[SPA] SPA SECTION NEWSLETTER, Volume XXVI, Issue 59

[Newsletter Editor]

AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION
SPA SECTION NEWSLETTER
Volume XXVI, Issue 59
Oct.27,2019

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Table of Contents

1. AGU SPA Nomination Task Force

2. Dear Colleague Letter: Request for Information on Data-Focused Cyberinfrastructure Needed to Support Future Data-Intensive Science and Engineering Research

3. Frontier Development Laboratory (FDL) Request for Information (RFI)

4. MEETING: 2020 Sun-Climate Symposium -- Abstract Deadline: November 15

5. MEETING: First Circular of the PWING-ERG Conference and School on the Inner Magnetosphere (ISEE, Nagoya University, March 7-12, 2021) 

6. MEETING: International Symposium PSTEP-4 and ISEE-2: Toward the Solar-Terrestrial Environmental Prediction as Science and Social Infrastructure (1st Announcement)

7. First Announcement of the 14th International School/Symposium for Space Simulations (ISSS-14), 10-18 September 2020, Kobe, Japan

8. JOB OPENING: Rotator Positions for Aeronomy and Space Weather Program Directors at NSF

9. JOB OPENING: ISWS Coordinator, New Jersey Institute of Technology 

10. JOB OPENING: Research Chair in Space Weather at SANSA in South Africa

11. JOB OPEING: Research Associate and PhD Position in Data Science, Machine Learning, and Scientific Programming (Two Positions)

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


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AGU SPA Nomination Task Force

From: Allison Jaynes (allison-n-jaynes at uiowa.edu)

The AGU SPA Nomination Task Force is looking for volunteers who are interested in helping increase the number of nominations for individuals from under-represented groups (URGs) to AGU awards and honors. Over the past 2 years, we nominated 12 individuals that fit this criteria, with several successful high-impact awards. You can read more about the process and results in a short EoS article: https://bit.ly/2X2QIZR

We are particularly looking for committee members in the SA and SH sections of SPA in order to have a fair representation across the disciplines. And you need not be part of an URG to help out! If you’d like to learn more or join the NTF to help nominate deserving individuals from URGs for prestigious AGU awards and honors, please fill out the NTF sign-form: https://bit.ly/2F74QHa. Thank you in advance for you support in helping to fairly recognize all the members of our community. 


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Dear Colleague Letter: Request for Information on Data-Focused Cyberinfrastructure Needed to Support Future Data-Intensive Science and Engineering Research

From: Michael Wiltberger (mwiltber at nsf.gov)

This Request for Information (RFI) invites the community to provide input to NSF on specific data-intensive S&E research questions and challenges and the essential data-related CI services and capabilities needed to publish, discover, transport, manage and process data in secure, performant and scalable ways to enable that data-intensive research. Recognizing that data-oriented CI and services exist in many S&E disciplinary domains, NSF is particularly interested in understanding how broader cross-disciplinary and domain-agnostic solutions can be devised and implemented, along with the structural, functional and performance characteristics such cross-disciplinary solutions must possess. Such new CI services and capabilities should allow for seamless data integration and interoperability; support existing S&E drivers, users and usage modes; and foster the initiation of future modes of discovery. While no one technical solution will likely be able address the expansive S&E research enterprise that NSF supports, NSF is interested in understanding how different data-related CI solutions might support heterogenous ensembles of data-intensive disciplines - owing, for instance, to common requirements due to similarities in data set sizes, types and utilization workflows, or to novel shared goals for cross-disciplinary data integration and discovery. Note that NSF is especially interested in responses that build on existing and future data sources (including repositories) and address services for publishing, discovery, access, management and processing of the data.

The full text of the DCL and instructions for responding to the RFI can be found at 

PDF - https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20015/nsf20015.pdf

HTML - https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20015/nsf20015.jsp


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Frontier Development Laboratory (FDL) Request for Information (RFI)

From: Lika Guhathakurta (madhulika.guhathakurta at nasa.gov)

Summary:
The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) seeks suggestions for topics relevant to 2014 SMD Science Plan amenable to application of Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning tools for the 2020 Frontier Development Laboratory Program.

