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Samantha Wallace

Photo of SAMANTHA WALLACE

Samantha Wallace

  • POSTDOC
  • 301.286.7511
  • NASA/GSFC
  • Mail Code: 671
  • Greenbelt , MD 20771
  • Employer: NPP POST-DOC CONTRACT

    • Research Interests

    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.  


    Positions/Employment

    11/2020 - Present

    NASA Postdoctoral Fellow

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

    "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.

    1/2018 - 10/2020

    Student Research Collaborator

    Solar Physics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
    • 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.
    8/2015 - 12/2017

    Graduate Research Assistant

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

    "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.

    8/2013 - 5/2015

    Graduate Teaching Assistant

    Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL

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

    2012 - 2016

    Research Intern

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

    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.

    5/2017 - 8/2017

    Research Intern

    Solar Physics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
    6/2011 - 8/2011

    Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Intern

    National Solar Observatory, Tucson, AZ

    Education

    Doctorate in Physics, passed defense with distinction, University of New Mexico, 2020

    Dissertation: "Understanding Solar Wind Formation by Identifying the Origins of In Situ Observations"

    Masters of Science in Engineering Physics, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 2015

    Thesis: "Comparing Different Methods for Estimating Total Open Heliospheric Magnetic Flux"

    Bachelors of Science in Space Physics, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 2012

    Professional Societies

    American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2014 - Present
    American Astronomical Society (AAS), 2017 - Present

    Professional Service

    NSF Solar Heliosphere and INterplanetary Environment (SHINE)

    • SHINE Student Representative, August, 2018 - August, 2020
    • SHINE Session Organizer, August 2019

     

    NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

    • Served on the 670 graduate student career panel, July 2019
    • Supporting and mentoring summer interns with research, 2018 - 2019

     

    Awards

    John Mather Nobel Scholars Award, July 2018

    Best Student Tutorial/Research Talk, SHINE Conference, Cocoa Beach, FL, July 2018

    Best Student Research Talk, SHINE Conference, Santa Fe, NM, July 2016

    Ronald E. McNair Outstanding Scholar of the Year Award, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, May 2012

    Grants

    PROBA-2 Guest Investigator Grant, Royal Observatory of Belgium

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

    Publications

    Refereed

    Wallace, S., C. N. Arge, N. M. Viall, and Y. M. Pihlstrom. 2020. "On the Relationship between Magnetic Expansion Factor and Observed Speed of the Solar Wind from Coronal Pseudostreamers." The Astrophysical Journal, 898 (1): 78 [10.3847/1538-4357/ab98a0]

    Korreck, K. E., A. Szabo, T. N. Chinchilla, et al. B. Lavraud, J. Luhmann, T. Niembro, A. Higginson, N. Alzate, S. Wallace, K. Paulson, A. Rouillard, A. Kouloumvakos, N. Poirier, J. C. Kasper, A. W. Case, M. L. Stevens, S. D. Bale, M. Pulupa, P. Whittlesey, R. Livi, K. Goetz, D. Larson, D. M. Malaspina, H. Morgan, A. A. Narock, N. A. Schwadron, J. Bonnell, P. Harvey, and J. Wygant. 2020. "Source and Propagation of a Streamer Blowout Coronal Mass Ejection Observed by the Parker Solar Probe." The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 246 (2): 69 [10.3847/1538-4365/ab6ff9]

    Nieves-Chinchilla, T., A. Szabo, K. E. Korreck, et al. N. Alzate, L. A. Balmaceda, B. Lavraud, K. Paulson, A. A. Narock, S. Wallace, L. K. Jian, J. G. Luhmann, H. Morgan, A. Higginson, C. N. Arge, S. D. Bale, A. W. Case, T. D. Wit, J. Giacalone, K. Goetz, P. R. Harvey, S. I. Jones-Melosky, J. C. Kasper, D. E. Larson, R. Livi, D. J. McComas, R. J. MacDowall, D. M. Malaspina, M. Pulupa, N. E. Raouafi, N. Schwadron, M. L. Stevens, and P. L. Whittlesey. 2020. "Analysis of the Internal Structure of the Streamer Blowout Observed by the Parker Solar Probe During the First Solar Encounter." The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 246 (2): 63 [10.3847/1538-4365/ab61f5]

