*************************** ** THE GEM MESSENGER ** *************************** Volume 7, Number 35 August 29, 1997 --------------------------- GEM proposals for Fall 1997 --------------------------- From wolf at alfven.rice.edu Fri Aug 29 14:43:48 1997 The GEM Steering Committee encourages submission of three types of NSF proposals, for the October 1997 GEM proposal deadline: 1. Projects relevant to the Inner Magnetosphere and Storms Campaign, as described in the GEM MESSENGER, vol.7, No. 31. 2. Projects dealing with Phase 1 of GGCM development, as described below in a statement from the GGCM Steering Committee. 3. Projects relevant to the ongoing Tail/Substorm Campaign, as described in reports from the GEM Tail/Substorm Workshops (available through the GEM home page, and also in more complete printed form for 1992 and 1993 from W. J. Hughes, Boston University). Dick Wolf, Chair GEM Steering Committee *** STATEMENT FROM THE GGCM STEERING COMMITTEE (George Siscoe, Chair) The GEM GGCM Campaign is in the process of carrying through an implementation plan, the first stage of which has two general objec- tives: to determine which type of GGCM to develop (modular or MHD), and to make results of existing GGCM-like codes available to the magnetospheric and ionospheric communities as early as possible, even before the GEM GGCM is completed. (The description of the implementation plan, its two objectives and their phasing is the subject of a separate GEM Newsletter article.) The first objective will be reached through grant-funded, competitive feasibility studies, the grants for which have already been awarded. The second objective will be reached through grant-funded projects under which existing models will be run with prescribed boundary conditions. These runs will provide a set of standard outputs obtained from existing, state of the art numerical models. They are for the general use of the magneto- spheric and ionospheric communities. The purpose of this notice is to offer guidelines for proposals to carry out the second GGCM objective in response to the Fall 1997 NSF GEM AO. These guidelines are for the use of people with GGCM-like codes (modular or MHD) or stand-alone modules that could be parts of such codes who are interested in compiling the outputs that their codes produce from a set of standard inputs. The standard inputs will span a set of solar wind, IMF, and ionospheric parameters that is of general interest and may also include sets of values taken from special events. The outputs should be in a form that can be readily used by a signifi- cant portion of the general magnetospheric and ionospheric research communities. We give here an example of what the GGCM Steering Committee is looking for in a proposal to generate standardized model outputs. This example might not cover all cases, but it describes a situation onto which most viable alternatives ought to be mapable, at least in princi- ple. A set of model outputs should consist of numerical values of the model's dependent and independent variables specified at the model's grid points for each of a standard set of boundary conditions. A mini- mum set of inputs should include runs with north IMF, south IMF, east IMF (west IMF is presumably the same as east IMF viewed upside- down), all with typical or average solar wind parameters, and all with physically meaningful ionospheric boundary conditions. A more com- petitive set might include one or more of the following: more IMF compass bearings; a Parker spiral IMF; time-dependent runs in which the IMF swings through various compass bearing ranges; and non-typical solar wind parameters. Proposers should indicate a willingness to provide outputs for future GEM-decided case studies, assuming that resources will be pro- vided. There is a competitive advantage in providing an interpolation algorithm to specify the model's variables at the grid points of a stan- dard grid (or better still a universal interpolation algorithm to specify the model's variables at the grid points of an arbitrary grid). The mod- el's variables can include the usual macroscopic variables used in MHD codes (or any subset thereof), or quantities derived from these variables (e.g., E, J, temperature, entropy, beta), or particle distribution functions, or other quantities that have sufficient community interest to warrant that community resources be expended to make them gener- ally available. The model domain can be the entire magnetosphere and ionosphere or some portion thereof, but it should reflect conditions appropriate to the standard set of boundary conditions mentioned above. In general, there is a high premium for spatial inclusiveness (e.g., global models), though in some cases high spatial resolution or another special feature of the model might have overriding value. The case for limited spatial coverage against global coverage must argued by the proposer. Regarding mechanisms for distributing the model outputs to the user community, there is a competitive advantage if outputs are made avail- able through the internet via a web site. Indeed, there would need to be compelling reasons not to distribute outputs through a web site. Web-site distribution will allow the outputs to be available to the user community through the GEM web site, which will have hyperlinks to the product home sites. In addition, it should be possible for users to receive graphical outputs of standard views (e.g., meridian plane, equatorial plane, and cross-sectional images of field lines, stream lines, and contour plots of standard quantities) as postscript files or gif files or files in some such commonly used format. The GGCM Steering Committee is looking for outputs from *exist- ing* models. This means that while minor code development might be necessary, the bulk of the resources should go to producing the stan- dardized outputs. Over the next six months, the GGCM Steering Committee will, in con- sultation with appropriate experts, attempt to establish standards with regard to grid, solar-wind cases, and graphics. Since these technical standards may not be determined before the GEM Proposal deadline in October, it would be advantageous for proposers to provide informa- tion about their range of flexibility on these points. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |To add name to the mailing list, send a message to: editor at igpp.ucla.edu | |For message to whole GEM mailing list, send to: gem at igpp.ucla.edu | | | |URL of GEM Home Page: http://igpp.ucla.edu/gem/Welcome.html | |Please update your e-mail address. | |CAUTION: Do not send messages to gem at igpp.ucla.edu unless you want | | your message to go to everyone in the GEM mailing list! | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+