Space Physics Group Projects
The Space Physics Group has been involved in various space missions and instrumentation projects. Some of the ongoing projects are listed below.
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The Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) is a space mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) dedicated to the observation of Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGF) and Transient Luminous Events (TLE). TLEs and TGFs are very short transient events taking place in the Earth upper atmosphere and associated to thunderstorm and lightning activity.
ASIM is mounted on the Columbus module on the International Space Station (ISS) and is operational since 2018. ASIM comprises one large X- and gamma-ray detector and three photometers and two optical cameras. ASIM is a collaboration between the Danish Technical University, Denmark, University of Bergen, Norway and University of Valencia, Spain. The detector layers and front-end electronics of MXGS were designed and built by our Space instrumentation group.
Our Space Physics group has access to all ASIM data and is actively performing research on TGFs, TLEs and cosmic Gamma-ray Bursts (GRB).
The Airborne Lightning Observatory for FEGS and TGFs (ALOFT) is a unique aircraft campaign to advance the science of high-energy radiation emissions from thunderstorms. ALOFT is a collaboration between NASA, UiB and several other institutions in Europe and the USA. Our Space Physics group has led the campaign, in collaboration with NASA.
The campaign was successfully carried out during July 2023, for a total of 60 flight hours in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. The scientific payload was flown on a NASA ER-2 research aircraft, capable to fly at 20 km altitude above thunderclouds. The payload included a suite of gamma-ray detectors, and a complete suite of instruments for the characterization of the electrical and optical activity, and the thundercloud environment.
The ALOFT results anticipate a revolution in our understanding of the high-energy atmospheric phenomena. Our Space Physics group is leading the research activity on ALOFT data.
The EISCAT Scientific Association is currently installing an advanced high-power three-dimensional imaging radar system for atmospheric, ionospheric and near-Earth space investigations. EISCAT 3d is a fully steerable, tri-static, phased-array incoherent scatter radar system in northern Norway, Sweden and Finland.
EISCAT 3D is the most advanced radar ever built in the auroral zone. In the coming years we expect it to revolutionize our understanding of key plasma processes in the upper polar atmosphere.
Our Space Physics group is a key member of the EISCAT 3D Norway consortium. We have several funded projects to develop advanced software and analysis tools for EISCAT 3D data.
The Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission is a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS). Launch is planned in 2025.
A key instrument onboard SMILE is the Soft X-ray Imager (SXI), which will provide unprecedented images of the entry of plasma from the Solar Wind into the Earth’s magnetosphere. Our group has developed and delivered a Radiation Shutter to protect the SXI instrument against fatal exposure during spacecraft maneuvers and crossings of the Earth’s radiation belt.
Our Space Physics group is actively involved in SMILE several working groups, and ground-breaking new understanding of solar wind – magnetosphere – ionosphere coupling is expected in the coming years.
The group supports several other space missions like SWARM (ESA), EZIE (NASA), MMS (NASA), TRACERS (NASA), and ground installations like EISCAT-3D and the Kjell Henriksen Observatory.