Scott Robertson Portrait
Professor Emeritus
Physics
scott.robertson@colorado.edu
(303) 492-6453

Research Interests:

I do experimental research in basic plasma physics, most of which is related to dust in plasmas.

I am presently involved in two research areas. (1) The polar ionosphere contains meteoritic dust particles that are the nucleation sites for icy cloud particles. Students and I construct instruments for rockets that return data from 80-120 km altitude on the charge-to-mass ratio and number density of these particles so their characteristics can be entered into models of the ionosphere. Experiments in the lab seek to reproduce plasma conditions in the ionosphere. (2) I am an investigator in the Colorado Center for Lunar Dust and Atmospheric studies. We construct models of the dusty lunar surface in the laboratory and expose the surfaces to ultraviolet light and plasma to simulate the plasma environment on the lunar surface. The goal is to characterize the surface to facilitate NASA's return to the Moon and to design instruments that will return data on the plasma and charged dust at the lunar surface.

Selected Publications:

  1. "Experiments on dust transport in plasma to investigate the origin of the lunar horizon glow," Wang, X., M. Horányi, and S. Robertson (2009), J. Geophys. Res., 114, A05103, doi:10.1029/2008JA013983.
  2. "Lunar Dust Levitation," J. E. Colwell, S. R. Robertson, M. Horanyi, X. Wang, A. Poppe, and P. Wheeler, Journal of Aerospace Engineering 22, pp. 2-9 (2009).
  3. "Variability of the lunar photoelectron sheath and dust mobility due to solar activity," Z. Sternovsky, P. Chamberlin, M. Horanyi, S. Robertson and X. Wang, J. Geophys. Res. 113, doi:10.1029/2008JA013487, 2008.
  4. "Rocket-borne in situ measurements of meteor smoke: Charging properties and implications for seasonal variation," Rapp, M., I. Strelnikova, B. Strelnikov, P. Hoffmann, M. Friedrich, J. Gumbel, L. Megner, U.-P. Hoppe, S. Robertson, S. Knappmiller, M. Wolff and D. Marsh, Journal of Geophysical Research 115, D00I16, doi:10.1029/2009JD012725 (20 pages) 2010.
  5. "Large mesospheric ice particles at exceptionally high altitudes," L. Megner, M. Khaplanov, G. Baumgarten, J. Gumbel, J. Stegman, B. Strelnikov and S. Robertson, Annales Geophysicae 27, 943-951, 2009.
  6. "Signatures of Mesospheric Particles in Ionospheric Data," M. Friedrich, K.M. Torkar, W. Singer, I. Strelnikova, M. Rapp, and S. Robertson, Annales Geophysicae 27, 823-829, 2009.
  7. "Mass analysis of charged aerosol particles in NLC and PMSE during the ECOMA/MASS campaign," S. Robertson, M. Horányi, S. Knappmiller, Z. Sternovsky, R. Holzworth, M. Shimogawa, M. Friedrich, K. Torkar, J. Gumbel, L. Megner, G. Baumgarten, R. Latteck, M. Rapp, U.-P. Hoppe and M. E. Hervig, Annales Geophysicae 27, 1213-1232, 2009.
  8. "Continuous gas discharge plasma with 200 K electron temperature," S. Dickson and S. Robertson, Physics of Plasmas 17, 033508, (5 pages) 2010.
  9. "Sheath and presheath in plasma with warm ions, S. Robertson, Physics of Plasmas 16, 103503 (6 pages), 2009.
  10. "A hot-filament discharge with very low electron temperature," Ward Handley and Scott Robertson, Physics of Plasmas 16, 016702 (2009).