[SPA] SPA SECTION NEWSLETTER, Volume XXVIII, Issue 24

[Newsletter Editor]

AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION
SPA SECTION NEWSLETTER
Volume XXVIII, Issue 24
Apr.29,2021

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Table of Contents

1. Alexander J. Klimas (1938-2021)

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Announcement Submission Website: http://goo.gl/forms/qjcm4dDr4g


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Alexander J. Klimas (1938-2021)

From: Antti Pulkkinen, Vadim Uritsky, Juan Valdivia, Adolfo Vinas, Jouni Takalo, Robert Weigel, Daniel Baker, Dimitris Vassiliadis (dimitrios.vassiliadis at noaa.gov)

Dr. Alexander Klimas passed away on March 16, 2021 after a six-month battle with cancer. He made numerous contributions to collisionless plasma theory and simulation with applications in several space physics domains.

Alex was born in Long Island, NY, on May 24, 1938. He studied at MIT, where in 1966 he earned his Ph.D. on cosmic-ray transport in turbulent fields under Stanislaw Olbert. He soon joined NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, in a theory branch directed by Ted Northrop, to become the Laboratory for Extraterrestrial Physics.

One of Alex’s main research areas involved the analytical and numerical solutions of the Vlasov equation. He developed several techniques, among which was a method to mitigate the velocity filamentation problem in simulations. His codes were applied in modeling effects such as Landau damping, bump-on-tail instabilities, BGK modes, electron hole formation, and driven micro-instabilities, and in interpreting observations by IMP-8, ISEE-1 to -3, Wind, Geotail, and MMS. This line of work unfolded over more than a decade, and he returned to it periodically in his career.

In the 1990s, Alex turned to substorm phenomenology where he developed physical models for the global dynamics of the magnetosphere, often using geomagnetic index time series and spacecraft observations as diagnostics. His model of magnetotail electrodynamics successfully reproduced the complicated geomagnetic variations due to auroral electrojets, and was one of the bases of the physics-based WINDMI model used today. Alex’s models and analysis enhanced the Near-Earth Neutral Line model, which became the dominant framework for substorms.

In the next decade, Alex worked on magnetic reconnection, initially by exploring the self-organized critical features of plasmas, and then using nonlinear-MHD and microphysics approaches. At that time he received NASA’s Special Service Award. Becoming an emeritus scientist in 2007 did not stop him from producing new research, collaborating, and publishing peer-reviewed work until very recently.

Alex is warmly remembered as a valued colleague and mentor, always willing to engage in meaningful scientific exchange. Throughout his career, he found time to train a number of postdocs and students. His collaborators appreciated his sharp intellect, innate curiosity, wit, and candor as well as his dedication to high standards of scholarly excellence. In private life, Alex was a competitive tennis and racquetball player and a passionate photographer and cyclist. He and his wife Kim enjoyed vacationing in the mountains of West Virginia.

He is survived by his wife, Kim Tolbert, who actively supports solar physics research at GSFC, and his son, Eric. 


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