← LeaderboardsInvestigatorsiAttributed = a PI's even-split share of each grant — a $1M grant with 2 PIs counts $500K each.
Space Science Institute
Boulder, CO
$77,228,263
Total funding
195
Grants
Funding over time
peak $14.4M · FY2005–26$20M$15M$10M$5M$0
'05
'06
'07
'08
'09
'10
'11
'12
'13
'14
'15
'16
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23
'24
'25
'26
Funding mix
By agency
NASA$42,291,307 · 125
NSF$34,139,706 · 66
DOE$538,920 · 3
NIH$258,330 · 1
By mechanism
—$76,969,933 · 194
R25$258,330 · 1
Investigators at Space Science Institute
InvestigatorsiAttributed = a PI's even-split share of each grant — a $1M grant with 2 PIs counts $500K each.
Exposure= the full size of every grant they're on ($1M each).
Rising Stars
First grant in the last 5 yrs
Not enough data
Emerging Leaders
6–10 yrs in
Not enough data
All-Time
Most funded here, all years
Largest grants
NASA HAS INSPIRED THE PUBLIC FOR DECADES WITH ITS MISSION TO EXPLORE NEW FRONTIERS AND TO DRIVE ADVANCES IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MAT$10,203,089
· FY2016 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Broad Implementation: Phase 2 of the STAR Library Education Network$3,293,257
· FY2014 · EDU
Asteroids! An integrated astronomy education program for small science centers and libraries$2,958,981
· FY2008 · EDU
Enhancing Learning Opportunities in Libraries of Rural Communities$2,811,266
· FY2020 · EDU
STAR Library Education Network: A Hands-on Learning Program for Libraries and Their Communities$2,495,325
· FY2010 · EDU
Giant Planets: Exploring the Outer Solar System$1,947,329
· FY2004 · EDU
Collaborative Research: FIRE-NET: Improving Fire Response Time through a Unified Data-Driven Geographical Approach: Decision-Support Data Integration Network sYstem (DeSDINY)$1,822,107
· FY2026 · GEO
Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education -- Stardust: Our Search for Origins (A Travelling Exhibition)$1,222,278
· FY2002 · EDU
Project BUILD (Building Using an Interactive Learning Design)$1,078,775
· FY2017 · EDU
Space Weather Outreach$864,000
· FY2008 · GEO
GEOMAGNETIC PERTURBATIONS RELATED TO A VARIETY OF PHENOMENA IN THE NEAR-EARTH SPACE ENVIRONMENT INDUCE ELECTRIC FIELDS AT THE EARTH S SURFACE. THESE "GEOELECTRIC" FIELDS IN TURN DRIVE POTENTIALLY DAMAGING GEOMAGNETICALLY INDUCED CURRENTS (GIC) IN TECHNOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SUCH AS RAILROADS PIPELINES SUBMARINE CABLES AND POWER GRIDS. THE SPATIO-TEMPORAL SPECIFICATION OF GEOELECTRIC FIELDS IS NEEDED TO IMPROVE FORECASTS OF GIC AND THE COMBINATION OF GROUND CONDUCTIVITY MEASUREMENTS AND THE TIME RATE OF CHANGE OF THE MAGNETIC FIELD (DB/DT) CAN BE USED TO ESTIMATE THE GEOELECTRIC FIELD. PULSATIONS OR WAVES AT THE LOWER END OF THE ULTRA LOW FREQUENCY (ULF) BAND IN THE COUPLED MAGNETOSPHERE-IONOSPHERE (M-I) GENERATE PERIODIC GROUND MAGNETIC PERTURBATIONS AND DB/DT THAT HAVE BEEN LINKED TO GEOELECTRIC FIELDS AND GIC. A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE OF ULF WAVES IN GENERATING GEOELECTRIC FIELDS IS THUS NEEDED TO IMPROVE GIC MODELS AND FORECASTING CAPABILITIES. ..WE PROPOSE A COORDINATED INVESTIGATION USING SATELLITE MEASUREMENTS COHERENT SCATTER RADARS (SUPERDARN) GROUND MAGNETOMETERS MAGNETO-TELLURIC SURVEYS AND GEOELECTRIC FIELD MEASUREMENTS TO ADDRESS THE OVER-ARCHING SCIENCE QUESTION "HOW DO ULF WAVES IN THE M-I SYSTEM COUPLE TO GEOELECTRIC FIELD VARIATIONS RELEVANT TO GIC?" WITH SUB-QUESTIONS "WHAT ARE THE SPATIAL/TEMPORAL SCALES OF DB/DT AND GEOELECTRIC FIELDS ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENT