[GEM] THE GEM MESSENGER, Volume 27, Number 45

[Newsletter Editor]

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     THE GEM MESSENGER
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Volume 27, Number 45
Oct.20,2017

Announcement submission website: http://aten.igpp.ucla.edu/gem/messenger_form/

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Table of Contents

1. 201 GEM Workshop Report: Storm-Time Inner Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Convection Focus Group

2. Request for Information: Input to the Geospace Dynamics Constellation Science and Technology Definition Team

3. MEETING: Fundamental Physical Processes in Solar-Terrestrial Research and Their Relevance to Planetary Physics 2018, 7-13 January 2018, Kona, Hawaii - Abstract and Registration Deadline: October 31, 2017

4. VarSITI Newsletter Vol.15

5. 2018 Jack Eddy Postdoctoral Fellowships

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1. 201 GEM Workshop Report: Storm-Time Inner Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Convection Focus Group
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From: Joseph Baker, Michael Ruohoniemi, Stanislav Sazykin, Peter Chi, and Mark Engebretson (pchi at igpp.ucla.edu)

This is the fifth and final year of the Storm-time Inner Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Convection (SIMIC) Focus Group, which aims to bring together ground- and space-based observations in conjunction with numerical simulation results to to synthesize a new understanding of how plasma distributions, convection electric fields, and current systems emerge and evolve in the inner magnetosphere and conjugate ionosphere during geomagnetic storms. 

We held one session with seven contributed presentations on Wednesday afternoon. Bharat Kunduri presented a statistical study of sub auroral polarization streams (SAPS) based on data from US mid-latitude SuperDARN radars collected between January 2011 and December 2014. The study shows that SAPS are observed during a wide variety of geomagnetic conditions, but the probability of their observation increased with geomagnetic activity, as parameterized by the Dst index. SAPS moved equatorward and duskward with increasing geomagnetic activity.   SAPS velocities increased with geomagnetic activity, speeds increased toward dusk, and were directed increasingly poleward. Simultaneous SuperDARN and GPS TEC data showed that the location of SAPS and the midlatitude ionospheric trough coincided. Yiqun Yu presented her self-consistent electric field modeling in the RAM-SCB-E model. The calculations of the loss-cone term and the diffusion coefficient produce results that are in better agreement with observations. Binzheng Zhang demonstrated his modeling capability for the electrojet turbulence in SAPS. The electrojet turbulence model is useful for conditions with strong electric fields. Cirstian Ferradas presented the Van Allen Probes observations and modeling results for the temporal evolution of ion spectral structures near the inner edge of the plasma sheet during a geomagnetic storm. Soléne Lojosne presented a statistical study of the duration of ~200 SAPS-like events based on more than two years of E×B/B2 measurements from the two Van Allen Probes. SAPS events were identified using two signatures: a local minimum of EB in the azimuthal direction, and location near a plasmapause boundary layer crossing (marked by a sharp decrease in spacecraft potential). The occurrence characteristics based on this data set were consistent with those derived from ground observations:  most intense SAPS occurred near 21 MLT, and L decreased with increasing magnetic activity, as measured by Kp, Dst, and AE.  The median duration of the observed SAPS events was ~9 h. Sebastian De Pascuale constructed a plasmasphere model by using Van Allen Probes data in the dusk sector, and a piecewise approach combining profiles of saturation, depletion, and plasmapause location, but assuming no perpendicular transport (convection) and no diurnal variation. The model can be used to produce saturated density profiles, depleted density profiles, plasmapause activity dependence, and estimated refilling rates. Jonathan Krall compared the results of the SAMI-3 plasma transport model (SAMI3/RCM) with observations from geosynchronous orbit for a 12-day interval in May 1994 characterized by a persistent magnetic storm during which a plasmasphesric plume was seen once per day during a period of elevated Kp. The modeling suggests that convection-dominated flows were responsible for near-Earth plasmasphere erosion, and that high speed field-aligned plasma flows contributed to the density peaks.

These presentations were followed by a short discussion about potential future research. An identified topic of interest is the examination of features occurring in both the ionosphere and the magnetosphere, including but not limited to the tongue of ionization.

