This new 9-meter dish sits atop the Elvey Building at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Photo by Jessica Matthews, UAF Geophysical Institute.

New satellite antenna is operational

September 29, 2017
The new blue antenna that sits atop the Elvey Building at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is now operational. The antenna was installed in...
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Geophysical Institute aims research toward defense

September 11, 2017
In an effort to gain more federal funding, the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks said it plans to tailor some of its...
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Justine A. Burd studies atmospheric chemistry in the Arctic. Photo courtesy of William R. Simpson.

Researchers take on atmospheric effects of Arctic snowmelt

September 6, 2017
Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute are exploring the changing chemistry of the Arctic’s atmosphere to help...
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This map models the extent of seawater inundation near the airport in Juneau, Alaska, that would be expected following a landslide-generated tsunami in Fritz Cove. Image provided by Dmitry Nicolsky.

Preparing Alaska’s communities for a tsunami

August 3, 2017
University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers recently gave Juneau and Sitka new information about what ocean waters near these Southeast Alaska...
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This image shows cloud heights in Fairbanks on Jan. 1 and 2, 2017. It reflects NASA Micro-Pulse Lidar Network level 1 normalized relative backscatter measurements. Heights are in kilometers above mean sea level. Cirrus cloud top heights reaching 13.2 kilometers are depicted by dashed white line.

NASA lidar on Elvey Building provides cloud data

August 3, 2017
A rapidly blinking green light beam has been flickering skyward through a foot-square quartz window in the north corner of the roof of the...
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This microwave image shows Russia, the Bering Sea and Alaska as photographed by the Suomi NPP Satellite on Jan. 21. The scale in the top left shows sea ice concentration in percent, with red and white showing the most ice and blue and purple showing the least. Image provided by Carl Dierking.

Using microwaves to see through clouds

August 3, 2017
The most common types of satellite images are only able to see the “top” of the sky — if it is a cloudy day, the satellite will only be able to...
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Shungnak students prepare to watch “Kiuguyat: The Northern Lights” in the UAF Geophysical Institute’s portable planetarium dome. Photo by Joan Reynolds.

New curriculum connects aurora, Iñupiat culture

January 26, 2017
A new curriculum that weaves aurora science with Iñupiat culture and language is now available for elementary and middle school teachers across...
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The Poker Flat Research Range, the site for five NASA launches planned between January and March to study auroras, lies north of Fairbanks in the Chatanika River valley. NASA photo by Jamie Adkins.

NASA sounding rockets to launch from Poker Flat Research Range

January 18, 2017
A NASA sounding rocket campaign starts Jan. 20 and will run through early March at the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska. The research rockets...
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Pavlof volcano erupts on March 28, 2016. The photo was taken looking northeast from a Coast Guard Hercules aircraft at 20,000 feet. Photo by U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Nahshon Almandmoss.

Volcano study examines relationship between seismic signals, sound waves

January 17, 2017
A study of relationships between seismic signals and sound waves from an erupting volcano in Alaska may someday help scientists infer the height...
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UAF researcher joins study of Arctic sea ice change

December 12, 2016
A University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher will participate in sea ice research that combines observations from unmanned aerial systems and...
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This bird’s-eye view of Southcentral Alaska’s glaciers shows their speed as measured from space. Scientists are now able to follow surges and seasonal changes in glacier speed over this region using images from Landsat 8. Graphic by Mark Fahnestock.

Satellite provides global view of the speed of ice

December 12, 2016
Glaciers and ice sheets move in unique and sometimes surprising patterns, as evidenced by a new capability that uses satellite images to map the...
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Martin Truffer of UAF’s GI, left, holds a core tube which has brought up a sample of sediment from the sea floor below Pine Island Glacier. Photo by Dale Pomraning.

West Antarctica’s largest glacier started retreating in 1940s

November 28, 2016
Pine Island Glacier — about the size of Florida and one of the largest ice streams in Antarctica — has been thinning and retreating at an...
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This high-altitude shuttle system was dropped from a balloon at 70,000 feet and glided to the ground in Oregon under the supervision of ACUASI personnel on Sept. 26. Photo courtesy Near Space Corp.

ACUASI team tests near-space glider

November 22, 2016
Staff at the University of Alaska Fairbanks helped with a successful test of a high-altitude glider to help evaluate how advanced surveillance...
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Elise Chenot, of the Université de Bourgogne-Franche Comté, left, and Michael Whalen, of the UAF Geophysical Institute, examine a rock core from the Chicxulub crater in a lab in Bremen, Germany. Photo by Kevin Kurtz.

Asteroid impacts create habitats for life, study suggests

November 18, 2016
Around 65 million years ago, a massive asteroid crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. The impact and subsequent effects wiped out about 75 percent of...
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A harbor seal rests on an iceberg in Southeast Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Photo by Jamie Womble.

Project tests method for monitoring ice conditions

November 16, 2016
Along Alaska’s southern coast, harbor seals use icebergs from tidewater glaciers as platforms to give birth, nurse, molt and avoid predators. As...
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A Chaparral Model 60 infrasound sensor with a pen for scale. Photo by Duncan Marriott.

Patent received for improved infrasound sensors

August 9, 2016
Jeffrey Rothman, supervisor of the electronics shop at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, has received a U.S. patent for...
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Nicole Mölders poses in her office at the Akasofu Building. Along with her career as an atmospheric scientist at UAF, she is also the author of a fashion blog, High Latitude Style. UAF photo by JR Ancheta.

UAF’s Mölders blends interests in science, style

July 6, 2016
When Geophysical Institute atmospheric scientist Nicole Mölders was growing up in West Germany, women older than 50 were all supposed to look the...
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The initial 10-node Penguin Computing cluster that launched Chinook in January 2016. UAF photo by Andy Cummins.

Murdock grant awarded for new computing system

June 22, 2016
The University of Alaska Fairbanks has received a two-year grant for an energy-efficient, high-performance computing cluster. The new Penguin...
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About

Since it was established by an Act of Congress in 1946, scientists at the Geophysical Institute have studied geophysical processes from the center of the Earth to the surface of the sun and beyond, turning data and observations into information useful for state, Arctic and national priorities.

Contact info

The GI is located on the West Ridge of the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

2156 Koyukuk Drive
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, AK 99775

We acknowledge the Alaska Native nations upon whose ancestral lands our campuses reside. In Fairbanks, our Troth Yeddha' Campus is located on the ancestral lands of the Dena people of the lower Tanana River.

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