Robert McPherron

R.L. McPherron received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1968. Since that time he has been a member of the faculty of the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of California at Los Angeles. Dr. McPherron has been co-investigator on the ATS-1, ATS-6, ISEE-1/2, Pioneer Venus Orbiter, Galileo, and POLAR spacecraft magnetometers. He has also been principal investigator of an NSF project to install and operate a chain of midlatitude magnetic observatories across the Pacific during the International Magnetospheric Study, a co-investigator with Dr. C. R. Clauer installing a magnetometer array on the Greenland Ice Cap, with Dr. C.T. Russell on the POLAR magnetometer, and with Dr. M.G. Kivelson on the Galileo magnetometer. He was selected as principal investigator for the fluxgate magnetometer on the EQUATOR spacecraft of the ISTP mission. Dr. McPherron's primary research interest is geomagnetism with particular emphasis on the causes of geomagnetic variability including magnetospheric substorms, magnetic storms, and ultra low frequency waves. Dr. McPherron has worked with several government agencies applying knowledge of magnetic activity to alleviate its effects on human systems. Dr. McPherron is also active in the field of exploration geophysics with particular emphasis on magnetic exploration and geophysical database management. Dr. McPherron has served on numerous national and international committees concerned with management of geophysical data. He is currently a co-investigator with Dr. R.J. Walker managing the NASA Particles and Fields Node of the Planetary Data System at JPL and was Project Scientist for the NASA Space Physics Data System. Dr. McPherron is currently PI of projects studying the properties of the solar wind at 1 AU, The triggering of substorms by the solar wind, the asymmetry of the ring current, and steady magnetospheric convection. He is also a consultant to LASP in Boulder, CO where he works on problems of empirical modeling of space weather.