[SPA] SPA SECTION NEWSLETTER, Volume XXIV, Issue 22

[Newsletter Editor]

AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION
SPA SECTION NEWSLETTER
Volume XXIV, Issue 22
Apr.13,2017

Editor: Peter Chi
Co-Editor: Guan Le
Distribution Support: Sharon Uy, Marjorie Sowmendran, Todd King, Kevin Addison
E-mail: editor at igpp.ucla.edu

Announcement Submission Website: http://goo.gl/forms/qjcm4dDr4g

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Table of Contents

1. JGR-Space Physics Editor Blog Monthly Highlights

2. Proposals Sought for Operation of the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope at Kitt Peak; 01 May 2017 Letter of Intent Deadline

3. MEETING: 23rd Annual RF Ionospheric Interactions Workshop, May 15 -17, 2017, Denver, Colorado

4. IPELS 2017, June 19-23, San Diego, CA

5. MEETING: Space Weather Enterprise Forum, June 27, 2017, Washington, DC

6. MEETING: SPD Meeting, Portland, OR, August 21 – 25, 2017 

7. MEETING: RHESSI 16th Workshop / MinXSS 1st Workshop – Registration Open, DEADLINE is APRIL 22!

8. UN Space Weather Town Hall at EGU General Assembly 2017

9. Course on “Complexity and Turbulence in Space Plasmas” of the International School of Space Science. 12-16 June 2017, L’Aquila, Italy

10. JOB OPENING: Professor of Comparative Planetary Atmospheres, University of Leeds

11. Three PhD Student Positions in Space Plasma Physics (2.2.1-104/17), Swedish Institute of Space Physics

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JGR-Space Physics Editor Blog Monthly Highlights

From: Mike Liemohn (liemohn at umich.edu)

Here are the March highlights from my editor's blog.

March 2:  Get TOC e-alerts for Earth and Space Science
     https://liemohnjgrspace.wordpress.com/2017/03/02/get-toc-e-alerts-from-earth-and-space-science/

March 28: AGU's Commentary special collections
     https://liemohnjgrspace.wordpress.com/2017/03/28/agus-commentary-collections/

March 31:  the Technical Reports paper type
     https://liemohnjgrspace.wordpress.com/2017/03/31/the-technical-reports-paper-type/

Main Website:   http://liemohnjgrspace.wordpress.com/


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Proposals Sought for Operation of the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope at Kitt Peak; 01 May 2017 Letter of Intent Deadline

From: Valentin Martinez Pillet (nso at nso.edu)

Following a review process (the Portfolio Review) and due to financial pressures, the National Science Foundation has determined that it can no longer provide operational support for the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope Facility (McMP) at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) after Sept. 30, 2017. Therefore, NSF and the National Solar Observatory are accepting proposals from parties interested in operating the McMP. Consistent with the existing master lease agreement between the NSF and the Tohono O’odham Nation, the facility must be used for astronomical study and research and related scientific purposes, the latter including, but not limited to, educational purposes. Interested parties must submit a Letter of Intent by May 1, 2017 to NSO Director Dr. Valentin Martinez Pillet at nso at nso.edu. Letters should be as substantive as possible in addressing the selection factors in the announcement; in stating the fraction of time needed, if less than 100%, in expressing any need for a broker to put together a consortium, in identifying any potential funding streams, and in stating how solid the prospects are for a full proposal. Interested parties are strongly encouraged to discuss their interests with Dr. Pillet before submitting a letter or a proposal. Proposals are due by midnight EDT on July 1, 2017 and should also be submitted to nso at nso.edu. A decision on the proposals will be made in Aug. 2017. In the case where no submitted proposals are deemed viable by the selection committee, no selection will be made. Costs related to the generation & submission of a proposal are not reimbursable.

The McMP was dedicated in 1963 and has produced forefront solar physics research for over 50 years. The facility produced widely-used reference atlases of the solar spectrum, discovered the existence of cold molecular gas in the solar atmosphere, and made some of the earliest and most accurate measurements of solar oscillations and the solar magnetic fields. With 3 meter-class telescopes, the facility also produces research after sunset, mapping the sodium exospheres of the Moon, Mercury and Io, detecting organic molecules in the atmosphere of Saturn, finding clouds around Pluto through occultation measurements, and observing exo-planet transits at IR wavelengths. The facility has examined long-term trends in the components of the Earth’s atmosphere using high-resolution spectroscopy.

For further details, see the full Announcement of Opportunity at http://www.nso.edu/mcmp-ops.


