Heliosphere News

November 15, 2016

http://heliospherenews.unh.edu/

A newsletter devoted to Heliospheric Science.

Editor: Nathan Schwadron (nschwadron at unh.edu)
Co-Editor: Mihir Desai (mdesai at swri.edu)
Co-Editor: Eric Zirnstein (ejz at princeton.edu)
Co-Editor: Merav Opher (mopher at bu.edu)
Co-Editor: Adele Corona (icnsmeetings at gmail.com)
Co-Editor: Nikolai Pogorelov (np0002 at uah.edu)

Web site editor: Ken Fairchild (Ken.Fairchild at unh.edu)

If you are interested in being added to the list, being removed from the list, or posting an announcement, please send information to Nathan, Mihir, Eric, Merav, Adele, or Nick. Posts are limited to ascii text.  Newsletters are archived on the following website:

http://heliospherenews.unh.edu/

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Announcements

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1. MMS GI Program (as a part of H-GI)

2. POLONEZ Funding Program

3. MEETING: 16th Annual International Astrophysics Conference, March 6-10, 2017, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA – Third Announcement

4. MEETING: Space Weather of the Heliosphere: Processes and Forecasts IAU Symposium 335 - July 17-21, 2017 - University of Exeter, UK

5. MEETING: GOOD HOPE FOR EARTH SCIENCES: IAPSO-IAMAS-IAGA

6. MEETING: 7th Solar Orbiter Workshop: Exploring the Solar Environs, April 3-6, 2017, Granada, Spain

7. MEETING: 12th International Conference on Numerical Modeling of Space Plasma Flows (ASTRONUM-2017)

8. JOB OPENING: Permanent Research Position in Heliophysics, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD

9. JOB OPENING: Applications are invited for two PhD positions (Early Stage Researchers, ESR) at the Politecnico di Torino.

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1.  MMS GI Program (as a part of H-GI)

 

This message is to inform you that the final text for program element B.8 Magnetospheric Multiscale Guest Investigators (MMS GI) has been released and is now available on NSPIRES.

The Heliophysics Guest Investigators (H-GI) program is a component of the Heliophysics Research Program. This particular element of the Guest Investigator program is offered only for investigations that primarily use data from the recently launched Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Mission.

This particular ROSES element supports investigations whose primary focus is the analysis of MMS data. Proposals should use primarily MMS data to address
(1) the goals of the MMS mission (found at http://mms.gsfc.nasa.gov/about_mms.html) or
(2) any of the relevant goals of the Heliophysics Decadal survey (Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13060):

  1. Determine the origins of the Sun's activity and predict the variations in the space environment;
  2. Determine the dynamics and coupling of Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and atmosphere and their response to solar and terrestrial inputs;
  3. Determine the interaction of the Sun with the solar system and the interstellar medium;
  4. Discover and characterize fundamental processes that occur both within the heliosphere and throughout the universe.

This program is intended to maximize the scientific return from this recently launched mission by providing support for research of a breadth and complexity beyond presently funded investigations.
As for any H-GI proposal, investigations may employ theory, models, and data from other sources, as needed, to interpret and analyze NASA's MMS data, but only as a secondary emphasis.

Step-1 proposals are due November 18, 2016, and Step-2 proposals are due January 13, 2017.

The solicitation can presently be found in the NASA Research Announcement "Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2016" (NNH16ZDA001N). It is currently posted on the NASA
research opportunity homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ and will appear at: http://nasascience.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/grant-solicitations/roses-2016.

The NASA point of contact for this program element is Errol J. Summerlin who may be reached at errol.summerlin at nasa.gov.

EJ
Errol J. Summerlin
NASA/HQ SMD

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2. POLONEZ is a funding program addressed to incoming researchers who may apply for 12- or 24-month fellowships in host institutions in Poland.

Applicant: a researcher with a PhD degree or at least four years of full-time equivalent research experience who has not resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Poland for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the call announcement
Fellowship duration: 12 or 24 months
Researcher receives:

1. Salary (incl. mobility allowance): $ 4,350 gross/month (full time contract),
2. Family allowance: $ 300 gross/month (for fellows whose families stay in Poland for at least 3 months),
3. Research grant,
4. Opportunity to participate in research and non-research training programmes organised by the NCN.

Host Institution receives overheads at a rate of 20%.
Proposals must be submitted in English via OSF submission system.
More information on the website https://www.ncn.gov.pl/polonez?language=en.

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3. MEETING: 16th Annual International Astrophysics Conference, March 6-10, 2017, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA - **Third Announcement**

 

From: Gary P. Zank, garyp.zank@gmail.com

 

The meeting entitled, “Turbulence, Structures, and Particle Acceleration throughout the Heliosphere and Beyond”, 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.

