The next Spring MIST meeting has been announced by the conference chair, Rob Fear. The cconference will be held 26–28 March 2018, on the University of Southampton's Highfield Campus.
There is just over a week left to submit your abstracts for the meeting – the abstract deadline, for both talk and poster presentations, is Sunday 11 February 2018.
In order to submit an abstract it is necessary to register first – please include your conference booking number in your abstract email. Conference registration will remain open until Friday 2nd March, and options are available both including and excluding accommodation, as well as for people who would just like to attend for one day. All bookings for the entire conference include the conference dinner.
This RAS Specialist Discussion Meeting is to be held at Burlington House on 9 March, organised by Ciaran Beggan (BGS); Jim Wild (Lancaster); and Mark Gibbs (Met Office). If you'd like more details, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The abstract is as follows!
As a society, the UK is reliant on continuously available electricity supplies and technology such as instantaneous satellite data and communications in order to function safely and efficiently. For example, systems such as transportation networks are increasingly automated and the computer networks which run them require accurate real-time information from embedded electronic sensors and other peripheral data such as timing derived from GPS. However, this dependence increases the exposure to impacts on technology from so-called severe space weather events. Space weather is usually defined as the response of Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere to sudden rapid changes in the properties of the solar wind such as increases in speed, density and magnetic field strength.
These changes in the magnetosphere and ionosphere cause the magnetic field at the Earth's surface to vary rapidly giving rise to geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) which can flow through conductive grounded equipment, such as high-voltage transformers, affecting the reliability of electricity supplies. The additional energy input from the solar wind also changes the conductivity structure of the ionosphere and pushes the auroral oval equatorward. This affects the propagation of radio waves through the atmosphere delaying GPS signals and leading to spatial and temporal errors on the ground; HF communications to circumpolar aircraft may also be disrupted. As well as the impact on electricity grids, GICs also cause additional unwanted corrosion in pipelines and the potential for signalling or other faults to develop in rail networks.
We seek presentations on a broad topic of ground effect of space weather in the UK (but specifically excluding satellite or spacecraft effects), in particular to GIC in power networks, railways and pipelines and topics such as impacts on surveyors and others end users (e.g. airlines/port authorities) of precise GPS location and timing data.
This specialist discussion meeting, aimed at academic and industry researchers and relevant end users, will discuss the latest research in the UK on understanding and ameliorating these impacts in light of recent developments in the field.
A RAS Specialist Discussion Meeting is to be held at Burlington House on Friday 8 December. The meeting is being convened in conjunction with the Royal Meteorological Society, and is convened by Tracy Moffat-Griffin and Andrew Kavanagh (BAS); Nick Mitchell (Bath); and Alan Gadian (Leeds). If you'd like more details, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
If you'd like to attend, please register on the Eventbrite page for the meeting so that the convenors can tailor the meeting space to the number of attendees.
The abstract is below!
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the lower, middle and upper atmosphere are more strongly coupled than was once thought to be the case and that atmospheric waves play a central role in this coupling. Generated by a variety of sources, these waves carry energy and momentum vertically, and are a principle driver of atmospheric circulation, transporting important chemical species through the atmosphere. In the lower atmosphere global scale waves (tides and planetary waves) are generated; smaller scale waves (such as gravity waves) are generated by weather systems, topographic flow and the polar vortex as well as by processes in the upper atmosphere (via space weather effects). There is growing evidence that space weather can have an effect on surface conditions in the Polar Regions yet the coupling mechanism is not fully understood. This meeting aims to bring together the lower, middle and upper atmosphere communities to explore these coupling effects and their impact on global circulation.