[GEM] THE GEM MESSENGER, Volume 29, Number 21

[Newsletter Editor]

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     THE GEM MESSENGER
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Volume 29, Number 21
Jul.11,2019

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

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Table of Contents

1. AGU Fall Meeting Session SM003: Advances in Radiation Belt Physics: Challenges in Models and Observations

2. AGU Fall Meeting Session SM015: Inner magnetospheric waves and their impact on the ionosphere

3. AGU Fall Meeting Session SM025: Magnetospheric Modeling: State of the Art, Gaps, and Future Innovations

4. AGU Fall Meeting Session SA014: Pathways of Dynamic Magnetosphere Coupling to High-Latitude Ionosphere

5. AGU Fall Meeting Session SA016: Recent Advances in MIT coupling science from high to mid-latitude using ground-based observations

6. AGU Fall Meeting Session ED028: Forum on University Curricula and Teaching Materials for Space Physics and Heliophysics

7. AGU Fall Meeting Session P018: Impacts of Cosmic Dust in Planetary Atmospheres

8. Postdoctoral Position in Atmospheric and Space Physics at Clemson University

9. PhD Student Position in Physics at the University of Helsinki

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1. AGU Fall Meeting Session SM003: Advances in Radiation Belt Physics: Challenges in Models and Observations
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From: Ravindra Desai, Richard Horne, Nigel Meredith, Wen Li (ravindra.desai at imperial.ac.uk)

Dear Colleagues,

We sincerely invite contributions to the following Radiation Belt session at the 2019 AGU Fall meeting. This session will cover recent advances and discuss the future direction of this fast-moving field.

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm19/prelim.cgi/Session/72929

The energetic particles which form the Earth's radiation belts are dynamically controlled by both microscopic and macroscopic acceleration, transport and loss processes. Recent spacecraft missions have provided unprecedented insights into the radiation belt response to driving conditions, and fast-increasing computational capabilities have allowed models to better explain these measurements. State-of-the-art models are now being used for radiation belt flux forecasting, as well as for studying more extreme scenarios for which fewer data are available. However, competing ideas for particle energisation and transport, and various physical and statistical modelling approaches, lead to the question, "what physics and processes are necessary to accurately predict radiation belt behaviour?" This session calls for all observational, modelling and theoretical contributions focussing on the radiation belts, and especially encourages efforts which contrast observational data with modelling results and vice versa, to help define the direction of radiation belt research into the space weather forecasting era.

Abstract submission is now open and the deadline for submission is July 31, 2019. Abstracts can be submitted at https://www2.agu.org/Fall-Meeting/Pages/Submit-an-abstract.

Kind regards,
Ravindra Desai, Richard Horne, Nigel Meredith, Wen Li


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2. AGU Fall Meeting Session SM015: Inner magnetospheric waves and their impact on the ionosphere
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From: Hyunju Connor (hkconnor at alaska.edu)

Dear GEM colleagues,

We invite you to participate in the AGU session SM015 titled “Inner magnetospheric waves and their impact on the ionosphere”. See more details below.

Session Title:
SM015 - Inner magnetospheric waves and their impact on the ionosphere

Session Link:
https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm19/prelim.cgi/Session/76697 

Session Description:
Inner magnetospheric waves can significantly affect the ionosphere–thermosphere system. Chorus and ECH waves cause diffuse aurora. ULF waves modulate chorus wave activities and produce pulsating aurora, and the dissipation of ULF wave current systems can heat the ionosphere. EMIC waves cause precipitation of relativistic electrons from the radiation belt to the ionosphere and even down to the mesosphere. Such particle precipitation ionizes the upper atmosphere, enhances the ionospheric conductivity, and modifies the ionospheric electrodynamics. In turn, the thermosphere responds to the ionospheric variation via Joule heating. Recent spacecraft missions like THEMIS, RBSP, and MMS have unveiled the characteristics and distribution of inner magnetospheric waves. Ground observatories like SuperDARN, PFISR, and THEMIS have revealed the wave impacts on the ionosphere. Therefore, it is timely to discuss the role of magnetospheric waves in the magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling processes. This session invites papers on observations, simulations, theoretical investigations, or any combination of the three.

