Sciences and Exploration Directorate

Gordon L Bjoraker

((AST, PLANETARY STUDIES))

Gordon L Bjoraker's Contact Card & Information.
Email: gordon.l.bjoraker@nasa.gov
Phone: 301.286.3139
Org Code: 693
Address:
NASA/GSFC
 Mail Code 693
 Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer:
NASA

Missions & Projects

Brief Bio

RESEARCH AREAS
Planetary atmospheres, infrared spectroscopy, gas composition
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Planetary Sciences, Univ. of Arizona, 1985.
CURRENT POSITION and AWARDS
Space Scientist, NASA/GSFC Planetary Systems Laboratory 1986-date
Co-Investigator for the Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer 1990-2019
Juno Participating Scientist 2019-date
NASA/GSFC John C. Lindsay Award, 1996.

SELECTED RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS

Bjoraker, G. L., H. P. Larson, and V. G. Kunde 1986a. The Gas Composition of Jupiter Derived
from 5 Micron Airborne Spectroscopic Observations. Icarus 66, 579-609.
Bjoraker, G. L., H. P. Larson, and V. G. Kunde 1986b. The Abundance and Distribution of Water
Vapor in Jupiter's Atmosphere. Astrophys. J. 311, 1058-1072.
Bjoraker, G. L., S. R. Stolovy, T. L. Herter, G. E. Gull, and B. E. Pirger 1996. Detection of water
after the collision of fragments G and K of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter. Icarus
121, 411-421.
Bjoraker, G. L., M. H. Wong, I. de Pater, and M. Adamkovics 2015. Jupiter’s Deep Cloud Structure
Revealed Using Keck Observations of Spectrally Resolved Line Shapes. Astrophys. J. 810, 122-131.
Bjoraker, G. L., Wong, M. H., de Pater, I., Hewagama, T., Adamkovics, M., and Orton, G. S. 2018. The
Gas Composition and Deep Cloud Structure of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. Astron. J. 156, 101-115.
Cottini, V., and the CIRS team 2012. Water vapor in Titan’s stratosphere from Cassini CIRS
far-infrared spectra. Icarus 220, 855-862.
de Pater, I. ... Bjoraker, G. L. and 17 other co-authors 2019. First ALMA Millimeter Wavelength Maps
of Jupiter, with a Multi-Wavelength Study of Convection. Astron. J. 158, 139-155.
Hesman, B. E., G. L. Bjoraker, ... 2012. Elusive ethylene detected in Saturn’s northern storm region.
Astrophys. J. 760:24, 1-7.
Jennings, D. E., … G. L. Bjoraker, … 2017. Composite infrared spectrometer (CIRS) on Cassini.
Applied Optics 56, 5274.
Lellouch, E., B. Bezard, D. F. Strobel, G. L. Bjoraker, F. M. Flasar, and P. N. Romani 2006. On the
HCN and CO2 abundance and distribution in Jupiter’s stratosphere. Icarus 184, 478-497.
Pierel, J. D. R., … G. L. Bjoraker, … 2017. D/H ratios on Saturn and Jupiter from Cassini CIRS,
Astron. J. 154, 178.
Skemer, A. J., …G. L. Bjoraker, … 2016. The first spectrum of the coldest brown dwarf.
Astrophys. J. Let. 826, L17.
Sylvestre M., … G. L. Bjoraker 2015. Seasonal changes in Saturn’s stratosphere inferred from
Cassini/CIRS limb observations. Icarus 258, 224-238.
 

Education

University of Wisconsin Physics B.S. June 1978

University of Arizona Planetary Sciences Ph.D., May, 1985

Professional Service

Service to the scientific community: I perform service to the planetary science community each year by serving on review panels, reviewing proposals as an external reviewer, and refereeing journal articles.

Radiative Transfer: I have maintained and upgraded a spectrum synthesis program for use in modeling the atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, and Titan. This is used at Goddard, Cornell, Univ. of Arizona, and New Mexico State Univ.

