[GEM] THE GEM MESSENGER, Volume 26, Number 21

Fri Jun 10 19:36:50 PDT 2016

***************************
     THE GEM MESSENGER
***************************

Volume 26, Number 21
Jun.10,2016

============================================================
Table of Contents

1. Joint GEM-CEDAR: "Tail Environment and Dynamics at Lunar Distances" Focus Group Sessions

2. Joint GEM-CEDAR: "Making Sense of High-latitude Geospace Observations:  Modeling, Data Fusion and Assimilation" Workshop

3. JOB OPENING: CIRES Research Associate, Scientific Software Engineer 

============================================================

------------------------------------------------------------
1. Joint GEM-CEDAR: "Tail Environment and Dynamics at Lunar Distances" Focus Group Sessions
------------------------------------------------------------
From: Chih-Ping Wang (cat at atmos.ucla.edu)

The Tail Environment and Dynamics at Lunar Distances Focus Group will hold two sessions at 2016 GEM summer workshop

*Session 1: 1:30-3:30 PM, Wednesday, June 22, 2016
The first session is a joint session with Modeling Methods and Validation FG on mid-tail modeling challenge. The goal of this challenge is to better understand mid-tail response to a prolonged N IMF interval and to improve global models.  For this challenge we selected an event with prolonged (48 hours) northward IMF interval from 13-14 February 2014. We will address three science questions: (i) How does the mid-tail configuration response to changes in IMF By and solar wind dynamic pressure (ii) What processes cause the 10 to 30 min perturbations in the mid-tail plasma sheet (iii) What are characteristics of plasma flows in mid-tail plasma sheet? 

Detailed information for ARTEMIS observations of the event and results from global simulations can be found at  http://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/challenges/MidTail/ 

ARTEMIS observations and simulation results from different global MHD models and a global hybrid model for this event will be presented. We welcome your participation in the discussion.

*Session 2: 4:00-6:00 PM, Thursday, June 23, 2016
The second session will focus on recent progress on the topics of this FG: We would like to solicit short (< 5 min) GEM-style presentations of your current work on observations and modeling of structure, dynamics, and boundary processes in the mid-tail magnetosphere and magnetosheath, and their connection with near-Earth tail or the ionosphere.

If you would like to present, please contact Chih-Ping Wang (cat at atmos.ucla.edu) 

More information on this FG can be found at http://aten.igpp.ucla.edu/gemwiki/index.php/FG:_Tail_Environment_and_Dynamics_at_Lunar_Distances

Chih-Ping Wang, Andrei Runov, David Sibeck, Slava Merkin, and Yu Lin

------------------------------------------------------------
2. Joint GEM-CEDAR: "Making Sense of High-latitude Geospace Observations:  Modeling, Data Fusion and Assimilation" Workshop
------------------------------------------------------------
From: Tomoko Matsuo, Jesper Gjerloev, Ryan Mcgranaghan, Bill Lotko, Binzheng Zhang (tomoko.matsuo at colorado.edu)

We would like to invite the CEDAR/GEM community to participate in the joint workshop “Making sense of high-latitude geospace observations: modeling, data fusion and assimilation” scheduled from 4pm through 6pm on June 23 (Thursday) in the O'Keefe/Milagro/Kearny Room.

Specification of the electrodynamic state of the polar ionosphere is of paramount interest to the CEDAR/GEM community.  It defines one of the major driving forces of the thermosphere and ionosphere and provides us with a means to probe physical processes in the magnetosphere. The recent advent of global monitoring of the high-latitude geospace system prompts us to reexamine the limitations of the conventional approach for the modeling of electromagnetic processes adopted in our science community. This workshop addresses the challenges associated with obtaining a self-consistent global description of field-aligned, Pedersen and Hall currents, ionospheric conductivity, electric fields, and neutral winds from high-latitude geospace observations obtained from various ground-based sensors (e.g., ISRs, SuperDARN, magnetometers, imagers, and FPIs) as well as space based sensors (e.g., drift meters, magnetometers, particle analyzers, and imagers). 

Specific challenges discussed during the workshop include the following topics.

(1) When contrasting and combining multiple types of electrodynamics observations to obtain a self-consistent description of the high-latitude geospace system, it is crucial to estimate and account for uncertainties and biases in different observation types and in a model. 

