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Space Physics Images 2010-2011

Images from the Otago Space Physics Group, at Home and Overseas (2010-2011)

With hard work and tenacity, comes a funny hat. Former Space Physics student, Dr Rory Gamble stands beside his PhD supervisors Assoc. Prof Craig J. Rodger and Assoc. Prof. Neil Thomson. Rory had just "gone across the stage" and been capped to formally become "Dr Gamble". Congratulations Rory! [17 December 2011].

Graduation success! Assoc. Prof. Craig Rodger stands besides the newly graduated Aaron Hendry, who completed a BSc(Hons) in Physics and was capped on 17 December 2011. Aaron undertook a Space Physics Honours project working under Craig's supervision, and has agreed to remain in the group as a PhD student [17 December 2011].

Mr Peter McCabe, Physics Department Head Technician, and Dr James Brundell standing next to the newly repaired AARDDVARK radio receiver which is located at Arrival Heights, not far from Scott Base. James and Peter undertook a rapid 1 week visit to Antarctica to undertake repairs, recover data, and measure the local noise field [Dec 2011].

Rory Gamble, Mark Clilverd (British Antarctic Survey) and Craig Rodger in Interlaken, Switzerland. The team was visiting Berne, nearby Interlaken, for an International Space Science Institute team meeting. The mountain in the background is the the Jungfrau (4,158 m high) [16 October 2011].

Rory Gamble reading an information sign inside the Catacombs of Paris - an underground ossuary holding the remains of about 6 million people inside an abandoned mine. Rory was visiting Paris to attend the DEMETER satellite workshop, held at the CNES headquarters [9 October 2011].

Associate Professor Craig J. Rodger standing at the Trocadéro with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Craig was visiting Paris to attend the DEMETER satellite workshop, held at the CNES headquarters [9 October 2011].

Dr Mea Simon Wedlund has joined the group to start a PhD with us. Mea has travelled from Europe, having recently completed her first PhD at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris. She will now undertake a second PhD with the Otago Space Physics group. Her PhD research will focus on AARDDVARK-measured particle precipitation, and is funded by the New Zealand Marsden fund. This image was taken on a beach not far from Dunedin. [22 September 2011]

Associate Professor Craig J. Rodger in the cistern of the Hagia Sophia Basilica. This is a very large chamber (approx 139m by 70m) built in the 6th century AD, and contains 336 marble columns to hold up the roof. Craig was visiting Istanbul to attend the XXX General Assembly and Scientific Symposium of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) [21 August 2011].

Space Physics PhD candidate Rory Gamble standing in front of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (also know as the "Blue Mosque") in Istanbul. Rory was visiting Istanbul to attend the XXX General Assembly and Scientific Symposium of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) [13 August 2011].

Associate Professor Craig J. Rodger at "The Narrows", the entrance to the harbour at St John's, Newfoundland, Canada. Craig was visiting this city to attend the AGU Chapman Conference on Dynamics of the Earth's Radiation Belts and Inner Magnetosphere, which was followed by the WUN workshop on Characterising space radiation and its impact on climate change. The site where he is standing is very close to the point where Marconi first received radio transmissions which had been broadcast across the North Atlantic from Cornwall [22 July 2011].

Associate Professor Craig J. Rodger standing beside the Yarra River with the city of Melbourne, Australia. Craig was in Melbourne (Australia) to attend the XXV IUGG General Assembly [7 July 2011].

Associate Professor Craig J. Rodger from the Space Physics group was one of three Otago academics who have recreived the 2011 University of Otago Teaching Excellence Awards. The photo to the left shows the three winners, Dr James Maclaurin (Philosophy), Associate Prof Craig Rodger (Physics), and Mr Tony Zaharic (Biochemistry) [20 June 2011].

Associate Professor Neil R. Thomson at the edge of the Naval Radio Transmitter Facility (NRTF) Grindavik, Iceland. NRTF Grindavik is a communications broadcast site operated for the US Navy. Neil was visiting Iceland to make measurements around the communications transmitters to better describe the nature of the lower ionosphere [June 2011].

PhD candidate and Space Physics student Rory Gamble standing beside the antenna of the OmniPAL AARDDVARK receiver operated by the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory at Pittiövaara. Rory used observations from this antenna, along with measurements from the DEMETER satellite to undertake his PhD research in the Otago group. Rory is currently working as a Researcher at SGO [early May 2011].

PhD candidate and Space Physics student Rory Gamble outside the folly at Wimpole Estate, near Cambridge, England. Rory was visit Mark Clilverd and the British Antarctic Survey to talk about future Post-doctoral research work [May 2011].

PhD candidate and Space Physics student Rory Gamble submits his PhD thesis ("The 17-19 January 2005 Atmospheric Electron Precipitation Event"); the next day he left New Zealand to take up a research position at the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory in Finland. [28 March 2011, photo courtesy of Catarina Sahlberg].

Craig Rodger with SpaceShipOne in the background. This image was taken at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Washington DC. SpaceShipOne was a suborbital spaceplane that completed the first manned private spaceflight in 2004. Craig was visiting Washington DC to be part of a NASA review panel [February, 2011].

Assoc. Prof. Sushil Kumar of the University of the South Pacific (Fiji) with Otago Harbour in the background. Assoc. Prof. Kumar was visiting the Otago Space Physics group as the 2011 Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara Fellow. This Fellowship funds staff from the University of the South Pacific to work for up to 3 months with researchers from Otago. Assoc. Prof. Kumar worked with us on lightning, red sprites, and subionospheric VLF propagation. [January, 2011].

Otago PhD student Rory Gamble in front of Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay. Rory attended the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting (along with some 18,400 other geophysicists!) to present his PhD research and a recently-published study. An AGU Student Travel Grant and support from the Otago Polar Environments Research Theme helped make the trip possible [11 December 2010].

Mark Clilverd (British Antarctic Survey) on the beach at Taieri Mouth, about 25 minutes drive south of the city of Dunedin. We visited this beach shortly before going to the airport, and Mark's return to Cambridge, and winter. Mark Clilverd was visiting the Space Physics group as part of his annual collaborative trip. We discussed our research plans for the year, working on papers together, and travelled to Antarctica to undertake maintenance on our Scott Base AARDDVARK antenna [11 December 2010].

Mark Clilverd (British Antarctic Survey) and Dr Craig Rodger standing in front Mt Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica. Mark and Craig were in Antarctica to work on the AARDDVARK receiver located at Arrival Heights, and supported by the Antarctica New Zealand personal at Scott Base. This image was taken at the NSF Long Duration Balloon Facility [30 November 2010].

The view from the edge of Berne University, looking towards the Swiss Alps (Jungfrau is in the background, as is probably the Matterhorn). This is actually an unusually clear view of the mountains - locals were stopping to admire it! They were pretty damn impressive, really. Craig was visiting Berne for an International Space Science Institute team meeting, re-running the trip from April 2010, which got disrupted by volcanic activity [11 Nov 2010].

Craig standing in front of the new AARDDVARK antenna installed at Ministik Lake, Alberta, Canada. The antenna is located at a field site of the Space Physics Group from the University of Alberta, who are based in Edmonton. The field site houses one of the Canadian Array for Realtime Investigations of Magnetic Activity (CARISMA) magnetometers. Dr Craig Rodger and Dr Mark Clilverd (British Antarctic Survey) installed the AARDDVARK atenna in mid-October [14 October 2010].

Dr Craig Rodger standing at the top of Table Mountain over looking Cape Town, South Africa. Craig was visiting South Africa to give a plenary address at the South African Institute of Physics conference, to visit the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory, and to give seminars. On this day he had gone to Cape Town to give a NASSP colloquia, and then fly to Durban to visit UKZN [6 October 2010].

Craig standing in front of the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria, South Africa. This memorial can be seen across the city, as it is sitting on a fairly high hill, and is a big square box. Craig was visiting South Africa to give a plenary address at the South African Institute of Physics conference, to visit the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory, and to give a couple of seminars as well [October 2010].

Craig standing outside the Kepler Museum in Prague, Czech Republic. This small museum is located in Prague's Old Town and was the last residence of Johannes Kepler and his family in the city. For five years he walked from this building across the very nearby Charles Bridge to the imperial court at Prague Castle. Craig was in Prague to attend the 4th VERSIM Workshop [12 September 2010].

Craig at the opening social function for the 38th COSPAR Assembly 2010 conference (COSPAR is the Committee on Space Research), which was held in Bremen, Germany. The Opening Reception was in the form of a 'typical' north German culture historic festival: the free market (Freimarkt) [19 July 2010, photograph by Annika Seppälä].

Mark Clilverd (British Antarctic Survey) and Dr Craig Rodger standing in front of the Brandenberg Gate, Berlin. Craig was visiting Berlin for SCOSTEP's Symposium STP12 (12-16 July 2010). This image was taken during a city tour during the meeting [14 July 2010].

Dr Craig Rodger with Space Physics students Bonar Carson and Rory Gamble at the Antarctic Centre in Christchurch, during the conference dinner of the Annual Antarctic Conference 2010 [6 July 2010].

Dr Craig Rodger in the entrance foyer of the Einstein Museum, part of the Historisches Museum Bern. Craig was in Berne, Switzerland, to visit the International Space Science Institute. Albert Einstein lived and worked in Berne from 1902-1909, during which Einstein developed his seminal work on Special Relativity, Brownian Motion and the Photoelectric Effect [17 April 2010].

Mark Clilverd (British Antarctic Survey) sitting on a branch in front of Nichols Falls, on the edge of Dunedin City. Mark was visiting the University of Otago Space Physics group to plan our joint activities in 2010 [January 2010].

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