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Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

My primary scientific expertise is in Birkeland currents. I am internationally recognised for my research into Birkeland currents with the AMPERE dataset, having contributed a review chapter to an AGU monograph and been invited to speak on the topic internationally, including at the AGU Fall Meeting 2019. Perhaps most notably, I discovered the interhemispheric asymmetry in Birkeland currents in my 2016 paper.

Alongside this, I have expertise in Cluster data. I used this dataset to examine the energy budgets of substorms and showed that during substorms, magnetic energy was stored and released sooner when the spacecraft was closer to Earth, consistent with the "inside out" substorm model. I also used Cluster data to survey hot plasma in the magnetotail lobes, statistically addressing open questions about this plasma for the first time. I have coauthored papers on both topics, alongside papers using MMS data to examine flux transfer events.

Key Publications

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • A review of Birkeland current research using AMPERE, Coxon, J., Milan, S., Anderson, B. 17 Apr 2018, Electric Currents in Geospace and Beyond, Hoboken, NJ, Wiley
  • Distributions of Birkeland current density observed by AMPERE are heavy-tailed or long-tailed, Coxon, J., Chisham, G., Freeman, M., Anderson, B., Fear, R. 1 Feb 2022, In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
  • Timescales of Birkeland Currents Driven by the IMF, Coxon, J., Shore, R., Freeman, M., Fear, R., Browett, S., Smith, A., Whiter, D., Anderson, B. 28 Jul 2019, In: Geophysical Research Letters
  • Seasonal and diurnal variations in AMPERE observations of the Birkeland currents compared to modeled results, Coxon, J., Milan, S., Carter, J., Clausen, L., Anderson, B., Korth, H. May 2016, In: Journal of Geophysical Research A: Space Physics
  • Hot plasma in the magnetotail lobes shows characteristics consistent with closed field lines trapped in the lobes, Coxon, J., Fear, R., Reidy, J., Fryer, L., Plank, J. Sep 2021, In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics

PGR Supervision

Atlas Patrick Understanding the most extreme type of space weather Start Date: 01/10/2023

Qualifications

  • Physics PhD July 15 2015
  • Astrophysics MSc July 14 2011

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