Because CEDAR held its 2017 Workshop during the same week, we were not able to involve colleagues from the CEDAR community as much as we did in previous years. We plan to summarize the findings within the scope of SIMIC, including relevant presentations at the upcoming AGU Fall Meeting December, in the final report of the Focus Group.


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2. Request for Information: Input to the Geospace Dynamics Constellation Science and Technology Definition Team
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From: Jared Leisner (jared.s.leisner at nasa.gov)

NASA is soliciting information to provide as input to the formulation process of the next major Living With a Star mission, Geospace Dynamics Constellation. Responses of up to 10 pages should be submitted by November 16, 2017, via NSPIRES in response to NNH18ZDA002L.

Consistent with the 2013 Heliophysics Decadal Survey (“the Decadal Survey”), Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society, NASA intends to form an Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) in late 2017 to conduct a study of mission options, including new science and technology options, for its next major Living With a Star mission, Geospace Dynamics Constellation (GDC). This study will include an assessment and update of the science rationale for the mission and the provision of science parameters, investigation approaches, key mission parameters, and any other needed scientific studies.

In order to inform the STDT process, NASA seeks information from the broader scientific community as input to the STDT. The requested information includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the GDC science goals, potential mission architectures, potential scientific instrumentation and/or measurements, and how GDC will fit into the larger Heliophysics System Observatory and can relate to missions flown by non-NASA organizations. 

NASA particularly encourages the submission of responses on relevant scientific and technological discoveries, innovations, and advances that have been made since the Decadal Survey’s publication.

For more information, including instruction on how to submit a response, please see the full text of the RFI which may be found on NSPIRES under NNH18ZDA002L.

Questions concerning this Request for Information should be addressed to Jared Leisner at jared.s.leisner at nasa.gov.

The RFI may be found at: https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/summary!init.do?solId={FF6DA437-295D-7ADD-C402-90AC2C133DDA}&path=open


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3. MEETING: Fundamental Physical Processes in Solar-Terrestrial Research and Their Relevance to Planetary Physics 2018, 7-13 January 2018, Kona, Hawaii - Abstract and Registration Deadline: October 31, 2017
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From: Hui Zhang, Tony Lui, Qiugang Zong  (hzhang14 at alaska.edu)

Abstract and Registration Deadline: October 31, 2017

Abstract submission is open at https://goo.gl/forms/OfHxMDn3Eh8ikPCI2

Please register and/or purchase guest tickets at the following link:
https://epay.alaska.edu/C21563_ustores/web/store_cat.jsp?STOREID=7&CATID=209&SINGLESTORE=true

Registration Fee: $450 before October 31; $550 after October 31, 2017 (includes icebreaker on Sunday, coffee breaks, lunches Monday-Friday, conference banquet on Thursday, excursion to Volcano Park)

A conference on Fundamental Physical Processes in Solar-Terrestrial Research and Their Relevance to Planetary Physics will be held from 7 to 13 January 2018 in Kona, Hawaii.  The main theme of this conference is to focus on understanding the variability of space plasma phenomena, encompassing those related to the Sun and all planets within our solar system.

Variability of space plasma environment is the norm rather than the exception. The cause of this variability is still under active research. In the interplanetary medium, plasma parameters change continually, permeated by plasma waves, shocks, turbulence, co-rotating interaction regions, and coronal mass ejections that agitate the environment. Such disturbances in the solar wind can lead to geomagnetic storms, which do not seem to produce relativistic electrons in the radiation belt according to their intensity. The ionosphere has variability that impacts severely radio communications. Its outflows during geomagnetic active periods can modify dramatically the magnetospheric population and physical processes within.

In other planets, plasma sources from their moons play a similar role in influencing magnetospheric environment and processes much like that of the Earth's ionospheric plasma source. Information exchange on magnetospheric research between Earth and other planets can provide valuable insights into universal processes occurring throughout our solar system. Understanding and predicting the variability of space plasma phenomena requires knowledge of not only individual physical processes or magnetospheric phenomena but also the interplay between them in a system-wide approach.