 

The remarkable ability of nature to accelerate charged particles to extraordinarily high energies remains, after 100 years, one of the outstanding puzzles of solar and astrophysical plasmas. Diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) is thought to energize charged particles at shock waves. Steady state DSA predictions include the particle intensity peaking at the shock, after which it is constant, and that the accelerated particle distribution is a power law with an index depending only on the shock compression ratio. DSA predictions are often but not always met. The anomalous cosmic ray spectrum was observed to peak behind the heliospheric termination shock and to possess a spectrum far harder than predicted by classical DSA theory. This is frequently true of shocks in the inner heliosphere and in astrophysical settings. Shocks are effective in generating magnetic turbulence and structures downstream and amplifying pre-existing turbulence, all factors in the further energization of charged particles. Furthermore, certain regions such as the heliospheric current sheet naturally produce complex turbulent environments in which numerous structures are present. Not surprisingly, in these regions observed energetic particle events, sometimes called anomalous solar energetic particle events, have characteristics quite unlike those predicted of typical impulsive or gradual solar energetic particle events. The purpose of this meeting is to explore the role of turbulence and structures (including magnetic reconnection-related processes, shock waves, etc), in the acceleration of particles throughout the heliosphere and beyond.  The meeting will include current and past observations from spacecraft in the inner heliosphere, the distant heliosphere and very local interstellar medium, expectations and predictions for missions such as Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe Plus, and of course remote observations.

 

Please go to the conference website for more information. www.icnsmeetings.com/conference/16thannual/index.html.

 

Registration and Abstract Submission Now Available. Hotel Online Booking will be made available this week or you may contact the hotel directly to book your special rate rooms.

 

Mark your calendars and contact us with your interest in attending. E-mail inquiries about the meeting should be directed to Gary Zank at garyp.zank@gmail.com or icnsmeetings@gmail.com.

 

 

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4. MEETING: Space Weather of the Heliosphere: Processes and Forecasts IAU Symposium 335 - July 17-21, 2017 - University of Exeter, UK

Space weather is increasingly recognised as an international challenge faced by several communities. The ability to understand, monitor and forecast the space weather of the Earth and the heliosphere is of paramount importance for our high-technology society and for the current rapid developments in knowledge and exploration within our Solar System.

The symposium is planned over 5 days from Monday through Friday (including half-day excursion on the Wednesday afternoon). Key Topics of the scientific program are the following:
Solar drivers and activity levels; Solar wind and heliosphere; Impact of solar wind, structures and radiation on and within terrestrial and planetary environments (including magnetospheres, ionospheres and atmospheres); Long-term trends and predictions for space weather; Challenges and strategy plans for Earth and the heliosphere; Forecasting models; Space weather monitoring, instrumentation, data and services.
The Symposium aims to further knowledge on space weather by linking various aspects of research in solar, heliospheric and planetary physics, and by putting great emphasis on cross-disciplinary developments, merging different communities, learning from interplanetary comparisons and linking to atmospheric and meteorological research for the first time at the international level.
http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/iaus335/

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5. MEETING: GOOD HOPE FOR EARTH SCIENCES: IAPSO-IAMAS-IAGA

The Local Organizing Committee is thrilled to welcome you to the 2017 Joint IAPSO-IAMAS-IAGA Assembly in Cape Town, South Africa. The Joint Assembly, endorsed by the University of Cape Town and the South African Department of Science and Technology, will take place from 27 August to 1 September 2017 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
IAGA Lead Sessions

JA 1
SPACE WEATHER FROM SUN TO EARTH: BRINGING DATA AND MODELS TOGETHER (IAGA, IAMAS)
Convenor - Sarah Gibson

JA 2
THE REFERENCING OF GEOPHYSICAL DATA PRODUCTS: THE ROLE OF DOIs (IAGA, IAMAS, IAPSO)
Convenor - Masahito Nose

JA 3
FRONTIER CHALLENGES IN DATA ASSIMILATION AND ENSEMBLE FORECASTING FOR THE ATMOSPHERE, OCEAN AND SOLID EARTH. (IAGA, IAMAS, IAPSO)
Convenor - Weijia Kuang, Craig Bishop

JA 4
SOLAR RELATED VARIABILITY OF THE ATMOSPHERE (IAGA, IAMAS)
Convenor - Christoph Jacobi

Call for Registration: 15 September 2016
Early Bird Deadline: 5 May 2017
Online Registration Closes: 22 August 2017

http://www.iapso-iamas-iaga2017.com/

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6. MEETING: 7th Solar Orbiter Workshop: Exploring the Solar Environs, April 3-6, 2017, Granada, Spain