Convers:
Hyunju Connor, U of Alaska Fairbanks
Allison Jaynes, U of Iowa
Michael Hartinger, Virginia Tech

Thank you very much,
Hyunju Connor.


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3. AGU Fall Meeting Session SM025: Magnetospheric Modeling: State of the Art, Gaps, and Future Innovations
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From: Gian Luca Delzanno, Maria Kuznetsova, Dan Welling, Michael McKerns (delzanno at lanl.gov)

Dear Colleagues,

we kindly invite contributions to the following AGU session on modeling the near-Earth space environment, which aims to assess the state of the art, gaps and future innovations that will be necessary to enable progress of the field.

Sincerely,
Gian Luca Delzanno
Maria Kuznetsova
Dan Welling
Michael McKerns

Session Title:
SM025. Magnetospheric Modeling: State of the Art, Gaps, and Future Innovations

Session Description:
The holy grail of computational magnetospheric modeling is to resolve the microscopic/kinetic physics while capturing the macroscopic/large-scale behavior of the system. This is a formidable challenge, since it requires resolving physical phenomena occurring over spatial and temporal scales separated by several orders of magnitude. Thus, despite remarkable recent progress, a fully-kinetic model of the Earth’s magnetosphere remains elusive.
This session aims to bring together experts in different disciplines to assess the state of magnetospheric modeling, its limitations and the new ideas/innovations necessary to move forward.

Solicited contributions include:

1) Modeling studies: from global-MHD to local models, including those treating only specific components of the environment and its couplings (ionosphere, plasmasphere, ring current, radiation belts, waves, …), empirical models, etc.

2) Studies combining modeling and observations (including verification and validation) to expose successes and limitations of current models.

3) Numerical, data-science, high-performance-computing and information-science-and-technology techniques deemed critical to advance the field.


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4. AGU Fall Meeting Session SA014: Pathways of Dynamic Magnetosphere Coupling to High-Latitude Ionosphere
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From: Olga Verkhoglyadova (Olga.Verkhoglyadova at jpl.nasa.gov)

Dear colleagues, 

We invite you to participate in the Fall AGU Session “Pathways of Dynamic Magnetosphere Coupling to High-Latitude Ionosphere” co-organized by SPA-Aeronomy and SPA-Magnetospheric Physics.

Session description: 
Magnetosphere-ionosphere (MI) coupling is one of the most important science topics for the near-Earth environment and space weather. Recent observational findings indicate that the MI coupling is inherently dynamic and occurs at multiple spatial scales. Understanding magnetospheric coupling to different ionospheric regions calls for innovative theoretical approaches and combined analysis of multiple datasets. We will re-examine the roles of possible coupling pathways (large and mesoscale fields, particles and ULF waves). How are these coupling mechanisms incorporated in drivers of physics-based models? What are the effects of coupling at different ionospheric altitudes and regions? How to quantify energy transport? How various precipitating particle populations contribute to local ionospheric conductivity? What is the role of ULF waves in MI coupling at different altitudes? What is the impact of the ionospheric feedback instability? Discussions of multi-instrument observations, including satellite conjunctions, ISR, SuperDARN, magnetometer chains, rocket measurements, and of modeling efforts are solicited.

Session link: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm19/prelim.cgi/Session/75140

Conveners: 
Olga Verkhoglyadova (JPL), Cheryl Huang (USAF), Michael Hartinger (SSI), and Stephen R. Kaeppler (Clemson Univ).

Looking forward to your participation,

Olga Verkhoglyadova.