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MEETING: 23rd Annual RF Ionospheric Interactions Workshop, May 15 -17, 2017, Denver, Colorado

From: Mark Golkowski (mark.golkowski at ucdenver.edu)

The 23rd annual RF Ionospheric Interactions Workshop which will be held May 15-17, 2017 in Denver, Colorado (http://www.cvent.com/d/4vqrp3).  The focus of the workshop is on active ionospheric experiments including, but not limited to, chemical release experiments, the interaction of high-power RF waves with the ionospheric plasma and resultant phenomena such as the generation of ELF waves, ionospheric irregularities, wave scattering, induced optical emissions and associated diagnostic techniques.  

The workshop begins with a student tutorial session. On the other days invited presentations will be given on recent theoretical and experimental advances plus discussion sessions on research topics of great current interest. There also will be presentations on the current status of key experimental facilities, including Arecibo observatory, HAARP, EISCAT, AMISR facilities.

Submission of titles for oral and poster presentations is encouraged.   Travel funding for students is available.  The early registration deadline is April 15, 2017.  For more information please contact mark.golkowski at ucdenver.edu


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IPELS 2017, June 19-23, San Diego, CA

From: Craig Kletzing (craig-kletzing at uiowa.edu)

The 14th international IPELS meeting (Interrelationships between Plasma Experiments in the Laboratory and in Space) will be held June 19-23 near San Diego, CA, USA.   The aim of this interdisciplinary workshop is to foster intellectual interaction and scientific collaboration between the ionospheric, magnetospheric, solar, heliophysics, and astrophysics communities and the laboratory experimental, theoretical and computational communities to address the fundamental plasma processes governing these extraordinarily complex and dynamic environments.

The meeting website is:
https://conferences.pa.ucla.edu/IPELS-2017/welcome.html
The deadline for submission of abstracts is May 1.


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MEETING: Space Weather Enterprise Forum, June 27, 2017, Washington, DC

From: Sunanda Basu, NSF (sbasu at nsf.gov)

CALL FOR POSTERS:
Space Weather Enterprise Forum, June 27, 2017

This is an open call for abstracts for poster-session presentations to supplement the 2017 Space Weather Enterprise Forum (SWEF) 

We are pleased to announce that the National Space Weather Partnership will host the Space Weather Enterprise Forum on June 27, 2017 at the National Transportation Safety Board Conference Center at L’Enfant Plaza, Washington, DC. This year’s theme is “Implementing a National Space Weather Partnership.”
We are preparing a slate of informative speakers and panelists to explore this year’s theme. The forum will: 
I.	Explain how space weather science and infrastructure benefits the public 
II.	Discuss vulnerabilities of our technological infrastructure to space weather impacts
III.	Report on the status of the National Space Weather Strategy, Action Plan, and Executive Order to improve national space weather capabilities
IV.	Examine roles and partnership opportunities between the government, commercial, and academic stakeholders 

The forum brings together a blended audience of space weather experts from both research and operations, space weather users from the public and private sectors, academia, international representatives, and policy makers. If you know someone who should be a space weather information user who doesn’t know it yet, please forward this message to them. One of our objectives is continuing outreach and education to raise awareness of space weather effects on systems and humans and to provide information on available services.

The poster session will be held following the lunch break, on one of days during the meeting,  to allow for the maximum opportunity for those attending the SWEF to meet you and learn about your important work. Your poster abstract submission should support the theme and one of the four goals of the meeting. Poster space will be limited, so provide your abstract to the planning committee through michael.bonadonna at noaa.gov no later than May 15th. 

In the coming weeks, we will send you additional information on the forum, links to the forum web site, and instructions for online registration. 


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MEETING: SPD Meeting, Portland, OR, August 21 – 25, 2017 

From: Holly Gilbert (holly.r.gilbert at nasa.gov)

The next SPD meeting will be held in conjunction with the 2017 total solar eclipse. The SPD meeting will take place at the DoubleTree by Hilton located at 1000 NE Multnomah Street, Portland, OR. 

The hotel reservation system and meeting registration is now open on the SPD website:  https://aas.org/meetings/spd48. You have to register before receiving a link via email for hotel reservations (this is to protect our block).

A block of rooms is reserved for SPD members with the following group rates:
Standard Queen $194 + tax/night (single or double occupancy)
Premium with two queens or one king $214 (single or double occupancy)

A smaller block of rooms is available at the government per diem rate: $169 + tax/night. 

Bus transportation will be available from Portland to Salem to view the eclipse at Willamette University at a cost of $70 per person (includes food and water). The viewing location has a cafeteria and facilities. Buses will leave around 4am to account for potentially bad traffic. Bus tickets can be purchased for family members but a separate form needs to be submitted (see website). 

There will also be outreach opportunities (more info forthcoming).


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MEETING: RHESSI 16th Workshop / MinXSS 1st Workshop – Registration Open, DEADLINE is APRIL 22!

