TESS 2022 Topical Sessions

1. Title: Universality of mesoscale processes in space and solar physics

Description: Conveners:

Viacheslav Merkin, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Nicholeen Viall, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Katharine Reeves, Harvard Center for Astrophysics

Mesoscale processes in various space plasma systems are increasingly recognized as a key element affecting dynamics at both global and micro-scales, and mediating cross-scale coupling. Terrestrial ionosphere and magnetosphere, planetary

magnetospheres, solar wind and solar corona, all exhibit dynamical processes that occur at scales significantly smaller than the system size but larger than (although often overlapping with) kinetic scales, which we refer to as mesoscales. Often, but

not always, such mesoscale processes are associated with magnetic reconnection. Examples include bursty bulk flows and dipolarization fronts in the magnetotail, flux-transfer events at the magnetopause, supra-arcade downflows in the corona or

plasma blobs in the heliospheric current sheets, as well as Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices at planetary magnetospheres’ boundaries or in the solar corona, hot flow anomalies or foreshock bubbles upstream of the Earth’s magnetosphere, or plasma patches in the polar ionosphere. The importance of mesoscales processes stems from their ability to accumulate energy leading to emergent global system responses, but also from their importance in cascading energy from global to micro-scales where it dissipates. A unifying theme in the study of mesoscale phenomena is that they are equally challenging for numerical modeling and observations; by definition, such studies must be multi-scale and capture global, meso-, and sometimes microscales. This session solicits contributions that serve to highlight mesoscale phenomena as an intrinsically

important element of cross-scale interaction in space or laboratory plasma systems. Presentations resulting from numerical simulations, observations and experiment are all encouraged, including those that emphasize novel methods of dealing with

the above challenges such as data assimilation and machine learning.

2. Title: Towards the Cross-Scale Energy Transfer in Space Plasmas

Description: Conveners:

Yan Yang (University of Delaware)

Rungployphan Kieokaew (Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie) William H. Matthaeus (University of Delaware)

How energy is transferred across scales and eventually dissipated in space plasmas remains an open issue despite several decades of study. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the observed energy transfer in weakly collisional plasmas, such as turbulence, magnetic reconnection, wave-particle interactions, instabilities, as well as the coupling between them. Nevertheless, a consensus has yet to be reached on their exact roles in plasma heating and energization and their relative importance in various conditions. Moreover, different channels of energy conversion (e.g., electromagnetic energy release via J.E, kinetic energy conversion via pressure-strain interaction), incompressive versus compressive contributions, and the partitioning of heating among species (e.g., ions and electrons) have been addressed more recently.

Due to a large number of works that explore multi-scale properties and the cross-scale energy transfer process in different environments (e.g., electron-only reconnection, pair plasmas), our session will help to determine common grounds and make specific predictions that can be tested with heliosphere observations, such as HelioSwarm, in the next decade. A discussion will help to identify knowledge gaps and better address the cross-scale energy transfer problem in the context of future multi-spacecraft constellations that are the next step of heliospheric exploration.

This session aims to bring together people with diverse expertise related to multi-scale properties and energy dissipation in space plasmas. We solicit studies using theories, in-situ observations, and numerical simulations. Studies of cross-scale energy transfer in various environments of heliospheric and magnetospheric plasmas are strongly encouraged. A discussion on existing proxies that measure energy transfer between forms (e.g., electromagnetic, kinetic, and thermal) and across

scales (e.g., MHD and kinetic scales) will be fostered.

3. Title: Improving Understanding of the Sun-Earth System Through Advanced Statistical and Machine Learning Techniques

Description: Conveners:

Shasha Zou, University of Michigan

Enrico Camporeale, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tuija Pulkkinen, University of Michigan

The increasing availability of big data in solar-terrestrial (ST) sciences and the rapidly growing computational capability have enabled numerous successful applications of the advanced statistical and machine learning techniques to the ST sciences. In particular, they are critical in improving and increasing the lead time of space weather predictions.

This session will focus on progress in applying advanced statistical and machine learning techniques to a broad range of processes in the Sun-Earth system. We solicit papers addressing topics such as forecasting solar magnetism and solar eruption, forecasting of solar energetic particles, and understanding the impact of the solar eruptions on the geospace system using ML techniques. Contributions ranging from black-box models to physics-informed and interpretable machine learning methods as well as their coupling with physics-based models are all welcome. We especially seek contributions that demonstrate how the new methods enable scientific discovery, deepen our scientific understanding, or advance operational space weather forecasting.

