STCE Newsletter

15 Jun 2015 - 21 Jun 2015

Published by the STCE - this issue : 25 Jun 2015.
The Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence (STCE) is a collaborative network of the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, the Royal Observatory of Belgium and the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium.
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1. First proton event of 2015
2. Review of solar activity (15 Jun 2015 - 21 Jun 2015)
3. Noticeable Solar Events (15 Jun 2015 - 21 Jun 2015)
4. PROBA2 Observations (15 Jun 2015 - 21 Jun 2015)
5. Review of geomagnetic activity (15 Jun 2015 - 21 Jun 2015)
6. Geomagnetic Observations at Dourbes (15 Jun 2015 - 21 Jun 2015)
7. Review of ionospheric activity (15 Jun 2015 - 21 Jun 2015)
8. Future Events

First proton event of 2015


Proton events have already been discussed in earlier news items, such as on 13 January 2014 (http://www.stce.be/news/233/welcome.html) and on 16 August 2012 (http://www.stce.be/news/154/welcome.html). It concerns solar eruptions associated with a strong increase in the flux of particles with energies of 10 MeV or more (Note 1). Once this proton flux exceeds the pre-established threshold of 10 pfu (Note 2), it is considered a proton event, if not it is labeled a proton flux enhancement.
As the related particles can have very high energies, they constitute a radiation threat to astronauts, in particular during their extra-vehicular activities (space walks). They can also increase the radiation dose of the crew and passengers on transpolar flights, and can cause communication problems over the polar areas (the so-called "Polar Cap Absorption"). These particles also give satellites a hard time. They can create malfunctions in the onboard electronic circuitry, degrade solar panel efficiency, and increase the noise in star-tracking systems.




So far this year, no proton events had been observed. This changed on 18 June. In response to an M1.2 flare peaking at 01:27UT, the proton flux started to increase 3 hours later, and passed the event threshold at 11:35UT. The maximum was reached at 14:45UT, and concerned a minor event, as the flux attained only 16 pfu. The event ended the next day at 02:30UT. The graph above displays the evolution of the proton flux and the x-ray flux as measured by the GOES-satellites.




The source of the proton event was NOAA 2365, a decaying sunspot region that had just rounded the southwest limb. Despite its location, the magnetic field lines were well connected to Earth, allowing easy spiraling of the energetic particles to our planet. The associated coronal mass ejection (CME) was not directed to Earth, but was quite impressive in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) imagery. This movie at https://youtu.be/uCDyaJZtoqM first provides a full sun clip and a zoom in SDO/AIA 304 (temperature of about 80.000 degrees).






It is followed by a multi-temperature view from SDO (AIA 171 in yellow, AIA 131 in blue) overlaid on the wide field-of-view from the PROBA2/SWAP camera. This gives a view of the event in hotter temperatures around 1 million degrees. There's also a zoom on the complex arcade, i.e. a complex series of post-eruption coronal loops (see images above). The movie concludes with a clip of the CME as seen by SOHO's coronagraphs.




This was not only the first proton event in 2015, it was the first event since 11 September last year. In between, there have been quite a few proton flux enhancements, such as e.g. on 16 March 2015 (8 pfu). On 2 November 2014 (11 pfu) and on 23 December 2014 (14 pfu), the event threshold of 10 pfu was actually passed, but the flux increases still did not qualify as true proton events. Indeed, the start of a proton event is defined to be the first of 3 consecutive data points with fluxes greater than or equal to 10 pfu. In both cases, the flux never satisfied the criterion of 3 *consecutive* data points, with resp. only a few separated data points and one data point above 10 pfu (see graphs below). The full list of proton events can be found at http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/SEP/




Note 1 - 10 MeV = 10 million eV. The eV (electron volt) is a very tiny amount of energy corresponding to about 0.16 billionth of a billionth of a Joule. For comparison, a flying mosquito has a kinetic energy of about a trillion eV (= 1000 billion eV).


Note 2 - pfu: proton flux unit. This is the number of particles registered per second, per square cm, and per steradian.


