[SPA] SPA SECTION NEWSLETTER, Volume XXVII, Issue 53

[Newsletter Editor]

AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION
SPA SECTION NEWSLETTER
Volume XXVII, Issue 53
Aug.28,2020

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Table of Contents

1. SPA Registration Waivers for Fall AGU Meeting 2020

2. Extension of Heliophysics 2050 Workshop White Paper Deadline

3. Arecibo Observatory Proposal Deadline Extended: Now Due September 10, 2020 (17:00 AST, 21:00 UTC)

4. MEETING: Workshop ‘The Impact of the Cold Plasma Populations in the Earth’s Magnetosphere’, Sept. 28th-Oct. 1st 2020

5. Magnetosphere Online Seminar Series

6. Access to Solar Orbiter Low Latency Data

7. JOB OPENING: Assistant Researcher at the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles (Deadline Extended to Oct. 1)

8. JOB OPENING: Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Experimental Plasma Physics

9. JOB OPENING: Postdoctoral Position at Big Bear Solar Observatory

10. JOB OPENING: Postdoctoral or Guest Scientist Positions in Space Physics (ref nr: 2.2.1-219/20)

11. PhD Student in Space Physics to Studies of Space Plasmas (ref nr: 2.2.1-220/20)

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


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SPA Registration Waivers for Fall AGU Meeting 2020

From: Christina Cohen (cohen at srl.caltech.edu)

Is the registration cost for the Fall AGU meeting a barrier for your participation (or for someone you know)? We are happy to announce several opportunities that could help.

Since the meeting is all virtual and travel isn’t required, the Fall 2020 meeting provides a unique opportunity for more scientists with limited means to participate. In order to promote more participation, AGU has reduced or waived registration fees for some students, teachers, and scientists. Registration rates for undergraduates and for K12 educators who are AGU members is $0. Graduate students and retirees are $100. [Please notice that it is the same cost or cheaper to become a member and pay the member rate than it is to pay the non-member rate!] 

AGU is also waiving registration fees for any participant (member or non-member) from Low Income or Lower-Middle Income countries. A list of eligible countries can be found here: 
https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519#Low_income

The SPA leadership team recognizes that there may be other scientists who do not qualify for AGU’s registration waivers but would still have difficulty participating due to financial limitations. Therefore we are accepting applications for registration waivers for participants in need (members and non-members). Priority will be given to first-time attendees and those from Minority Serving Institutions. Anyone is eligible but priority will also be given to graduate students and early career scientists (<10 beyond PhD).   

Applications are currently being accepted for SPA registration waivers. Selections will be made on or before October 15. The application for registration waiver can be found here: 
https://forms.gle/WnEaDsgtFJDiurgC7

We encourage you to forward this email and application link to those you believe would benefit from attending the fall AGU meeting and in are need of financial support to do so.

Sincerely,
The SPA leadership team
Christina Cohen
Geoff Reeves
Larry Paxton
Liz MacDonald
Romina Nikoukar
Christina Lee
Ale Pacini
Chris R. Gilly


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Extension of Heliophysics 2050 Workshop White Paper Deadline

From: Mayra De Leon, Linda Garcia (mdeleon at hou.usra.edu)

Earlier this year, the Heliophysics 2050 Workshop was moved to April 2021. This workshop is envisioned as an agency-enabled, community-driven event to help the science community better prepare for the next Solar and Space Physics Decadal Survey.

In order to mitigate some of the impact of COVID-19 on the community, the deadline for the submission of white papers to be used for planning the Heliophysics 2050 Workshop has been extended to September 11, 2020. 

The agency understands the difficulties experienced by many community members in the current public health situation. Community members are strongly encouraged to proactively involve colleagues who may be experiencing significant time constraints due to the COVID-19 situation that would allow participation in but prevent the leading of white papers.

The workshop will examine current scientific understanding and what near-term investigations can enable and inform future investigations. From this scientific progression, the Workshop will create a “Science Web” that maps current understanding to the next set of science investigations which, in turn, lead to still later studies. These investigations will cover the range of work from basic research to operational efforts and would be agnostic to their mode of execution (e.g. theory, observations, spaceflight missions).

The white papers invited are to be short (no more than 3 pages) documents that succinctly identify a progression of linked scientific investigations starting from the current state-of-the-art and leading toward the desired state-of-the-art in 2050. There will be no limit on the number of white papers that an individual may submit, but the ideal white paper would contain as much of the links between and progression of related science investigations as possible.  
The original call for white papers and links for submission can be found at https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/helio2050/whitepapers/. Information about the purpose and philosophy of the workshop itself can also be found on that webpage.

