Mausumi Dikpati

Mausumi Dikpati is a scientist at the High Altitude Observatory operated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Her main scientific area is modeling the dynamics and magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) of the solar interior and dynamo. The main focus is: Global MHD of dynamo-generated magnetic fields and Atmospheric Research (AR) emergence patterns.

Education Mausumi studied at Brajabala Girls' High School, Bethune School, Lady Brabourne College and Calcutta University of Calcutta, India. Her graduation and post graduation are in Physics. During 2006-2007 Mausumi Dikpati issued three predictions for solar cycle 24 -- (i) a delayed onset of solar cycle 24 which would start in late 2008 instead of 2006, (ii) a strong solar cycle 24 whose peak would be 30%-50% stronger than the previous cycle ('Cycle 23'), and (iii) the solar cycle in southern hemisphere would be stronger than that in the northern hemisphere of the Sun. Two of these three predictions, (i) and (iii) came true. Her research paper explaining the cause of delayed onset of solar cycle 24 was one of the top 100 discoveries in the Discover Magazine. Currently she is improving her solar dynamo model by building a more accurate dynamo-based solar cycle prediction tool which can assimilate solar magnetic fields and flow data in ways used in oceanic and atmospheric predictions.

In a recent work published in Geophysical Research Letters, Dr. Mausumi Dikpati of the High Altitude Observatory National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and her team modeled Mount Wilson Observatory data throughout the course of the previous solar cycle. When they investigated and modeled surface Doppler data of plasma currents flowing beneath the Sun's surface, they discovered that the flow went all the way to the poles.

Major Scientific Accomplishments

Solar magneto hydrodynamics, Rossby waves and space weather Source: 2010: Research article on extended minimum recognized as one of the top 100 discoveries in the DISCOVER Magazine