4. Title: Innovation and discovery in solar and space physics enabled by citizen science

Description: Conveners:

Dr. Gareth Perry, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Dr. Bea Gallardo-Lacourt, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Dr. Karl Battams, Naval Research Laboratory

Citizen scientist contributions to solar and space physics are quickly becoming more commonplace, a trend that is no doubt driven by their capacity to enable impactful scientific discovery. Indeed, some of these very motivated individuals and

groups have become integrated into ongoing science programs and are fast becoming a critical agent of data collection and data analysis. For example, STEVE, an optical phenomena that occurs during geomagnetically active periods in the terrestrial

sub-auroral region, was discovered by amateur auroral photographers and brought to the attention of the “professional” science community. As a result, the field of sub-auroral and inner-magnetospheric physics has been rejuvenated with

multiple lines of research and publications. In this particular case, data collected by citizen scientists is driving the science forward as it is of the highest quality available. Other projects like “Planet Hunters TESS” which help discover new planets

around stars outside our own solar system or “Solar Jet Hunter” where citizen scientists help identify solar jets are but a few examples that demonstrate the wide variety of ways in which citizen scientists participate in science and lead to solar and space physics fields.

In this session we solicit papers reporting on science innovation and discovery resulting from citizen science projects and efforts. We also encourage submissions disseminating innovative and best practices for the engagement, retention, recognition, and proliferation of citizen scientists. This session is planned as an interdisciplinary session that will serve to collect ideas and propagate effective methodologies throughout the solar and space physics disciplines and beyond.

5. Title: Tracking Plasma Flows in the Heliosphere

Description: Conveners:

Raphael Attie (George Mason University)

Benoit Tremblay (LASP, University of Colorado)

Anywhere we observe in the heliosphere, plasma is in perpetual motion and couples with magnetic flux throughout the solar system, thus raising fundamental questions about the Sun-Earth interactions whose answers we seek through tracking

plasma flows. A subset of plasma motions can be observed using satellite imagery, where flows in the plane of the sky are easy to detect in time series of images, but remain challenging to measure precisely and systematically. Observations of the

solar surface include tracking tracers of the flows such as sunspots, pores, granulation or moving magnetic elements that tend to have clean-cut boundaries. They thus offer a relatively easy target for measuring patterns of apparent motions known as “optical flows”, a subset of algorithms coming from Computer Vision since the 1980s, which benefits from an abundance of complementary observations offering different validation methods. In this area, imagery data captured by space and ground-based solar observatories have offered immense breakthroughs in the understanding of interactions

between the solar (sub)surface plasma flows and the magnetic field. However, at resolutions below granulation scales, traditional flow tracking methods encounter new challenges. Alternatively, observations can be used in conjunction with physics-based methods e.g. to solve the magnetic induction equation for the transverse plasma velocity vector, with the vertical velocity and magnetic field vector being assigned observed Dopplergrams and vector magnetograms. Additional assumptions are introduced to generate unique solutions. Due to large uncertainties in weak-field magnetograms, the application of physics-based methods on observed data has mainly been limited to strong-field regions. Finally, Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning methods are promising and offer great research avenues when used in combination with realistic simulations, but their lack of explainability and tendencies to overfit the data makes the solar physics community reluctant to embrace them. Away from the solar surface, and despite the availability of high-quality images taken from space, the fuzzy boundaries in coronal and heliospheric plasma structures often remain elusive to flow tracking techniques, which is responsible for the dearth of plasma flow maps in most of the Sun-Earth environment. The recent discoveries from Parker Solar Probe offer new ways to connect in-situ and remotely sensed coronal measurements, e.g. relating plasma flow evolution at the sun’s surface to the so-called “switchbacks” recently discovered in the corona. Closer to Earth, the plasma flows in auroras that have fuzzy shapes can be tracked with radar systems providing a “ground truth”, thanks to which imagery data can benefit from validation methods for testing flow tracking techniques inherited again from the realm of Computer Vision for industrial applications.

This session offers an opportunity for multidisciplinary presentations, consisting in invited and contributed talks that will review and connect different domains of applications for plasma flow tracking methods used in heliophysics, all the way

from the solar surface down to the Earth atmosphere. The session will bring awareness on what has been developed in a seemingly different field that may in fact be applied in another domain of the heliosphere. We encourage submissions presenting state-of-the-art plasma flow inferring methods used in the different domains of Solar Physics, Space Physics, Computer Vision and Deep Learning that use imagery data. The presentations will discuss results and uncertainties of the chosen technique(s), their (dis)advantages over other methods, and shall foster discussions to determine to what extent they can be applied in other areas of heliophysics research.