More information on the conference is available at the following link:  http://hawaiiconference2018.gi.alaska.edu

Conveners: Hui Zhang, Tony Lui, Qiugang Zong
Scientific Program Committee: David Sibeck, Guan Le, Philippe Escoubet, Hiroshi Hasegawa, Dong-Hun Lee


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4. VarSITI Newsletter Vol.15
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From: Kazuo Shiokawa and Katya Georgieva  (shiokawa at nagoya-u.jp)

SCOSTEP's VarSITI (Variability of the Sun and Its Terrestrial Impact, 2014-2018)

VarSITI Newsletter volume 15 has now been published.  The PDF file is available at 
http://newserver.stil.bas.bg/varsiti/newsL/VarSITI_Newsletter_Vol15.pdf
Below are the contents of this volume.  

Contents of VarSITI Newsletter Volume 15

Articles
1. Solar Irradiance Monitor on-board FengYun 3 Meteorological Satellites
2. Space Weather Studies of IONOLAB Group
3. Progress reached by ROSMIC WG3 “Trends in Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere”

Highlights on Young Scientists
1. Julia K. Thalmann/ Austria
2. Sushant S. Mahajan/ USA

Meeting Reports
1. The Second VarSITI General Symposium, 10-15 July 2017, Irkutsk, Russia
2. International Capacity Building School on “Advanced Concepts in Solar-Terrestrial Coupling in the Context of Space Weather”
3. LPMR workshop
4. 2nd International School on Equatorial and Low-Latitude Ionosphere (ISELLI-2)
5. IAU Symposium 335

Upcoming Meetings

Short News
1. Effort towards the Next Scientific Program of SCOSTEP
2. SCOSTEP's 14th Quadrennial Solar-Terrestrial Physics Symposium (STP 14), July 9-13, 2018, York University, Toronto, Canada


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5. 2018 Jack Eddy Postdoctoral Fellowships
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From: Kendra Greb (cpaess-apply at ucar.edu)

2018 Jack Eddy Postdoctoral Fellowships
Application deadline: 12 January 2018

The Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science (CPAESS) announces the 2018 call for applications to the Jack Eddy Postdoctoral Fellowships, sponsored by the NASA Living With a Star (LWS) program. The fellowships are designed to train the next generation of researchers in the emerging field of Heliophysics. 

Heliophysics embraces all science aspects of the Sun-Solar System, and includes many of the basic physical processes found in our solar system, the laboratory, and throughout the universe. These processes generally involve the interactions of ionized gases (plasmas) with gravitational and electro-magnetic (both radiation and DC) fields, and with neutral matter. The physical domain of interest ranges from deep inside the Sun to the Earth’s upper atmosphere. 

Two major topics of focus for LWS are the science of space weather and of the Sun-climate connection. Since the goal of this postdoctoral program is to train Sun-Earth system researchers, preference is also given to research projects that cross the traditional Heliophysics subdomains of the Sun, heliosphere, magnetosphere, and ionosphere/upper atmosphere, as well as Sun-climate investigations. 

In order to succeed at such cross-disciplinary research, the host mentoring scientist plays a critical role. Consequently, applicants must select a host scientist, who is different from the candidate’s PhD advisor (preferably at a different institution), and coordinate a joint application with the potential 
host scientist and institution.

Applicants to this postdoctoral program are expected to have had a PhD for no more than three years at the start of tenure. A UCAR steering committee selects the fellows. 

Jack Eddy fellows are UCAR employees and receive a fixed annual salary plus UCAR’s benefits (health and dental insurance, paid time off, paid holidays, TIAA retirement fund, and life insurance). A lump sum relocation allowance and an allowance for travel during the appointment are provided. 

For additional information on this program and instructions on how to apply, please visit: www.heliophysics.ucar.edu.

For further information, call (303) 497-1605 or email cpaess-apply at ucar.edu.

NASA Living With a Star, Heliophysics Division sponsors this program. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research is an EE/AAE who values and encourages diversity in the workplace.


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