*************************** ** THE GEM MESSENGER ** *************************** Volume 1, Number 1 October 16, 1991 --------------- Editorial Note: --------------- The GEM MESSENGER is an electronic bulletin to be sent to all interested in GEM science by the existing electronic networks. Our goal is to distribute the GEM MESSENGER at least monthly, more often if there is a need for rapid communication. We plan to include short news items on meetings and workshops, fast breaking research news, announcements of workshops, opinions, commentary and editorials and any other items of importance to the GEM community. Editorial responsibility for the GEM MESSENGER will be in the hands of the four coordinates: M. Ashour-Abdalla, C. Goertz, T. Rosenberg and C. Russell. The mail and E-mail addresses for the four coordinators may be found at the end of this message. We encourage you to distribute the GEM MESSENGER to your colleagues. If you are not now on our mailing list, please send your best E-mail address to Guan Le at guan at igpp.ucla.edu or BRUNET::GUAN. This first issue contains a report by T. Eastman on the initial workshop of the boundary layer campaign at UCLA held on September 23-25. We plan to hold working group meetings in San Francisco on Sunday, December 8. Details of these workshops will appear in the next issue of the GEM MESSENGER. C. T. Russell/UCLA --------------------------------------------------------------- GEM Boundary Layer Campaign Workshop at UCLA, Sept 23-25, 1991 --------------------------------------------------------------- The GEM Boundary Layer Campaign Workshop at UCLA was organized by Chris Russell and Maha Ashour-Abdalla of UCLA. Approximately 60 scientists attended from across the country along with several international participants. About 70 scientific and programmatic presentations were made which exposed all participants to the full range of GEM activities. The Tuesday morning panel discussion, with active audience involvement, led to the formation of five workshop subgroups that will be set up and continue through the first magnetopause and boundary layer theory campaign and cusp signature observational campaign. These subgroups are as follows: 1. Boundary Magnetic and Electric Fields (Chaired by O. de la Beaujardiere and C. Goertz) 2. Particle Entry, Boundary Structure and Transport (Chaired by P. Newell and M. Ashour-Abdalla) 3. Current Systems and Mapping (Chaired by R. Lysak and C. Russell) 4. Data Task Force (Chaired by J. Olson and T. Rosenberg) 5. Global Geospace Circulation Model (Chairs to be named later) This latter working group transcends the Boundary Layer Campaign. It will help integrate the results of all the campaign into an unified model. All interested scientists are invited to join one or more of these working groups by contacting the Chairmen. The GEM workshop and especially the panel discussion was very productive in identifying a working strategy for this early phase of the program. In addition to Global Simulation Models (GSM) which will continue to be useful baselines for comparison and which need to be developed in parallel, Progressive Modular Models (PMM) will be developed as a basis for the eventual Geospace Global Circulation Model (GGCM). Based on the GEM workshop and recent developments released at the August IAGA meeting in Vienna, George Siscoe of UCLA proposed how an initial PMM could be constructed within the next 9 to 12 months based on the following: 1. The currently available Spreiter-Stahara MHD model for solar wind and magnetosheath plasma flows, coupled with the recently reported solution of the 3D Chapman-Ferraro problem (without mass transport across the boundary) with extendable tail using boundary tiles. These inputs represent an important advance in specifying the solar wind dynamic pressure and the total magnetotail magnetic field flux. 2. Specify the normal component of the magnetic field (Bn) on the boundary tiles a la Toffoletto and Wolf of Rice Univ. (specifying Bn on a line combined with MHD permits the extension of Bn to all points on the boundary surface). 3. Specify Bn on the cross-tail current system a la Birn of LANL (self-consistent tail module just announced in Vienna). 4. Use the electric field mapping based on the Rice Univ. model as input to internal circulation, thus linking to the NCAR thermospheric and ionospheric global circulation model developed by Ray Roble, Art Richmond and colleagues. Missing pieces and existing problems were discussed and outlined as follows: 1. Initializing Bn on boundary tiles. 