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2021 Workshop: Thermospheric Dynamics Measurements

Long title
Current Status, Needs, and Capabilities For 21st Century Thermospheric Dynamics Measurements: The 2019-2021 Thermospheric Winds SWOT Analysis
Conveners
Sovit Khadka
Patrick Dandenault
Brian Harding
Stephen Kaeppler
Description

As outlined in the NSF CEDAR: The New Dimension Strategic Vision [2011] roadmap, the most recent NSF and NASA Decadal Surveys, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy National Space Weather Strategy and Action Plan (released in October 2015), there are an enormous number of compelling geospace phenomena that impact our current technological developments and have yet to be resolved. Many of these topics, ranging from equatorial spread-F, mid-latitude quasi-periodic echoes, HR radio disruption, neutral thermospheric helium upwelling, LEO spacecraft drag, auroral-zone heating, gravity, planetary, and tidal waves, region 0, 1, and 2 current systems, ULF wave heating, impact of particle precipitation, etc. fundamentally require measurements of the thermospheric wind, over a full diurnal cycle, in order to be resolved.

The purpose of this workshop series, which started at CEDAR 2019, is to bring together various experimental and modeling stakeholders interested in advancing our understanding of thermospheric winds and their variability. To wit, we seek to perform a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis on our current understanding of thermospheric winds. Such an analysis requires 1) a review of our current understanding of thermospheric winds, 2) the identification of needed measurements, 3) identification of unanswered problems, and 4) assessment of closure in the next 10-years. The workshops will be organized to produce a community-accessible traceability matrix associated with this SWOT analysis.

Justification

The tasks outlined here satisfy a number of strategic thrusts outlined in the most recent CEDAR strategic plan [CEDAR The New Dimension, June 2011], including: Strategic Thrust #2: Explore Exchange Processes at Interfaces and Boundaries Strategic Thrust #4: Develop Observational and Instrumentation Strategies for Geospace System Studies Strategic Thrust #5: Fuse the Knowledge Base across Disciplines Strategic Thrust #6: Manage, Mine, and Manipulate Geoscience Data and Models

Furthermore, the timing of this workshop is well suited for ongoing spacecraft operations, measurements, and new capabilities of the thermospheric system, particularly from the NASA GOLD and ICON missions.