Name
Pete Riley
Science Applications International Corporation
10260 Campus Point Dr.
San Diego. CA 92121
USA
Pete.Riley@saic.com
E-mail
Senior Research Scientist
Position
Responsibility Science Co-Investigator
Address
Commitment
Expected
number of
PhDs and
post-docs
Brief CV
Development phase: 5%
Science operations and analysis phase: 30%
Archival phase: 20%
Estimated number of PhDs working on Orbiter over its lifetime: 3-4
Estimated person-years of post-doc effort working on Orbiter over its
lifetime: N/A
Professional Background
Pete Riley obtained his Ph.D. (thesis title: “Electrodynamics of the low latitude
ionosphere”) from the department of Space Physics and Astronomy at Rice
University under R. A. Wolf in May 1994. After spending two years at the
University of Arizona, he became a postdoctoral research fellow, and subsequently
technical staff member, at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Currently, he is a
senior scientist in the Solar and Heliospheric Physics group at Science Applications
International Corporation in San Diego. He is particularly interested in 3-D, timedependent MHD simulations of large-scale heliospheric processes, including solar
wind streams and coronal mass ejections but is also enjoys working on the microscale physics of Alfvén wave propagation, discontinuities, shocks and turbulence.
Pete also analyzes a variety of solar and interplanetary datasets
Expertise and experience
Pete has published over 30 papers in the field of space physics, and particularly in
the area of heliospheric physics. He is editor for Reviews of Geophysics, and an
associate editor with Geophysical Research Letters. He regularly reviews papers for
the Journal of Geophysical Research, Geophysical research letters, Astrophysical
Journal, and Astrophysical Journal Letters, among others. Pete was awarded the
1997 Editors' citation for excellence in refereeing for the Journal of Geophysical
Research. In 1998 he was awarded a group achievement award for his contribution
to the Advanced Composition Explorer mission. He is also an active participant of
NSF's CISM program. Currently he serves on the CCMC science committee,
AGU’s SPA executive committee and the American Astronomical Society, Space
Physics Division E/PO committee. He recently completed a 3-year term as the chair
of NSF’s SHINE steering committee and has served on several NASA science
definition teams and programmatic steering committees. Pete he is a member of the
American Geophysical Union (AGU) and the AAS/SPD.
Recent relevant publications
Pete Riley, R. Lionello, Z. Mikic, and J. A. Linker, Using Global Simulations to Relate the
Three-part Structure of Coronal Mass Ejections to in situ Signatures, Ap. J., in press, 672,
1221, 2008.
Pete Riley, An Alternative interpretation on the relationship between the Inferred Open
Solar Flux and the Interplanetary Magnetic Field, Ap. J. Lett., 667, L97-L100, 2007.
Riley, P., and J. T. Gosling, On the origin of near-radial magnetic fields in the heliosphere:
Numerical simulations, J. Geophys. Res., 112, A06115, doi:10.1029/2006JA012210, 2007.
Pete Riley et al., “Bursty” reconnection during solar eruptions: MHD Simulations and
comparison with observations, Ap. J., 655, 591, 2007.
Pete Riley and J. T. Gosling, Comment on “Are high-latitude forward-reverse shock pairs
driven by over-expansion?” by Manchester and Zurbuchen, J. Geophys. Res., 112, A7,
CiteID A07102, 2007.
Pete Riley et al., A Comparison between Global Solar Magnetohydrodynamic and Potential
Field Source Surface Model Results, Ap. J., 653, 1510, 2006.
Pete Riley et al., On the rates of coronal mass ejections: remote solar and in situ
observations, Ap. J., 647, 648, 2006.
Pete Riley, J. T. Gosling, and N. U. Crooker, Ulysses Observations of the Magnetic
Connectivity between CMEs and the Sun, Ap. J., 608, 1100-1105, 2004.
Pete Riley, J. A. Linker, R. Lionello, Z. Mikic, D. Odstrcil, M. A. Hidalgo, C. Cid, Q. Hu,
R. P. Lepping, B. J. Lynch, and A. Rees, Fitting Flux Ropes to a Global MHD solution: A
comparison of techniques, JASTP, 66, Issue 15-16, 1321-1331, 2004.
Pete Riley, and N. U. Crooker, Kinematic treatment of CME evolution in the solar wind, Ap.
J., 600, 1035. 2004.
Pete Riley, J. A. Linker, Z. Mikic, D. Odstrcil, T. H. Zurbuchen, D. A. Lario, and R. P.
Lepping, Using and MHD Simulation to Interpret the Global Context of a Coronal Mass
Ejection Observed by Two Spacecraft, J. Geophys. Res., 108, NO. A7, 1271, doi:
10.1029/2002JA009760, 2003.
Pete Riley, Z. Mikic, and J. A. Linker, Dynamical evolution of the inner heliosphere
approaching solar activity maximum: Interpreting Ulysses observations using a global MHD
model, 21, 1347, Annales Geophysicae, 2003.
Pete Riley et al., Evidence of Post-eruption Reconnection Associated with Coronal mass
Ejections in the Solar Wind, Ap. J., 578, 2002.
Pete Riley, J. A. Linker, and Z. Mikic, Modeling the heliospheric current sheet: Solar-cycle
variations, J. Geophys. Res., DOI 10.1029/2001JA000299, 107, 2002.
Pete Riley, Jon Linker, and Zoran Mikic, An empirically-driven global MHD model of the
corona and inner heliosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 15,889, 2001.
Pete Riley, J. T. Gosling, and V. J. Pizzo, Investigation of the polytropic relationship
between density and temperature within interplanetary coronal mass ejections using
numerical simulations, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 8291, 2001.
Pete Riley, J. T. Gosling, D. J. McComas, and R. J. Forsyth, Properties and radial trends of
coronal mass ejecta and their associated shocks observed by Ulysses in the ecliptic plane, J.
Geophys. Res., 105, 12,617, 2000.