[GEM] THE GEM MESSENGER, Volume 25, Number 30

Newsletter Editor editor at igpp.ucla.edu
Sun Aug 16 21:37:17 PDT 2015


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     THE GEM MESSENGER
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Volume 25, Number 30
August 17, 2015

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Heliophysics/Geospace System Observatory (HGSO) Group
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From: Mike Wiltberger <wiltbemj at ucar.edu>

Dear GEM Community:

As you are aware we have a vast array of space- and ground-based assets and observatories presently in operation that are often referred to as the Heliophysics/Geospace System Observatory (HGSO).  The HGSO consists of a wide array of assets from NASA, the NSF, NOAA, and a number of international agencies that provide a variety of observations of physical quantities in the plasma environments of the Sun and Earth.  The unprecedented level of coverage provides our community a unique opportunity to advance our science.  Past efforts using combinations of these observatories have mostly relied on fortuitous, unplanned conjunctions of satellite missions and ground observatories.  However, we are confident that the science return from the greater HGSO can be significantly increased if the missions and observatories are actively coordinated in targeted campaigns to optimize data collection in support of specific, well-defined science objectives.

At the 2015 GEM meeting in Snowmass, Colorado, an initial discussion took place about the formation of a HGSO optimization group.  Approximately 50 members of the GEM community addressed the need for ongoing collaboration and coordination between the numerous space- and ground-based observing platforms.  GEM has been highly successful in using event challenges sponsored by its Focus Groups (FGs) to address fundamental questions about the nature of the geospace system. Several of GEM’s FGs have expressed interest in having actively coordinated data campaigns that could benefit from specific advanced planning (e.g., strategically positioning spacecraft, enhanced data collection rates, etc.) to fully exploit the potential for coordinated observations over the next five years.  As such, the GEM Steering Committee is supporting the formation of the HGSO Group led by Dr. Marilia Samara (GSFC) and Dr. Toshi Nishimura (UCLA).  

The goal of the HGSO Group is to provide a forum, bringing together the greater science community with mission and observatory leadership, to better coordinate HGSO activities for new campaign operations targeting specific, well-defined science questions and objectives. The HGSO Group will utilize GEM workshops as one such forum to develop coordinated campaign strategies driven by input solicited by the GEM FGs.  Such HGSO campaigns will optimize the utilization of our ground- and space-based assets in support of GEM’s data¬, theory, and ¬modeling exploration of the geospace system while simultaneously providing symbiotic results related to the predefined science objectives of each individual mission and observatory used in the campaigns.

It is hoped that this group will provide our science community with opportunities for encouraging coordination between heliophysics and geospace resources across the federal agencies, e.g. NASA, NSF, and NOAA as well as international partners.  Such coordination of resources will promote optimized science return on questions and topics that are selected by the community itself in concert with mission and observatory leadership.  We believe that active HGSO coordination offers the potential to bring about an unprecedented era of quantitative assessment and modeling of the geospace environment.

Sincerely,
The GEM Steering Committee


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