ILWS Newsletter

Volume 3
released 8 April 2008

http://ilws.gsfc.nasa.gov

Contents

1. Steering Committee Chair's Report
2. National Delegate and Task Group Reports
1. JAXA Report
2. Solar Task Group Report
3. New people
1. Dr. Phil Wilkinson
4. Science Updates
1. AIM Mission Update
2. e-POP Mission Update
3. Geotail Mission Update
4. Kaguya Mission Update
5. New Radio Type II Bursts catalog
6. WHI: Whole Heliosphere Interval
5. Announcements and Upcoming Events
1. ILWS Working Group Meeting:  11 - 12 June 2008
2. ILWS Community Workshop in 2009:  October 2009
6. About this newsletter

1) ILWS Steering Committee Chair's Report

submitted by Dr. Madhulika Guhathakurta, ILWS Delegate for NASA

Dear ILWS Colleagues,

In the past six months there have been significant accomplishments from the ILWS agencies towards formulating synergistic science goals and objectives towards the heliophysics/solar-terrestrial theme and then taking the next step into soliciting science proposals from community. This includes ESA's new mission Solar Orbiter, which is part of a larger joint effort known as HELEX, in which NASA is a partner. The HELEX mission concept would not have been possible without the existing ILWS structure, so we can feel proud of this big accomplishment.

We have had other successes such as Cross-Scale, another concept study selected through the ESA Cosmic Vision Initiative with multi-agency partnership. To highlight a few other activities, NASA has announced its new Solar Probe Plus mission concept with the goal of launching the mission in 2015 and is eagerly looking for reasonable ideas in partnership outside of instrument payload which is always open to competition for all scientists. The ISRO/Indian Space Agency has discussed the possibility of two new small missions: SENSE (in the ionospheric region) and ADITYA (Solar) during the time frame of 2011-2012.

Outside of helping create new and exciting missions, ILWS agencies have helped organize and coordinate many important summer schools, and workshops in partnership with IHY. The heliospheric working group is very close to being formed and the charter and member names for this group will be announced shortly.

The dates for the upcoming ILWS Working Group and Steering Committee meetings have been chosen. The meetings will be held June 10 - 12, 2008 and will be hosted by our ILWS colleagues in the Czech Republic. (Note: the original version of this newsletter listed April 21 - 23, 2008 as the date, which has since been changed. Please see announcement below.) All ILWS delegates and Task Group chairs are encouraged to attend. We are also planning another international ILWS Workshop in 2009, to follow the success of the Goa Workshop and the Bulgaria ISROSES Symposium in 2006. The meeting location will be in Brazil, and the Science Organizing Committee is being formed this fall. Information on both of these upcoming events will be posted on the ILWS website.

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2) National Reports

Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Report    

submitted by Dr. Masayoshi Fujimoto, ILWS Delegate for JAXA

See Mission Updates for Kaguya and Geotail below

Solar Task Group Report    

submitted by Dr. J. Todd Hoeksema, Stanford University

The ILWS Solar Task Group is working to highlight critical ILWS requirements for solar physics. As a first step we are compiling a comprehensive list of major solar projects and facilities around the world that are currently underway or in advance planning stages. These include future space missions, such as ESA's Solar Orbiter, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, and China's KuaFu; major ground-based projects, such as the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST); as well as existing capabilities. As a matter of course many of the crucial observations will be made in important regions - solar interior, atmosphere, and solar wind - to understand relevant phenomena - irradiance, structure, activity, flares, CMEs, particle acceleration, etc. - using a variety of techniques - 3D modeling, new instrumentation, reliable operational forecasting tools. Major gaps in the global program - observations, modeling & theory - will be identified and prioritized to provide strategic advice for ILWS planning. The priorities that best serve ILWS system science requirements may differ from those based on other requirements.

One of our major goals is to facilitate communication, collaboration, and partnerships among scientists, institutions, and agencies. Progress in this area can attract interest in ILWS activities, enable broad access to solar science data, promote effective use of agency resources, enrich the links between institutions, and capitalize on the unique strengths of each participant. Best of all, such efforts often require very modest resources and can show immediate benefits.

3) New People 

Meet Dr. Phil Wilkinson, ILWS Delegate for IPS Radio and Space Services

After completing a Ph D (1974: Winds in the E-region) at the Physics Department, University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, Dr. Wilkinson took up employment with the Ionospheric Prediction Service (IPS), in Sydney, Australia; before the phrase "space weather" had been invented. He is a Vice President of URSI (International Union of Radio Science), and the Vice President of the Federation of Astronomical and Geophysical Data analysis Services (FAGS). He also serves as a member of the AGU and Editor of the URSI INAG (Ionosonde Network Advisory Group) Bulletin, Reviews Editor for URSI Radio Science Bulletin, and Associate Editor for the AGU journals Radio Science and Space Weather.

