Jonathan Aurnou

Jonathan Aurnou is a Professor in the Department of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences (EPSS) at UCLA, where he directs the SPINLab—a 900-square-foot experimental facility dedicated to geophysical fluid dynamics research. His work bridges laboratory experiments and numerical simulations to investigate fundamental processes in planetary cores and atmospheres.

His primary research explores turbulent convection, magnetoconvection, and libration-driven flows using custom apparatus like the Rotating Magnetoconvection Device (RoMag) and large-scale NoMag systems. Key interests include planetary magnetic field generation, deep convection in gas giants, and resonant wave interactions, with experimental data relevant to interpreting observations of Jupiter, Saturn, and terrestrial planetary cores.

SPINLab operations are supported by multiple grants from the NSF Geophysics Program, NSF Instrumentation and Facilities Program, NASA Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program, and NASA Planetary Atmospheres Program. The facility houses specialized equipment including a 35 cm-bore electromagnet (0-1300 Gauss), ultrasonic Doppler velocimetry systems for opaque fluids, and precision temperature control capable of multiplexing 64+ sensor channels.

Lab infrastructure features a custom rotary table (0.3-100 rpm), industrial temperature baths, blackout capabilities for flow visualization, and dedicated 400-amp 3-phase power. Current projects involve scaling fluid dynamics experiments using water (for gas giant analogs) and liquid gallium (for planetary core simulations) across variable tank geometries to isolate parameter-dependent system behaviors.