Tim Slauson, left, and Liam Forbes install components to increase the capacity of the Chinook computer system in February 2017. Chinook is operated by Research Computing Systems at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. Photo courtesy of UAF GI Research Computing Systems.

Flexible Chinook computer does more with less power

December 11, 2017
Download text and photo caption here. A computer named Chinook has made scientific calculation at the University of Alaska Fairbanks faster and...
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UAF researchers to share ways to boost women in science

December 8, 2017
University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute researchers will talk about their efforts to involve girls in science during a panel on...
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Research finds that beavers are colonizing Arctic Alaska

December 7, 2017
Beaver activity in Arctic tundra regions may amplify the effects of climate change on permafrost and lead to landscape changes not currently...
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Attendees participate in a synthetic aperture radar training session in Huntsville, Alabama. Photo by Franz Meyer.

Researchers to create radar data literacy center

December 1, 2017
University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers will bring radar imagery training to Central and South America. “Over the past two years, the...
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Matthew Westhoff replaces the battery on a drone aircraft in between course runs, which last three to four minutes. UAF photo by Josh Hartman.

UAF to host drone races

November 27, 2017
The first University of Alaska Fairbanks drone races will be held at the Patty Center ice arena from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3. The Alaska...
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Margaret Cysewski, an outreach educator with the UAF Geophysical Institute, talks to a Tanana boy as he examines a 30,000-year-old willow stick from the Fox permafrost tunnel in 2016. UAF photo by JR Ancheta.

Permafrost tunnel highlighted at Oregon museum’s exhibit

October 26, 2017
A walk-through replica of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ permafrost research tunnel in Fox, Alaska, will be part of a display opening Nov. 3...
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Icicles adorn the entrance to an ice cellar in the North Slope community of Kivalina. Photo by Ned Rozell.

Students fight ice cellar failure

October 17, 2017
Subsistence hunters across the North Slope will soon use computers to monitor temperatures in several ice cellars. The University of Alaska...
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Hui Zhang, a physics professor and scientist studying the magnetosphere at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, stands in her office on the seventh floor of the Geophysical Institute. Her many conference badges hang on the wall behind her. Photo by Josh Hartman.

Focus on physics defines Zhang’s career journey

October 4, 2017
Deep inside the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute is Hui Zhang’s office. The building’s air ventilation system fills the room...
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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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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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