Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF)

The Swedish Institute of Space Physics (Institutet för rymdfysik, IRF) is a governmental research institute with about 100 employees. Its primary task is to carry out basic research, education and associated observatory activities in space physics, space technology and atmospheric physics. IRF has employees in Kiruna, Umeå, Uppsala and Lund. The main office is located in Kiruna in northern Sweden (geographic coordinates 67.84° N, 20.41° E). IRF has satellite instruments orbiting Venus, Earth, Mars and Saturn; two instruments are on a spacecraft on its way to a comet; three instruments have been developed for a mission to Mercury in 2016; and IRF has responsibility for two instruments on a major European mission to Jupiter and its icy moons in 2022.

Kiruna

The research activities at IRF's head office in Kiruna concern studies of phenomena in the upper atmosphere, the ionosphere and in planetary magnetospheres (in particular that of the Earth).

Umeå

IRF's group in Umeå studies the propagation of infra-sound in the atmosphere. A major part of the group's work has concentrated on development of new methods for signal processing and data analysis.

Uppsala

Together with the Astronomy and Space Physics Division of Uppsala University's Department of Physics and Astronomy, IRF in Uppsala is active in the research fields of space plasma and theoretical plasma physics.

Lund

IRF's group in Lund models and predicts space weather with the use of intelligent hybrid systems.