Heliosphere News - September 24, 2020
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: Matina Gkioulidou (matina.gkioulidou at jhuapl.edu)
Co-Editor: Jamie Rankin (jsrankin at princeton.edu)
Coordinator: Liz Wilber (Elizabeth.Wilber at unh.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, Matina, or Jamie. Posts are limited to ascii text.
Newsletters are archived on the following website:
http://heliospherenews.unh.edu/.
******************* Announcements *******************
1. MEETING: 3rd Annual Interstellar Probe Exploration Workshop, November 17-19, 2020 - Update
2. MEETING: COSPAR Scientific Assembly, NEW DATES: 28 January - 4 February, 2021
3. ANNOUNCEMENT: Solar Orbiter In-situ Working Groups
4. JOB OPPORTUNITY: Civil Servant Research Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
5. JOB OPPORTUNITY: Research Associate position in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU Boulder supporting
NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
6. JOB OPPORTUNITY: Space Weather Forecast Applications Scientist Position in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
(CIRES)at CU Boulder supporting NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)
7. ANNOUNCEMENT: Special Issue on Dynamical Processes in Space Plasmas in Applied Sciences Journal
8. ANNOUNCEMENT: Access to Solar Orbiter Low Latency Data
9. ANNOUNCEMENT: New AGU SPA Student Committee - Join us!
10. ANNOUNCEMENT: SPA Registration Waivers for Fall AGU Meeting 2020
11. ANNOUNCEMENT: Extension of Heliophysics 2050 Workshop White Paper Deadline (Due September 25, 2020)
12. ANNOUNCEMENT: SHIELD Science Center Webinar: "A Path to Improving Writing Skills: Things I Didn't Learn In School"
*******************
1. MEETING: 3rd Annual Interstellar Probe Exploration Workshop November 17-19, 2020 - Update
The 3rd Annual Interstellar Probe Exploration Workshop scheduled for November 17Š19, 2020 in Silver Spring, Maryland will not be held in-person
as previously planned. The Organizing Committee has watched developments of the COVID-19 pandemic closely, and in the interest of community safety are making the decision on how to proceed. Updated information will be posted on this website as it becomes available.
The workshop is being organized for heliophysicists, planetary scientists, astrophysicists, and engineers from all over the world. The purpose
of the workshop is to gather together and discuss the objectives, design, and operations for a near-term, pragmatic interstellar probe mission.
The workshop is organized by a team at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory studying such a mission for the Heliophysics Division
in NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
Visit the JHU APL Interstellar Probe website for detailed information about the ongoing study: http://interstellarprobe.jhuapl.edu/
IMPORTANT: To be added to the mailing list to receive pertinent information about this workshop and to indicate your interest in participating,
please submit an Indication of Interest.
https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/interstellarprobe2020/
#interstellarprobe2020
For more information, contact:
Meeting and Publication Services
USRA/Lunar and Planetary Institute
meetinginfo at hou.usra.edu
*******************
2. MEETING: COSPAR Scientific Assembly, NEW DATES: 28 January - 4 February, 2021.
43rd COSPAR Scientific Assembly will take place on 28 January - 4 February at the International Convention Center in Sydney, Australia. The 2021
Assembly will combine the latest in space research findings with activities designed to enrich the global space research community - including helping equip our future leaders, and workshopping with space industry - and inspire the next generation of scientists
and engineers. You will have the opportunity of a lifetime to interact directly with everything
that Australia has to offer - our science and innovation, our people, our heritage, and our beautiful environment. The Assembly website is https://www.cospar2020.org/.
IMPORTANT DEADLINES:
Early Bird Registration Deadline 31 October 2020
Speaker Registration Deadline 31 October 2020
Accommodation Booking Deadline 15 December 2020
************************
3. ANNOUNCEMENT: Solar Orbiter In-situ Working Groups
The Solar Orbiter In-situ Working Groups are now ready for you to sign up!
The goals of these community-driven Working Groups are to form collaborations, to avoid overlap in research activities, to make the community
aware of ongoing work with Solar Orbiter data, and to guarantee the delivery on the Solar Orbiter Science Activity Plan (SAP).
Membership in the Working Groups is open for interested researchers on all career levels and without restrictions. We recommend, however, that
you only sign up to the Working Groups that you want to actively participate in.
You can find more detailed information about the Working Groups,
including short summaries of the groups' objectives and the instructions to sign up, on this website that Andrew Dimmock has set up: https://sites.google.com/view/soloiswg/
We also have created a shared Google Calendar with the information about all meetings. You can subscribe to the calendar to stay up to date about
the ongoing meetings.
The Working Groups will start their work in early September.
*********************
4. JOB OPPORTUNITY: Civil Servant Research Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
The Energetic Particle Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is looking to hire a scientist with experience in designing, building and
analyzing data from instruments that measure ionized and neutral high-energy particles in the heliosphere and magnetosphere. The laboratory currently has instruments in development for the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission (launch
in 2024), several cubesats for Low-Earth Orbit and interplanetary space, and the Lunar Gateway.