He currently serves as the Acting Director of IPS Radio and Space Services in Sydney, Australia.

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4) Science Updates

AIM Mission Update

compiled by Dr. James Russell, Hampton University and Dr. Hans Mayr, NASA GSFC

One of NASA's "Great Observatories" missions, the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) was launched on a Pegasus rocket on April 25, 2007 into an almost perfect sun synchronous 600 km orbit. The Principal Investigator for AIM is Dr. James Russell III from Hampton University, who conceived and developed the mission in collaboration with scientists from universities, the Naval Research Laboratory and in partnership with industry.

The instruments on the AIM spacecraft are designed with the measurement sensitivity and resolution to unravel some of the most challenging mysteries encountered in atmospheric space research. The AIM mission is dedicated to the goal of providing us with a quantitative understanding of the physics and chemistry underlying the formation of polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs), which occur in the Earth's atmosphere at about 83 km altitude at high latitudes during summer. Observed also from the ground near sunrise and sunset, and referred to as night shining or noctilucent clouds, they were observed for the first time in 1885 at northern latitudes. Since that time, they have been growing in frequency, extent and brightness so that they can be seen now even at lower latitudes. The clouds are observed in the coldest region of the Earth's atmosphere, which occurs not in winter contrary to expectation, but in summer. AIM is monitoring PMCs as well as the levels and variations of temperature and water content which are believed to be centrally involved in the growing abundance of these clouds possibly due to anthropogenic effects. This is the first satellite mission dedicated to the study of PMCs and in the baseline 2 year mission period, AIM will collect the data needed to determine why these clouds form and vary. The measurements also include the size of the ice crystals and the level of incoming dust particles that form the condensation nuclei needed to start the cloud formation process. Moreover, the occultation instrument is for the first time, determining the composition and temperature structure of the thin atmospheric layer in which the clouds form, which is essential for understanding the microphysics that is involved. Last but not least, the imaging instrument is for the first time monitoring gravity waves from space, which are believed to play a role in causing the low temperatures of the summer hemisphere where the clouds are observed.

The Solar Occultation for Ice Experiment (SOFIE) provides temperature and composition measurements in the thin (~7 km) layer where the clouds form, and the quality of the data far exceeds expectations. This instrument is also providing measurements of cosmic smoke coming into the atmosphere. With the four telescopes of the Cloud Imaging Photometer Spectrometer (CIPS), images are collected with unprecedented resolution. The Cosmic Dust Experiment (CDE) was designed to complement the SOFIE and CIPS measurements by providing information on the dust particles impinging on the atmosphere from outer space. These cosmic dust particles are believed to evaporate and then coagulate to form the cosmic smoke in the PMC layer. The CDE instrument is providing very good quality data now on dust input to the atmosphere for particles larger than 0.1 micrometers. The AIM measurements are also supported by model simulations. At the past AGU meeting in San Francisco 14 papers were presented describing the scientific results and 12 articles are in the formal journal review process.

A problem with the AIM mission has been S/C receiver uplink bitlock which is needed to send commands. Presently, bitlock occurs only about 20% of the time, but there has been little to no mission impact as a result of this handicap. To forestall a possible future deterioration of the commanding capabilities, the instruments are now operating autonomously. In addition, an innovative approach for commanding the spacecraft developed by AIM partner Orbital Sciences Corporation, uses a "Morse Code" technique that will allow complete spacecraft commanding independent of the bitlock capability. This system has been tested in orbit and will be operational by the end of March.

AIM Mission website: http://aim.hamptonu.edu/

 

e-POP Mission Update

submitted by Dr. William Liu, ILWS Delegate for CSA

The Enhanced Polar Outflow Probe (e-POP) mission of the Canadian Space Agency is an IT mission exploring the exospheric region where the initial acceleration of outflowing ionospheric ions takes place.

The mission science objectives of e-POP are to study

(a) plasma and atmospheric neutral outflows in the topside polar ionosphere (300-1500 km altitude),
(b) the wave generation and particle interaction associated with these outflows, and
(c) their effects on radio wave propagation.

