![[pic: RJ]](rj.jpg)
Riku Järvinen's homepage
Riku Järvinen's homepage
I am a graduate student at the University of Helsinki majoring in theoretical physics. More specifically, I am studying planetary space plasma physics for my PhD thesis. My research is funded by the Finnish graduate school in astronomy and space physics and the Academy of Finland. My official employer is the Finnish Meteorological Institute, where I work as a scientist in the earth observation unit's space weather group.
The research I am involved in at the FMI deals with the interaction between Earth-like planets (here my favourite planet is Venus) and the solar wind. We are concentrated on the numerical modelling of the plasma interactions of planetary objects without a strong intrinsic magnetic field. The lack of intrinsic field means that the interaction happens directly with the upper atmosphere of the planet. In contrast, Earth has a strong intrinsic magnetic dipole and the solar wind interaction takes place far away from the atmosphere. The Venus-solar wind interaction is one of the scientific themes of the European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft. The interaction is observed using the spacecraft's plasma package (ASPERA-4 particle instrument) and the magnetometer. VEX has been orbiting the planet since April 2006.
We model the planetary solar wind interactions with a numerical simulation code on a super computer enviroment. The code is developed at the FMI and a lot of my work deals with the details of the code. The code allows us to model the whole interaction in 3D and to treat ion kinetics and electrodynamics self-consistently. As a result, we can use the simulation results to interpret the spacecraft observations in global context.
Digital Gallery:
| Electronic Contacts | Postal Address | Visiting Address |
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e-mail: riku.jarvinen@fmi.fi office phone: +358 (0)9 1929 4681 office fax: +358 (0)9 1929 4603 web: space.fmi.fi/~rijarvin |
Finnish Meteorological Institute P.O. Box 503 FI-00101 HELSINKI FINLAND |
Room 2C02a (2nd floor) Dynamicum Erik Palménin aukio 1 00560 Helsinki, Finland |