The Energetic Particle Laboratory is in the Heliospheric Science Laboratory (Code 672) of Goddard's Heliophysics Science Division.
This is a US Government Civil Servant position, therefore applicants are required to be either US citizens or currently holding a green card
and are expected to have a PhD in a related field and several years of experience beyond completion of their PhD. Interested individuals should send a current CV to Adam Szabo (adam.szabo at nasa.gov), Code 672 Lab Chief, and Eric Christian (eric.r.christian
at nasa.gov), Code 672 Associate Lab Chief and head of the Energetic Particle Laboratory.
**********************
5. JOB OPPORTUNITY: Research Associate position in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU Boulder supporting
NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado at Boulder has an immediate opening for
a Research Associate supporting NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). This position is for an Energetic Particle Space Scientist in NCEI's Solar and Terrestrial Physics (STP) Group. A team of dedicated scientists within STP works to
ensure that current and future space weather sensors on NOAA satellites provide effective operational products for use by the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) Space Weather
Prediction Center (SWPC).
STP's overall responsibilities also include providing access to these environmental data by spacecraft engineers and the
scientific community. The Energetic Particle Space Scientist will be primarily responsible for ensuring the quality and availability of data
from the Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS), operated on-board NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R series system.
SEISS measures the local charged particle environment across a broad energy range at multiple pitch angles. The GOES-R series is NOAA's newest
generation of GOES spacecraft. The first GOES-R satellite, GOES-16, was launched in November 2016. The fourth and last GOES-R satellite is expected to launch in 2024. SEISS calibration and validation activities are ongoing.
Required:
- This position involves handling export-controlled documents and data, thus only applications from US citizens or permanent residents (green
card holders) can be considered.
- If hired, you will need to pass a National Agency Check with Inquiries(NACI, Federal background check).
- Ph.D. in Physical Science, Engineering or similar technical discipline.
- Four years of experience at the post-bachelor's level in satellite sensor design, algorithm development, and/or scientific research with space
environmental data.
What We Would Like You to Have:
- Ph.D. in Space Plasma Physics.
- 1-2 years postdoctoral experience working with space plasma
instrumentation and instrument data.
- Familiarity with NOAA's satellite programs, particularly GOES.
- Willingness to pursue independent funding for research.
For additional information and application instructions go to
https://jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDetail?jobId=23539
Please direct questions about this position to Brian Kress (brian.kress at noaa.gov).
* Note, this position was originally posted on 09-Jan-2020, but the hiring process has been on hold due to rapidly changing hiring policy at
CU Boulder during the coronavirus pandemic. We are restarting the search for this position.
*******************
6. JOB OPPORTUNITY: Space Weather Forecast Applications Scientist Position in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
(CIRES) at CU Boulder supporting NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)
The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) encourages applications to fill a Research Associate position resident
at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)! SWPC is the nation's official source of space weather alerts and warnings. SWPC forecasts and products support a wide range of customers, including power
grid operators, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), aviation, satellite operators, and emergency managers.
Our Research Associate will work within the SWPC Testbed section of the Space Weather Prediction Center, working with the wider Deep Space Climate
Observatory (DSCOVR), Space Weather Follow On - L1 (SWFO-L1), and Compact Coronagraph teams. Specifically, this position will initially support the DSCOVR mission, with the expectation the candidate will take a lead in developing experimental space weather
forecasting applications for the benefit of forecasters and customers. In addition to data from DSCOVR, the successful applicant is encouraged to investigate future missions including the SWFO-L1 and Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) for their
use in crafting new space weather applications. Together, these missions are important to ensuring the highest quality space weather forecasts and it is encouraged that the applications developed using these missions will be used to improve and enhance SWPC?s
geomagnetic and radiation storm forecasts. Through this role, the successful candidate will participate in preparing these missions, ground systems, and forecast products for post-launch, real-time operations!
For Additional Information and to Apply:
https://jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDetail/?jobId=26121
For Direct Questions Regarding the Position,
Please Contact Eric Adamson: eric.adamson at noaa.gov
*******************
7. ANNOUNCEMENT: Special Issue on Dynamical Processes in Space Plasmas in Applied Sciences Journal
From: Georgios Nicolaou
We are happy to announce our special Issue on Dynamical Processes in Space Plasmas in Applied Sciences Journal by mdpi.
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci/special_issues/Dynamical_Processes_Space_Plasmas
We welcome original papers with theoretical, modelling and/or data-analysis research on dynamical mechanisms in collisionless space plasmas.
We strongly encourage papers demonstrating new methods, measurement and analysis techniques to resolve physical processes in space plasmas.
