Community workshop: Atmospheric and Space Science Research in Polar Regions

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This award is for supporting a community workshop on Atmospheric and Space Science Research in Polar Regions. The overarching theme of the workshop is to address the status and future prospects of geospace sciences in the Arctic and Antarctic, using these geographical regions as a platform for specific aeronomy and space physics research projects. The workshop will bring together a diverse group of researchers to map out goals for the direction of polar research in the coming years. While fundamental aspects of Sun-Earth coupling will be one important topic, the workshop will focus specifically on making real progress in the field of space weather, as well as to open up discussions related to solar forcing of climate change. As observing platforms, the value of polar regions are critical to future progress in these fields. The expanse of the Antarctic continent, in particular, provides access to geospace regions that cannot be reached in the northern hemisphere because of the presence of the Arctic Ocean. In addition, the relative orientation of the magnetic and geographic poles in the southern hemisphere enable observations within the auroral zone to be carried out in 24-hour darkness, a capability not at all possible in the northern hemisphere, yet critical to understanding auroral processes on Earth?s dayside. The broader impacts of this proposal are in that the meeting will broaden the perspective of U.S. scientists in the polar observing systems, promote international collaboration, and provide an opportunity for the next generation of geospace scientists to interact with leaders in the field. The workshop will provide a forum to develop a blueprint for a more unified scientific enterprise for research in space weather, space climate, and upper atmospheric aeronomy.