Research Profile:
Pieter Kotzé has been a staff member at the HMO since
1989, doing research in the field of geomagnetism, using both ground-based and satellite measurements to model the Earth's magnetic field. During this period he was involved in the modelling of POGS, Magsat, Oersted as well as CHAMP observations. In 1994 he spent 6 months at the Geomagnetism Group of the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, Scotland, followed by extended periods at the Max-Planck Institut Fur Aeronomie in Lindau (modelling of reconnection in the magnetosphere)and the Max-Planck Institut Fur Extraterrestrial Physik in Garching (Cluster observations of energetic particles during magnetic storms), Germany. He has presented several presentations at IAGA, IUGG, and SAIP conferences, and acted on several occasions as convenor for symposia(IAGA & IUGG) in geomagnetism. At present he is co-chair of the IAGA Working Group on Geomagnetic Observations and is part of the international organizing committee for the XXII IAGA Workshop on Geomagnetic Observatories in Poland. Pieter is currently Head of the Geomagnetism Group at HMO, and is involved in a collabotative project with the GeoForschungZentrum in Potsdam to study the secular variation characteristics of the southern African geomagnetic field.
Selected Publications:
- Kotzé, P. B., "The time-varying geomagnetic field of Southern Africa", Earth Planets Space, 55, 111-116, 2003.
- Kotzé, P. B., "Southern Africa's geomagnetic secular variation", S. Afr. J. Sci, 99, 584-587, 2003.
- Kotzé, P. B., "Living on a giant magnet", Paper I4 presented at 49th Annual SAIP Conference, Bloemfontein, July 2004
- Kotzé, P. B., "Analysis of the April 2000 magnetic storm", Paper
C29 presented at 49th Annual SAIP Conference, Bloemfontein, July 2004 - Kotzé, P. B., "Morphology of southern Africa's geomagnetic field", Paper C15b presented at 48th Annual SAIP Conference, Stellenbosch, June 2003.
- Kotzé, P. B., "Ørsted\CHAMP-based spherical cap model for southern Africa", Paper GAV.05/08P/A11-008 presented at IUGG General Assembly, Sapporo, Japan, June-July 2003.