Rick Wilder
Postdoctoral Fellow - Space Plasma
Contact
- 303-735-7192
- Office: SPSC-N279
Summary
I am a Postdoctoral researcher at LASP. My main project involves investigating the dynamics of the dayside magnetosphere under non-southward IMF conditions and its impact on the ionosphere. I have been working with ground- and space-based data, as well as numerical simulations.
I received my Ph.D. in 2011 from Virginia Tech, where I worked on SuperDARN radar and ground magnetometer data under the supervision of Dr. Robert Clauer. I moved to Boulder shortly thereafter, where I collaborated with Atmospheric and Space Technology Research associates, LLC, on Assimilative Mapping of Ionospheric Electrodynamics (AMIE) algorithm, and ingesting magnetometer data from the AMPERE mission in particular. I also performed studies using their ground-based GPS and HF Doppler ionospheric sounder instruments.
Education
Virginia Tech — Blacksburg, VA
Ph.D. Electrical Engineering and Space Science, 2011
Virginia Tech — Blacksburg, VA
B.S. Electrical Engineering, 2005
Specialties
Research Interests and Skills Include: Magnetospheric Physics, Magnetic Field Topology, Magnetic Reconnection, Polar Cap Phenomena, The Bow Shock and Magnetosheath, Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling, Radar Observations (Coherent and Incoherent Scatter), Data Analysis, and Numerical Modeling
Projects/research
NSF Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (AGS-PRF) Project: "Dayside Field-Aligned Currents and Energy Deposition - The Role of Magnetospheric Structure and Ionospheric Conductivity."
The project involves investigating energy deposition from the magnetosphere into the ionosphere during periods of strongly northward, dawnward, or duskward IMF. A major focus has been the role of magnetic field topology and reconnection in driving large-scale flux transport during non-southward IMF. Research tools include the DMSP drift-meter and precipitating particle measurements, the Cluster spacecraft, Coherent and Incoherent Scatter Radar Observations, data from the AMPERE mission, and the Lyon Fedder Mobarry (LFM) MHD simulation.
Publications
F. D. Wilder, S. Eriksson, and M. Wiltberger, Investigation of the Interhemispheric Asymmetry in Reverse Convection Near Solstice During Northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field Conditions Using MHD Simulations, J. Geophys. Res., Submitted, 2013
F. D. Wilder, S. Eriksson, H. Korth, J. B. H. Baker, M. R. Hairston, C. Heinselman, and B. J. Anderson, Field-aligned current reconfiguration and magnetospheric response to an impulse in the interplanetary magnetic field By component, Geophys. Res. Lett., Accepted for publication, doi:10.1002/grl.50505, 2013
Ngwira, C., A. Pulkkinen, F. D. Wilder, and G. Crowley, Extended study of extreme geoelectric field event scenarios for geomagnetically induced current applications, Space Weather, Volume 11, Issue 3, 2012.
F. D. Wilder, G. Crowley, S. Eriksson, P. T. Newell, and M. R. Hairston, Ionospheric Joule heating, fast flow channels, and magnetic field line topology for IMF By-dominant conditions - Observations and comparisons with predicted [...]
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Organizations/associations
American Geophysical Union, Sigma Xi Research Society, Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honor Society
Honors and awards
National Science Foundation Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (AGS-PRF), 2012-2014
Honorable Mention, Jack Eddy Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2011
Inducted into the Sigma Xi Research Society, 2011
Best Student Tutorial Award, GEM Summer Workshop, 2009
Inducted into the Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honor Society, 2004