Credits - Data and imagery for the movie clips were taken from SDO (http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/aiahmi/), SOHO/LASCO (http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/home.html), and PROBA2/SWAP (http://proba2.oma.be/ssa).

Review of solar activity (15 Jun 2015 - 21 Jun 2015)


Last week, solar activity evolved from quiet to moderate. No less than 41 C-class and 7 M-class flares were recorded over the period. The first two days, the flaring was restricted to regular low-level C-class flares from active regions (AR) NOAA 2360 and 2368, which were both rounding the west limb, and from NOAA 2371 which was approaching over the east limb.






NOAA 2365 and 2367, the two most prominent regions on the solar disk at the start of the week, remained initially rather quiet except for an M1.2 flare from active region NOAA 2365 on 18 June when this sunspot group was right at the west limb. The M1.2 flare was associated with a west-bound coronal mass ejection (CME) and was the likely source of a minor proton event at Earth with the 10 MeV proton level passing the event threshold from 11:35UT till 02:30UT (19 June).




By the mid of the week, AR NOAA 2371 had rounded the east limb. Having produced already most of the C-class flares early in the week, it proved to be a big and complex region taking over the scene for most of the remainder of the week. It produced a long duration M3.0 flare peaking on 18 June at 17:36UT, which was associated with an asymmetric full halo CME, from which a glancing blow was expected and recorded on 21 June. This was followed by an eruption along a filament channel in the southeast quadrant on 19 June. Though the associated partial halo CME seemed to be directed mainly south off the Sun-Earth line, a glancing blow was expected and recorded on 22 June. The arrival of both shock fronts is also considered to be the likely source of a renewed increase of the 10 MeV proton levels, passing the event threshold late on 21 June.




During the early hours of 21 June, a long duration double peaked M2.0-M2.6 flare from AR NOAA 2371 (almost at disk centre at that time) triggered an almost perfectly symmetric full halo CME. The first appearance in SoHO/LASCO C2 images was at 02:36UT, with measured projected speeds around 1000-1300 km/s. The CME was definitely earthbound with arrival expected and recorded during the afternoon hours of 22 June. Finally, AR NOAA 2367 seemed to awaken again and produced the largest flare of the period, an M3.8 flare peaking on 21 June at 09:44UT.



Noticeable Solar Events (15 Jun 2015 - 21 Jun 2015)


DAY BEGIN MAX END LOC XRAY OP 10CM TYPE Cat NOAA
18 0033 0127 0155 M1.2 CTM/1VI/1 85 2365
18 1630 1736 1825 N15E50 M3.0 1N 2200 III/1IV/2 92 2371
20 0628 0648 0709 N13E25 M1.0 1F CTM/1 92 2371
21 0102 0142 0200 N12E13 M2.0 1N 100 VI/2II/2IV/2 92 2371
21 0938 0944 0950 S21W57 M3.8 2B 120 CTM/1IV/1 87 2367
21 0206 0236 0302 M2.6 490 II/2IV/2 92 2371
21 1810 1820 1828 S18W64 M1.1 SF 87 2367


LOC: approximate heliographic location TYPE: radio burst type
XRAY: X-ray flare class Cat: Catania sunspot group number
OP: optical flare class NOAA: NOAA active region number
10CM: peak 10 cm radio flux

PROBA2 Observations (15 Jun 2015 - 21 Jun 2015)


Solar Activity


Solar flare activity ranged from low to moderate during the week.


To view this weeks activity in more detail, we suggest you visit the following website: http://proba2.oma.be/ssa, from which all the daily (normal and difference) movies of the Sun can be accessed. This page also lists the recorded flaring events.


A weekly overview movie can be found here: http://proba2.sidc.be/swap/data/mpg/movies/weekly_movies/weekly_movie_2015_06_15.mp4 (SWAP week 273).

Details about some of this week’s events:


The Sun showed little signs of solar activity early in the week. At 01:27 UT on June 18th AR 2365 produced an M1.2 just off of the West limb. At 17:36 UT on June 18th a newly emerged AR 2371 produced a strong M3.0 flare (following a series of C-flares earlier in the week). The flare was associated with a partial-halo CME.


