Monday, September 18, 2023 -Tuesday, September 19, 2023
First EZIE Science Workshop
Event Summary
Date: Monday, September 18, 2023 - Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Time: Detailed program to follow
Location: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory - Building 200, 11101 Johns Hopkins Rd, Laurel, MD 20723
EZIE Science and EZIE Mission on a Page:
Venue Information
The team behind the NASA Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE) mission is excited to announce the first science workshop, scheduled to take place on September 18-19, 2023 at Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory.
As EZIE is set to launch in late 2024 or early 2025, this workshop serves as a pre-launch invitation to the science community. By engaging in an open forum format, we aim to ensure that the key areas of EZIE are thoroughly discussed and explored.
If you are interested in presenting your work at the workshop. Paper submission was closed on August 15.
We are thrilled to announce that the workshop will be a hybrid event, combining in-person and virtual participation, allowing for broader engagement. Best of all, there is no registration fee associated with attending the workshop.
Mark your calendars and prepare to be a part of this exciting scientific exchange at the NASA EZIE Mission Science Workshop.
What Is the EZIE Mission?
The Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE) is an innovative multi-satellite mission that images the magnetic fingerprint of intense electrical currents flowing in the upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere. EZIE will image the magnetic signature of the ionospheric electrojets using the Zeeman splitting of the O2 thermal emissions originating from around 80-km altitude. EZIE’s three SmallSats each carry a microwave electrojet magnetogram (MEM) instrument for multipoint vector magnetic field measurements proximate to the source current. EZIE is thus an innovative magnetic field mission that does not carry a magnetometer. EZIE will address two primary science questions that have remained elusive because of observational limitations:
[Q1] What is the structure and evolution of the auroral electrojet segment of the substorm current wedge?
[Q2] To what extent is the auroral electrojet modulated by localized (hundreds of kilometers) current segments?
EZIE’s science augmentation characterizes the spatiotemporal structure of equatorial electrojets and explores the physical mechanisms of their generation, resulting in EZIE’s third science question.
Supplementary Science: [Q3] What are the characteristics of the equatorial electrojet dynamics and structure?
Confirmed Invited Speakers
- Mike Henderson - Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Shin Ohtani - Johns Hopkins APL
- Slava Merkin - Johns Hopkins APL
- Shasha Zou - University of Michigan
- Karl Laundal - University of Bergen, Norway
- Claudia Stolle - Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Germany
- Tom Thomas - The Little Singer Community School
- Bea Gallardo-Lacourt - NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center
- Elizabeth MacDonald - NASA HQ
- Steve Milan - U. Leicester, UK
- Kristina Lynch - U. Dartmouth
- Dogacan Ozturk - U. Alsaka at Fairbanks
- David Sibeck - NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center
- Axel Steuwer - EISCAT Scientific Association
- Gang Lu - High Altitude Observatory, NCAR
- Marc Kuchner - NASA HQ
Format:
- In person and virtual
- Posters and oral papers
- Invited and contributed
Sessions:
Note: The workshop will be open to the public for the first two days (Sept. 18–19, 2023). Three additional days are scheduled for the EZIE team only.
Introduction and Welcome
Session 1: Structure and dynamics of the substorm current system
- Which, if any, of the substorm current wedge models explain observations?
- To what extent is the auroral electrojet modulated by wedgelets?
Session 2: What can ionospheric observations tell us about the underlying processes?
- How do we link high altitude data from simulations/theory and low altitude measurements?
- How will EZIE in combination with other missions/projects provide new insight?
Session 3: Using new multi-point measurements
- 2D maps of the auroral electrojet: What will be revealed?
- Ability to separate spatial and temporal variations: What will be revealed?
- Structure and dynamics of the equatorial electrojet: What will be revealed?
- Precise mesospheric neutral wind and temperature measurements: What will be revealed?
Session 4: Outreach and citizen science
- How do we extract information from thousands of ground magnetometers?
- How can you become an active member of the team?
- How do we enable and encourage kids and citizens to become excited about science?
