents at mid- and low- latitudes." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 4- [Journal Article/Letter]

2007. "Heliophysical Modeling at the CCMC - Community Modeling Activities to Compliment the VHGO." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A264- [Journal Article/Letter]

2006. "First-principles modeling of geomagnetically induced currents from the upstream solar wind to the surface of the Earth." AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts A1358- [Journal Article/Letter]