On June 21st, AR 2371 produced two M-class flares in quick succession (M2.0/M2.6). One of these events produced an Earth-directed full halo CME. However, due to the temporal proximity of the flares it is difficult to a determine which was responsible. Also on June 21st at 09:44 UT, AR 2367, just off the West limb, produced the strongest flare of the week (M3.8).


Below we provide SWAP images of each of the M-­flares. These annotated snapshots are produced by the Solar Feature Automated Search Tool (SoFAST). This tool detects dynamic solar events in EUV images from SWAP in near real­-time. More info on SoFAST can be found here: http://www.sidc.be/sofast. We also include an irradiance figure of the double flare event produced on June 21st. The curve was produced by LYRA data, which can also be found on the above mentioned ssa website.


Thursday Jun 18:

M1.2 flare peaking around 01h27



M3.0 flare peaking around 17h36



Sunday Jun 21:


(double peaking flare)
M2.0 flare peaking around 01h42
M2.6 flare peaking around 02h36





M3.8 flare peaking around 09h44


Review of geomagnetic activity (15 Jun 2015 - 21 Jun 2015)


At the start of the week, the solar wind conditions were determined by the influence of a high speed stream from a positive coronal hole with a peak velocity of around 625 km/s. The influence declined steadily over the remainder of the week, with the solar wind speed dropping as low as 280 km/s and a total magnetic field of only 2nT.


Geomagnetic activity reflected the same trend, with the high speed stream causing at most active geomagnetic conditions at the start of the week and easing to quiet conditions towards the end of the period. Then, during the afternoon of 21 June at 15:40UT, a shock was detected at ACE marking the expected glancing blow from the 18 June CME. The effects remained restricted to some active geomagnetic episodes.



Geomagnetic Observations at Dourbes (15 Jun 2015 - 21 Jun 2015)



Review of ionospheric activity (15 Jun 2015 - 21 Jun 2015)




The figure shows the time evolution of the Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) (in red) during the last week at three locations:
a) in the northern part of Europe(N61°, 5°E)
b) above Brussels(N50.5°, 4.5°E)
c) in the southern part of Europe(N36°, 5°E)
This figure also shows (in grey) the normal ionospheric behaviour expected based on the median VTEC from the 15 previous days.


The VTEC is expressed in TECu (with TECu=10^16 electrons per square meter) and is directly related to the signal propagation delay due to the ionosphere (in figure: delay on GPS L1 frequency).
The Sun's radiation ionizes the Earth's upper atmosphere, the ionosphere, located from about 60km to 1000km above the Earth's surface.The ionization process in the ionosphere produces ions and free electrons. These electrons perturb the propagation of the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) signals by inducing a so-called ionospheric delay.


See http://stce.be/newsletter/GNSS_final.pdf for some more explanations ; for detailed information, see http://gnss.be/ionosphere_tutorial.php

Future Events


For more details, see http://www.spaceweather.eu/en/event/future


National Astronomy Meeting 2015 in Llandudno, UK

Start : 2015-07-05 - End : 2015-07-09
We would like to invite you to submit contributed abstracts to the parallel session "The science of space weather: progressing our understanding" at the 2015 UK National Astronomy Meeting from 5-9 July (http://nam2015.org). The abstract-submission deadline is 1 April 2015. Observers, modellers, and theoreticians are all welcome. We also welcome participation from end users interested in how the science of space weather is advancing.
The science of space weather: progressing our understanding
The goal of this session is to provide an opportunity to discuss the scientific research that underpins space weather and how a new generation of operational space weather measurements could best be utilised to further progress our understanding. Specific topics are likely to include 1) gaps in our understanding of space weather and how to resolve them, 2) new space and ground-based data that are needed, 3) new science that can be carried out with the operational space weather measurements being planned today.
This session is motivated by the fact that the UK has a strong heritage in the science of the coupled Sun-Earth system, from both an observational and theoretical perspective. This research is increasingly being applied to the area of space weather monitoring and forecasting, a topic that is now nationally recognised as an important natural hazard for the UK (highly ranked in the National Risk Register) and the subsequent opening of the Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre in 2014.
Up until now, both the research and the space weather monitoring and forecasting have utilised mainly data from instrumentation (both space- and ground-based) designed to answer pertinent scientific questions, though some operational instruments (e.g. the X-ray and particle detectors on NOAA's GOES spacecraft) are also widely exploited for scientific use. However, there is now growing interest in deploying more instruments, in space and on the ground, designed to support operational space weather services. Such operational measurements can facilitate new science, as demonstrated by the extensive research use of GOES data, but it is important that the limitations imposed by operational needs are discussed.
Website: http://nam2015.org/