From: Amir Caspi (amir at boulder.swri.edu)

REMINDER: the registration and abstract deadline is April 22!

Registration and abstract submission are NOW OPEN for the RHESSI 16th Workshop, co-hosted with the MinXSS 1st Workshop, to be held at the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO, USA from June 19 to 24, 2017. The workshop website, https://rhessi16.boulder.swri.edu, includes registration and abstract information, as well as logistical (travel, hotels, etc.) information. Anyone with an interest in high-energy solar physics is invited to attend.

Registration and abstracts are due April 22.  The registration fee of $325 includes the entire week of the workshop.  There is no separate abstract fee. The Welcome Reception, Banquet dinner, and all morning and afternoon coffee breaks are free to registered attendees.  Companion tickets are available.

Specially-priced room blocks are available at selected Boulder hotels until May 18.

The workshop format will be a blend of plenaries at the beginning and end, with various topical working group sessions in between, covering a range of high-energy solar physics topics including acceleration and transport of electrons and ions, the solar atmospheric response to energy release (including thermal plasma), multi-wavelength observations (EUV, radio, etc.), and pertinent theory.  There will also be sessions on next steps in RHESSI imaging; the MinXSS CubeSat status and data access; new results from MinXSS-1 on flare thermal emission and quiescent soft X-ray emission; and a discussion of future instrumentation.

The final science program will be determined based on your contributed abstracts, so please submit a presentation and help guide the scientific goals of this event.

We look forward to seeing you in Boulder this summer!

Amir Caspi, on behalf of the Local Organizing Committee


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UN Space Weather Town Hall at EGU General Assembly 2017

From: Ian Mann, Terry Onsager, Hermann Opegnoorth, Juha-Pekka Luntama (imann at ualberta.ca)

EGU Town Hall Meeting 13 (TM13) During EGU General Assembly 2017

TM13: United Nations Expert Group on Space Weather:  Strategy for Developing an International Framework for Space Weather Services (2018-2030)

This is to announce a Space Weather Town Hall Meeting (TM13) to be held during the upcoming EGU General Assembly in Vienna, Austria. The meeting is open to all participants in the Assembly and will be held on Monday 24th April, 2017, from 7-8pm in Room -2.47 (floor minus 2). 

http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2017/sessionprogramme/tm (click on Town Hall) 

The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) will commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE+50) in 2018. These celebrations will also aim to define strategies and priorities for the COPUOS and which shape the global “Space 2030” agenda. The Committee has identified seven potential thematic priorities for UNISPACE+50 for future work in the period up to 2030 including Thematic Priority 4 on space weather. 

Thematic Priority 4: International framework for space weather services 

Objective: Strengthen the reliability of space systems and their ability to respond to the impact of adverse space weather. Develop a space weather road map for international coordination and information exchange on space weather events and their mitigation, through risk analysis and assessment of user needs. Recognize space weather as a global challenge and the need to address the vulnerability of society as a whole. Increase awareness through developed communication, capacity-building and outreach. Identify governance and cooperation mechanisms to support this objective.

The Town Hall provides a forum for input into the development of this UN strategy. A significant focus includes the importance of developing and advancing the fundamental understanding of the underlying processes which cause severe space weather  - consistent with the recently published COSPAR-ILWS Roadmap, “Understanding space weather to shield society: A global road map for 2015–2025 commissioned by COSPAR and ILWS”  - see Schrijver et al., Adv. Space Res., 55(12), 2745-2807, (2015). 

Prof. Ian R. Mann, University of Alberta (Canada). 
Chair and Rapporteur for the UN COPUOS Expert Group on Space Weather

Prof. Hermann Opgenoorth, Swedish Institute of Space Physics (Sweden)

Dr. Juha-Pekka.Luntama, Space Weather Program Manager, ESA SSA Program Office (ESOC, Germany)


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Course on “Complexity and Turbulence in Space Plasmas” of the International School of Space Science. 12-16 June 2017, L’Aquila, Italy

From: Umberto Villante (umberto.villante at aquila.infn.it)

The International School of Space Science of the Consorzio Interuniversitario per la Fisica Spaziale organizes a Course on “Complexity and Turbulence in Space Plasmas”, to be held in L’Aquila, Italy, September 18-23, 2017, directed by G. Consolini (INAF-IAPS, Roma, Italy), M. Echim (Royal Belgium Institute for Space Aeronomy, Bruxelles, Belgium, and Institute of Space Science, Magurele, Romania).