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5. AGU Fall Meeting Session SA016: Recent Advances in MIT coupling science from high to mid-latitude using ground-based observations
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From: Bea Gallardo-Lacourt (bea.gallardolacourt at nasa.gov)

Dear Colleagues,

We want to invite contributions to our AGU session “SA016 - Recent Advances in MIT coupling science from high to mid-latitude using ground-based observations”, which aims to give an overview of MIT scientific advancements in the last 10 years highlighting the use of ground-based techniques and instruments. You can find more information about the session below. Remember that abstract submission closes on July 31.

https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm19/prelim.cgi/Session/76589

Sincerely,

Bea Gallardo-Lacourt
Gareth Perry
Carlos Martinis

Session Title:
SA016 - Recent advances in MIT coupling science from high to mid-latitude using ground-based observations

Session Description:
The proliferation of ground-based sensors in quantity, geographic distribution, and methodology, from sub-auroral to polar-cap latitudes over the past decade, and the addition of non-traditional data collection agents, i.e., the “citizen scientists”, have resulted in new and compelling observations of the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere (MIT) system.  These observations provide a wealth of information about plasma transport and structuring, as well as energy deposition, chemistry, associated dynamics and interconnections with various domains of the Earth’s geomagnetic environment which were previously inaccessible or unidentified.  This session solicits contributions on the topic of novel MIT coupling observations, techniques, and methodologies from existing and recently deployed ground-based sensors, located from the sub-auroral to the polar-cap region.  We also solicit contributions from theoretical and modeling efforts, especially those that identify new and emerging MIT science targets prompted by the observations, techniques, and methodologies related to these instruments.


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6. AGU Fall Meeting Session ED028: Forum on University Curricula and Teaching Materials for Space Physics and Heliophysics
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From: Nicholas Gross, Madhulika Guhathakurta, Mike Liemohn, Steven Cranmer (gross at bu.edu)

Call for AGU abstracts on the teaching of space physics and heliophysics

Below is the session abstract for the AGU Fall Meeting on curricular and support materials for teaching space physics to undergraduate or graduate students in a stand-alone class, a full program, and summer workshop, or through some other venue.  We would like to call for submitted papers from various sources that support the teaching heliophysics, space physics and aeronomy, and related topics including: 
programs and departments 
individual instructors teaching stand alone courses
organizers of summer schools
textbook authors and materials developers 
developers of simulations that can be used in teaching

Please consider submitting an abstract to this session and contributing to the broader discussion of the teaching space physics.  Note that this session is an “education” section, and does not count as a scientific abstract.  

ED028 - Forum on University Curricula and Teaching Materials for Space Physics and Heliophysics
Primary Convener: Nicholas Gross, Boston University
Co-Conveners: 
Mike Liemohn, University of Michigan
Steven Cranmer, University of Colorado
Madhulika Guhathakurta, NASA Headquarters

The last decade has seen extensive development of curricula in space physics and heliophysics, covering topics in solar physics, the heliosphere, geospace, planetary magnetospheres, planetary ionosphere-thermosphere, and space weather. These curricula include intense workshops and summer schools, undergraduate majors or certifications, and curricula for graduate studies. Additionally, a number of resources have become available including books, websites, and computer simulations.  Thus, we believe it is timely to hold a session to showcase these resources and current practices. The goals of this session include: (1) identifying populations that participate in space physics curricula and highlighting the learning goals for these populations, (2) sharing available teaching materials and best-practices, and (3) sharing evaluation results where appropriate. We seek abstracts related to all types of space physics (and space weather) curricula and resources, including undergraduate or graduate course materials, degree programs, summer schools, workshops, textbooks, and online resources.


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7. AGU Fall Meeting Session P018: Impacts of Cosmic Dust in Planetary Atmospheres
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From: John Plane (j.m.c.plane at leeds.ac.uk)

Please consider submitting an abstract to session P018 - Impacts of Cosmic Dust in Planetary Atmospheres, at the 2019 Fall AGU Meeting to be held in San Francisco, 9-13 December 2019. The abstract submission deadline is Wednesday 31 July 2019, at 11:59 PM EDT. A description of the session is given below (see also https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm19/prelim.cgi/Session/77563).

