Dr. Tae Kim

Research Scientist II, CSPAR

Contact

320 Sparkman Drive
Cramer Research Hall
Room 2075
Huntsville, AL 35899
Campus Map

256.961.7005
tae.kim@uah.edu

Biography

Dr. Kim specializes in data-driven simulations of the partially ionized space plasma using a massively parallel code on various national supercomputers, such as NASA Pleiades, TACC Stampede 2, NCSA Blue Waters, and SDSC Comet. He is currently PI on two research projects funded by NASA and Air Force to model the solar wind flow from the Sun to Earth's orbit using remote observations to improve the current capabilities of space weather prediction. Additionally, he is Administrative PI on an international project funded by the Space Telescope Science Institute. He frequently collaborates with observers (e.g., HST, Voyager, IBEX, and New Horizons) and the PSP/SWEAP science team to provide modeling support throughout and beyond the heliosphere. He has engaged in educational outreach through the Heliophysics REU program at UAH/MSFC, either as a program coordinator or as a mentor.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

  • Ph.D., The University of Alabama in Huntsville, 2014
  • M.S., The University of Memphis, 2004
  • B.S., The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2000

Research Funding

  • NASA H-SR:"Investigation the Solar Wind Dynamics, Interstellar Pickup Ions, and Turbulence throughout Interplanetary Space Based on 3D Time-dependent Modeling and Multiple Spacecraft Observations\ (PI: 2020-2023) - $748,231
  • NASA OHGI: "Identifying the Origin of Energetic Neutral Atoms Measured by IBEX along the Voyager Directions" (Co-I: 2020-2023) - $412,369
  • DOD AFOSR YIP: "MHD Heliosphere with Enhanced Background Solar Wind and Coronal Mass Ejections" (PI: 2018 - 2021) - $448,576
  • NASA H-SWO2R: "A Higher-accuracy Model of the Heliosphere with Improved Background Solar Wind and Coronal Mass Ejections" (PI: 2018 - 2020) - $249,745
  • STScI HST-GO: "Hunting the Successive Auroral Response of Uranus and Neptune to Unexpected Powerful Heliospheric Disturbances" (Admin. PI: 2018 - 2021) - $25,514

Recent Publications

  • Kim, T. K., Pogorelov, N. V., Arge, C. N., Henney, C. J., Jones-Mecholsky, S. I., Smith, W. P., Bale, S. D., Bonnell, J. W., Dudok de Wit, T., Goetz, K., Harvey, P. R., MacDowall, R. J., Malaspina, D. M., Pulupa, M., Kasper, J. C., Korreck, K. E., Stevens, M., Case, A. W., Whittlesey, P., Livi, R., Larson, D. E., Klein, K. G., and Zank, G. P. (2020), Predicting the Solar Wind at Parker Solar Probe Using an Empirically Driven MHD Model, The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 246, 40, doi:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/ab58c9
  • Singh, T., Kim, T. K., Pogorelov, N. V., and Arge, C. N. (2020), Application of a Modified Spheromak Model to Simulations of Coronal Mass Ejection in the Inner Heliosphere, Space Weather, 18, e2019SW002405, doi:https://doi.org/10.1029/2019SW002405
  • Zirnstein, E. J., Kim, T. K., Mostafavi, P., Heerikhuisen, J., McComas, D. J., and Pogorelov, N. V. (2020), Response of Pickup Ions in the Very Local Interstellar Medium to Solar Variations: Implications for the Evolution of the IBEX Ribbon and Interstellar Helium, The Astrophysical Journal, 891, 56, doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab744b
  • Szabo, A., Larson, D., Whittlesey, P., Stevens, M. L., Lavraud, B., Phan, T., Wallace, S., Jones-Mecholsky, S. I., Arge, C. N., Badman, S. T., Odstrcil, D., Pogorelov, N., Kim, T., Riley, P., Henney, C. J., Bale, S. D., Bonnell, J. W., Case, A. W., Dudok de Wit, T., Goetz, K., Harvey, P., Kasper, J. C., Korreck, K. E., Koval, A., Livi, R., MacDowall, R. J., Malaspina, D. M., and Pulupa, M. (2020), The Heliospheric Current Sheet in the Inner Heliosphere Observed by Parker Solar Probe, The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 246, 47, doi:10.3847/1538-4365/ab5dac
  • Lamy, L., Prange, R., Tao, C., Kim, T., Badman, S., Zarka, P., Cecconi, B., Kurth, W., Pryor, W., Bunce, E., and Radioti, A. (2018), Saturn's northern aurorae at solstice from HST observations coordinated with Cassini's Grand Finale, Geophysical Research Letters, 45, 9353-9362, doi:10.1029/2018GL078211
  • Lamy, L., Berland, C., Andre, N., Prange, R., Fouchet, T., Encrenaz, T., Gendron, E., Haubois, X., Tao, C., and Kim, T. (2018), Analysis of HST, VLT, and Gemini Coordinated Observations of Uranus Late 2017: A Multi-spectral Search for Auroral Signatures, SF2A-2018: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the French Society of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 29, http://sf2a.eu/proceedings/2018/2018sf2a.conf..0029l.pdf
  • Kim, T. K. Pogorelov, N. V., and Burlaga, L. F. (2017), Modeling Shocks Detected by Voyager 1 in the Local Interstellar Medium, Astrophysical Journal Letters, 843, L32, doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aa7b2b
  • Lamy, L., Prange, R., Hansen, K. C., Tao, C., Cowley, S. W. H., Stallard, T., Melin, H., Achilleos, N., Guio, P., Badman, S. V., Kim, T., and Pogorelov, N. (2017), The aurorae of Uranus past equinox, J. Geophys. Res. Space Physics, 122, 3997-4008, doi:10.1002/2017JA023918
  • Kim, T. K., Pogorelov, N. V., Zank, G. P., Elliott, H. A., and McComas, D. J. (2016), Modeling the Solar Wind at the Ulysses, Voyager, and New Horizons Spacecraft, Astrophysical Journal, 832, 72, doi:10.3847/0004-637X/832/1/72
  • Linker, J. A., Caplan, R. M., Downs, C., Lionello, R., Riley, P., Mikic, Z., Henney, C., Arge, C. N., Kim, T., and Pogorelov, N. (2016), An Empirically Driven Time-dependent Model of the Solar Wind, in Numerical Modeling of Space Plasma Flows (ASTRONUM2015), Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 719, 012012, doi:10.1088/1742-6596/719/1/012012