ProfessorIngo Mueller-Wodarg

Professor of Physics
My work specialises on the study of atmospheres around planets and other bodies (moons) in our solar system. I investigate their global characteristics and variability, including atmospheric waves and travelling perturbations.

Through a combination of numerical simulations and analysis of data from spacecraft such as Cassini/Huygens, Venus Express, ExoMars and in the future JUICE, I work to understand how the atmospheres interact with the solar wind and space environment. Understanding the atmospheres across the solar system allows us to better understand the basic physical processes under different conditions. This, in turn, allows us to better understand planet Earth and also extrasolar planets.

More fundamentally, I study the highly non-linear and complex physical processes dominating in atmosphere and space environments under different external boundary conditions, including distance from the Sun, size and mass of the planet or moon, basic composition and magnetic and plasma environment. Understanding the transition region between the deeper atmosphere and outer space is important since it regulates important chemical processes impacting the deeper atmosphere (Titan, Saturn) and plays a key role in understanding atmospheric escape and long term evolution.

Plus, importantly: it's just so much fun!

I am currently Co-Principal Investigator of the Radio and Plasma Wave Instrument onboard ESA's JUICE mission which successfully launched to Jupiter and its Galilean moons on 14 April 2023.