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			 **   THE GEM MESSENGER   **
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                                                        Volume 19, Number 13
                                                                May 28, 2009
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Solicitation of contributions to the "Near Earth Magnetosphere: Plasma,
fields and coupling" GEM Focus Group
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From: Focus Group co-chairs: Sorin Zaharia <szaharia at lanl.gov>, 
      Stan Sazykin <sazykin at rice.edu> and 
      Benoit Lavraud <Benoit.Lavraud at cesr.fr>
 
We would like to invite potential contributors to the Near Earth
Magnetosphere: Plasma, Fields and Coupling Focus Group at the upcoming GEM
Summer Workshop in Snowmass (June 21-26, 2009) to participate with modeling,
theoretical and observational studies related to the topics below. Our focus
group will have 3 breakout sessions on June 24 (Wed.) (for the full schedule
of the workshop see http://www.ece.vt.edu/GEM-2009).
 
(1) Better observational knowledge/empirical models of fields and particles
relevant to the near-Earth magnetosphere (including plasma sheet models to
be used as input for near-Earth magnetosphere models); studies related to
better knowledge of the electric fields (convection and induced) are
particularly encouraged.
 
(2) Improvements in physics-based modeling, including coupling between
different elements in the models (plasma, electric and magnetic fields), as
well as inner-outer magnetosphere coupling; studies that address the effect
of the above coupling on the inner magnetosphere structure/dynamics,
including potential improvement of consistency with observations. A
significant part of this session will be devoted to presentations of results
related to the Near-Earth Magnetosphere Modeling Challenge. A description of
the Challenge can also be found at the Wiki address above.
 
Potential contributors are urged to contact the conveners indicating their
interest in participating. The sessions will be held workshop-style, with
contributers encouraged to limit their number of slides to maximum 5. Please
send the title of your contribution to us at the email addresses above.
 
Besides the 2 sessions dedicated to the topics above, a 3rd session will be
devoted to refining the direction of the focus group in the future;
community input is both welcome and appreciated. It is the ultimate goal of
the focus group to improve physical knowledge and modeling of the near-Earth
(< 10 RE) magnetosphere and its coupling with the outer magnetosphere. An
outline of the major topics of interest of the focus group can be found at
 
http://aten.igpp.ucla.edu/gemwiki/index.php/FG8._Near_Earth_Magnetosphere:_plasma%2C_fields%2C_and_coupling


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