Q&A sessions will leverage NASA’s new communication platform known as “Helionauts.org”, which unlike Slack, is a long term solution for structured and searchable Q&As that is already connecting more than 260 heliophysicists daily.

6. Title: Suprathermal Particles and their Importance to Understanding Energetic Particles

Description: Conveners:

Rachael Filwett (University of Iowa)

Fan Guo (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

Maher Dayeh (Southwest Research Institute)

In this session we aim to highlight recent investigations relating to suprathermal particles and their importance to seeding energetic particle events. It is well understood that suprathermal particles are efficiently accelerated by coronal mass ejections and interplanetary shocks. Understanding the composition, acceleration, and transport of suprathermal particles can help in predicting the properties of solar energetic particles. We encourage abstracts that focus on observations, and modeling. With Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter returning troves of data it is an excellent time to study energetic

particle events and their sources. We encourage participation by those examining the behavior of various energetic particle events and how our prediction capabilities could be improved by a more comprehensive understanding of the relation between the suprathermal population and the energetic particle population.

7. Title: Coronal Heating: Present Understanding and Future Progress

Description: Conveners:

Jeff Brosius (Catholic University at NASA/GSFC)

Craig Johnston (George Mason University at NASA/GSFC)

Vadim Uritsky (Catholic University at NASA/GSFC)

We invite presentations that address solar coronal heating by any viable mechanism. This includes, but is not limited to, magnetic reconnection-based heating, wave-based heating, and spicular heating as occurring in active regions, quiet Sun, coronal holes, and the solar wind. Contributions that involve theory, numerical simulations, and observations, including new and innovative imaging and spectroscopic technologies are welcome. We also encourage ideas for future progress.

8. Title: Driving Towards a More Diverse Space Physics Research Community – Perspectives, Initiatives, Strategies, and Actions

Description: Conveners:

Michael Liemohn (University of Michigan)

Alexa Halford (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

McArthur Jones Jr. (Naval Research Laboratory)

John Coxon (Northumbria U)

Xochitl Blanco-Cano (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)

Chigomezyo Ngwira (Catholic University of America and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

Summary:

The demographics of the space physics research community have been documented by the American Geophysical Union and the American Astronomical Society. The membership in these societies is dominated by white men. While these demographics are beginning to slowly change thanks to targeted efforts to select programs, significant progress has not been achieved. The field of space physics needs ongoing, intentional interventions to become a community that more accurately reflects all of humanity.

In order to achieve and, more importantly, sustain a diverse environment where all members of the research community can thrive, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or any other discerning factor, we must nurture an inclusive,

welcoming and respectful research culture. There are innumerous aspects to the research environment that result in high attrition rates of minority researchers. This is a worldwide problem that is the responsibility of every member of the space physics research community to address. Deep rooted, systemic biases, both implicit and explicit, are present throughout the research field of space physics and can result in dramatically different experiences for minority researchers as compared to their majority counterparts. Longstanding systemic biases have led to differences in how groups are treated within a society, such as inequitable service expectations, and therefore tackling the issue of structural equity is necessary to sustain diversity and inclusion within an organization or community.

There are several goals of this session. They include:

1. Review the current understanding of DEI in the scholarly literature, including best practices from our or other research communities and documentation of the problem of bias, exclusion and inequity impacting the space physics community around the world.

2. Document and evaluate past and present activities regarding DEI carried out by members of the space physics research community in different environments and cultures, whether positive or negative in outcome.

3. Assemble suggestions for future actions that could be undertaken by space physicists in the area of DEI, at any level from

local to global engagement.

Submissions are therefore welcome that address opportunities offered by increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion from a variety of angles. The scope includes presentations that conduct statistical or narrative descriptions of the state of the space physics community and its present culture, including demographics interpersonal interactions, and organizational standards.

It also includes presentations that describe policies, processes, interventions, and actions that have yielded – or could yield – improvement in one or more aspects of DEI for the space physics community.

