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Kjartan Münster Kinch

Ph.D., Physics, University of Aarhus

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4629-8880

  • Gothersgade 130

    1123 København K

20022019

Research activity per year

Personal profile

CV

About me:

Planetary Scientist with experience in operating cameras on the surface of Mars, and with a broad experience calibrating and processing data from Mars landers and Earth observing satellites. Co-Investigator on the Mastcam-Z camera on NASA's Mars 2020 Mars rover mission. Lead designer for Mastcam-Z radiometric calibration target.

 

Education:

Ph.D. in physics from Aarhus University, Denmark, 2005.

  

Publications:

Co-authored 37 peer-reviewed journal papers. 5 in Science and one in Nature. 1136 total citations, H-index of 16.

(calculated by ResearcherID/Web of Science)

ResearcherID: C-5742-2015

ORCID: 0000-0002-4629-8880

 

Outreach:

Regular contributor to www.scienceblog.dk. Numerous public talks.

Appears semi-regularly on Danish national TV and radio. Many newspaper interviews.

 

Employment:

 

May 2017 – Present:

Associate Professor, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.

Dust in the Martian atmosphere. Mars rover cameras.

 

Feb 2017 – Apr 2017:

Assistant Professor, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.

Dust in the Martian atmosphere. Mars rover cameras.

 

Aug 2012 – January 2017:

Postdoc, Niels Bohr Institute, U. of Copenhagen.

Dust in the Martian atmosphere. Mars rover cameras.

 

Feb 2011 – July 2012:

Researcher, Danish Meteorological Institute.

GPS Radio-Occultation data for weather and climate.

 

Aug 2009 – Jan 2011:

Postdoc, Niels Bohr Institute, U. of Copenhagen.

Dust in the Martian atmosphere. Mars rover cameras.

 

Aug 2008 – July 2009:         

Researcher, Danish Meteorological Institute.

GPS Radio-Occultation data for weather and climate.

 

July 2005 – May 2008:         

Research Support Specialist, Dep. of Astronomy, Cornell University, New York, USA.

Mission science operations for Cameras on Mars Exploration Rovers.

 

 

Current Mars mission involvement:

  • Co-Investigator on Mastcam-Z on NASA’s 2020 Mars Rover
  • Lead designer for Mastcam-Z's Radiometric Calibration Target
  • Special Expert Consultant on the Mastcam team on NASA' Mars Science Laboratory Mission (Curiosity Rover)
 

Academic Service:

 Reviewer for Planetary and Space Science, Geophysical Research Letters, Icarus and Remote Sensing

 

 Teaching experience:

  • Classroom teacher in Linear Algebra, winter 2018-2019
  • Supervised CPH node of cross-institutional (international) seminar series on Mars mission landing site selection, 2016
  • Advisor for two ph.d. students, five master students and two bachelor students over the last 7 years.
  • Guest-lectures on Mars in Planetary Science course at Niels Bohr Institute 2013-2016.
  • Completed "adjunktpædagogikum" teacher training program at Copenhagen University 2015
 

Awards:

  • NASA Group Achievement Award 2017 to MSL extended Mission-1 Science and Operations Team (Curiosity Rover)
  • NASA Group Achievement Award 2015 to MSL Science Office Development and Operations Team (Curiosity Rover)
  • NASA Group Achievement Award 2013 to MSL Prime Mission Science and Operations Team (Curiosity Rover)
  • NASA Group Achievement Award 2004 to Mars Exploration Rover Science Operations Team
  • NASA certificate of Appreciation 2003 For development, calibration and testing of the Mars Exploration Rover Cameras.
 

Service during Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Operations:

MER landed operations, primary mission phase January-April 2004 at JPL. Functioned at different times as as Payload Uplink Lead and as Payload Downlink Lead for several rover cameras (Engineering cameras, Microscopic Imager, Panoramic cameras).

MER extended mission remote operations from Cornell University; Payload Downlink Lead for the Panoramic Cameras; July 2005-May 2008.

 

International Network:

Wide network in the Planetary Science community in Europe and America. Particularly close collaboration with other members of the Mastcam-Z team at Arizona State University, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, Cornell, Purdue, Johns Hopkins University, US Geological Survey.

 

Periods of leave:

First child:                  Total of 26 weeks in 2009-2010 and in 2017.

Second child:              Total of 15 weeks in 2013-2014

Third Child:                Total of 28 weeks in 2015-2016

Also note that my employment at the Danish Meteorological Institute, while research-oriented, was in a support function, not an independent research position, as a result these 2.5 years total of employment produced only 1 peer-reviewed journal paper. 

 

Primary fields of research

The geological history of Mars

Dust in the Martian atmosphere

Mars lander cameras, calibration and image processing

Current research

Co-Investigator on the Mastcam-Z camera on NASA's Mars 2020 mission
Lead designer for the Mastcam-Z radiometric calibration target

Knowledge of languages

Dansk, Engelsk, Tysk, Norsk, Svensk 

 

Teaching

Linear Algebra blok 2 2018

Supervisor for projects related to Mars and cameras at all levels from Ph. D. to Bachelor

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 13 - Climate Action

Keywords

  • Faculty of Science

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