Responses are due: November 7, 2019

https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/summary!init.do?solId=%7b0A82091B-A257-621B-230B-C795243AABBF%7d&path=open

Background:
FDL is an applied artificial intelligence (AI) research accelerator leveraging the newest developments in AI and Machine Learning (ML) technologies from academia and the private sector and applying them to challenges relevant to NASA's goals in space and earth sciences. Teams of computer scientists and space and earth scientists work to solve problems important to NASA and humanity’s future within a given time frame. Each team is made up of four participants (two computer scientists and two domain scientists). The teams are mentored by subject matter experts (SMEs) in both science domains and AI/ML. FDL is a public-private partnership between NASA and the SETI Institute, commercial and academic institutions and other foreign and domestic agencies.

How to respond to this RFI:
Submissions shall be as a Notice of Intent (NOI) via the NSPIRES page for the FDL RFI. Responses to this RFI by other means will not be accepted. 

When creating the NOI in NSPIRES one will supply identifying information and be prompted to provide to seven short statements by filling in text boxes, all of which have characters limit. For more information please read the text of the FDL RFI on NSPIRES.


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MEETING: 2020 Sun-Climate Symposium -- Abstract Deadline: November 15

From: Vanessa George (vanessa.george at lasp.colorado.edu)

2020 Sun-Climate Symposium:
“What is the Quiet Sun and What are the Subsequent Climate Implications?”
Jan. 27-31, 2020   *   Tucson, Arizona      

Abstracts Due:  * Nov. 15, 2019 *

Join us for the 2020 Sun-Climate Symposium – sponsored by the Sun-Climate Research Center (SCRC), a joint venture between NASA GSFC and LASP at the University of Colorado.  The meeting website, http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/sorce/news-events/meetings/2020-scs/, includes a detailed program description, abstract form and submittal instructions, confirmed speaker listing, and logistical information. 

Symposium overview:   What is the quiet Sun?  Is it a time-invariant base level or is there secular variability in the Sun’s radiative output?  What do those alternate scenarios imply for Earth-climate responses?  The current solar minimum provides an opportunity to answer these and related questions.

Observations of the Sun and Earth from space have revolutionized our view and understanding of how solar variability and other natural and anthropogenic forcings impact Earth’s atmosphere and climate. For more than four decades the total and spectral solar irradiance and global terrestrial atmosphere and surface have been observed continuously, providing unprecedented high-quality data for Sun-climate studies. The 2020 Sun-Climate Symposium will convene experts from across the solar-terrestrial community, including the disciplines of climate research, atmospheric physics and chemistry, heliophysics, and metrology, to discuss solar and climate observations and models over both spacecraft-era and historical timescales.

The format for this symposium consists of invited and contributed oral and poster presentations in eight sessions:   1) The Sunset of SORCE,  2) Recent/Space-Era Solar Cycle Timescales,  3) Solar Influence on the Atmosphere and Climate,  4) Solar Variability and Climate Trends on Secular Time Scales,  5) Observational Predictions,  6) A New Reference Spectra for Remote Sensing,  7) Looking Ahead – Future Observations of the Sun and Earth, and  8) Climate of the Desert Southwest.  

We encourage your participation and hope that you will share this announcement with colleagues.  Please join us!

Best regards,
2020 Sun-Climate Symposium Organizing Committee 
(Peter Pilewskie, Stéphane Béland, Odele Coddington, Jerry Harder, Greg Kopp, Jae Lee, Doug Rabin, Erik Richard, Marty Snow, Tom Woods, Dong Wu)


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MEETING: First Circular of the PWING-ERG Conference and School on the Inner Magnetosphere (ISEE, Nagoya University, March 7-12, 2021) 

From: Kazuo Shiokawa (shiokawa at nagoya-u.jp)

