Anja Strømme is an

ionospheric The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays ...

physicist at

SRI International SRI International (SRI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit scientific research, scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California, United States. It was established in 1946 by trustees of Stanford Univer ...

and the principal scientist at the

Sondrestrom Upper Atmospheric Research Facility The Sondrestrom Upper Atmospheric Research Facility was an ionospheric and atmospheric research facility situated about west of Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. It was commonly known around the town as Kellyville. The facility was operational from 1983 t ...

. She has also worked with the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

. Strømme has been a member of the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...

since 2005.

Education

Strømme studied at the

University of Tromsø The University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway ( Norwegian: ''Universitetet i Tromsø – Norges arktiske universitet''; Northern Sami: ''Romssa universitehta – Norgga árktalaš universitehta'') is a state university in Norway a ...

, Norway. Her research area was ionospheric and atmospheric measurements performed north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

using radar. She received her M.Sc. in 1999 on the topic ''Anomalous Ion Spectra and Ion Outflow Observed with the

EISCAT EISCAT (European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association) operates three incoherent scatter radar systems in Northern Scandinavia and Svalbard. The facilities are used to study the interaction between the Sun and the Earth as revealed by dist ...

Svalbard Radar'' and her Ph.D. in 2004 with a thesis entitled ''Naturally Enhanced Wave Modes Observed with the EISCAT Svalbard Radar''.

Career

Strømme works as a senior scientist at

. She worked at the Sondestrom Upper Atmospheric Research Facility before it ceased operations in 2018, contributing to publications between 2001 and 2016. She was awarded funding for the project through the

from 2009 to 2015, then from 2015 to 2018. In 2012, Strømme began working as a program officer for the

NSF NSF may stand for: Political organizations *National Socialist Front, a Swedish National Socialist party *NS-Frauenschaft, the women's wing of the former German Nazi party * National Students Federation, a leftist Pakistani students' political g ...

, on leave from SRI International. Her position was as a "rotator" on a year-long contract, assigned to assess a backlog of grant applications. She has discussed her sudden termination following alleged misconduct in relation to conflict of interest rules, though she maintains that she was unaware of having mishandled any grant applications and was never informed of the specifics of her dismissal. Strømme returned to SRI International after this occurred, but her public statements led to requests that the NSF provide more protection and clearer guidelines for rotators, including the ability to review and respond to allegations of misconduct. Since 2019, Strømme has worked with the

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

on the

Sentinel-3 Sentinel-3 is an Earth observation heavy satellite series developed by the European Space Agency as part of the Copernicus Programme. As of 2024, it consists of 2 satellites: Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B. After initial commissioning, each sat ...

and Swarm missions. She chaired part of the 9th Swarm

Data Quality Data quality refers to the state of qualitative or quantitative pieces of information. There are many definitions of data quality, but data is generally considered high quality if it is "fit for tsintended uses in operations, decision making and ...

Workshop (SDQW) in 2019, discussing the overall mission status and plans. Strømme receives and helps researchers use ESA mission data to solve problems, for instance assessing the sustainability of fishing based on satellite images and machine learning. Another Swarm data project is tracking the magnetic north pole. Strømme is also a senior advisor at the Norwegian Space Center.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stromme, Anja Living people SRI International people 21st-century physicists 21st-century women physicists Geophysicists Women geophysicists Year of birth missing (living people)