NAM 2015 session on space weather

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.

Lucie Green, Mike Hapgood, Mario Bisi and Deb Baker

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.