We are pleased to announce the PWING-ERG conference and school on dynamic 
variation of particles and waves in the inner magnetosphere and ionosphere using 
satellite and ground-network observations and modeling, as below. The inner 
magnetosphere contains plasma particles in wide energy ranges from the 
plasmasphere (electron volts) to the radiation belts (mega-electron volts). 
The particles in the inner magnetosphere are accelerated and lost as interacting 
with electromagnetic waves.  In this conference, we invite presentations on 
recent advances of ground-based network and satellite missions as well as modeling 
efforts to understand acceleration and loss of plasma in the inner magnetosphere 
and their consequences in the ionosphere.  Graduate-course students and young 
scientists are welcome to join the school which will held before the conference. 
This conference and school is held as the completion of the PWING project and 
as the 5th year anniversary of the ERG (Arase) mission. 

Conference Title: 
International conference and school on dynamic variation of particles and waves in the inner magnetosphere and ionosphere using satellite and ground-network observations and modeling (PWING-ERG conference and school) 

Date: 
March 7-8 (Sun-Mon), 2021: two-day school on the inner magnetosphere and data analysis tool 
March 9 (Tue) - 12 (Fri), 2021: conference

Place: Nagoya University (Noyori Conference Hall), Nagoya, Japan

Main Convener: Kazuo Shiokawa, Yoshizumi Miyoshi, Iku Shinohara 

Organizing Committee: Tomoaki Hori, Ryuho Kataoka, Satoshi Kurita, 
Yoshizumi Miyoshi, Tsutomu Nagatsuma, Nozomu Nishitani, Masahito Nose, 
Yuki Obana, Yuichi Otsuka, Shin-Ichiro Oyama, Mitsunori Ozaki, Kaori Sakaguchi, 
Takeshi Sakanoi, Kanako Seki, Atsuki Shinbori, Iku Shinohara, Kazuo Shiokawa, 
Shin Suzuki, Naoko Takahashi, Yoshimasa Tanaka, and Fuminori Tsuchiya

PWING: study of dynamical variation of Particles and Waves in the INner magnetosphere using Ground-based network observations

ERG: Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace 


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MEETING: International Symposium PSTEP-4 and ISEE-2: Toward the Solar-Terrestrial Environmental Prediction as Science and Social Infrastructure (1st Announcement)

From: Kanya Kusano (kusano at nagoya-u.jp)

It is our great pleasure to announce that the 4th PSTEP International Symposium (PSTEP-4) and the 2nd ISEE Symposium “Toward the Solar-Terrestrial Environmental Prediction as Science and Social Infrastructure” will be held at Nagoya University on January 28 to 30, 2020.
This symposium is organized by Project for Solar-Terrestrial Environment Prediction (PSTEP) and Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research (ISEE), Nagoya University. The symposium will consist of invited talks and contributed (oral and poster) presentations for the following topics:

– Operational forecast of space weather
– Prediction of geo-space dynamics
– Prediction of solar storms
– Prediction of the solar cycle and the solar influence on climate

We welcome the participation and presentation of everyone who is interested in any fields related to the topics.

Date: January 28 (Tuesday) to 30 (Thursday), 2020

Venue: Sakata Hirata Hall in Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan

The 1st announcement: http://www.pstep.jp/news/20191015.html

Registration and abstract submission:
https://is.isee.nagoya-u.ac.jp/app-workshop/pstep4/
(deadline: November 29, 2019)

Financial support application:
https://is.isee.nagoya-u.ac.jp/app-workshop/pstep4TE/
(deadline: November 15, 2019)


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First Announcement of the 14th International School/Symposium for Space Simulations (ISSS-14), 10-18 September 2020, Kobe, Japan

From: Hideyuki Usui (h-usui at port.kobe-u.ac.jp)

We are pleased to announce the 14th International School/Symposium for Space Simulations (ISSS-14) to be held next year :

The14th International School/Symposium for Space Simulations (ISSS-14)
Website: https://isss14.org/  
Date: 10-18 September 2020
Venue: The Integrated Research Center of Kobe University, Japan
(http://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/en/faculties_graduate_schools/research/kuirc.html)

We designed the International School/Symposium for Space Simulations (ISSS) for the teaching of space plasma simulation techniques and the sharing of state-of-the-art simulation advances and results with researchers in plasma physics. The first ISSS was held in Kyoto, Japan, in 1982. Since then, ISSS has regularly been held approximately every two to three years rotating between North America, Asia, and Europe. 
ISSS-14 consists of two sections, the school, and the symposium. The followings are the topics to be covered in each section.

