Dear all,
This is a reminder for the RAS Specialist Discussion Meeting – Space Weather: a Dialogue between Scientists and Forecasters on 13 December 2013. Abstracts are due Friday, 18 October 2013.

Details are given below:

We would like to invite a wide range of space weather scientists, modellers, forecasters and end users/asset owners to participate in our RAS Specialist Discussion Meeting entitled: “Space Weather: a Dialogue between Scientists and Forecasters”. The meeting will take place at the RAS, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BQ on 13 December 2013 between 10:30 and 15:30. Invited speakers include Prof. Lidia van Driel-Gesztelyi (UCL/MSSL), the Met Office (UK), and the National Grid (UK).

Please submit abstracts to deborah.baker@ucl.ac.uk by Friday, 18 October 2013.

The session website is found here:

http://www.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/~lmg/spaceweather/Overview.html

Session overview:
The inclusion of space weather in the National Risk Assessment in 2012 means that there is now an urgent need for dialogue between those doing the science of space weather and those using the data to forecast, understand and mitigate the risks.

Since the Sun is currently at the peak of its cycle – a time when space weather events become more frequent – we have a timely opportunity to study how a range of solar activity ultimately lead to magnetospheric, ionospheric and ground level disturbances.

The goal of this meeting is to bring together those working across the broad range of space weather activities in the UK to discuss the current status of observations and recent new advances in the theories and models of the phenomena of space weather.

Main themes:
Theme: Solar activity

This theme addresses the range of solar activity that drives severe space weather. This covers a range of phenomena such as coronal mass ejections, solar energetic particles and flares and their propagation to Earth.

Theme: Response to solar activity

This theme looks at the question of how the magnetosphere and ionospheric respond to solar activity, including the effects at ground level.

Theme: Forecasting and risk assessment

This theme addresses the needs of the asset owners most at risk of severe space weather. This covers a range of technologies and infrastructures and also the insurance industry. What new space weather metric(s) do we need?

Best wishes,
Deb Baker