The matter of the universe is primarily in the plasma state and the dynamics of space plasmas is extremely complex entailing the interplay of out-of-equilibrium matter and fields. As a consequence of the matter-field interaction and of the intrinsic collective nature of plasmas the resulting dynamics is often characterized by “complexity” and “turbulence”. Indeed, turbulence is very quite ubiquitous in both astrophysical and space plasma contexts. Recently, great advances have been done in the characterization of the turbulent and complex features of space plasmas in the magneto-hydrodynamic domain. However, a full understanding of several processes, such as plasma heating and acceleration, requires going beyond the MHD description, moving towards the kinetic domain and/or adopting the language of “matter mechanics” instead of “field theory”. The use of a simple field theory description, would hide the real complexity of such systems, that is related to the particle nature and manifests in the emergence of mesoscopic multi-scale coherent plasma structures. Scientific objective and scope of the course are to provide to young researchers and PhD students an overview of the recent advances in the description of small scale processes in space plasmas involving dynamical complexity and turbulence, as well as, novel approaches (kinetic description, stochastic field theory, etc.) to the dynamics at these scales.

Applications are due before June 4, 2017.

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: Professor of Comparative Planetary Atmospheres, University of Leeds

From: John Plane (j.m.c.plane at leeds.ac.uk)

Position Title: Chair in Comparative Planetary Atmospheres

Institution Name: University of Leeds
Organization: University of Leeds
Address: Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom

You will be an outstanding academic in the field of Comparative Planetary Atmospheres, undertaking world class research based on your experience in the broad field of terrestrial and / or extra-terrestrial planetary atmospheres. Examples of areas in which you may work are: ocean-atmosphere geophysical fluid dynamics, including dynamical systems approaches; statistical modelling approaches to atmospheric processes, including managing model uncertainty; modelling that supports the interpretation of observational data; and the development of atmospheric chemistry-climate models. You will enhance and strengthen interdisciplinary collaborative research whilst contributing to the leadership and development of the Priestley International Centre for Climate.

You will have a proven track record in research and a demonstrated commitment to student education. You will also possess the ability to work collaboratively across subject areas and to establish links with other disciplines and research groups.

In joining the Priestley International Centre for Climate and the University of Leeds, you will become part of an internationally-focussed University that provides all of its students with an outstanding education and experience and, at the same time, undertakes cutting-edge research of high quality, impact and significance. Increasing knowledge and opportunity is a defining feature of life at Leeds. This ambition is now underpinned by a major new investment plan by the University to deliver further academic development addressing the challenges of education and research across a broad range of disciplines. It is therefore an exciting time to join a University which has recently been awarded University of the Year 2017. 

The full advert can be viewed at http://jobs.leeds.ac.uk/MAPPC1000.
Email address for inquiries: j.m.c.plane at leeds.ac.uk; p.m.forster at leeds.ac.uk

The application deadline is 16 June 2017.


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Three PhD Student Positions in Space Plasma Physics (2.2.1-104/17), Swedish Institute of Space Physics

From: Swedish Institute of Space Physics (annelie at irf.se)

The Solar System Physics and Space Technology research programme at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) in Kiruna invites applications for PhD student positions in experimental space plasma physics. The projects focus on data analysis from the ESA cometary mission Rosetta and on development of instruments for studies of the Jovian system on the ESA mission to Jupiter, JUICE. 

The applicants are expected to have a MSc (or comparable academic degree) in physics at the time of admission. Knowledge of space physics is desirable. For the Rosetta-related work, experience in scientific computing is an advantage. For the JUICE-related work, experience in experimental physics and/or hardware development is beneficial. 

The PhD student should start during 2017, and will be employed at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and enrolled at Umeå University for academic studies (and must therefore fulfil Umeå University’s requirements for a PhD student). The position is in Kiruna and provides salary for four years of study, funded by the Swedish National Space Board.

For further information please contact:
Dr. Gabriella Stenberg Wieser, e-mail: gabriella at irf.se, +46-980- 790 14
Dr. Martin Wieser, e-mail: martin.wieser at irf.se, +46-980- 791 98
Trade union representative: 
Uwe Raffalski, SACO-S, e-mail: uwe.raffalski at irf.se, +46-980- 790 21
Stefan Karlsson, ST, e-mail: stefan.karlsson at irf.se, tel. +46-980-790 29

Closing date for applications is 10 May 2017. Applications should include a CV, a short (one-page) letter stating research interests and relevant experience, copies of academic transcripts and contact information for two professional references. 

Applications should be submitted, preferably by email, to: registrator at irf.se
or by post to:
Swedish Institute of Space Physics,
Registrar,
Box 812,
SE-981 28 Kiruna, Sweden

Closing date: 10 May 2017.
Please quote reference number: 2.2.1-104/17

NB! If you send in your application by email and don't get any reply in three days, please contact registrator by phone +46 980 79000.

Last Application Date: 2017-05-10


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