2. Particle entry 3. Cusp and region 1 currents; effects on mapping 4. Solution of the global "Dungey" problem (i.e., finite Bn) 5. Substorm tail dynamics 6. Plasma sources and transport 7. Interfacing problems between modules 8. Assimilation of data in the GGCM The working groups described above have been designed to address these problems by smaller teams who will be in frequent contact through email, etc. as they carry out a systematic attack on these problems for the purpose of progressively strengthening each PMM module. It was pointed out by one of the participants that if GEM is successful in its long-term goal of producing a working and useful GGCM, that our effort could be considered as an important test bed for closely coordinated, community research, taking maximum advantage of new computer networking capabilities, etc., that otherwise would require an NCAR-like central facility. One of the questions for the GEM program is "What constitutes success? What are appropriate criteria for progress?" This topic will be taken up again in later workshops although preliminary ideas included blind-prediction workshops beginning by early 1993 to provide harsh tests of the modules and full models under realistic conditions. Within the next few months, a GEM Newsletter will be initiated and sent out approximately three times per year, similar to the CEDAR POST. One suggested name for the newsletter was "The GEM Stone" although I like "The GEM Crystal" to bring out more the theme of an integrated yet multi-faceted community research effort. The campaign coordinators, will also send out GEM News Bulletins via E-mail once per month. The format and timing of future meetings was discussed. One possibility is to hold a comprehensive GEM workshop once per year, at least occasionally in conjunction with the June CEDAR meeting in Boulder to enhance coordination between the GEM and CEDAR programs. All participants appreciated the active involvement of Chet Gardner of the Univ. of Illinois, Steering Committee Chairman for CEDAR. Steering Committee membership for GEM has now been completed with Bill Lotko of Dartmouth as chairman. Based on a thorough evaluation of possibilities for international liaisons, which involved Mike Teague of the U.S. STEP Coordination Office, we have nearly finalized our GEM International Liaisons which will be documented in a forthcoming memorandum. The next announcement for the NSF GEM program will have a due date for proposals of Feb. 1 for FY92 although, in later fiscal years, the due date will be more closely linked to CEDAR (currently Nov. 1). Thus, the FY93 deadline might be set as Dec. 1 to enable the merit review process and funding decisions to occur earlier in the fiscal year. GEM is a new program with very great possibilities which is just entering into its second year; some ramp-up of support at this stage is critical. The synergism for community-based research that GEM can enable, the strong international interest shown to date (there are efforts being made now to set up something like GEM in Europe), the known possibilities for very close coordination with colleagues sponsored by NASA, NOAA/SEL, DOD/Phillips Lab., NRL, etc., and the unique NSF focus on basic research demonstrate how very special GEM really is and how this relatively small program can effectively leverage a world-wide investment in Solar-Terrestrial research of over two billion dollars in the 1990's. NSF has important research programs covering all the basic geospheres important to the Earth system: geospace, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. NASA and other mission-oriented agencies are not able to focus on basic research like NSF can. Nevertheless, these agencies support many very important activities related to GEM objectives; however, such support is always tied to some particular programmatic objective (e.g., a particular spacecraft mission). Furthermore, the program directors involved have a difficult time attending to the basic research elements of their programs when the most demanding priorities that they typically confront involve spacecraft or other large-system problems. In contrast, at NSF we can more effectively maintain our focus on basic research objectives which means that the GEM program can and, I think, will become a key player in providing a sustained focus on basic research and the goal of a quantitative model for general circulation of the Geospace environment. This will occur through strong, effective leadership for GEM combined with carefully defined and closely coordinated linkages with related research being performed both nationally and internationally (STEP, IACG, ISY, ISTP/GGS, STSP, etc.). If you are not already a GEM participant, we invite you to join the program through active participation in one of the subgroups or by other means. Please contact one of the campaign coordinators: C. Russell/UCLA, T. Rosenberg/UMd, M. Ashour-Abdalla/UCLA, or C. Goertz/UI. Questions about the overall programs or suggestions can also be addressed to Bill Lotko of Dartmouth College, Steering Committee chairman, or to the NSF Program Office. Tim Eastman/NSF teastman at note.nsf.gov ------------- Coordinators: ------------- Observations: C.T.Russell IGPP/UCLA Los Angeles, CA 90024-1567 Telephone: (213)825-3188 Fax: (213)206-3051 E-mail: ctrussell at igpp.ucla.edu (internet) brunet::ctrussell (SPAN) T. J. Rosenberg IPST University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742-2341 Telephone: (301)405-4895 Fax: (301)314-9363 E-mail: umduap::rosenberg (SPAN) Theory: C. K. Goertz Dept. of Physics & Astronomy The University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa 52242 Telephone: (319)335-1880 Fax: (319)335-1753 E-mail: iowa::goertz (SPAN) M. Ashour-Abdalla IGPP/UCLA Los Angeles, CA 90024-1567 Telephone: (213)825-8881 Fax: (213)206-3051 E-mail: ucsx::mabdalla (SPAN)