School section: lectures and tutorials (Some include “hands-on” exercises)
 Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation
 Hybrid particle simulation
 Test particle simulation
 Vlasov simulation
 Guiding center gyro-kinetic simulation
 Code parallelization
 Visualization
 Advanced simulation

Symposium section: Oral and poster sessions  
 Solar Physics
 Heliospheric Physics
 Inner Magnetosphere
 Magnetic Reconnection
 M-I Coupling
 Planets & Moon Environment
 Nonlinear Wave-Particle Interactions
 Turbulence
 Shocks & Boundaries
 Agencies/Groups/Missions

As established since ISSS-9, "ISSS Prizes" will be defined by a jury to award the best students and young fellows posters. Moreover, partial financial support will be provided for a limited number of students and young scientists, and its application procedure is to be announced.

Steering Committee:
  Yoshiharu Omura (Chair, Kyoto University, Japan)
  Bertrand Lembege (LATMOS, France)
  David Schriver (UCLA, USA)

International Program Committee:
 David Schriver (Chair, USA)
 Bertrand Lembege (Co-Chair, France)
 Miro Barta (Czech),  Jörg Büchner (Germany)
 David Burgess (UK),  Jan Deca (USA)
 Suiyan Fu (China),  Tamas Gombosi (USA)
 Linni Hau (Taiwan),  Masahiro Hoshino(Japan)
 Maria Innocenti (Belgium),  Frank Jenko (Germany)
 Kanya Kusano (Japan),  Giovanni Lapenta (Belgium)
 Alexandre Marcowith (France),  Richard Sydora (Canada)
 Lev Zelenyi (Russia),  Meng Zhou(China)


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JOB OPENING: Rotator Positions for Aeronomy and Space Weather Program Directors at NSF

From: Michael Wiltberger (mwiltber at nsf.gov)

Roman Makarevich is ending his term as Program Director for the Aeronomy in the Geospace Section of NSF’s Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences at the end of the month.  We are looking for an experienced upper atmosphere scientist with a flair for scientific leadership and an interest in community service, who is excited about the opportunity to work with us to oversee the Aeronomy research program and shape the investment in geospace science at NSF.   In addition, we are also looking for scientists interested in filling the role of Space Weather Program officer.   In return, these positions offer a unique chance to experience the inner workings of federal research programs and to influence the future development of Geospace science at NSF.  A starting date around as soon as possible would be ideal but a later date can also be arranged. Rotator assignments are typically of 2-3 years duration. 

Rotator positions can be either Intergovernmental Personnel Assignment (IPA) or Visiting Scientist, Engineer, and Educator (VSEE) assignments. For more information regarding rotator assignments and eligibility, visit our website at https://www.nsf.gov/careers/rotator/ .

Consideration of interested applicants will begin November 18, 2019 and will continue until selection is made. For more information about the major duties of the program officer, qualifications, and details on how to apply please see the recently issued Dear Colleague Letter - https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2019/ags19002/ags19002.jsp?org=NSF

Questions about the position can be directed to Geospace Section Head Michael Wiltberger (mwiltber at nsf.gov)  or any of the Geospace program directors:

Carrie Black, Geospace Facilities cblack at nsf.gov 
Ilia Roussev, Solar-Terrestrial Research iroussev at nsf.gov
Lisa Winter, Magnetospheric Physics at lwinter at nsf.gov

NSF is an Equal Opportunity Employer Committed to Employing a Highly Qualified Staff that Reflects the Diversity of Our Nation.