(2) Ionospheric conductivity serves as a critical linkage in coupling between the magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere, playing an essential role in the closure of field-aligned currents between the magnetosphere and ionosphere, and in the energy and momentum transfer from the magnetosphere to the ionosphere and thermosphere. Nonetheless, direct global monitoring of the conductivity is almost non-existent. 

(3) Influences of the neutral wind dynamo are often neglected in the application of Ohm's law to ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling, with effects comparable to the uncertainty associated with the conductivity. In the attempt to close the gap in our understanding, it is important to examine whether or not the flywheel effect can be seen in electrodynamics observations. 

We will have short presentations (5-10 minutes) followed by open discussion (20-30 minutes).  Here is a list of confirmed speakers and topics.

Tomoko Matsuo - Introduction 
Mike Ruohoniemi - SuperDARN
Jesper Gjerloev & Shin Ohtani- SuperMAG & AMPERE
Ryan Mcgranaghan - Conductivity mapping 
Russel Cosgrove - Conductivity & AMISR
Rob Gillies - RISE-C along with SWARM, ePOP, REGO, & SuperDARN 
Mark Conde - FPI neutral wind mapping
Art Richmond - AMPERE-driven TIEGCM
Binzheng Zhang - FPI wind and CMIT 
All - Open Discussion 

For more information: http://cedarweb.vsp.ucar.edu/wiki/index.php/2016_Workshop:Making_sense_of_geospace_observations

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Tomoko Matsuo, Tomoko.Matsuo at colorado.edu
Jesper Gjerloev, Jesper.Gjerloev at jhuapl.edu
Ryan Mcgranaghan, Ryan.Mcgranaghan at colorado.edu
Bill Lotko, William.Lotko at dartmouth.edu
Binzheng Zhang, binzheng at ucar.ed

------------------------------------------------------------
3. JOB OPENING: CIRES Research Associate, Scientific Software Engineer 
------------------------------------------------------------
From: Juan Rodriguez (juan.v.rodriguez at colorado.edu)

The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado at Boulder has an immediate opening for a Research Associate supporting NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Boulder, Colorado. This position is for a Scientific Software Engineer within the NCEI Solar-Terrestrial Physics (STP) program. The successful candidate will work as part of a team of scientists, data managers, and engineers dedicated to the processing and dissemination of NOAA space weather data. STP is responsible for developing the Satellite Product Analysis & Distribution Enterprise System (SPADES), a demonstration and prototyping system for processing GOES-R space environment products.  The capabilities of the instruments on the new GOES-R series of weather satellites (first launch scheduled for autumn 2016) will provide a significant advance over the current measurements in areas such as spectral range and resolution. The new instruments consist of the Solar Ultraviolet Imager, the Extreme Ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensors, the Space Environment In-Situ Suite of particle detectors, and the Magnetometer. As a scientific software engineer within STP, the successful candidate will monitor, maintain, troubleshoot, upgrade, and augment the scientific processing system hosted on SPADES to ensure that product quality requirements are met.  

Requirements:

B.S. in Physical Science, Engineering, Computer Science or similar technical discipline, or equivalent demonstrable experience.

Four or more years’ experience at the post-B.S. level in scientific programming and analysis of environmental data.

Proficiency in Python and C/C++ and a willingness to learn other high-level languages used for scientific programming.

Ability to implement a practical data processing algorithm based on documentation authored by other parties.

Ability to modify and maintain software authored by other parties.

Skilled in Unix/Linux operating environments.

Understanding of the architecture, design and workings of systems that handle large data sets.

Excellent oral and written communication skills. 

A flexible and proactive attitude combined with an ability to multitask on various projects with other team members.

U. S. citizenship or permanent residency.

For more information, please contact Juan Rodriguez (juan.v.rodriguez at colorado.edu)

========================================
The Geospace Environment Modeling (GEM) program is sponsored by the Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS) of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

To broadcast announcements to the GEM community, please fill out the online request form at:

http://aten.igpp.ucla.edu/gem/messenger_form/

To subscribe or opt out of the GEM mailing list, or to make any other requests, please contact Peter Chi, the GEM Communications Coordinator, by e-mail at

<gemeditor at igpp.ucla.edu>

URL of GEM Home Page:  http://aten.igpp.ucla.edu/gemwiki
Workshop Information:  http://www.cpe.vt.edu/gem/index.html
========================================