Catherine L. Johnson is a planetary scientist known for her research on the magnetic fields of planets including Mercury, Venus, Earth and its moon, and Mars. In 2023, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.[1]
In 2013, Johnson was elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union who cited her "for significant contributions to understanding the magnetic fields and interior structures of the Moon and terrestrial planets".[4]
From 2019 until 2020, Johnson was the president Geomagnetism, Paleomagnetism and Electromagnetism section at the American Geophysical Union.[2]
Johnson is known for her research on magnetic fields of planets, and how they change over time. She uses chemical signals stored in lava flows to track changes in Earth's magnetic field,[5][6][7] which includes lava flows sampled in locations such as the Azores.[8] Her research on Mercury used the MESSENGER space probe to make observations of Mercury's magnetic field.[9][10][11] On Mars, Johnson tracks variability in Mars' magnetic field over time[12][13] and uses the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter to track the topography of Mars' northern polar cap.[14] Johnson's research on Mars uses first magnetic sensor placed on Mars, part of the InSight lander, to reveal small scale details about Mars' magnetic field which was stronger than expected based on previous measurements using satellite data.[15][16] Johnson is the only Canadian involved in the InSight mission,[17][18] which is led by the United States' National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA).
Smith, David E.; Zuber, Maria T.; Frey, Herbert V.; Garvin, James B.; Head, James W.; Muhleman, Duane O.; Pettengill, Gordon H.; Phillips, Roger J.; Solomon, Sean C.; Zwally, H. Jay; Banerdt, W. Bruce; Duxbury, Thomas C.; Golombek, Matthew P.; Lemoine, Frank G.; Neumann, Gregory A.; Rowlands, David D.; Aharonson, Oded; Ford, Peter G.; Ivanov, Anton B.; Johnson, Catherine L.; McGovern, Patrick J.; Abshire, James B.; Afzal, Robert S.; Sun, Xiaoli (25 October 2001). "Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter: Experiment summary after the first year of global mapping of Mars". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 106 (E10): 23689–23722. Bibcode:2001JGR...10623689S. doi:10.1029/2000JE001364.
Johnson, Catherine L.; Purucker, Michael E.; Korth, Haje; Anderson, Brian J.; Winslow, Reka M.; Al Asad, Manar M. H.; Slavin, James A.; Alexeev, Igor. I.; Phillips, Roger J.; Zuber, Maria T.; Solomon, Sean C. (December 2012). "MESSENGER observations of Mercury's magnetic field structure: MERCURY'S MAGNETIC FIELD STRUCTURE". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 117 (E12): n/a. doi:10.1029/2012JE004217. hdl:2027.42/96229. S2CID15704254.
