Dr. Krishnaprasad Chirakkil

Dr. Krishnaprasad Chirakkil

Assistant Professor
(Planetary Atmospheres)
Planetary Sciences Division
Physical Research Laboratory
Ahmedabad 380059, India
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: +91-79-2631 4989

Research Interests

  • Upper atmospheres, ionospheres, and exospheres of planets
  • Aeronomy, aurora, space weather, and heliophysics
  • Atmospheric escape, evolution, and habitability
  • Multispacecraft analysis of UV remote sensing & in-situ plasma and magnetic field data
  • 2-D photochemical modeling of planetary thermospheres and ionospheres
  • 3-D Monte Carlo particle transport modeling of planetary exospheres and atmospheric escape
  • Spaceflight instrumentation and calibration

Academic Qualifications

Professional Experience

  • Assistant Professor, Planetary Sciences Division, PRL, Ahmedabad, India (Aug 2025 – present)
  • Research Scientist-II, LASP, University of Colorado Boulder, USA (Dec 2023 – Aug 2025)
  • Research Scientist-I, LASP, University of Colorado Boulder, USA (Jul 2021 – Dec 2023)
  • Professional Research Assistant, LASP, University of Colorado Boulder, USA (May 2021 – Jul 2021)
  • Visiting Researcher, Space and Planetary Science Center, Khalifa University, UAE (May 2021 – Dec 2024)
  • Visiting Scholar, Space Sciences Laboratory, UC Berkeley, USA (May 2021 – Dec 2023)
  • Senior / Junior Research Fellow, Space Physics Laboratory, VSSC, ISRO (Jun 2016 – Apr 2021)
  • Teaching Assistant (Physics), IIT Palakkad, India (Jul 2015 – Jun 2016)
  • Visiting Student (Astronomy and Astrophysics), Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru, India (Jan 2015 – Jun 2015)
  • Summer Student (Gravitation and Cosmology), IIT Madras, Chennai, India (May 2014 – Jul 2014)

Awards

  • KU–CU/LASP Mars Postdoctoral Fellowship (2021)
  • Best Paper Award — high–end workshop on Solar Activities and their Influences in the Heliosphere and Planetary Atmospheres (2021)
  • SERB International Travel Support (2019)
  • CSIR Foreign Travel Grant (2018)
  • AGU Student Travel Grant (2018)
  • ISRO Research Fellowship (2016)
  • Indian Academy of Sciences Summer Research Fellow (2014)

Publications

My publications can be found in Google Scholar and Scopus.

Contact

Address : Physical Research Laboratory (A Unit of Department of Space, Government of India), Navarangpura, Ahmedabad 380009, India
Office Phone : +91-79-2631 4989
Email ID : [email protected]
Web Page : https://www.prl.res.in/~krishnaprasad