Letters of Intent received in 2012

LoI 2014-134
The Earth’s Radiation Belts and the Inner Magnetosphere

Date: 7 July 2014 to 11 July 2014
Category: Non-GA Symposium
Location: Santorini Island , Greece
Contact: Ioannis Daglis (daglis@noa.gr)
Coordinating division: Division II Sun & Heliosphere
Other divisions:
Co-Chairs of SOC: Ioannis A. Daglis (National Observatory of Athens)
Ian Mann (University of Alberta)
Co-Chairs of LOC: Ioannis A. Daglis (National Observatory of Athens)
Anastasios Anastasiadis (National Observatory of Athens)

 

Topics

The main focus areas of the symposium comprise the following:
1. Current state of knowledge of Earth's radiation belts
2. Current and Upcoming inner magnetosphere space missions
3. Modeling, simulation and theory of the radiation belts
4. Energy coupling processes in the radiation belts and inner magnetosphere
5. The radiation belts and space weather

 

Rationale

Despite some 55 years of space research, fundamental questions remain concerning the physics and the dynamics of Earth's radiation belts and inner magnetosphere. Our ability to protect spacecraft systems from the hazardous space environment depends on our knowledge of geospace. In the last decade there has been an increased interest in radiation belt research in parallel with the development of the new discipline of space weather science. As a culmination of these efforts, in 2012 the NASA Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission was launched, which is designed to enhance our understanding of the dynamical behavior of Earth's radiation belts. In addition, a number of European space missions (Cluster, INTEGRAL, XMM-Newton, PROBA-1, CHAMP), in combination with data from US space missions (THEMIS, GOES, POES, SAMPEX, Polar) and ground-based magnetometer data (e.g. European IMAGE array and Canadian CARISMA array), in synergy with many theoretical studies, have advanced our understanding of the dynamics of various plasma populations in the inner magnetosphere and the radiation belts. The main purpose of the symposium is to bring together researchers studying the dynamics of radiation belts and inner magnetosphere.

The symposium will address among others the following questions:
1. What is our current state of knowledge of Earth's radiation belts from particle, wave and magnetic field observations? What further data are essential?
2. Current and future radiation belts missions. What do these missions expect to accomplish?
3. How good are our modeling, simulation and theory of the radiation belts? Do we understand the particle transport, acceleration and loss processes?
4. How does radiation belt behavior link to or couple with the ring current, plasmasphere and ionosphere? What are the key energy coupling processes that connect these components of the inner magnetosphere?
5. What are the current key space weather issues related to the radiation belts and inner magnetosphere? How can we better protect satellites from the space environment?