P018 - Impacts of Cosmic Dust in Planetary Atmospheres

Recent advances in interplanetary dust measurements and modeling provide much improved estimates of the fluxes and the origin of cosmic dust particles into planetary (and lunar) atmospheres. Dust dynamics models, combined with chemical ablation models that are underpinned by laboratory studies and tested against radar and optical observations, enable the injection rates of chemical compounds (including metals and organics) into a planet’s atmosphere to be predicted as a function of location and time. This information is essential for understanding a variety of atmospheric impacts, including: the formation of metallic layers, meteoric smoke particles and ice cloud nucleation on Earth and Mars; perturbations to atmospheric composition in the giant planets and their satellites; and the supply of biologically important organics, phosphorus and iron to planetary surfaces. Contributions on all aspects of this topic - observations both in interplanetary space and atmospheres, laboratory studies and modeling - are invited.

Abstracts can be submitted to https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm19/p/papers/index.cgi?sessionid=77563.


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8. Postdoctoral Position in Atmospheric and Space Physics at Clemson University
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From: Stephen Kaeppler (skaeppl at clemson.edu)

The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Clemson University invites applications for a two-year postdoctoral position in atmospheric and space physics under the mentorship of Professor Stephen Kaeppler. A successful applicant will pursue research focused on analysis of high latitude incoherent scatter radar data with an emphasis on understanding E-region neutral winds, Joule heating, and auroral electrodynamics. The position is suitable for applicants with a background in data analysis, incoherent scatter radar, and a strong publication record.

The anticipated start date is early Fall 2019; some flexibility is possible on the specific time of arrival. The initial appointment will be for one year with the option for a renewal into the second year. 
Qualifications

Experience programming in Python and/or Matlab is preferred. 

Preference will be given to applicants who have held a PhD in physics or another relevant field for no more than three years or expect to graduate in Fall 2019.
Application Instructions

Applicants should submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, list of publications, a clearly articulated research proposal of no more than 5 pages excluding references, and the names and contact data of three references at http://apply.interfolio.com/64918. Reference letters will only be sought for short-listed candidates. 

All applications received by August 15th, 2019 are guaranteed full consideration; however, applications will continue to be reviewed until the position is filled.

For further information, contact Professor Kaeppler skaeppl at clemson.edu. 


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9. PhD Student Position in Physics at the University of Helsinki
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From: Adnane Osmane (adnane.osmane at helsinki.fi)

The Space Physics Group of the University of Helsinki is a leading European space physics group specialised both in observations and theoretical/computational modelling of space plasmas. We develop in particular the global magnetospheric hybrid-Vlasov simulation Vlasiator and have a strong focus on solar eruptions and planetary radiation belts. 

We are now opening a doctoral student position with a focus on the theoretical plasma physics of the Earth’s radiation belts. The research of the PhD student will focus on developing theoretical models and/or computational tools to quantify signatures of wave-particle interactions in the Earth's radiation belts. A background in applied mathematics or theoretical physics, and prior knowledge of computational physics is considered an advantage. 

We offer a position in a dynamic and international research group, with a possibility to network, attend major international conferences on a yearly basis, and the support to develop one’s personal interest and strengths as a young researcher. The expected start date for the position is 1st January 2020. Applications are open until the 20th of August 2019.

For specifics about the position, contact Adnane Osmane (adnane.osmane ‘at’ helsinki.fi) and Minna Palmroth (minna.palmroth ‘at’ helsinki.fi). Interested candidates should send their application, a CV, a transcript of their university grades, and a maximum of three names to act as references.

For more information, please visit:
http://blogs.helsinki.fi/spacephysics/
https://www.helsinki.fi/sustainable-space


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