CISM Space Weather Summer School in Boulder, CO, USA

Start : 2015-07-13 - End : 2015-07-24
The CISM Summer School is intended to give students a comprehensive immersion in the subject of space weather: what it is, what it does, and what can be done about it. Space weather is many things: beautiful when seen through the eyes of a sun-viewing telescope, fascinating when studied for its alien worlds of magnetic structures and phenomena, awesome when witnessed as a solar eruption or auroral storm, and devastating to the users of services it disrupts. Space weather links the Sun, the Earth, and the space in between in a branching chain of consequences. Weather systems on the Sun can spawn interplanetary storms of colossal size and energy that envelop the whole planet in electrical hurricanes. Such storms attack high-tech, complex, and expensive technological systems that provide much of the infrastructure that allows modern society to function.
Website:
https://www2.hao.ucar.edu/Events/2015-CISM-Summer-School


Loops7: Heating of the Magnetically Closed Corona in Cambridge, UK

Start : 2015-07-21 - End : 2015-07-23
The conference will review past and recent achievements, as well as future challenges in the field of solar coronal loop physics.
Website:
http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/astro/cl7/index.html


Heliophysics Summer Schoool 2015: Seasons in Space: Cycles of variability of Sun-Planet systems, in Boulder, CO, USA

Start : 2015-07-28 - End : 2015-08-04
Heliophysics is all of the science common to the field of the Sun-Earth connections. This fast-developing field of research covers many traditional sub-disciplines of space physics, astrophysics, and climate studies. The NASA Living with a Star program, with its focus on the basic science underlying all aspects of space weather, acts as a catalyst to bring the many research disciplines together to deepen our understanding of the system of systems formed by the Sun-Earth connection.
Website:
http://www.heliophysics.ucar.edu/


34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC) in The Hague, The Netherlands

Start : 2015-07-30 - End : 2015-08-06
The 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC) will be held from July 30 to August 6, 2015, in The Hague, The Netherlands. It is an important and large conference in the field of Astroparticle Physics. The ICRC covers: cosmic-ray physics, solar and heliospheric physics, gamma-ray astronomy, neutrino astronomy, and dark matter physics.
Website: http://icrc2015.nl


SOLARNET III / HELAS VII: The Sun, the stars, and solar-stellar relations, in Freiburg (Germany)

Start : 2015-08-31 - End : 2015-09-04
The purpose of this conference is to discuss the latest questions and results in solar and stellar physics. Solar and stellar seismology will be one particular focus but contributions on all aspects of solar-stellar relations will be welcome. We aim to establish links and synergies between the day- and night-time fields of astrophysics.
Website:
http://www.iac.es/congreso/solarnet-3meeting/


1st Joint Solar Probe Plus-Solar Orbiter Workshop, in Florence (Italy)

Start : 2015-09-02 - End : 2015-09-04
The Workshop will address how the joint exploration of the corona and inner heliosphere will lead to advances in our understanding of coronal heating and solar wind acceleration, the magnetic and plasma structure of the heliosphere, and the acceleration of energetic particles at shocks and flares. The workshop will inspire research that will make use of SO and SPP observations within the context of the NASA Heliophysics Observatory System and identify key areas for preparatory research. Synergistic observations from other ground based and space based assets will also be addressed.
Website:
http://www.solarprobeplus.org/2015/