ULF WAVE MODES? WHAT COMBINATIONS OF ULF WAVE PROPERTIES DRIVING CONDITIONS AND LOCAL GROUND CONDUCTIVITIES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE LARGEST DB/DT AND GEOELECTRIC FIELDS?" BY EXAMINING HOW ULF WAVES COUPLE THROUGH THE M-I SYSTEM TO GROUND DB/DT THIS STUDY ADDRESSES THE HIGH-LEVEL DECADAL SURVEY GOAL 2 "DETERMINE THE DYNAMICS AND COUPLING OF EARTH S MAGNETOSPHERE IONOSPHERE AND ATMOSPHERE AND THEIR RESPONSE TO SOLAR AND TERRESTRIAL INPUTS " IS CONSISTENT WITH THE NASA HELIOPHYSICS DIVISION STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE TO "UNDERSTAND THE SUN AND ITS INTERACTIONS WITH THE EARTH AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM INCLUDING SPACE WEATHER" (NASA HELIOPHYSICS ROADMAP) AND COMPLEMENTS EFFORTS BY THE NASA LWS INSTITUTE GIC GROUP. ..WE WILL ADDRESS THE SCIENCE QUESTIONS THROUGH A COMBINATION OF (1) ESTIMATES OF ULF GEOLECTRIC FIELDS OBTAINED FROM A META-ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUS ULF WAVE STUDIES AND MAGNETO-TELLURIC IMPEDANCE MEASUREMENTS (2) GLOBAL MEASUREMENTS OF ULF WAVE PROPERTIES USED TO OBTAIN GEOELECTRIC FIELDS IN DETAILED CASE STUDIES (3) STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF CO-LOCATED GROUND MAGNETIC AND GEOELECTRIC FIELD MEASUREMENTS. THE PI IS QUALIFIED FOR THIS STUDY DUE TO (1) RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS THAT DEMONSTRATE ULF WAVE EXPERTISE AND ABILITY TO EXPLORE NEW SCIENTIFIC IDEAS THAT WILL IMPACT THE ULF WAVE AND GIC RESEARCH FIELDS AND (2) CURRENT LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES THAT DEMONSTRATE ABILITY TO DEVELOP ULF WAVE THEMES LEAD COMMUNITY IN NEW DIRECTIONS AND MENTOR JUNIOR RESEARCHERS. ..THIS INVESTIGATION IS TIMELY AS IT USES SEVERAL RECENTLY AVAILABLE DATASETS TO PROVIDE NEW CONSTRAINTS ON ULF WAVE IMPACTS ON GEOELECTRIC FIELDS/GIC. THROUGH ULF WAVE EXPERTISE AND CURRENT LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES (E.G. GEM ULF WAVE FOCUS GROUP) THE PI IS WELL-POSITIONED TO COMMUNICATE NEW RESULTS TO BOTH THE ULF WAVE AND GIC MODELING RESEARCH GROUPS FOSTERING CROSS-DISCUSSION BETWEEN THESE COMMUNITIES AND FOCUSING FUTURE MODELING/OBSERVATION EFFORTS ON ULF WAVE MODES MOST LIKELY TO GENERATE SIGNIFICANT GIC. .$841,024
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE HELIOSPHERIC CURRENT-SHEET NETWORK AND THE CELLULARIZATION OF THE SOLAR WIND$750,000
· FY2021 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
New Techniques for Interpreting Physical Structures and Turbulence in the Solar Wind$750,000
· FY2014 · GEO
WAVES GENERATED BY ACCELERATED PARTICLES ARE IMPORTANT THROUGHOUT OUR HELIOSPHERE. THESE PARTICLES OFTEN GAIN THEIR ENERGY AT SHOCKS VIA FERMI ACCELERATION. AT THE EARTH'S BOW SHOCK THIS MECHANISM ACCELERATES ION BEAMS BACK INTO THE SOLAR WIND THE BEAMS CAN THEN GENERATE ULTRA-LOW FREQUENCY (ULF) WAVES WHEN THEY INTERACT WITH THE BACKGROUND SOLAR WIND PLASMA. THESE WAVES CAN INFLUENCE SPACE WEATHER ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE GROUND AND REPRESENT A NATURAL LABORATORY FOR FUTURE TURBULENCE-RELEVANT NON-LINEAR STUDIES. DESPITE A CLEAR CONNECTION BETWEEN THE BEAM AND THE WAVES THE MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROPERTIES AND DYNAMICS OF THE OBSERVED ULF WAVES ARE STILL A MATTER OF DEBATE. FOR EXAMPLE EVOLUTION OF THE OBSERVED FREQUENCIES IN TIME AND SPACE MAY BE DUE TO A) FAST CHANGES IN THE BEAM PROPERTIES OR B) A NON-LINEAR PARAMETRIC INSTABILITY OF THE ULF WAVES. WE PROPOSE TO ELUCIDATE THIS AND OTHER KEY PHYSICS USING A