*******************
8. ANNOUNCEMENT: Access to Solar Orbiter Low Latency Data
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 Rodr?guez-Pacheco, University of Alcal?, Spain, fsrodriguez@uah.es
MAG (Magnetometer) PI: Tim Horbury, Imperial College London, UK, t.horbury@imperial.ac.uk
RPW (Radio and Plasma Waves) PI: Milan Maksimovic, LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, France, milan.maksimovic@obspm.fr
SWA (Solar Wind Analyser) PI: Chris Owen, MSSL, University College London, UK, c.owen@ucl.ac.uk
For mission-level questions, please contact the ESA Project Scientists:
Daniel M?ller: daniel.mueller@esa.int
Yannis Zouganelis: yannis.zouganelis@esa.int
For questions about the Solar Orbiter Archive, please contact the Archive Scientist, Pedro Osuna (Pedro.Osuna@sciops.esa.int).
********************
9. ANNOUNCEMENT: New AGU SPA Student Committee - Join us!
Greetings to all students and early career scientists!
Are you interested in making the upcoming Virtual AGU Fall meeting more accessible and inclusive? Do you have ideas about things that the SPA
Section could be doing to serve our community in general? Then come join me in the new AGU SPA student committee!
My name is Gilly, and I am your student representative on the SPA Executive Committee. Last month, the student representatives from all of the
AGU sections had a meeting where we talked about what each section was doing to support their communities: https://docs.google.com/document/d/163sbXaCpzzsy67I0X-wVXckjfw1r1a2Tf1eArI_2U5I/edit
In response to that meeting, our section has decided to form our own SPA Student Committee. This committee will be responsible for communicating
the needs of the students at AGU meetings (and throughout the rest of the year too!) to the executive committee, and will be well positioned to spearhead initiatives that serve our community. And because this is a new committee, there is a lot of room for
the role of the committee to evolve to best meet our needs. If you are interested in volunteering, please fill this brief form (full link below). Open to anyone who wants to improve the student experience at AGU, including high schoolers, undergraduates, grad
students, postdocs, and EC scientists. Feel free to email me directly at chris.gilly@colorado.edu if you have any comments, questions, or concerns.
I hope to hear from you soon!
Chris Gilly (he/him)
AGU SPA Student Representative
PhD Candidate, Heliophysics
University of Colorado Boulder, APS Dept.
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Public Talk Facilitator, Fiske Planetarium
www.gilly.space
Student Rep Meeting Minutes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/163sbXaCpzzsy67I0X-wVXckjfw1r1a2Tf1eArI_2U5I/edit?usp=sharing
Interest in Joining Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdElI8G3qjZURc9qjpr7whN7qaLQHXhaCbFvb7eGTfeczUXxg/viewform
********************
10. ANNOUNCEMENT: SPA Registration Waivers for Fall AGU Meeting 2020
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 isnÕt 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 AGUÕs 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 an are in
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
********************
11. ANNOUNCEMENT POSTING: Extension of Heliophysics 2050 Workshop White Paper Deadline (new due date: September 25, 2020)
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 was extended to September 11, 2020.
We have received a large number of white papers from the Heliophysics community, and for this, we thank you!
However, we also heard from a number of individuals and organizations that were having difficulty meeting the extended due date. We understand
the situation our community is in, but we must balance that against the schedule of work to prepare for the Heliophysics 2050 Workshop.
In response to the requests we have received, we have decided to leave the white paper submission open while the workshop organization proceeds.
White papers may be submitted after the due date (September 11, 2020), with the expectation that no more white papers will be submitted after September 25.
White papers should be submitted via the USRA meeting portal: https://bit.ly/Helio2050
However, we will be organizing the workshop in parallel with these late submissions. While the content of most late white papers should be accommodatable
within the program, it is possible that white papers that are submitted very late or that cover material that is not in-family with other white papers cannot be addressed within the plenary sessions.
If this happens for any late white papers, we would strongly encourage those individuals to come to the workshop prepared to discuss that content
during the plenary sessions and to submit abstracts to the workshop for presentation as posters.
********************
12. ANNOUNCEMENT: SHIELD Science Center Webinar: "A Path to Improving Writing Skills: Things I Didn't Learn In School"
Speaker: Heather Elliott, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio TX, and University of Texas-San Antonio, helliott@swri.edu<mailto:helliott@swri.edu>
Date: October 16, 2020; 2pm EST, 1pm Central
Registration Link: https://bostonu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYtc--vrDorH9f-gQbPXkkYXS_uP5EkKcno
The SHIELD DRIVE Science Center (http://sites.bu.edu/shield-drive/) is a collaborative research center developing a predictive global model of
the heliosphere: the immense shield protecting the solar system from the harsh galactic radiation which affects both life on Earth and human space exploration.
We are starting to have a webinar series.
Our first webinar entitled "A Path to Improving Writing Skills: Things I Didn't Learn In School" is by Heather Elliott from Southwest Research
Institute This webinar is designed to provide some techniques you can put to use right away to improve your writing skills, and to create a customized path towards improving your writing skills based on your specific needs.
In this webinar, you will learn about:
- Psychology that hinders writing skills, and ways to overcome it.
- How to identify problematic aspects of your writing
- How to write concisely for paged limited writing such as proposals.
- Ways to organize your material while reducing repetition and having
coherence, precision, and cohesion.
- Key references for low-cost books that focus on improving writing and editing.
********************
All the best,
Jamie Sue Rankin