Recent retreat of McBride Glacier in Alaska has led to exposure of 5.25 miles of coastline, shown in green in this false color Sentinel-2 satellite image. Image courtesy of Jan Kavan

New assessment shows gain of coastline from receding glaciers

April 8, 2025
New research gives a detailed look at the extent to which receding glaciers in Alaska and elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere are creating new...
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An AWESOME success

April 2, 2025
Two NASA sounding rockets that launched March 25 from Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks ejected payloads that created a colorful...
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The third of three sounding rockets launches from Poker Flat Research Range at 1:33 a.m. March 29, 2025. Two other rockets in the same science mission launched from Poker Flat on March 25. UAF photo by Eric Marshall

Launch of third NASA rocket completes complex aurora mission

April 1, 2025
The third and final NASA sounding rocket in a mission to better understand how the aurora affects the upper atmosphere launched at 1:33 a.m...
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Graduate student researcher Austin Smith looks through one of three UAF cameras set up as part of the AWESOME mission. Orange enclosures on yellow tripods house cameras of Clemson University, which is a partner in the UAF-led AWESOME mission. Photo by Cameron Westerlund

UAF students play key role in the AWESOME rocket mission

March 27, 2025
Participating in a NASA sounding rocket mission in their geographic backyard is an extraordinary opportunity for student researchers at the...
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The second NASA rocket, the four-stage Black Brant XII, launches early on March 25, 2025, from Poker Flat Research Range on the second night of the AWESOME sounding rocket mission. Photo by Bryan Whitten

Two NASA rockets launch from Poker Flat, third rocket expected

March 25, 2025
Two NASA sounding rockets launched from Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks early this morning in a mission aimed at learning more about...
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A NASA technician works on the payloads of one of the AWESOME mission’s three rockets at the space agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The rocket and payload components were then shipped to Poker Flat Research Range. Photo by Berit Bland/NASA

Poker Flat to launch three NASA rockets in single aurora experiment

March 21, 2025
Three NASA rockets are set to launch from Poker Flat Research Range in an experiment that seeks to reveal how auroral substorms affect the...
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Chief pilot Jason Williams of the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration, at right, controls a drone carrying the science instruments during a test flight Jan. 17, 2025. Research assistant professor Társilo Girona watches. Photo by Eric Marshall

UAF drones to sample active Costa Rica volcano

March 10, 2025
A four-person University of Alaska Fairbanks team plans to land an unmanned aircraft in the crater of an active Costa Rica volcano this week to...
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From left, Coda Consulting CEO Mathieu Gibeault, Eyal Saiet of ACUASI, and Gislain Chevrette, also of Coda, stand atop the new icing tower at the University of Alaska Fairbanks on Feb. 5, 2025. Photo by JR Ancheta

UAF tower to help enable drones to fly in icing conditions

March 4, 2025
A new icing tower at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute will help aerospace engineers figure out how to enable drones to...
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James Campbell. Photo by Eric Marshall

UAF student wins award from national chemistry organization

March 3, 2025
A University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate student researcher has been named one of 20 recipients nationally of a top award from the American...
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This image, with Earth’s north polar region at center, shows satellites (orange dots) and space debris (pink dots) in orbit through the ionosphere on July 22, 2024. Ionosphere model data were provided by Joseph Huba of Syntek Technologies in Virginia. Image courtesy of Paul Bernhardt

UAF scientist designing satellite to hunt small space debris

February 27, 2025
A University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist is participating in a U.S. government effort to design a satellite and instruments capable of...
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Mount Edgecumbe (L’úx Shaa), viewed from a helicopter in summer 2023, rises from forests on Kruzof Island about 15 miles west of Sitka. Photo by Ronni Grapenthin, Alaska Volcano Observatory/ University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute

Alaska-developed volcano monitoring system will expand across U.S.

February 20, 2025
A new radar-based volcano monitoring system developed by the University of Alaska Fairbanks and U.S. Geological Survey will expand across the U.S...
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The second of two rockets in the Ground Imaging to Rocket investigation of Auroral Fast Features mission launched on Feb. 8. Photo by Eric Marshall/UAF Geophysical Institute

First rocket campaign of 2025 concludes at Poker Flat Research Range

February 12, 2025
Two NASA rockets successfully launched from Poker Flat Research Range this month in search of answers about forms of rapid auroral behavior. The...
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Multiple glacial streams carry turbid glacial runoff into Kachemak Bay in this aerial view looking southwest from the head of the bay toward Homer on June 30, 2021. Photo by Martin Stuefer

Research reveals extent of Kachemak Bay’s surface cloudiness

January 30, 2025
Scientists have produced the first remote sensing analysis of how water clouded by sediment in glacier meltwater moves on the surface of Kachemak...
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This image is from a video that accompanies the unmanned aircraft systems courses and includes the history of drone flight.

UAF offers free online courses about unmanned aircraft systems

January 28, 2025
The public can learn the history, basics and engineering of unmanned aircraft systems through two free online courses offered by the University...
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Thaw-driven subsidence can lead to thermokarst and formation of thermokarst ponds and thaw ponds. UAF Ph.D. student Nick Hasson looks at a thaw pond just north of the University of Alaska Fairbanks main campus. It is forming in an area underlain by massive ice wedges. Photo by Louise Farquharson

Thawing permafrost causes ground to sink in cold regions; scientists urge action

January 24, 2025
More needs to be done to better understand rapidly changing Arctic landscapes that are sinking as climate-driven permafrost thaw penetrates...
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UAF professor Franz Meyer presents “Launching NISAR: NASA's Biggest Earth Observation Mission” as part of the 2024 Science for Alaska talk series. The 2025 talk series begins with a kickoff event on Thursday, Jan. 30, at Black Spruce Brewing Co. UAF/GI photo by LJ Evans

33rd annual Science for Alaska talks and outreach events announced

January 21, 2025
The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute will host free public science talks over the next few weeks, featuring Alaska stories...
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Two of three payloads being prepared to investigate three types of aurora sit inside the payload assembly area at Poker Flat Research Range on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. Photo by Bryan Whitten

Three rockets will ignite Poker Flat’s 2025 launch season

January 16, 2025
Three NASA sounding rockets are set to launch from Poker Flat Research Range as early as Tuesday to learn more about three types of aurora —...
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Unraveling the aurora's birth

December 20, 2024
More than a week of waiting for the right conditions in a short nightly launch window had come to this: a few remaining minutes on the final...
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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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