EXPLORING THE SOLAR ENVIRONS

Registration is open. Visit our web page at http://spg.iaa.es/solo2017/

Rationale:The Solar Orbiter mission will bring the community an excellent opportunity for doing unique science that embraces most solar topics from the interior up to the heliosphere employing novel vantage points. The combined use of results from its four in-situ and six remote-sensing instruments will provide an unprecedented view of the Sun and the interplanetary medium. Aimed at discussing most of these topics, the 7th Solar Orbiter Workshop entitled “Exploring the solar environs” will be held in Granada, Spain, from the 3rd through the 6th of April, 2017. Overviews, prospects, and new science about the solar interior, the photospheric structure, dynamics, and magnetic fields, the chromosphere, the corona, the solar wind, and the heliospheric magnetic fields and particles are scheduled. Synergies with other missions and ground-based observatories will also be covered. Theoreticians, observers, and instrumentalist astronomers are encouraged to attend.

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7. MEETING: ASTRONUM 2017 - the 12th International Conference on Numerical Modeling of Space Plasma Flows, Saint Malo, France, 26–30 June, 2017.

 

Maison de la Simulation (CEA/CNRS/UPS/UVSQ), France will organize ASTRONUM 2017. The conference will cover the following topics:

(1) Advanced numerical methods for space, astrophysical and geophysical flows;
(2) Large-scale fluid-based, kinetic, and hybrid simulations;
(3) Turbulence and cosmic ray transport;
(4) Magnetohydrodynamics
(5) Software packages for modeling and analyzing plasma flows /Visualisation
with the application to
(1) Physics of the Sun-Heliosphere-Magnetosphere;
(2) Interstellar medium and star formation;
(3) Cosmology and galaxy formation;
(4) Dynamo effect;
(5) Stellar Physics.

The purpose of the conference is to bring together leading experts in applied mathematics, space physics, astrophysics, and geophysics to discuss the application of novel numerical algorithms and petascale parallelization strategies to computationally challenging problems.


The conference will be structured around invited, 40-minute keynote and 25-minute regular talks, and a limited number of contributed talks, with the attempt to have no parallel sessions. The conference web site will be established in a few days and provide the information about the conference venue, registration, and means of transportation. E-mail inquiries about the meeting should be directed to Nikolai.Pogorelov@uah.edu and Edouard.Audit@cea.fr.

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8.  JOB OPENING: Permanent Research Position in Heliophysics, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD

 

Applications are invited for a permanent civil service research scientist position in the area of Heliophysics and more specifically charged and neutral particle physics focusing on the energization and propagation of particles in the heliosphere and on the interaction of the heliosphere with the interstellar medium.

It is desirable that the applicant hold a PhD degree in physics, geophysics, astrophysics or a related field.  At least one year of experience in spacecraft data analysis or spacecraft instrumentation development is required. The appointment begins in mid 2017. The appointment is for a GS-13 position with salary commensurate with the applicant’s past experience.


U.S. citizenship is required. To view the full vacancy announcement, which contains further information including qualification requirements and application instructions, go to (http://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/455714200).  The vacancy announcement will be open from November 9, 2016 to December 8, 2016. Applications must be received by December 8, 2016 via the USAJobs website.  For additional questions, contact Dr. Adam Szabo via e-mail at Adam.Szabo@nasa.gov.

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9. . JOB OPENING: Applications are invited for two PhD positions (Early Stage Researchers, ESR) at the Politecnico di Torino.

 

Applications are invited for two PhD positions ("Early Stage Researchers", ESR) at the Politecnico di Torino, funded by the Marie-Sklodowska- Curie Innovative Training Network COMPLETE - Cloud-MicroPhysics-Turbulence-Telemetry: an inter-multidisciplinary training network for enhancing the understanding and modeling of atmospheric clouds within the Horizon 2020 Program of the European Commission. The objectives are the numerical analysis of the transport of energy, water vapor and droplets across the warm cloud/clear air interface, the Lagrangian analysis of water droplets (1 - 100 micrometre) in suspension, the analysis of the data produced by innovative expendable radio-probes released in warm clouds and their comparison with numerical simulations.

Contact persons:

Prof. Daniela Tordella, Department of Applied Science and Technology | Politecnico di Torino 10129 Torino Italy, Tel (+39) 011 090 6812|, daniela.tordella at polito.it; complete-network at polito.it

Dr. Michele Iovieno, Department of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering | Politecnico di Torino 10129 Torino Italy Tel (+39) 011 090 6853,| michele.iovieno at polito.it ;complete-network at polito.it