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			 **   THE GEM MESSENGER   **
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						         Volume 17, Number 1
						            January 30, 2007
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Call for GEM Participation in Joint Assembly Special Session:
"The Role of the Plasmasphere and Plasmapause in Ionospheric and 
Magnetospheric Dynamics"
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From: Jerry Goldstein <jgoldstein at swri.edu>

Participation from the GEM community in the following special session at the 
upcoming Joint Assembly is especially welcome.  This special session offers 
a forum to discuss some of the questions that remain after the completion of 
the Inner Magnetosphere / Storms Campaign.  Our special AGU session will 
follow the style and format of GEM sessions.  Our special session will be 
intentionally informal, with short presentations followed by open discussion 
time.

For our session, we seek contributions:

1.  Of recent theoretical, observational or modeling studies that 
demonstrate and clarify the roles of the plasmasphere and plasmapause in 
ionospheric and magnetospheric processes.  

2.  Presentations discussing and comparing various plasmapause measurements 
and location techniques. 

3.  Papers exploring the relationship of the plasmasphere to the radiation 
belts and their variability.

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The Role of the Plasmasphere and Plasmapause in Ionospheric and 
Magnetospheric Dynamics
Conveners:
Phil Anderson, Dan Baker, Jerry Goldstein, Mark Moldwin

Special session at the Spring AGU (Joint Assembly) 
    being held 22-25 May in Acapulco, Mexico

Session Description:
The plasmasphere & plasmapause play important roles in a variety of 
ionospheric and magnetospheric processes, both directly and indirectly. 
Recent observations have shown the direct connection of the plasmasphere to 
mid-latitude ionospheric density enhancements, ring current loss during 
storms, modulation of the coupling of the solar wind to the magnetosphere 
due to mass-loading effects, and the location of the inner edge of the outer 
radiation belt. The dynamic plasmasphere region can exhibit considerable 
structure, due to MHD turbulence, while the location of the plasmapause 
varies significantly with changing geophysical conditions and changing 
magnetospheric convection. The location of the plasmapause is a crucial 
factor in many basic coupling processes, in particular the energization and 
loss of radiation belt particles. This is a particularly important issue 
with the advent of the upcoming Radiation Belt Storm Probe missions.

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