 FORMER STUDENTS Ron Vervack, 1997 (PTYS) | Bill Sandel Senior Research ScientistSpace plasmas, planetary atmospheres Ph.D., 1972, Rice University Sonett #135B 621-4305  Years with LPL: 1978 to present RESEARCH INTERESTS Dr. Sandel’s interests include the atmospheres of the outer planets and their satellites, and Earth’s plasmasphere. He has developed an extreme ultraviolet imager for the IMAGE Mission, an element of NASA’s Medium-Class Explorer Program. This instrument tracks changes in the distribution of singly-ionized helium in Earth's plasmasphere by imaging 30.4-nm sunlight that has been scattered by the helium ions. The goal is better understanding of the response of the plasmasphere to external forcing, and of supply and loss of material by filling from Earth’s atmosphere and erosion during magnetic storms. As a co-investigator of the ESA’s Mars Express SPICAM investigation, Sandel uses emission and occultation spectrography to study Mars' atmosphere. To characterize the outer heliosphere and its interaction with the interstellar medium, Sandel analyzes Voyager UVS measurements of the sky background H Lyman alpha emissions. FORMER SPACECRAFT INVOLVEMENT Voyager, UVS Galileo, UVS/EUV Deep Space 1, MICAS Mars Express, SPICAM Mars Express, ASPERA Venus Express, SPICAV Venus Express, ASPERA Image, EUV |
