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			 **   THE GEM MESSENGER   **
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						     Volume 14, Number 33
						     June 29, 2004

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Global Interaction Campaign
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From: David Sibeck <david.g.sibeck@nasa.gov>

The GEM program announces the start of a new initiative, the Global 
Interaction (GI) Campaign, to focus upon the processes by which solar 
wind plasma is energized and transported into the Earths magnetosphere 
to form the plasma sheet. The campaign will initially address the solar 
wind entry sites and processes leading to the formation of hot tenuous 
and cold dense plasma sheets. The entry sites include the cusp, high- 
and low-latitude boundary layers and the candidate processes include 
(but are not limited to) reconnection, the non-linear Kelvin-Helmholtz 
instability, and wave-induced diffusion. The campaign will ultimately be 
judged on the basis of its ability to provide accurate predictions of 
plasma sheet parameters as a function of the solar wind conditions. 
Consequently, comparisons of model output with in situ field and particle
(including composition) and remote (optical, ground-based) observations 
are a fundamental component of the campaign. To ensure that such data and 
modeling comparisons occur, proposals for balanced research teams that
address topics of interest to the campaign are encouraged.

The GI campaign will work closely, and host joint workshops, with the 
Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling and Inner Magnetosphere Campaigns. It 
will be the responsibility of the MI Coupling Campaign to provide the 
information needed for the GI campaign to assess the relative importance 
of ionospheric plasma in plasma sheet formation. It will be the 
responsibility of the Inner Magnetosphere campaign to define those 
characteristics of the plasma sheet that are of most interest to 
radiation belt modelers. GEM proposals, including those for the GI 
Campaign, will be due at the NSF on October 15, 2004. With approximately
$400K in new funding expected, the Campaign should be able to support the 
selection of ~2-4 new proposals each year. Researchers considering 
proposing are encouraged to contact Kile Baker at the NSF (kbaker@nsf.gov).
Campaign coordinators are D. G. Sibeck and T. D. Phan. The chairmen of 
Working Group 1 are J. Berchem, N. Omidi, and  K.-H. Trattner. The 
chairmen of Working Group 2 are T. Onsager and A. Otto.

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