*************************** ** THE GEM MESSENGER ** *************************** Volume 18, Number 18 May 27, 2008 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Solicitation of Contributions to the "Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling, Electrodynamics and Transport" (MICET) Focus Group at the GEM 2008 Summer Workshop ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bill Lotko and Josh Semeter We invite contributions to the MICET focus group at the upcoming GEM workshop in Zermatt Resort, UT on June 22-27, 2008. See http://www.cpe.vt.edu/gem/index.html for workshop information and schedule. Please send the title(s) and session(s) of your contribution(s) to us at your earliest convenience at the email addresses listed above. The MICET sessions will be conducted in workshop style to ensure ample time for discussion. Participants are asked to provoke discussion by presenting a (few) slides on one or more of the key issues relevant to the Focus Group. Two breakout sessions will be held on Monday, one in conjunction with the "Plasma Entry and Transport into and within the Magnetotail (PET)" Focus Group, with the possibility of a third session on Tuesday afternoon if interest is sufficient and a breakout room is available. ______________ Session 1 - "MI coupling and magnetotail transport" (joint with the PET) Time: Monday 10:30 am - 12:15 pm Room: Grindelwald Topics: Heavy ions of ionospheric origin can at times be the dominant contributor to the mass density in the plasma sheet. Plasma sheet transport processes also exhibit signatures in the ionosphere that can be used to constrain plasma sheet transport models. Core topics include: (a) the ionosphere as a source of plasma sheet populations and determining the heavy ion distribution in the plasma sheet for various IMF conditions; (b) signatures of plasma sheet transport processes in the ionosphere (e.g. are there signatures of plasma sheet turbulence in the ionosphere?); and (c) the effect of ionospheric/heavy ions on plasma sheet transport and solar wind entry. ______________ Session 2 - "MI coupling: New measurements, new models, new methods" Time: Monday, 1:30 - 3:00 pm Room: Grindelwald Topics: The modeling and observational characterization of MI coupling is complicated by the fact that MI coupling processes are locally enabled while being globally regulated and impressed. Examples of this dichotomy in the physics include a) local auroral and cusp plasma energization regulated by solar wind-magnetosphere dynamo processes and ionospheric state; b) local values of ionospheric conductance and field-aligned currents globally influencing MI electrodynamics via the solution to the ionospheric Poisson equation; c) scale-interactive feedback dynamics that modify dissipation in the ionosphere and low-altitude magnetosphere; and d) influence of heavy ion outflows on reconnection rates and ring-current dynamics. We would like to hear from participants on innovative measurements, models and methods for characterizing these and other relevant processes in MI coupling. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |To subscribe GEM Messengers, send an e-mail to | | with the following command in the body of your e-mail message: | | subscribe gem | |To remove yourself from the mailing list, the command is: | | unsubscribe gem | | | |To broadcast a message to the GEM community, please contact Peter Chi at | | | |Please use plain text as the format of your submission. | | | |Workshop Information: http://www.cpe.vt.edu/gem/index.html | |GEM Wiki Page: http://aten.igpp.ucla.edu/gemwiki | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+