JD
Member Since 1995
Joe R. Dwyer
Professor, University of New Hampshire Main Campus
Scientific interests: Atmospheric electricity, thunderstorm and lightning physics, x-ray emissions from lightning, terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs), and discharge physics. Education: B.S., physics and mathematics, 1986, University of California at Irvine; M.S., physics, 1988, University of Chicago; Ph.D., physics, 1994, University of Chicago. Employment: Post-doctoral research scientist, Columbia University, 1993 – 1995; Research associate, University of Maryland, 1995 – 2000; Lecturer, University of Maryland, 1999; Faculty in Department of Physics and Space Sciences, Florida Tech, 2000 – present; Director of the Geospace Physics Laboratory (GPL), Florida Tech, 2007 – present; President of the Faculty Senate at Florida Tech, 2010 – 2011 Memberships: AGU member since 1995; URSI member Commission H. Awards: Florida Tech President’s Award for University Excellence, 2010; Florida Tech Faculty Excellence Award in Research, 2003; NSF CAREER Award, 2002; The University of Chicago, Enrico Fermi Institute Nathan Sugarman Award for Excellence in Research, 1991; NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program grant recipient, 1988 – 1991. Publications: Author and coauthor of 96 peer-reviewed publications, 47 in AGU journals. Most important work includes establishing that rocket-triggered lightning emits x-rays and investigating the characteristics of these energetic emissions (Dwyer, J. R., et al., Energetic Radiation Produced During Rocket-Triggered Lightning, Science, 299, 694, 2003); developing the relativistic feedback mechanism (Dwyer, J. R., A fundamental limit on electric fields in air, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 2055, 2003); demonstrating that long laboratory sparks in air emit x-rays (Dwyer, J. R., et al., X-ray bursts produced by laboratory sparks in air, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L20809, 2005); helping establish that terrestrial gamma-ray flashes originate from thunderclouds (Dwyer, J. R., and D. M. Smith, A Comparison between Monte Carlo simulations of runaway breakdown and terrestrial gamma-ray flash observations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, 2005); first identifying and modeling terrestrial electron beams (Dwyer, J. R., et al., High-energy electron beams launched into space by thunderstorms, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, 2008); and producing the first x-ray images of lightning (Dwyer, J. R., et al., High-speed X-ray Images of Triggered Lightning Dart Leaders, J. Geophys. Res., 116, 2011).
Professional Experience
Florida Institute of Technology
2015 - Present
University of New Hampshire Main Campus
Professor
2014 - Present
Education
University of Chicago
Doctorate
1994
Honors & Awards
Union Fellow
Received December 2019
Citation
For key contributions to understanding energetic radiation processes in our atmosphere and establishing the field of High-Energy Atmospheric Physics.
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Benjamin Franklin Lecture
Received December 2019
Current Roles
Member
College of Fellows Distinguished Lecturers - Beyond Earth
Member
Atmospheric and Space Electricity Fellows Committee
Publications
A Strong Pulsing Nature of Negative Intracloud Dart Leaders Accompanied by Regular Trains of Microse...

We report the first observations of negative intracloud (IC) dart‐stepped leaders accompanied by regular trains of microsecond‐scale pu...

May 24, 2023
AGU Abstracts
RIFTS: A Broadband VHF-UHF Interferometer to Study Lightning
ATMOSPHERIC AND SPACE ELECTRICITY QUICK STRIKES ELIGHTNING
atmospheric and space electricity | 13 december 2023
Ningyu Liu, Frank D. Lind, Ivan Dors, Anderson Ste...
Radio Interferometer for Thunderstorm Studies (RIFTS) is a deployable high-performance radio sensor array that is specifically designed to image/map l...
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Distinguishing the production mechanisms of Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes
ENERGETIC RADIATION FROM LIGHTNING AND THUNDERSTORMS II POSTER
atmospheric and space electricity | 12 december 2023
Joseph R. Dwyer, Ningyu Liu
Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs), powerful bursts of gamma rays produced within our atmosphere, are associated with a wide range of lightning phen...
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Fully-Mapped TGF Footprints at Pierre Auger Observatory
ENERGETIC RADIATION FROM LIGHTNING AND THUNDERSTORMS I ORAL
atmospheric and space electricity | 12 december 2023
John Ortberg, David M. Smith, Joseph R. Dwyer, Rob...
The Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina, designed for ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (>10^18 EeV), has detected numerous radiation bursts during l...
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Volunteer Experience
2024 - 2025
Member
Atmospheric and Space Electricity Fellows Committee
2023 - 2025
Member
College of Fellows Distinguished Lecturers - Beyond Earth
2023 - 2024
Member
College of Fellows Distinguished Lecturers - Beyond Earth
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