NOVEL COMBINATION OF ARTEMIS IN CONJUNCTION WITH OTHER SPACECRAFT THE VLASIATOR GLOBAL HYBRID-VLASOV SIMULATION CODE AND A NEW ARBITRARY DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION DISPERSION SOLVER. THE RESULTS WILL BE APPLICABLE TO SHOCKS ELSEWHERE IN THE HELIOSPHERE AND THUS MAY INFORM PRESENT AND FUTURE NASA MISSIONS. THE PROPOSED STUDY IS RELEVANT TO ALL FOUR DECADAL SURVEY GOALS: GOAL 1) RESULTS OF THIS STUDY WILL HELP PREDICT VARIATIONS IN THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT IN THE ION FORESHOCK AND COUPLED REGIONS OF THE MAGNETOSPHERE OF BOTH EARTH AND OTHER PLANETS. GOAL 2) THE ION BEAM AND ASSOCIATED ULF WAVES REPRESENT A RESPONSE OF THE EARTH'S MAGNETOSPHERE TO SOLAR INPUT. A MORE COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS RESPONSE WILL BE OBTAINED BY CARRYING OUT THE PROPOSED STUDY. GOAL 3) THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL HELP US UNDERSTAND SIMILAR SHOCKS THAT DETERMINE THE INTERACTION OF THE SOLAR WIND WITH THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM. GOAL 4) ION BEAM-WAVE INTERACTIONS AND PARAMETRIC INSTABILITIES ARE FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES THAT OCCUR BOTH WITHIN THE HELIOSPHERE AND THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE. WE AIM TO CHARACTERIZE THESE PROCESSES USING THE EARTH'S ION FORESHOCK REGION AS OUR LABORATORY.$697,981
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Is the Solar Wind Electron Strahl a Seed Population for the Earth's Electron Radiation Belt?$682,313
· FY2023 · GEO
MAGNETIC RECONNECTION IS EFFECTIVELY IDENTIFIED OBSERVATIONALLY VIA THE DETECTION OF FAST OUTFLOW JETS CAUSED BY THE CONVERSION OF MAGNETIC ENERGY TO KINETIC ENERGY. INDEED RECONNECTION JETS ARE AMONG THE MOST DIAGNOSED FEATURES IN SPACE PLASMAS AND A LARGE DATABASE OF SUCH ENCOUNTERS IS AVAILABLE FROM MANY MISSIONS. WE FOCUS HERE ON THE EXISTING DATA FROM MMS IN THE MAGNETOPAUSE AND IN THE TAIL AS WELL AS DATA FROM PREVIOUS MISSIONS. TAKEN TOGETHER THESE ENCOUNTERS FORM THE BASIS FOR A DETAILED INVESTIGATION DESIGNED TO ARRIVE AT A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE OF RECONNECTION IN THE EVOLUTION OF MAGNETOSPHERIC PLASMAS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH EFFORT FOCUS ON TWO DISTINCT RECONNECTION SCENARIOS: ISOLATED RECONNECTION SITES WHERE OUTFLOW JETS PROPAGATE INTO AND INTERACT WITH THE PRE-EXISTING PLASMA TO FORM FRONTS AND MULTIPLE RECONNECTIONS SITES WHERE THE JETS INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER. THE GOAL OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO INVESTIGATE WHAT WAVES AND INSTABILITIES DEVELOP IN THESE OUTFLOWS. IN THE OUTFLOWS WE OBSERVE TEMPERATURE ANISOTROPIES VELOCITY SHEARS INTERPENETRATING BEAMS DENSITY AND PRESSURE GRADIENTS THE PRESENCE OF UNFAVORABLE MAGNETIC FIELD LINE CURVATURE. ALL THESE SOURCES OF FREE ENERGY HAVE BEEN OBSERVED TO CAUSE INSTABILITIES. THE NON-LINEAR DEVELOPMENT OF THESE WAVES LEADS TO A STRONG MODIFICATION OF THE PARTICLE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION LEADING TO PARTICLE ACCELERATION AND HEATING AS WELL AS THE INSURGENCE OF STRONG POYNTING FLUXES CARRYING ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY. IN THESE CONDITIONS THE OUTFLOWS BECOME A POWERHOUSE FOR ENERGY EXCHANGE FOR THE FORMATION OF SECONDARY RECONNECTION SITES AND THE ONSET OF A POSSIBLY TURBULENT CASCADE. THE QUESTION IS THEN HOW IMPORTANT ARE THESE PHENOMENON IN TERMS OF THEIR IMPACT ON THE DYNAMICS OF SUBSTORMS AND THEIR IMPACT CLOSER TO EARTH? THE ANSWER TO