International Workshop and School on Solar System plasma in Mamaia, Romania

Start : 2015-09-06 - End : 2015-09-13
The International Workshop and School on solar system plasma turbulence, intermittency and multifractals (STORM 2015) focus on the quantitative experimental, theoretical and numerical investigation of turbulence, intermittency, fractal/multifractal features, waves and coherent structures interaction, criticality and non-linear cross-scale coupling. As widely documented by in-situ satellite measurements and remote or ground-based observations, turbulence, intermittency and dynamical complexity are quite ubiquitous processes observed in the dynamics of solar, planetary and interplanetary plasmas, as well as in the dynamical evolution of proxies linked to magnetospheric and ionospheric variability.
Unfolding the spatio-temporal structure of magnetic field and plasma fluctuations from experimental observations and numerical simulations provides further insight on the structure of plasma turbulence and intermittency. On the theoretical side, the understanding of such complex dynamical behavior cannot be simply surmised from the basic fluid/kinetic equations, but instead requires novel theoretical, experimental and data analysis approaches. The workshop is a forum to present and discuss latest results in these fields. The purpose of the school is to give to a young audience of Graduate, Ph.D. students, and postdoc scientists, which ideally represents the next generation of scholars in the physics of space plasmas, an overall view of both theoretical and data analysis tools apt to fully exploit unique and unprecedented observations that will be provided by future upcoming mission like Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe Plus.
Website:
http://www.spacescience.ro/conferences/storm2015/


3rd UK-Ukraine-Spain meeting on solar physics and space science in Lviv, Ukraine

Start : 2015-09-07 - End : 2015-09-11
The meeting will cover various aspects of solar physics and space weather related processes. The special emphasis will be paid to progress in data-driven simulations and high-resolution spectro-polarimetry as powerful diagnostic techniques to unravel information about magnetic fields in the photosphere and chromosphere of the Sun.
Website:
http://ssg.group.shef.ac.uk/Conferences/Ukraine_UK_2015/index.html


Summer School on Computational Solar and Astrophysical Modeling in Juelich, Germany

Start : 2015-09-14 - End : 2015-09-18
This summer school will acquaint a generation of young researchers (advanced master students, PhDs, and junior postdoctoral researchers) to modern open-source software efforts adapted to High Performance Computing platforms, with a deliberate focus on hands-on sessions. In these sessions, participants will work with three different open-source software packages, learn about their typical applications and evaluate their performance aspects on massively parallel systems.
Website:
http://www.fz-juelich.de/ias/jsc/EN/Expertise/Workshops/Conferences/CSAM-2015/_node.html


Hinode 9 - International Science Meeting in Belfast, UK

Start : 2015-09-14 - End : 2015-09-18
Hinode is a solar satellite funded jointly by JAXA, NASA, ESA and STFC/UKSA that has entered its ninth year of operations. It has had a major impact across many areas of solar physics and facilitated many fundamental discoveries. These findings are documented in over 850 papers in the refereed literature and hundreds of papers in conference proceedings. With 96 refereed publications in 2013 and more than 81 papers in 2014, Hinode has remained scientifically highly productive. A non-exhaustive list indicates over 100 students globally who are undertaking or have completed PhDs using Hinode data. With the Solar Orbiter on the horizon, there is a good chance that the two missions will operate at the same time. The meeting will help the solar physics community to maximise the science return from the Orbiter.
Website:
https://star.pst.qub.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php/public/hinode9/start


RADECS-2015 in Moscow, Russia

Start : 2015-09-14 - End : 2015-09-18
The aim of RADECS conferences is to provide an annual European forum for the presentation and discussion of the latest advances in the field of radiation effects on electronic and photonic materials, devices, circuits, sensors, and systems. The scope of the conference encompasses technological processes and design techniques for producing radiation tolerant systems for space, aeronautical or terrestrial applications, as well as relevant methodologies for their characterization and qualification. The conference features a technical program, an Industrial Exhibition, and one day tutorial or "short course" on radiation effects. The technical program includes oral and poster sessions and round tables.
Website:
http://www.radecs2015.org/


Multi-wavelength Studies of the Solar Atmosphere: Celebrating the Career of Costas Alissandrakis in in Ioannina, Greece