Contact Us:
Science Inquiries: Jesper.Gjerloev@jhuapl.edu
Programmatic Inquiries: Nelofar.Mosavi@jhuapl.edu
Preliminary Agenda
*All times are US EST
Monday September 18
Opening remarks: 830-835: Bobby Braun, JHU/APL Space Exploration Department Head
Introduction to EZIE: 835-850: Nelli Mosavi (programmatic) & Jesper Gjerloev (science)
Structure and dynamics of the substorm current system (chair Larry Kepko)
850-910: Steve Milan, invited, AMPERE perspectives on substorm field-aligned current systems: outstanding questions
910-930: Shin Ohtani, invited, Outstanding Issues about the “structure and dynamics of the substorm current system”
930-950: Mike Henderson, invited, The auroral expansion phase and the association of intensifications with current wedgelets
950-1005: Jiang Liu, The Dawn\Dusk Asymmetry of the Interaction Between Mesoscale Dipolarizing Flux Bundles and the Global-scale Ambient Plasma: Implications for Asymmetric Wedgelets and Substorm Current Wedge Formation
1005-1020: Mark Engebretson, Signatures of Isolated Dipolarizing Flux Bundles in the Nightside Ionosphere: An EZIE Augmentation to Existing Ionospheric Instrumentation
1020-1030: Coffee break
1030-1045: Anand Singh, Hemispherical asymmetry in the occurrence of substorms at very high latitudes (>75deg)
1045-1100: Shipra Sinha, Anomalous Ground Magnetic Signatures during Sudden Solar-Wind Pressure Enhancements
1100-1110: Jules van Irsel, Auroral current closure modeling using GEMINI
1110-1120: Kuldeep Pandey, Westward Equatorial Electrojet Currents
1120-1135 Caitriona Jackman, A novel decade-long catalogue of auroral kilometric radiation observations for examining the auroral acceleration region during substorms and other space weather events
1135-1150: James Waters, Novel multi-point observation of the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling and auroral acceleration regions during the terrestrial response to the 28th October 2021 coronal mass ejection
1150-1205: James Weygand, Observations of Equivalent Ionospheric and Telluric Currents during Magnetic Perturbation Events
1205-1230: Discussion
1230-130 Lunch
Outreach and citizen science (chair Sandra Vilevac)
130-150: Marc Kuchner, invited, Lessons Learned from NASA’s Citizen Science Program
150-210: Elisabeth MacDonald, invited, Scientific and Societal Opportunities for the Public to Contribute to Auroral Science Satellite Missions
210-230: Bea Gallardo-Lacourt, invited, A vibrant citizen science collaboration: STEVE, the gateway for new discoveries.
230-250: Tom Thomas, invited, Indigenous STEM: Magnetic Relations
250-310: Karla Jessen Williamson, invited, Celestial view of the Inuit: Northern lights
310-330: Connor, Hyunju K., invited, Space Weather Under Ground (SWUG) education outreach project
330-350: Dogacan Ozturk, invited, Education and Outreach Activities at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) through Space Weather UnderGround (SWUG) Programs
350-410: Robin Barnes, EZIE-Mag
410-430: Discussion
530pm: Happy hour at Nicki and Larry Kepko’s house.
Tuesday September 19:
Using new multi-point measurements (chair Rafael Mesquita)
900-920: Claudia Stolle, invited, Monitoring the electrojet and neutral winds: benefits from a unique sampling altitude in the mesosphere
920-940: Axel Steuwer, invited, EISCAT, EISCAT_3D and Synergies with EZIE
940-1000: Karl Laundal, invited, Mapping the full ionospheric electrodynamics using EZIE electrojet estimates
1000-1020: Gang Lu, invited, Exploring large-scale ionospheric electrodynamics via data assimilation
1020-1030: Alex Mule, Automated featurization of a heterogeneneous auroral data base of Swarm satellite data, THEMIS-GBO imagery, and PFRR data sets
1030-1040: Sara Gasparini, Determining the electrodynamics of mesoscale structures using data assimilation: what is the driver of mesoscale structuring?
1040-1050: Coffee break
1050-1105: Xu Zhonghua, Deep Field Instrumentation Antarctic Autonomous Geospace Observation Stations
1105-1125: Rafael Mesquita, Should we expect effects from aurorae in the EZIE neutral winds and temperatures?
1125-1140: Heikki Vanhamäki, Observing mesospheric neutral wind with the Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE)
1140-1155: Valery Yudin, Precise mesospheric neutral wind and temperature measurements: What will be revealed?
1155-1205: Nilam Bosale, Strong and Sharp Prompt Penetration Electric Fields (PPEFs) can lead to GICs at the equator
1205-1245: Discussion
1245-140 Lunch
What can ionospheric observations tell us about the underlying processes? (chair Ying Zhu)
140-200: David Sibeck, invited, Origin of Signatures in the Dayside Equatorial Electrojet
200-220: Kristina Lynch, invited, Heterogeneous derived data products for auroral studies
220-240: Shasha Zou, invited, Multiscale magnetosphere and ionosphere coupling in the night side auroral zone revealed by observations and simulations
240-300: Slava Merkin, invited, Using multiscale global geospace simulations to connect ionospheric observations to their magnetospheric drivers
300-315: Lutz Rastaetter, Kamodo – an adaptable tool to obtain and compare observations and modeling results
315-330: Enrique Rojas, Recent progress in modeling Farley-Buneman turbulence: Revisiting fluid stability and the application of surrogate models
330-400: Discussion
400-405: Final comments
