Disclaimer: machine translated by DeepL which may contain errors.
Professor Kanako Seki won the 38th Inoue Science Prize
Shinsuke Imada, Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Science
Professor Kanako Seki
Professor Kanako Seki of the Department of Earth and Planetary Science has received the 38th Inoue Science Prize. Professor Seki has been studying how the atmosphere flows out from the planets into space. Planets in the solar system are constantly exposed to the high-speed solar winds that blow out from the sun, and planetary atmospheres are affected by the winds as they flow out. By combining satellite data and numerical experiments, Professor Seki has clarified how the Earth's atmosphere is affected by the solar wind and transported through the Earth's magnetosphere, which is space away from the Earth. These results are important discoveries that provide a new understanding of atmospheric dissipation and have an impact not only on geomagnetospheric physics but also on planetary science in general. Furthermore, Professor Seki has extended his research activities to not only the space environment around the Earth, but also the environment around non-terrestrial planets such as Mars.
In recent years, he has achieved a great deal of success in clarifying the effects of the strength of a planet's intrinsic magnetic field on atmospheric dissipation into space and the formation of the inner magnetosphere, based on comparisons among Earth-like planets with atmospheres, especially Earth, Mars, and Venus. In the course of his research, he has participated in various space science missions such as the Geospace Exploration Program (ERG) and NASA's Mars Exploration Mission to Mars (MAVEN), and has led the field through international collaborations. These series of studies on planetary atmospheres and space environments are completely new and have been highly acclaimed worldwide. I would like to congratulate Dr. Inoue on receiving the Inoue Science Award.
Published in Faculty of Science News March 2022