Any questions about the Heliophysics 2050 Workshop or white papers should be directed to Jared Leisner (jared.s.leisner at nasa.gov).


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Arecibo Observatory Proposal Deadline Extended: Now Due September 10, 2020 (17:00 AST, 21:00 UTC)

From: Christiano Brum, Noemi Pinilla-Alonso (tbecker at swri.edu)

The proposal submission deadline for the Arecibo Observatory 2021 Semester A observations has been extended by one week. The deadline is now September 10, 2020 (17:00 AST, 21:00 UTC).  

These observing requests should be for telescope/radar usage within the six-month (or in some cases one-year) period beginning January 1, 2021.

We will continue to notify the community with updates regarding the telescope operations as more information becomes available.

Proposals must be submitted using the Proposal Submission Tool: http://www.naic.edu/proposal/node/2

Please email any questions about this call for proposals to Christiano Brum (cbrum at naic.edu) or Noemí Pinilla-Alonso (npinilla at ucf.edu).


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MEETING: Workshop ‘The Impact of the Cold Plasma Populations in the Earth’s Magnetosphere’, Sept. 28th-Oct. 1st 2020

From: Gian Luca Delzanno, Joe Borovsky (delzanno at lanl.gov)

The workshop ‘The Impact of the Cold Plasma Populations in the Earth’s Magnetosphere’ will be a fully virtual meeting since the Covid-19 situation remains too uncertain. The meeting will occur for only 5-6 hours every day to allow for international participation. The meeting dates remain September 28th-October 1st 2020, with the possibility of extension to at least to October 2nd to compensate for the shorter daily meeting times.

The website for the workshop, where all the relevant information will be posted, is:
https://cnls.lanl.gov/CPP20/

Registration and abstract submission are open. Abstracts are limited to 1 page maximum. The deadline for abstract submission is Sept. 7th 2020.

We are looking forward to ‘seeing’ you at the workshop!


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Magnetosphere Online Seminar Series

From: Kyle Murphy, David Sibeck (magnetosphere.seminars at gmail.com)

You are invited to join the Magnetosphere Online Seminar Series every Monday at 12 pm (EDST, 1600 uT).

On Monday Aug 31, Joachim Birn will discuss The dynamic magnetotail: Substorms at 12 PM EDST. A link to join the seminar via Zoom or YouTube can be found on our home page (https://msolss.github.io/MagSeminars/). The password to join the Zoom seminar is Mag at 1. 

On Monday Sept 14 Drew Turner will be talking about radiation belts.

You can see previous talks here - https://msolss.github.io/MagSeminars/blog.html

And add your name to the mailing list here - https://msolss.github.io/MagSeminars/mail-list.html


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Access to Solar Orbiter Low Latency Data

From: Yannis Zouganelis (yannis.zouganelis at esa.int)

The Solar Orbiter teams are making public the Low Latency data from the four in-situ instruments (EPD, MAG, RPW, SWA), available via the ESA Solar Orbiter Archive.

Low Latency data are a limited subset of each instrument's data, downlinked in full during every communications pass. They are primarily an operational product, designed to provide situational awareness to the Solar Orbiter team, while the spacecraft is far from Earth, and it takes several weeks to months for science data to be returned to Earth. Within the team, low latency data will be used to perform high-level instrument health checks, to help choose the best targets for the high-resolution imagers, and, for some instruments, to help us select the most interesting events to downlink at the best resolution. 

These data will be immediately available to the whole community from now on and for the entire duration of the mission. However they should be used with caution: they are not of a sufficient quality to undertake science analysis and results derived from them should not be submitted for publication. Full science-quality level 2 data products will be released later this year. 

More details on how to access these data, together with a list of caveats are provided in this link: https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/solar-orbiter/access-to-solar-orbiter-low-latency-data

For more information, feel free to contact the instruments' Principal Investigators:

EPD (Energetic Particle Detector) PI: Javier Rodríguez-Pacheco, University of Alcalá, Spain, fsrodriguez at uah.es
MAG (Magnetometer) PI: Tim Horbury, Imperial College London, UK, t.horbury at imperial.ac.uk
RPW (Radio and Plasma Waves) PI: Milan Maksimovic, LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, France, milan.maksimovic at obspm.fr
SWA (Solar Wind Analyser) PI: Chris Owen, MSSL, University College London, UK, c.owen at ucl.ac.uk

For mission-level questions, please contact the ESA Project Scientists:

Daniel Müller: daniel.mueller at esa.int
Yannis Zouganelis: yannis.zouganelis at esa.int

For questions about the Solar Orbiter Archive, please contact the Archive Scientist, Pedro Osuna (Pedro.Osuna at sciops.esa.int).