Start : 2015-09-21 - End : 2015-09-24
On the occasion of the forthcoming retirement of Prof. Costas Alissandrakis, we organize an international solar physics conference as a tribute to his career. Speakers will address the present state of knowledge of topics that include: The quiet Sun; Coronal/chromospheric heating; Solar magnetic fields; Active regions; Flares; Coronal mass ejections; and Shocks.
Website: http://solar15.uoi.gr/


Heliospheric physical processes for understanding Solar-Terrestrial Relations in L'Aquila, Italie

Start : 2015-09-21 - End : 2015-09-26
A good understanding of solar-terrestrial processes is fundamental to modelling the influence of solar variability on the Earth's environment and climate. To capture all the physical aspects of the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere-atmosphere interaction, and also the impact of solar variability on climate, the Sun-Earth system has to be studied as a whole. The main purpose of this school is to provide graduate, PhD students and also young post-doc researchers with a global view of the main physical processes by which solar variability affects the Earth's environment. In addition, an overview of different data analysis and methods for describing solar-terrestrial relations will be given. The school will provide a mix of lectures and activities requiring students participation.
Website:
http://www.cifs-isss.org/


Ground-based Solar Observations in the Space Instrumentation Era in Coimbra, Portugal

Start : 2015-10-05 - End : 2015-10-09
This CSPM-2015 scientific meeting will cover various aspects of solar dynamic and magnetic phenomena which are observed over the entire electromagnetic spectrum: white-light, Hα, Ca II, and radio from ground and in a variety of other wavelengths (white light, UV and EUV, and X-rays) from space. Emphasis will also be placed on instrumentation, observing techniques, and solar image processing techniques, as well as theory and modelling through detailed radiative transfer in increasingly realistic MHD models. The long-term (cyclic) evolution of solar magnetism and its consequence for the solar atmosphere, eruptive phenomena, solar irradiation variations, and space weather, will be in focus. Here, special attention will be devoted to the long-term observations made in Coimbra and also to the results of the SPRING / SOLARNET and SCOSTEP VarSITI studies. In particular, the weak solar activity during the current solar maximum will be discussed. Finally, since this meeting is organised around the 90th anniversary of performing the first spectroheliographic observations in Coimbra, a session will be specially dedicated to new solar instruments (both ground-based and space-borne) that will give access to unexplored solar atmospheric features and dynamic phenomena over the coming years.
Website:
http://www.mat.uc.pt/~cspm2015/


AMS-02 Energetic Particle Workshop in Hawaii, USA

Start : 2015-10-18 - End : 2015-10-24
The workshop aims to bring together experts in the field of cosmic rays and solar energetic particles with an additional focus on their propagation inside the heliosphere and their interaction with the magnetosphere. The talks will present the most recent results related to solar energetic particles (SEPs), solar modulation, space radiation and related phenomena.
Website:
http://www.phys.hawaii.edu/ams02/pages/workshop.php


Third Remote Sensing of the Inner Heliosphere and Space Weather Applications Workshop in Morelai, Michoacan (Mexico)

Start : 2015-10-19 - End : 2015-10-23
The workshop aims to gather experts from the various fields of remote­ sensing observations of the inner heliosphere, including white­ light, EUV, and radio observation, together with modellers in order to tackle key outstanding science and space­ weather operational issues, establish closer working relations, and devise the best ways to move the field forward as a whole. In addition, the science learned from remote ­sensing observations is critical to improving our capabilities of space­ weather forecasting. The workshop aims to look at ways in which we can more easily and efficiently share and access the various types of data between individual groups and sub­communities and to officially launch the IPS Common Data Format v1.0 (IPSCDFv1.0) now in use. It also aims to allow investigations into ways in which we model the inner heliosphere looking at the advantages and disadvantages of the available modelling, updates on present and future remote­sensing capabilities, and investigating further the ways in which these data sets all complement each other and are necessary to gain knowledge and understanding of the fundamental physical processes that occur within the inner heliosphere. These are critical processes that are key to both Heliophysics science as well as to space­weather operations and forecasting.
Website:
http://www.sciesmex.unam.mx/workshop2015/


