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Particles and Fields

The University of Iowa

Dr. Craig Kletzing

What We Do

Our group specializes in experimental space plasma physics: we build instruments, fly them in space, and work with the data to understand the physics of the space around the Earth. Many of our instruments are launched on rockets, so -- you guessed it -- we're rocket scientists! One of our main interests is the auroral borealis. In fact, in February, 2003, we launched the HIBAR rocket from Poker Flat, Alaska, that investigated high frequency waves caused by auroral electrons. We lauched another that that flew the previous winter (2002) to investigate Langmuir waves.

Our group is also interested in Magnetic reconnection. We just launched the TRICE (Twin Rockets to Investigate Cusp Eletrodynamics) rockets in December 2007 from the Andøya Rocket Range in Norway.

On the ground, we are currently working with Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Goddard Space Center, and the University of New Hampshire on the Radiation Belt Storm Probe (RBSP) mission. Additionally we are investigating space plasma plasma physics using laboratory devices and have an ongoing collaboration with the UCLA group that runs the LArge Plasma Device.