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JOB OPENING: Assistant Researcher at the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles (Deadline Extended to Oct. 1)

From: Xiaojia Zhang (xjzhang at ucla.edu)

The Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles (EPSS/UCLA), seeks an Assistant Researcher Scientist(s). The position will support research in Earth’s magnetotail dynamics, magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling, wave-particle interaction. The focus of these studies will be to conduct theory and observational studies of particles and fields (e.g. THEMIS, ELFIN, MMS, Van Allen Probes, ARTEMIS) in order to interpret and understand the underlying plasma physics involved. Therefore the incumbent is expected to demonstrate experience with spacecraft data analysis and plasma physics theory. The appointment is expected to start in September/October 2020, although exact start date is flexible. PhD in physics or related fields is required. Work is to be carried out in collaboration with Dr. Anton Artemyev, Dr. Xiaojia Zhang, and Prof. Vassilis Angelopoulos.

Candidates should provide a curriculum vitae, cover letter, statement of research (max 1 page), and 3 references (including names and contact information) through: https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF05701.

Inquiries may be directed to Dr. Anton Artemyev (aartemyev at igpp.ucla.edu) & Dr. Xiaojia Zhang (xjzhang at ucla.edu)

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation or protected veteran status. For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy see:
https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/DiscriminatioHarassmentAffirmAction


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JOB OPENING: Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Experimental Plasma Physics

From: Seth Dorfman (sethd at SpaceScience.org)

The Space Science Institute (SSI) invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Scientist to be based in Los Angeles, CA. The selected candidate will take a leading role in experiments aimed at understanding the Alfvén wave interactions thought to be at the heart of solar wind turbulence.  This includes the unexpected generation of residual energy – excess energy in the magnetic fluctuations compared to the velocity fluctuations.

The goal of the project is to create strong, non-linear Alfvén wave interactions in the lab for the first time and characterize the residual energy and non-linear modes generated.  The postdoctoral scientist will be responsible for conducting experiments on the Large Plasma Device at UCLA, analyzing both experimental results and existing hybrid particle-in-cell simulations of the experiment, and preparing results for publication.  The selected candidate will work with SSI Research Scientist Dr. Seth Dorfman, who will be responsible for overseeing the project.  The postdoctoral scientist will also have the opportunity to work with remote collaborators Dr. Christopher Chen (solar wind observations), Dr. Luca Franci (hybrid simulations), and Dr. Stanislav Boldyrev (theory).  Results will have broad potential implications for the physics governing solar wind and other magnetized astrophysical turbulence.

Knowledge/Education: A Ph.D. in plasma physics or related fields is required prior to the start date of the position.  Applicants should demonstrate the potential to publish research results in peer-reviewed high-quality journals, good communication skills, and the ability to work independently.  No prior experience with the Large Plasma Device or hybrid simulation analysis is expected, but applicants should demonstrate skills that show they will be able to learn these tools quickly.  Experience with laboratory plasma experiments or space plasma physics is considered an advantage.

This is a full-time position with benefits. The appointment is expected to start in December 2020, although the exact start date is flexible.  Please submit an application by October 9th, 2020 to ensure full consideration.

Contact Dr. Seth Dorfman (www.spacescience.org/bio.php?emp=SDORFMAN) with questions or to submit your CV for a preliminary evaluation.

For more information and details on how to apply, visit the full posting:
http://spacescience.org/opportunities.php


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JOB OPENING: Postdoctoral Position at Big Bear Solar Observatory

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

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is seeking a postdoctoral researcher at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO). The postdoc will conduct research using data from the Goode Solar Telescope (GST) and NASA missions,  in particular, Parker Solar Prober (PSP). The key science goal is to understand scale energy releases in the surface of the Sun,  and the related transients in the solar wind.  NJIT operates the 1.6-meter off-axis GST at BBSO that is a world class facility for high spatial and temporal resolution solar astronomy in the optical/infrared. BBSO is operated as a remote laboratory of NJIT's Center for Solar Terrestrial Research. The position is anticipated to start as soon as possible.   

Applicants should have a Ph.D. in Astronomy, Physics, Astrophysics, Space Physics, or closely related areas, with an ability to work and live at an elevation of 2000 meters.  We prefer that the successful candidate will be stationed at BBSO in California,  but will consider the possibility of working on NJIT campus in New Jersey.  The ideal candidate will have experience of observations with space and ground-based telescopes,  and ability to analyze data from multiple sources.   Experience related data analysis of PSP will be a plus. 