THESE QUESTION LIES IN THE ANALYSIS OF THE WAVE SPECTRA OF THE PARTICLE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS AND OF THE ENERGY TRANSPORT FLUXES (POYNTING HEAT ENTHALPY) FOR EACH SPECIES AND FOR THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS. THESE CAN BE MEASURED IN SITU AT VARIOUS DISTANCES FROM THE RECONNECTION SITE (INTENDED HERE AS THE LOCI WHERE FIELD LINES BREAK AND RECONNECT OFTEN LOOSELY CALLED X-POINTS). FORM A DATABASE OF DIFFERENT CROSSING AND FROM DIFFERENT SPACECRAFTS AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS FOR THE SAME CROSSING INFORMATION CAN BE DERIVED ON THE ENERGY FLUXES AND CAN BE PUT IN CONTEXT OF OUR UNDERSTANDING OF RECONNECTION IN THE MAGNETOSPHERE. THIS ANSWER WILL DEPEND DRASTICALLY ON THE GLOBAL CONTEXT OF RECONNECTION FOR EACH DIFFERENT CROSSING. TO ADDRESS THESE SCIENCE QUESTIONS AND ACHIEVE OUR GOALS WE WILL EMPLOY THE FOLLOWING METHODOLOGY EMPLOYING A COMBINATION OF STATE-OF-THE-ART COMPUTER SIMULATIONS AND DATA ANALYSIS: MMS (BUT TO A LESSER DEGREE ALSO PREVIOUS MISSIONS) ALLOW US TO CONSTRUCT SIMULATIONS INITIALIZED WITH THE LOCALLY OBSERVED PARTICLE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS AND WITH A MEAN CONFIGURATION OF THE PLASMA AND FIELDS INDUCED BY THE DATA. WE CAN THEN OBTAIN FROM SIMULATION THE PLASMA EVOLUTION UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS AND COMPARE DIRECTLY VIRTUAL MEASURES IN THE SIMULATED PLASMA WITH REAL DIAGNOSTICS FROM THE MISSIONS. THE NOVELTY IS THE USE OF OBSERVATIONAL DATA TO SETUP THE SIMULATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SYNTHETIC MEASUREMENTS FROM THE SIMULATION TO REPLICATE THE OBSERVED MEASUREMENTS. THE LOOP STARTING WITH DATA LEADING TO DATA-DRIVEN SIMULATIONS AND PRODUCING SYNTHETIC OBSERVATIONS WILL BE CLOSED BY THE DIRECT COMPARISON OF REAL OBSERVATIONS AND SYNTHETIC OBSERVATION USING THEORY MODELS CAPABLE OF PREDICTING THE WAVES AND INSTABILITY IN THE SIMULATIONS AND IN THE OBSERVED NATURAL PLASMA. BY ADDRESSING THE STATED SCIENCE QUESTIONS USING THE STATED METHODOLOGY THE PRESENT PROPOSAL AIMS CENTRALLY AT GOAL #4 OF THE HELIOSPHERIC DECADAL SURVEY GOAL: MAGNETIC RECONNECTION IS A FUNDAMENTAL PLASMA PROCESS THAT OCCURS BOTH WITHIN THE HELIOSPHERE AND THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE.$679,513
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE GOAL OF THE PROJECT IS TO ADVANCE A CURRENTLY EXISTING MODEL OF THE ELECTRON AND ION FLUXES IN THE INNER MAGNETOSPHERE BY EXTENDING THE SPATIAL COVERAGE TO L2-7 AND EXTENDING THE ENERGY COVERAGE TO 0.001-2000 KEV. THE PROJECT WILL BUILD ON THE FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY OF A FREELY-AVAILABLE AND INDEPENDENTLY-TESTED MODEL THAT CURRENTLY DELIVERS FORECASTS OF THE ION AND ELECTRON FLUXES AT GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT (GEO) LDENTON ET AL. 2015; DENTON ET AL. 2016]. SINCE ITS DEVELOPMENT THE MODEL HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY UTILIZED BY A VARIETY OF GROUPS IN THE COMMUNITY WITH A SCIENCE OPERATIONS AND COMMERCIAL FOCUS.$612,438
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Making Space Social: Exploring the Educational Potential of the Facebook Social Network$594,427
· FY2010 · EDU
Laboratory Characterization of Co-Propagating Alfven Wave Interactions$589,888
· FY2024 · GEO
DEVELOPMENT OF A STELLAR MODEL-FITTING PIPELINE FOR ASTEROSEISMIC DATA FROM THE TESS MISSION ASTEROSEISMIC ANALYSIS. PRIOR TO THE KEPLER MISSION, SOL$557,334
· FY2016 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration