The Geophysical Institute of the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for c ...

conducts research into

space physics Space physics, also known as solar-terrestrial physics or space-plasma physics, is the study of plasmas as they occur naturally in the Earth's upper atmosphere ( aeronomy) and within the Solar System. As such, it encompasses a far-ranging number of ...

and aeronomy;

atmospheric sciences Atmospheric science is the study of the Earth's atmosphere and its various inner-working physical processes. Meteorology includes atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics with a major focus on weather forecasting. Climatology is the study ...

;

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughou ...

, ice, and

permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...

;

seismology Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...

;

volcanology Volcanology (also spelled vulcanology) is the study of volcanoes, lava, magma and related geological, geophysical and geochemical phenomena (volcanism). The term ''volcanology'' is derived from the Latin word '' vulcan''. Vulcan was the an ...

; and

tectonics Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents k ...

and sedimentation. It was founded in 1946 by an act of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

. The mission of the Geophysical Institute is to: * Understand basic geophysical processes governing the planet Earth, especially as they occur in or are relevant to Alaska; * Train graduates and undergraduates to play leading scientific roles in tomorrow's society; * Solve applied geophysical problems and develop related technologies of importance to the state and the nation; * Satisfy the intellectual and technological needs of fellow Alaskans through public service.

History

The

established the Geophysical Institute with an act approved on July 31, 1946, to study the aurora borealis, after auroral activity disrupted military communications during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The funds from Congress were used to build the Geophysical Institute's main structure, which was finished in 1950. The building today is known as the Sydney Chapman Building. The institute's first director, Stuart L. Seaton, served for nine months before resigning. While the Board of Regents looked for a new director, William S. Wilson, a professor of chemistry, was appointed to be the acting director. Wilson was able to recruit Sydney Chapman — who spent three months every year from 1951 to 1970 in Alaska. In January 1952, the Board of Regents appointed astronomer Christian T. Elvey as the director of the institute. During this time, the first doctorate degree was awarded to Masahisa Sugiura who went on to become Head of the Analysis Section of the Magnetic and Electric Fields Branch at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Elvey served as the institute's director until 1963 when he was succeeded by Keith B. Mather, namesake of the Mather Library, which is still part of the Geophysical Institute. The early research done at the institute was focused on atmospheric science and space physics, then throughout the 1960s the research done was expanded to include fields such as glaciology, seismology and volcanology. In 1968, the Defense Nuclear Agency wanted a location to launch research rockets — which prompted the start of the

Poker Flat Research Range The Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR) is a launch facility and rocket range for sounding rockets in the U.S. state of Alaska, located on a site at Chatanika, about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Fairbanks and 1.5 degrees south of the Arctic ...

, 30 miles north of

Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the p ...

. In 1970, the Geophysical Institute had outgrown the Chapman Building, and began to move into the newly constructed C.T. Elvey Building. Currently, there are almost 300 employees working inside the Geophysical Institute, including 59 students.

Research

The Geophysical Institute has seven research groups: * Space Physics & Aeronomy * Volcanology * Remote Sensing * Snow, Ice & Permafrost * Tectonics & Sedimentation * Atmospheric Sciences * Seismology & Geodesy

Facilities

The Geophysical Institute houses numerous facilities — from the Alaska Satellite Facility, whose radar images allow all-weather study of sea ice, earthquakes and volcanoes, to Poker Flat Research Range, the only university-owned rocket range in the world. The research facilities at the Institute include: * Alaska Earthquake Center *

Alaska Satellite Facility The Alaska Satellite Facility is a data processing facility and satellite-tracking ground station within the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The facility’s mission is to make remote-sensing data accessible Its work is ...

* Alaska Volcano Observatory *

* Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI) * Alaska Climate Research Center * Alaska Space Grant * Chaparral Physics * College International Geophysical Observatory * GeoData Center & Map Office * Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA) * Keith B. Mather Library * High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) * Instrument Development Services * Petrology Lab * Research Computing Systems * SuperDARN * Geochronology Facility * Wilson Alaska Technical Center

Notable Faculty and Alumni

Syun-Ichi Akasofu is the founding director of the International Arctic Research Center of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), serving in that position from the center's establishment in 1998 until January 2007. Previously he had been director of the univer ...

: Aurora researcher and Institute director. * Carl Benson: Geology and Geophysics Emeritus. * Christian T. Elvey: Astronomer and director of the Geophysical Institute. * Sydney Chapman: Mathematician and advisory scientific director of the Institute. * T. Neil Davis: Co-inventor of the Elvey-Davis all-sky camera. * Don L. Lind: NASA astronaut, who conducted postdoctoral research at the Institute. * Masahisa Sugiura: First Ph.D. recipient. *

Erin Pettit Erin Christine Pettit (born 1971) is an American glaciologist focusing on climate change. She is an associate professor of geophysics and glaciology at Oregon State University. Her work focuses on ice-ocean interactions, ice-shelf disintegrati ...

: Glaciologist and creator of the Girls on Ice program. * Keith B. Mather: Director of the Institute.

External links

Official website

Alaska Earthquake Center

Alaska Satellite Facility

Alaska Volcano Observatory

Poker Flat Research Range

Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI)

Alaska Climate Research Center

Alaska Space Grant

Chaparral Physics

College International Geophysical Observatory

GeoData Center & Map Office

Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA)

High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP)

Instrument Development Services

Keith B. Mather Library

Petrology Lab

Research Computing Systems

SuperDARN

Geochronology Facility

Wilson Alaska Technical Center
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