12th Potsdam Thinkshop in Potsdam, Germany

Start : 2015-10-26 - End : 2015-10-29
In the tradition of the series of »Potsdam Thinkshops«, we invite instrument specialists, observers, modellers, and theorists to exchange ideas, to stimulate discussion, to initiate future collaborations among participants, and to attract new users of instruments by showcasing the capabilities. The aim is to make progress towards a comprehensive description of solar eruptive events effectively aggregating their global properties as well as their highly dynamic fine structure.
Website:
https://thinkshop.aip.de/12/cms/


SEST/MiniMax Workshop in Mexico City, Mexico

Start : 2015-10-26 - End : 2015-10-30
The workshop is to improve the scientific understanding of the origin and propagation of solar transients, and develop the prediction capacity of these transients' arrival and potential impact on the Earth. The workshop engages coordinated international activities in observation, theory and modeling, and involves scientists in both developed and developing countries, and provides an online platform for educational opportunities for students.
Website:
http://cintli.geofisica.unam.mx/congreso/


2015 Sun-Climate Symposium in Savannah, Georgia, USA

Start : 2015-11-10 - End : 2015-11-13
Observations of the Sun and Earth from space have revolutionized our view and understanding about impacts of solar variability and anthropogenic forcing on Earth climate. For more than three solar cycles since 1978, the total and spectral solar irradiance (TSI and SSI) and global terrestrial atmosphere/surface have been observed continuously, enabling unprecedented quality data for Sun-climate studies. The primary objective of this symposium is to convene climate scientists, solar physicists, and experimentalists together for a better understanding how Earth climate system changes and responds to solar variability.
Website: http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/sorce/news-events/meetings/2015-sun-climate-symposium/


European Space Weather Week in Ostend, Belgium

Start : 2015-11-23 - End : 2015-11-27
The European Space Weather Week (ESWW) is the European forum for Space Weather users, forecasters, scientists and the involved industries, as proven by the high attendance to the ESWW 11 in November 2014.
The ESWW 12 will be held in Belgium in November, 23-27, 2015 and its organisation has already started and is benefiting from the experience and inputs from the past editions.
Website: http://stce.be/esww12/


AGU Chapman Conference on Currents in Geospace and Beyond in Dubrovnik, Croatia

Start : 2016-05-22 - End : 2016-05-27
Electric currents are fundamental to the structure and dynamics of space plasmas, including our own near-Earth space environment (also called "geospace"). This recognition is one of the great achievements in space research, going back to the beginning of the last century. With the current multi-spacecraft missions, such as Cluster, THEMIS and Swarm, we have unprecedented opportunities to unravel many of the intriguing puzzles about electric currents.
The conference will provide a forum in which various space science communities can come together to discuss recent achievements of observational, theoretical, and modelling studies. The emphasis will be on cross-disciplinary science sessions.
Website:
http://chapman.agu.org/spacecurrents/general-informationabout-conference/


41st COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Istanbul, Turkey

Start : 2016-07-30 - End : 2016-08-07
The 41st COSPAR Scientific Assembly will be held in Istanbul, Turkey from 30 July - 7 August 2016. This Assembly is open to all bona fide scientists.
Website:
https://www.cospar-assembly.org/


IAU Symposium 327: Fine Structure and Dynamics of the Solar Atmosphere in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia

Start : 2016-10-09 - End : 2016-10-13
The scientific goal of this symposium is to discuss recent results on the processes shaping the structure of the solar atmosphere and driving plasma eruptions and explosive events. Activity of the solar atmosphere entails numerous multi-scale processes. State-of-the-art solar instrumentation is revealing the dynamics of the Sun with unprecedented temporal and spatial resolutions. Together with advanced numerical simulations these investigations are making new steps in our understanding of the complex dynamical structure of the solar atmosphere.
Major unsolved problems of astrophysics such as how the solar corona is heated and how the solar wind and heliosphere are powered have their roots in the origin of small-scale magnetic fields constituting the Sun's 'magnetic carpet' in the photosphere and appearing as 'magnetic canopy' in the chromosphere.
Website:
http://www.iau.org/science/meetings/future/symposia/1160/