The mission will be directed to specifically investigate:

• The detailed quantitative relationship between the solar electromagnetic (extreme ultraviolet) energy input, the photoionization of the polar region of the atmosphere, and the acceleration and outflow of the polar wind plasma and accompanying neutrals to the magnetosphere.
• The relationship between solar electrodynamic (solar wind) energy input via magnetospheric electron precipitation and convection electric field, the resulting electron impact ionization and wave particle interactions, and the plasma energization and outflow in the dayside cleft and nightside auroral ionosphere.
• Plasma density inhomogeneities over a wide range of scale sizes and micro-scale plasma instabilities, their effects on radio wave propagation, and their role in the energy and mass flow in the collisionless topside polar ionosphere.

Consisting of eight scientific instruments, the e-POP payload package will be carried by the CASSIOPE small satellite, with an expected launch date in Spring 2009.

e-POP Mission website: http://mertensiana.phys.ucalgary.ca/projectoverview.htm.

 

Geotail Mission Update

submitted by Dr. Masayoshi Fujimoto, ILWS Delegate for JAXA

Geotail has been in the orbit for more than 15 years and it is still very healthy. In January 2008, our proposal for extension of its operation has been approved by ISAS Science Steering Committee. At ISAS, Geotail will be operated at least until 2012. Since there is no foreseeable technical issue that would terminate the mission before the year, Geotail will remain to be a member of the alliance of the spacecraft that enable us to perform multi-spacecraft data analysis of the magnetospheric dynamics for the next at least several years.

Geotail would not be just one of them but would be the only spacecraft to cover the mid-tail region, which is one of the engines of the magnetospheric activity. Thus, with the other regions of the magnetosphere covered by other spacecraft, the role of Geotail is even higher than before.

The Japanese community, together with European and American friends, is heavily involved in the planning of the next-generation mission which will perform simultaneous multi-scale observations (SCOPE/Cross-Scale). Since we believe that doing the best we can with the currently available data is equally important as the future planning, we are really glad that we can support the world-wide community to step forward via providing Geotail data. On the other hand, 24 hour coverage of Geotail data relies heavily on NASA's DSN support for Geotail. Be this available or not depends on the results of the Senior Review to be held in April 2008.

Geotail Mission website: http://www.stp.isas.jaxa.jp/geotail/

 

Kaguya Mission Update

submitted by Dr. Masayoshi Fujimoto, ILWS Delegate for JAXA

Kaguya, formerly known as SELENE, is a Japanese lunar orbiter that was launched in September 2007. There are plasma (PACE, PI: Y. Saito, ISAS,JAXA) and magnetic field (LMAG, PI: H. Tsunakawa, Tokyo Inst Tech) instruments onboard. The instruments are working perfectly, providing us the data of the Moon's plasma environment and the distant magnetotail. The most exciting results obtained so far are the first detection of ions of the lunar surface origin and curious features in solar wind-Moon interaction.

Kaguya Mission website: http://www.kaguya.jaxa.jp/index_e.htm

 

New Radio Type II Burst Catalog Available Online

The CDAW Data Center announces the availability of a new catalog of type II radio bursts detected by the Radio and Plasma Waves (WAVES) experiment on board the Wind spacecraft and the associated coronal mass ejections (CMEs) observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). The catalog is available at http://cdaw.gsfc.nasa.gov/CME_list/radio/waves_type2.html

The catalog also contains information on the associated flares (X-ray importance and NOAA active region number). The CME sources are also listed, as derived from the Solar Geophysical Data listing or from inner coronal images such as Yohkoh/SXT and SOHO/EIT. The type II bursts are also linked to Javascript movies made with the radio dynamic spectrum and SOHO/LASCO/EIT images. The type II bursts are linked to three-day overview plots of solar energetic particle events (protons in the >10, >50 and >100 MeV GOES channels), GOES soft X-ray light curves, and CME height-time history.

Radio Burst Catalog Website: http://cdaw.gsfc.nasa.gov/CME_list/radio/waves_type2.html

WHI: Whole Heliosphere Interval, 21 March - 16 April, 2008 

The Whole Heliosphere Interval (WHI) is proceeding as planned with an exceptional amount of support from the international scientific community. Over 250 researchers are currently participating, and more are joining daily. Participants are providing observations and models of the Sun and heliosphere and the magnetospheric and ionospheric connections. There are special targeted campaigns to study specific features and phenomena in greater detail.

Observers and modelers can still join WHI after the campaign has been completed. The first results of WHI will be presented at a special session of the joint AGU/AAS Solar Physics Division meeting in May, and the WHI Data and Model Assessment Workshop will take place August 25 - 29, 2008 in Boulder, CO.

If you wish to learn more, please go to http://ihy2007.org/WHI/WHI.shtml. If you wish to get on the WHI mailing list, go to http://ihy2007.org/WHI/WHI_coord.shtml.

WHI website: http://ihy2007.org/WHI/