Awards

NASA GSFC John C. Lindsay award 1996

Publications

Refereed

2023. "Cassini Composite InfraRed Spectrometer: correcting an offset error and refining the pointing parameters for the mid-infrared detectors." Applied Optics 62 (22): 5882-5888 [10.1364/ao.491970] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Residual Study: Testing Jupiter Atmosphere Models Against Juno MWR Observations." Earth and Space Science 7 (9): [10.1029/2020ea001229] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "High-resolution UV/Optical/IR Imaging of Jupiter in 2016–2019." The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 247 (2): 58 [10.3847/1538-4365/ab775f] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Solar system science with the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope." Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 4 (03): 1 [10.1117/1.jatis.4.3.034003] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Titan Science with theJames Webb Space Telescope." Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 128 (959): 018007 [10.1088/1538-3873/128/959/018007] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "Elusive Ethylene Detected in Saturn's Northern Storm Region." Astrophysical Journal 760:24 [10.1088/0004-637X/760/1/24] [Journal Article/Letter]

2012. "The Origin and Evolution of Saturn's 2011-2012 Stratospheric Vortex." Icarus 221 560-586 [10.1016/j.icarus.2012.08.024] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "Thermal Structure and Dynamics of Saturn’s Northern Springtime Disturbance." Science 332 1413-1417. [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Analysis of Cassini/CIRS limb spectra of Titan acquired during the nominal mission." Icarus 205 (2): 559-570 [10.1016/j.icarus.2009.08.013] [Journal Article/Letter]

2010. "Saturn's emitted power." J Geophys Res 115 (E11): E11002 [10.1029/2010JE003631] [Journal Article/Letter]

2009. "12C/13C Ratio in Ethane on Titan and Implications for Methane’s Replenishment†." The Journal of Physical Chemistry A 113 (42): 11101-11106 [10.1021/jp903637d] [Journal Article/Letter]

2009. "TandEM: Titan and Enceladus mission." Experimental Astronomy 23 893 [Full Text] [10.1007/s10686-008-9103-z] [Journal Article/Letter]

2009. "Saturn’s Latitudinal C2H2 and C2H6 Abundance Profiles from Cassini/CIRS and Ground-Based Observations." Icarus 202 249-259. [Journal Article/Letter]

2008. "Temperature and Composition of Saturn's Polar Hotspots and Hexagon." Science 319 79-81. [Journal Article/Letter]

2005. "Titan's Atmospheric Temperatures, Winds, and Composition." Science 308 (5724): 975-978. [10.1126/science.1111150] [Journal Article/Letter]

2005. "Temperatures, Winds, and Composition in the Saturnian System." Science 307 (5713): 1247-1251 [10.1126/science.1105806] [Journal Article/Letter]

2005. "Stratospheric Images of Jupiter Derived from Hydrocarbon Emissions in Voyager 1 and 2 IRIS Spectra." Journal of the Korean Astronomical Society 38 471–487 [Journal Article/Letter]

2004. "Jupiter's Atmospheric Composition from the Cassini Thermal Infrared Spectroscopy Experiment." Science 305 (5690): 1582-1586. [10.1126/science.1100240] [Journal Article/Letter]

2004. "An Intense Stratospheric Jet on Jupiter." Nature 427 132-135 [10.1038/nature02142] [Journal Article/Letter]

2004. "Exploring the Saturn System in the Thermal Infrared: The Composite Infrared Spectrometer." Space Science Reviews 115 (1-4): 169-297 [10.1007/s11214-004-1454-9] [Journal Article/Letter]

1996. "Stratospheric Ammonia on Jupiter after the SL9 Collision." Icarus 121 (2): 431-441 [10.1006/icar.1996.0098] [Journal Article/Letter]

Contact Us

Jocelyn Lynch
Project Support Specialist
301-286-6066
jocelyn.m.lynch@nasa.gov
Ellie Jeffries
Project Support Specialist
301-286-6066
ellen.e.jeffries@nasa.gov

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