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JOB OPENING: ISWS Coordinator, New Jersey Institute of Technology 

From: Haimin Wang (haimin.wang at njit.edu)

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)’s Institute for Space Weather Sciences (ISWS, http://centers.njit.edu/spaceweather) invites  applications for  the position of  ISWS Coordinator.  The ISWS Coordinator will carry out duties in two aspects. (1) The Coordinator will carry out research activities related to multiple projects in order to analyze the data from 1.6 meter Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) and NASA missions and publish scientific results. (2) The Coordinator will also assist the Director of ISWS in coordinating the scientific efforts of three participating research centers and planning the education and outreach programs.  Requirements: Ph.D. in Solar/Space Physics.  Demonstrated ability in research including publications in high impact journals. Excellent communication and organization skills.  To apply, submit CV and names of two references to https://njit.csod.com/ats/careersite/JobDetails.aspx?site=1&id=1785. Please direct the inquires to ISWS Director, Prof.  Haimin Wang (haimin.wang at njit.edu).  The deadline is December 1, 2019.

NJIT is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, veteran status, marital status, or any other legally protected status.  Applications by women and members of underrepresented groups are encouraged.


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JOB OPENING: Research Chair in Space Weather at SANSA in South Africa

From: Lee-Anne McKinnell (lmckinnell at sansa.org.za)

Research Chair in Space Weather at South African National Space Agency (SANSA) in South Africa

The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) is searching for a Research Chair in Space Weather, preferably specialising in Solar Physics. 

The Research Chair would be mainly responsible for undertaking research within the specialised area, providing guidance to the operational space weather centre, and supervising postgraduate students. 

The successful candidate will: • have an extensive research track record within an area of Space Weather (preferably Solar Physics) • high and sustained publication record in reputable research journals • international collaborations • lead large projects • raise and manage research funds • lead research groups and postgraduate student supervision and training.

The position is based in Hermanus in South Africa, and would be for an initial 5 year period renewable for an additional 5 years based on performance. The applicants do not have to be South African – this is a global recruit initiative for a specialised scarce skill area.

You can fnd out more about SANSA at the following links:
http://www.sansa.org.za
http://spaceweather.sansa.org.za
http://research.sansa.org.za

SANSA has 3 campus locations. The position is to be based at the Hermanus Campus within the Western Cape province of South Africa. Here is a link to more information on Hermanus
https://www.whalecoast.info/
https://hermanus-tourism.co.za/

More information including full requirements and application process can be found at:
https://www.sansa.org.za/2019/07/29/sansa-sarchi-chair-in-space-weather/


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JOB OPEING: Research Associate and PhD Position in Data Science, Machine Learning, and Scientific Programming (Two Positions)

From: Dominika, Soergel (boneberg at gfz-potsdam.de)

The department of Geophysics of GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences invites applications for 1 PhD position and 1 position of Research Associate in Data Science, Machine Learning, and Scientific Programming in the group "Magnetospheric Physics”. 

Candidates for the Research Associate position should have a PhD in space physics, plasma physics, or related field – for the PhD position a master’s degree in mathematics, physics, computer science or related field is required. Experience in programming (in particular in code development), as well as a strong knowledge of programming languages and operating systems is also required. Experience in machine learning, data mining, and data assimilation is a plus.

The PhD student will furthermore conduct research in the field of space physics, apply machine learning tools, modify and develop new physics-based computer models and compare them with observations. 

Deadline: 17 November 2019

For more details please see:

PhD position: https://tinyurl.com/PhDGFZ-ML-2019

Research Associate position: https://tinyurl.com/PDGFZ-ML-2019

The work will be performed in the context of the EU Horizon 2020-funded consortium PAGER led by GFZ Potsdam, and of the Helmholtz Association-funded pilot project MAP also led by GFZ. The primary aim of PAGER is to provide space weather predictions initiated from observations on the Sun and to predict radiation in space and its effects on satellite infrastructure. In the frame of the MAP project, we aim to use ML tools to model the plasma density in the ionosphere and plasmasphere.

For questions please contact Prof. Shprits: yshprits at gfz-potsdam.de


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SPA Newsletter Editorial Team: Peter Chi (Editor), Guan Le (Co-Editor), Sharon Uy, Marjorie Sowmendran, and Kevin Addison

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