Sami Solanki

Sami Khan Solanki (born 1958 in Karachi, Pakistan) is director of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), director of the Sun-Heliosphere Department of MPS, a scientific member of the Max Planck Society,[1][2] and a Chair (and spokesperson) of the International Max Planck Research School on Physical Processes in the Solar System and Beyond at the Universities of Braunschweig and Göttingen.[3]

Sami K. Solanki
Born (1958-10-02) 2 October 1958
Karachi, Pakistan
Known forSolar and heliospheric physics, Solar magnetism, Sun-Earth relations and physics of the solar atmosphere
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy, Solar physics
InstitutionsMax Planck Institute for Solar System Research
Notes

Solanki is also an Honorary Professor at the Institute of Astronomy at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich,[4] and (2) Institute for Geophysics and Extraterrestrial Physics at the Braunschweig University of Technology in Germany. In addition, he is a Distinguished Professor at the Kyung Hee University in Korea.

He is the editor-in-chief of the Living Reviews in Solar Physics, an exclusively web-based, peer-reviewed journal, publishing reviews of research in all areas of solar and heliospheric physics. Living Reviews in Solar Physics was recently rated with an impact factor of 17.636 taking the third place in the "Astronomy & Astrophysics" category.[5]

Solanki's main topics of research are:

  • Solar and heliospheric physics, in particular solar magnetism and Sun-Earth relations
  • Stellar astrophysics, mainly stellar activity and magnetism
  • Astronomical tests of theories of gravitation
  • Atomic and molecular physics of astronomical interest
  • Protoplanetary discs and extrasolar planets
  • Radiative transfer of polarised light

He has also held these positions: (1) Vice-Chairman and member of the Senate Committee of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR); (2) Member Appointment Committee and Committee of Three of the DLR; (3) Member Extraterrestrial Program Committee of the DLR; (4) Science Advisory Committee of the High Altitude Observatory, Boulder/USA; (5) Science Advisory Board at the Istituto Ricerche Solari (IRSOL), Locarno/Switzerland;[6] and has contributed to the following space/balloon projects:

Academic career

Awards and honours

In 2011, Solanki delivered a lecture, "Is the Sun to Blame for Global Warming?,” at the first Starmus Festival in the Canary Islands. His talk was subsequently published in the book Starmus: 50 Years of Man in Space.[11]

Controversy

Solanki's research has been quoted as being part of the Global warming controversy, for instance in an article in the Telegraph.co.uk in 2004[12][13] as taking a sceptical position:

the impact of more intense sunshine on the ozone layer and on cloud cover could be affecting the climate more than the sunlight itself

But the same research has been quoted as being evidence for global warming in a news release from the Max Planck Society[14] though he is quoted as calling for further investigation, saying:

"Just how large this role is, must still be investigated, since, according to our latest knowledge on the variations of the solar magnetic field, the significant increase in the Earth's temperature since 1980 is indeed to be ascribed to the greenhouse effect caused by carbon dioxide,"

Selected publications[15]

References
  1. Organizational profile Archived 8 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine for the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
  2. Organizational chart Archived 6 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine for the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
  3. Staff page for the International Max Planck Research School on Physical Processes in the Solar System and Beyond
  4. Solanki's staff page at the ETHZ
  5. "Max Planck Society's open access journals have high impact factors". Archived from the original on 29 September 2012.
  6. Organizational Profile at the Max Planck Society website
  7. The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), led from Stanford University in Stanford, CA, studies solar variability and characterizes the Sun's interior and the various components of magnetic activity.
  8. The Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) Archived 16 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine, led from Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany, a proposed instrument for the Solar Orbiter mission referencing the Visible-light Imager and Magnetograph.
  9. "Short biography of Sami K. Solanki".
  10. Notice Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine of associateship of the Royal Astronomical Society
  11. "Starmus Festival and Stephen Hawking Launch the Book "Starmus, 50 Years of Man in Space"".
  12. Leidig, Michael; Roya Nikkhah (18 July 2004). "The truth about global warming – it's the Sun that's to blame". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
  13. Leidig, Michael (18 July 2004). "Hotter-burning sun warming the planet". The Washington Times. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
  14. "How Strongly Does the Sun Influence the Global Climate? – Studies at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research reveal: solar activity affects the climate but plays only a minor role in the current global warming" (Press release). Max Planck Society. 2 August 2004. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
  15. Complete list of publications
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