    Szabo, A., D. Larson, P. Whittlesey, et al. M. Stevens, B. Lavraud, T. Phan, S. Wallace, S. Jones, C. Arge, S. Badman, D. Odstr?il, N. Pogorelov, T. Kim, P. Riley, C. Henney, S. Bale, J. Bonnell, A. Case, T. Wit, and M. Pulupa. 2020. "The Heliospheric Current Sheet in the Inner Heliosphere Observed by the Parker Solar Probe." The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 246: 47 [10.3847/1538-4365/ab5dac]

    Wallace, S., C. N. Arge, M. Pattichis, R. A. Hock-Mysliwiec, and C. J. Henney. 2019. "Estimating Total Open Heliospheric Magnetic Flux." Solar Physics, 294 (2): [10.1007/s11207-019-1402-1]

    Di Matteo, S., N. M. Viall, L. Kepko, et al. S. Wallace, C. N. Arge, and P. MacNeice. 2019. "Helios Observations of Quasiperiodic Density Structures in the Slow Solar Wind at 0.3, 0.4, and 0.6 AU." Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 124 (2): 837-860 [10.1029/2018ja026182]

    Publications

    Refereed

    Wallace, S., C. N. Arge, N. M. Viall, and Y. M. Pihlstrom. 2020. "On the Relationship between Magnetic Expansion Factor and Observed Speed of the Solar Wind from Coronal Pseudostreamers." The Astrophysical Journal 898 (1): 78 [10.3847/1538-4357/ab98a0]

    Korreck, K. E., A. Szabo, T. N. Chinchilla, et al. B. Lavraud, J. Luhmann, T. Niembro, A. Higginson, N. Alzate, S. Wallace, K. Paulson, A. Rouillard, A. Kouloumvakos, N. Poirier, J. C. Kasper, A. W. Case, M. L. Stevens, S. D. Bale, M. Pulupa, P. Whittlesey, R. Livi, K. Goetz, D. Larson, D. M. Malaspina, H. Morgan, A. A. Narock, N. A. Schwadron, J. Bonnell, P. Harvey, and J. Wygant. 2020. "Source and Propagation of a Streamer Blowout Coronal Mass Ejection Observed by the Parker Solar Probe." The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 246 (2): 69 [10.3847/1538-4365/ab6ff9]

    Nieves-Chinchilla, T., A. Szabo, K. E. Korreck, et al. N. Alzate, L. A. Balmaceda, B. Lavraud, K. Paulson, A. A. Narock, S. Wallace, L. K. Jian, J. G. Luhmann, H. Morgan, A. Higginson, C. N. Arge, S. D. Bale, A. W. Case, T. D. Wit, J. Giacalone, K. Goetz, P. R. Harvey, S. I. Jones-Melosky, J. C. Kasper, D. E. Larson, R. Livi, D. J. McComas, R. J. MacDowall, D. M. Malaspina, M. Pulupa, N. E. Raouafi, N. Schwadron, M. L. Stevens, and P. L. Whittlesey. 2020. "Analysis of the Internal Structure of the Streamer Blowout Observed by the Parker Solar Probe During the First Solar Encounter." The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 246 (2): 63 [10.3847/1538-4365/ab61f5]

    Szabo, A., D. Larson, P. Whittlesey, et al. M. Stevens, B. Lavraud, T. Phan, S. Wallace, S. Jones, C. Arge, S. Badman, D. Odstr?il, N. Pogorelov, T. Kim, P. Riley, C. Henney, S. Bale, J. Bonnell, A. Case, T. Wit, and M. Pulupa. 2020. "The Heliospheric Current Sheet in the Inner Heliosphere Observed by the Parker Solar Probe." The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 246 47 [10.3847/1538-4365/ab5dac]

    Wallace, S., C. N. Arge, M. Pattichis, R. A. Hock-Mysliwiec, and C. J. Henney. 2019. "Estimating Total Open Heliospheric Magnetic Flux." Solar Physics 294 (2): [10.1007/s11207-019-1402-1]

    Di Matteo, S., N. M. Viall, L. Kepko, et al. S. Wallace, C. N. Arge, and P. MacNeice. 2019. "Helios Observations of Quasiperiodic Density Structures in the Slow Solar Wind at 0.3, 0.4, and 0.6 AU." Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics 124 (2): 837-860 [10.1029/2018ja026182]

                                                                                                                                                                                            
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    • Last Updated: 06/29/2022