Samantha Wallace

Coronal and Solar Wind Modeling

Using the ADAPT-WSA model to identify where in situ solar wind observations originated from on the Sun. We apply our modeling techniques to test empirical relationships and proxies for solar wind acceleration, characterize the solar wind originated from specific sources (e.g. active regions, quiet Sun, deep inside coronal holes), and ultimately investigate how the solar wind is formed (i.e. heated, released, and accelerated). I also work on model development to further enable this type of research.  

NASA Postdoctoral Fellow

Solar Physics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD

November 2020 - Present

"Characterizing the In Situ Observed Solar Wind by its Solar Source Locations" - Using ADAPT-WSA to identify periods when the observed solar wind at L1 originates from helmet streamers and pseudostreamers. We investigate whether the magnetic properties of the streamer (i.e. unipolar or dipolar) determine how the solar wind is heated, released, and accelerated, or whether the local magnetic properties at the open-closed boundary and/or underlying the streamer cusp (i.e active region vs. quiet Sun) drive the solar wind formation process.

Student Research Collaborator

Solar Physics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD

January 2018 - October 2020

• Used ADAPT-WSA to characterize the solar wind that emerges from specific source regions, and test solar wind formation theories (i.e. waves/expansion factor, reconnection/S-web)
• Developed the capability for WSA to derive source regions of the solar wind observed at spacecraft with varying radial distances from the Sun (e.g. Parker Solar Probe, Solar Orbiter, Helios).
• Supported Parker Solar Probe mission by deriving the solar wind source regions for various encounters.
• Supported ISFM team projects by identifying the source regions of in situ observed solar wind events (e.g. periodic density structures,SEPs).
• Developed the capability for WSA to derive the solar wind source regions for Helios observations.

Graduate Research Assistant

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico - Albuquerque, NM

August 2015 - December 2017

"On the Relationship between Magnetic Expansion Factor and Observed Speed of the Solar Wind from Coronal Pseudostreamers" - tested empirical proxies for solar wind formation (heating, release, acceleration) pertaining specifically to pseudostreamers (e.g. expansion factor, field line distance from coronal hole boundary). Developed a methodology using ADAPT-WSA to identify periods when the observed solar wind originates from the magnetic open-closed boundary of coronal pseudostreamers; compared observed solar wind speed with magnetic expansion factor along source region field lines for pseudostreamer solar wind.

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach, FL

August 2013 - May 2015

Responsible for teaching and facilitating Physics I lab; created lectures, homework, and quizzes; held for office hours for discussion with students.

Research Intern

Space Vehicles Directorate, Air Force Research Lab - Albuquerque, NM

2012 - 2016

Summer research intern in 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

"Estimating Total Open Heliospheric Magnetic Flux" - Developed a methodology for manually identifying coronal holes on synoptic EUV maps with a computer software; derived total open flux with EUV coronal holes and ADAPT photospheric field maps.

Research Intern

Solar Physics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD

May 2017 - August 2017

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Intern

National Solar Observatory - Tucson, AZ

June 2011 - August 2011

American Geophysical Union (AGU)

2014 - Present

American Astronomical Society (AAS)

2017 - Present

Identifying pseudostreamers with PROBA-2 SWAP: A comparative study of observed and model-derived pseudostreamers

PROBA-2 Guest Investigator Grant - Royal Observatory of Belgium - Awarded: 0000-00-00