The deadline for applications is September 30th, 2020. Please submit the following to Prof. Haimin Wang  (haimin.wang at njit.edu).  (1) a cover letter, (2) your current curriculum vitae, and (3) names of two references. 

New Jersey Institute of Technology 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 members of all underrepresented groups are encouraged.


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JOB OPENING: Postdoctoral or Guest Scientist Positions in Space Physics (ref nr: 2.2.1-219/20)

From: Anders Eriksson, Yuri Khotyaintsev (anders.eriksson at irfu.se)

Applications are invited for investigation of electron dynamics in a cometary plasma environment. The work involves analysis and interpretation of Rosetta plasma data at comet 67P.

Our team performs observations, data analysis and modelling of space plasma processes (www.space.irfu.se). As one of the Rosetta PI teams we have very good collaborations within the comet plasma community, understanding of the data sets and a strong publication record on the science topic.

The team has decades of experience in developing and operating instruments to measure electric fields and plasma properties on various spacecraft missions. Our current scientific activities include data from Rosetta, MMS, Cluster, Solar Orbiter, Swarm and Cassini.

The position is available at the Uppsala office of IRF, located at the Ångström Laboratory in Uppsala, Sweden, for 2 years. The position is funded by a grant from the Swedish National Space Agency.

Postdoc candidates should have completed a PhD during 2017 or later. However, if the candidate has an older degree and wants to refer to special circumstances, such as parental leave, this should be clearly stated. Candidates planning to obtain their PhD degree no later than December 2020 can also apply.
Guest scientist candidates should have a PhD degree. The candidate should not currently be an active researcher at IRF in Uppsala or in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Uppsala University.

Candidates should be able to start the work during 2020.

Experience in data analysis is expected, and experience in relevant theoretical modelling can be an advantage.

Closing date for applications: September 21, 2020.

For further information please contact:
Dr. Anders Eriksson, anders.eriksson at irfu.se
Assoc. Prof. Yuri Khotyaintsev, yuri at irfu.se

Applications should be sent, 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

Please quote reference number: 2.2.1-219/20

More information: https://www.irf.se/en/news/2020/08/18/postdoctoral-or-guest-scientist-positions-in-space-physics-ref-nr-2-2-1-219-20/

Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) is a governmental research institute that conducts postgraduate education and research in space physics, atmospheric physics and space technology. Many of IRF's projects are run as large international projects in collaboration with other research institutes and space agencies. IRF has about one hundred employees and offices in Kiruna (headquarters), Umeå, Uppsala and Lund. For more information about IRF: www.irf.se


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PhD Student in Space Physics to Studies of Space Plasmas (ref nr: 2.2.1-220/20)

From: Emiliya Yordanova, Yuri Khotyaintsev (eya at irfu.se)

Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala, Sweden, is looking for a PhD student in Space Physics. The position is related to studies of space plasmas.

Applications are invited for a PhD student to study kinetic plasma processes operating in space plasma regions of fundamental importance, such as magnetic reconnection sites, shocks, and turbulence regions. Such processes operate in most astrophysical plasma environments leading to plasma heating and production of energetic particles.

The new PhD student will work directly with state-of-the-art experimental data from the NASA multi-spacecraft Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) mission.

Our team performs observations, data analysis and modelling of space plasma processes (https://space.irfu.se). The team has decades of experience in developing and operating instruments to measure electric fields, plasma temperature, density and density fluctuations for spacecraft missions (e.g. Rosetta, MMS, Cluster, Solar Orbiter, Swarm, Cassini).

The position is available at the Uppsala office of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF), located at the Ångström Laboratory in Uppsala, Sweden, starting at the latest in the first half of 2021 for a total duration of four years.

The PhD students will belong to the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Uppsala University and must therefore fulfill the university requirements. 

The Swedish National Space Agency, the Swedish Research Council and Uppsala University fund the position.

For further information please contact:
Dr Emiliya Yordanova, eya at irfu.se
Assoc. Prof. Yuri Khotyaintsev, yuri at irfu.se

The application 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 for applications: 21 September 2020.

Please quote reference number: 2.2.1-220/20

More information: https://www.irf.se/en/news/2020/08/18/phd-student-in-space-physics-to-studies-of-space-plasmas-ref-nr-2-2-1-220-20/

The Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) is a government agency that conducts research and postgraduate education in space physics, atmospheric physics and space technology. Many of IRF's projects are run as large international projects in collaboration with other research institutes and space agencies. IRF has about one hundred employees and offices in Kiruna (headquarters), Umeå, Uppsala and Lund. www.irf.se


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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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