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

VarSITI Newsletter volume 8 has now been published.  The PDF file is available at 
http://newserver.stil.bas.bg/varsiti/newsL/VarSITI_Newsletter_Vol8.pdf
Below are the contents of this volume.  

--------------------------------------------
Contents of VarSITI Newsletter Volume 8

Articles
1. Activity of ROSMIC WG3 “Trends in Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere”
2. Multi-Application Solar Telescope (MAST) at the Udaipur Solar Observatory, India

Highlight on Young Scientists
1. Lauren W. Blum/ USA
2. Israel Silber/ Israel
3. Hong Gao/ China

Meeting report
1.The 14th International Symposium on Equatorial Aeronomy (ISEA-14)
2.ISEST (International Study of Earth-affecting Solar Transients)  Workshop
3.International Conference on ‘Solar Variability and Its Heliospheric Effects’
4.SCOSTEP/VarSITI Outreach Event during the Fall AGU in San Francisco

Short News
1.Obituary for Prof. Dr. Karin Labitzke

Upcoming Meetings
--------------------------------------------


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MEETING: 15th Annual International Astrophysics Conference: The Science of Ed Stone: Celebrating his 80th Birthday, April 4 – 8, 2016, Cape Coral, Florida, USA

From: Gary P. Zank (garyp.zank at gmail.com)

SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT: The 15th Annual International Astrophysics Conference will be held at the Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village, Cape Coral, Florida, USA, from April 4 to April 8, 2015. (Welcome Reception and Evening Registration begins Sunday, April 3).

The conference website is now up and registration and abstract submission is available. 

15th AIAC website: https://www.icnsmeetings.com/conference/15thannual/index.html

Please mark your calendar and contact us regarding your interest in attending. E-mail inquiries about the meeting should be directed to Gary Zank at https://www.icnsmeetings.com/conference/15thannual/contact.html.

The meeting is entitled, “The Science of Ed Stone: Celebrating his 80th Birthday”, and will follow the same format as before with 25-minute presentations punctuated by selected 40-minute invited talks that will explore various themes in greater detail.

Ed Stone has made foundational contributions to our understanding of all facets of the physics of energetic particles in the solar wind and the interstellar medium. Much of our current understanding of the interaction of the solar wind with the local interstellar medium is derived from the Voyager Interstellar Mission under Ed’s leadership. His remarkable career has spanned the space age, contributing not only to science but to the leadership of our community. The 15th Annual International Astrophysics Conference will celebrate the science and scientific achievements of Ed Stone.

PLEASE DO NOT WAIT TO BOOK YOUR ROOM. Our turnout is larger than anticipated and unfortunately we have blocked only a very limited amount of rooms

Please go to the conference website for more details: www.icnsmeetings.com/conference/15thannual/accommodations.html

IMPORTANT DEADLINES:
* Westin Cape Coral Resort room booking deadline is March 9 OR until sold out whichever comes first.
* Online abstract submission deadline is March 15.
* Registration fee is $475.00 USD until March 31.
* Late Registration and Onsite Registration fee is $500.00 USD beginning April 1.


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SESSION: JpGU 2016 MMS Session

From: Seiji Zenitani (seiji.zenitani at nao.ac.jp)

Dear Colleagues,

We are organizing a JpGU-AGU joint session on NASA/MMS mission and reconnection physics (P-EM06: "Magnetospheric Multi-Scale mission") in the JpGU meeting in May. The detail information is attached below. An international session on general magnetospheric physics (P-EM07: "Dynamics in magnetosphere and ionosphere") is also scheduled in the same room.

JpGU 2016 meeting (May 22 - 26)
Venue: Makuhari Messe, Chiba (Greater Tokyo), Japan
http://www.jpgu.org/meeting_e2016/
https://www.m-messe.co.jp/en/newcityguide/hotel/

Abstract Submission Deadline:
Early submission:   Feb  3 2016 (Wed), 15:00pm UTC [24:00 JST+9]
Regular submission: Feb 18 2016 (Thu), 03:00am UTC [12:00 JST+9]

Submission site for JpGU members:
http://www.jpgu.org/meeting_e2016/submission.html
http://www.jpgu.org/meeting_e2016/submission_t.html

Submission site for AGU members:
https://meetings.agu.org/jpgu-agu/

We look forward to seeing you at Makuhari.

Seiji Zenitani, Naritoshi Kitamura, Yoshifumi Saito
Paul Cassak, Li-Jen Chen, Craig Pollock

P-EM06: Magnetospheric Multi-Scale (MMS) mission -- A new age of magnetospheric physics
JpGU Conveners: Seiji Zenitani (NAOJ), Naritoshi Kitamura, Yoshifumi Saito (JAXA/ISAS)
AGU Conveners: Paul Cassak (West Virginia U), Li-Jen Chen, Craig Pollock (NASA/GSFC)

NASA's Magnetospheric Multi-Scale (MMS) mission is an international multi-satellite mission to probe space plasmas in Earth's magnetosphere. It is the first mission to spatially and temporally resolve electron-scale physics. The mission's primary target is to understand magnetic reconnection, but its ultra-high-resolution observation will help us to understand various other magnetospheric processes. Launched in March 2015, the four MMS spacecrafts have been probing Earth's dayside magnetopause since September 2015. MMS will further probe reconnection sites in the magnetotail in 2017. Therefore, it is a worthy time to gather an discuss what is being learned with MMS.

