About

Dr. Shannon Curry is an Associate Professor in the Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is the Principal Investigator of the NASA Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission. Her research focuses on the evolution of planetary atmospheres, specifically atmospheric escape from weakly magnetized planets. She is involved in mission concepts, mission design, and instrument development for future flight missions to other bodies in the solar system. Dr. Curry is a science team member on NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission, serves as Project Scientist for NASA’s ESCAPADE mission (phase D), and collaborates on NASA’s Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) program. She also serves on NASA’s Planetary Advisory Committee (PAC).

Research topics

• Atmospheric sciences
• Environmental science
• Physics
• Geophysics
• Meteorology
• Astrobiology
• Nuclear physics
• Astronomy
• Computational physics
• Geology

Selected publications

• In‐Situ Measurements of Ion Density in the Martian Ionosphere: Underlying Structure and Variability Observed by the MAVEN‐STATIC Instrument

  Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics · 2022 · 56 citations

  • Physics
  • Atmospheric sciences
  • Environmental science

  Abstract Measurement of the dense cold thermal plasma in planetary ionospheres via orbiting spacecraft is challenging because ion energies are small (0–4 eV), densities can vary by four orders of magnitude, composition varies with altitude, spacecraft charging varies in time and must be measured very accurately, and instrumental effects (e.g., detector dead‐time and background) can be significant. The SupraThermal And Thermal Ion Composition instrument team has recently released a new set of data products that contain density moments of the primary ion species at Mars, including those derived at periapsis, subject to the full suite of calibration factors required. This article discusses the challenges associated with deriving these densities and provides examples of the key caveats that users of the data should be aware of. A preliminary statistical study of this new data set focuses on the structure and variability of Mars' ionosphere, demonstrating that solar zenith angle effects, the crustal magnetic fields, and electron precipitation on the nightside, drive the strongest structural features, consistent with photochemical theory and previous studies. Dayside ionospheric density profiles are highly repeatable below altitudes of 200 km, marking the region where photochemistry and collisions dominate. In the upper dayside ionosphere (altitudes >300–400 km) changes in the solar wind dynamic pressure on timescales of Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN's orbit (hr) drive the largest (factors of 1–3) variability in ionospheric density. In contrast variability in ionospheric density peaks between 150 and 250 km altitude on the nightside (factors of 1–2), consistent with electron precipitation driving ionization in this region.

  DOI

• Plasma Double Layers at the Boundary Between Venus and the Solar Wind

  Geophysical Research Letters · 2020 · 37 citations

  • Geophysics
  • Astrobiology
  • Atmospheric sciences

  The solar wind is slowed, deflected, and heated as it encounters Venus's induced magnetosphere. The importance of kinetic plasma processes to these interactions has not been examined in detail, due to a lack of constraining observations. In this study, kinetic-scale electric field structures are identified in the Venusian magnetosheath, including plasma double layers. The double layers may be driven by currents or mixing of inhomogeneous plasmas near the edge of the magnetosheath. Estimated double-layer spatial scales are consistent with those reported at Earth. Estimated potential drops are similar to electron temperature gradients across the bow shock. Many double layers are found in few high cadence data captures, suggesting that their amplitudes are high relative to other magnetosheath plasma waves. These are the first direct observations of plasma double layers beyond near-Earth space, supporting the idea that kinetic plasma processes are active in many space plasma environments.

  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• D. A. Brain

  175 shared

• J. G. Luhmann

  University of California, Berkeley

  142 shared

• R. J. Lillis

  141 shared

• J. S. Halekas

  126 shared

• B. M. Jakosky

  Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

  119 shared

• J. Deighan

  University of Colorado Boulder

  109 shared

• R. Modolo

  Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

  102 shared

• N. M. Schneider

  University of Colorado Boulder

  100 shared

Similar researchers at University of Colorado Boulder

• Jose-Luis Jimenezh-233
• Joost de Gouwh-186
• Roy Parkerh-161
• Kristi S. Ansethh-159
• Thomas R. Cechh-156