The purpose of this session is to overview the current status, to bring the latest results to the community, and to anticipate future prospects of all MMS-related science. We invite contributions from satellite observations, numerical simulations, laboratory observations, and theories that address the physics of magnetic reconnection and MMS-related magnetospheric processes. Geotail, Cluster2, THEMIS, VAP, and other observations that enlighten future MMS observations are welcome.
This is a joint session with American Geophysical Union (AGU). We hope this session will boost international collaboration between Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU) scientists, AGU scientists, and space physicists around the world.

Invited speakers:
Dr. James L. Burch (Southwest Research Institute, USA)
Dr. Michael Hesse (NASA/GSFC, USA)
Dr. Hiroshi Hasegawa (JAXA/ISAS, Japan)
Prof. Masahiro Hoshino (University of Tokyo, Japan)
Prof. Huishan Fu (Beihang University, China)


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SESSION: EWASS 2016 Special Session SS2: Solar-Terrestrial Coupling and Space Weather: State-of-the-Art and Future Prospects

From: Ioannis Daglis (iadaglis at phys.uoa.gr)

This is the first announcement of special session SS2 of the

European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS) meeting to take place on 4-8 July 2016 in Athens, Greece.

The session combines observations, data analysis, theory, and numerical simulations, to address the following questions:

(1) How does the coupling between solar magnetic fields and plasma flows power solar eruptions? (Emergence and evolution of solar magnetic fields, triggering and evolution of solar eruptions, coronal structure, and solar wind formation).

(2) How does the solar wind interact with the ejecta and how do the terrestrial and planetary magnetospheres react to the perturbed solar wind? (propagation of CMEs and Solar Energetic Particles in turbulent solar wind plasmas, development of geospace magnetic storms, acceleration of electrons to relativistic energies in the Van Allen radiation belts).

(3) Multi-scale observations of the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere System (new results from the VAP and MMS missions).

We solicit both oral and poster contributions. Abstract submission deadline is 15 March 2016. 

More info about the special session and the meeting can be found in 
http://eas.unige.ch/EWASS2016/ 
and
http://eas.unige.ch/EWASS2016/session.jsp?id=SS2 
respectively.

The special session's organizers:

V. Archontis
I. A. Daglis
S. Patsourakos
A. Vourlidas


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ISSS Course on “Ground and space-based instruments for future research in Solar-Terrestrial physics,” 6-11 June 2016, L’Aquila (Italy)

From: U. Villante (ssc at aquila.infn.it)

Course on “Ground and space-based instruments for future research in Solar-Terrestrial physics” of the International School of Space Science. 

The International School of Space Science of the Consorzio Interuniversitario per la Fisica Spaziale organizes a Course on “Ground based and space instruments for future research in Solar-Terrestrial physics”, to be held in L’Aquila, Italy, June 6-11, 2016 at the Gran Sasso Science Institute and directed by F. Berrilli, S. Jefferies, C. Scotto.

The course is designed for PhD students and young post-doctoral researchers. The school will offer an interactive, hands-on approach to the computational and experimental techniques that will be applied in the next generation of ground- and space-based instruments for solar-terrestrial physics related research. In particular, a mix of experienced scientists and engineers will provide an integrated overview of the experimental techniques that are being applied in the observation and forecasting of Solar Activity, Space Weather, and the conditions in the Earth’s magnetosphere and ionosphere: all of which are important components of Space Situational Awareness. 

For more information visit http://www.cifs-isss.org/ or send an e-mail to ssc at aquila.infn.it


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JOB OPENING: Postdoctoral Positions in Ionospheric Modeling and Radio Propagation at NRL

From: Clayton Coker (clayton.coker at nrl.navy.mil)

The Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC has postdoc research opportunities available in ionospheric modeling and radio propagation. Research opportunities exist in the areas of physics-based ionospheric modeling, data assimilation modeling, three-dimensional magneto-ionic raytracing, and the impact of ionospheric irregularities on high frequency radio signals. 

The positions are open to U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents, and will be filled via a National Research Council Research Associateship Program (http://sites.nationalacademies.org/pga/rap/; RO# 64.15.89.B8289).  More information about geospace science activities at NRL can be found at  http://www.nrl.navy.mil/ssd/branches/7630  or by contacting Clayton Coker (clayton.coker at nrl.navy.mil) or Sarah McDonald (sarah.mcdonald at nrl.navy.mil).


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JOB OPENING: Research Associate in Planetary Physics, Space & Atmospheric Physics Group, Department of Physics, Imperial College London

From: "Dougherty, Michele K" <m.dougherty at imperial.ac.uk>

Salary £33,860 - £42,830 per annum
Closing Date:  17th February 2016
Fixed Term 3 years commencing from 1st April 2016

We are seeking a highly motivated researcher for a position for up to 3 years, commencing from 1st  April 2016. This position will be based within the Space and Atmospheric Physics Group to work with Professors Michele Dougherty and David Southwood. The work is linked to the end of mission science for the Cassini magnetometer instrument, focusing on understanding Saturn’s internal and external magnetic field with particular emphasis on the data to come from the low altitude flybys in the final phase the mission.  The work will involve data analysis of magnetic field measurements, theoretical interpretation (some knowledge of MHD and dynamo theory) and modelling in order to achieve the science goals. The post holder will be expected to contribute to the Department’s teaching activities up to approximately half a day per week during the academic year, as appropriate.


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