9. Title: Observing and inferring solar chromospheric and coronal magnetic fields

Description: Conveners:

Holly Gilbert, Alin Razvan Paraschiv, Roberto Casini (High Altitude Observatory, NCAR)

Solar chromospheric and coronal magnetic fields are fundamental to our understanding of solar and heliospheric structures and dynamics, but still remain difficult quantities to observe and interpret. The chromosphere is a key region in the solar atmosphere where energy buildup powers activity and drives heating. It is coupled to the corona where magnetic fields are critical to modeling and predicting conditions throughout the heliosphere, helping advance space weather capabilities. Great strides have been made in understanding these regions in the solar atmosphere. We invite submissions involving current and planned efforts to measure and interpret the magnetic fields across the solar spectrum and from standard or novel vantage points. We strongly encourage submissions from early-career and graduate researchers.

Topics to be addressed include:

Data interpretation of new and next generation instrumentation for understanding the magnetism and dynamics of physical phenomena in the solar atmosphere.

Inference of magnetic fields from spectropolarimetric observations. Challenges of polarimetric measurements of spectral lines in the chromosphere and corona.

The format of this session will be 2 invited talks plus contributed talks and a poster session.

10. Title:  Promoting open science in heliophysics and space science through software

Description: Conveners:

Arnaud Masson, Telespazio for ESA, ESAC, Madrid, Spain, Arnaud.Masson@ext.esa.int

Nathalia Alzate, NASA GSFC/ADNET Systems Inc., nathalia.alzate@nasa.gov

Laura Hayes, European Space Agency, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, laura.hayes@esa.int

Julie Barnum, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder, Colorado, USA

Rebecca Ringuette, NASA GSFC/ADNET Systems Inc., USA

Simone Di Matteo, NASA GSFC/Catholic University of America, USA

Gianna Cauzzi, National Solar Observatory, Boulder, Colorado, USA

Daniel Seaton, SWRI, Boulder, Colorado, USA

Stuart Mumford, Aperio software, Holmfirth, UK

Will Barnes, NASA GSFC/American University, USA

NASA has designated 2023 as the year of open science, which applies to all aspects of the research process - data, publications, and software . Open science builds upon the Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reproducibility (FAIR) guiding principles for scientific data management and expands to apply these principles to the entire scientific process. But without the use of software, these important aspects are drastically hindered. Thus, this session will present and discuss advancements in using software tools to progress towards open science in the heliophysics and space science

domains. Contrary to common assumptions, simply requiring software to be open-source and data to be openly accessible do not alone enable open science. The vital role of software in enabling these capabilities is much more complex. In this session, we mainly focus on the interoperability and reproducibility that can be achieved using software, but do not discourage submissions demonstrating significant advancements in findability and accessibility in a science workflow. In this spirit, we welcome contributions related, but not limited to, the following topics

- Heliophysics science cases that demonstrate the capabilities of one or more heliophysics open-source Python package(s),

- Addressing accessibility and interoperability challenges in Sun-Earth connection science, in a demonstrated science workflow,

- Future capabilities of heliophysics and space science software packages improving open science, especially solar physics software packages in the era of Solar Orbiter, Parker Solar probe and ground-based solar observatories (e.g., DKIST, EOVSA,

ALMA)

- Package interoperability with other software packages in the same programming language, preferably using multiple software packages,

- Demonstrated interoperability between at least two software packages written in different programming languages (e.g., a Python interface to a function or software written in C, C++, IDL, Fortran, or other programming language, with the interface

made installable from GitHub),

- Working example of a reproducible science analysis using two or more software packages,

- Executable paper

To promote open science, presenters must ensure a working version of their software is accessible in a public repository beforehand. This is also encouraged for demonstrated science workflows, but is not required. This session will be a mix of invited and contributed presentations. It will be followed by a panel discussion on new venues for science enabled by software/tools and remaining challenges in implementing open science for software in the heliophysics and space science domains including: handling of diverse datasets (from Solar Physics to Earth science) to enable interoperability between programming languages, analysis tools and data-model comparisons, as well as subsequent needs and requirements of shared on-line infrastructure(s). To steer panel discussions, attendees can input their interest by accessing a pre-session form

at https://forms.gle/4w3mTNXoeoVjKqZL7 . A related poster session will enable further discussion and help foster collaboration.

11. Title: The Drivers of Energetic Particle Precipitation and its Impacts on the Atmosphere and Ionosphere

Description: Conveners:

Allison Jaynes, University of Iowa

Maria Usanova, University of Colorado Boulder

Robyn Millan, Dartmouth College

Hilde Nesse Tyssøy, University of Bergen

The effects of particle precipitation on the ITM system and lower atmosphere are significant, yet remain an understudied subject in geospace system science. While lower energy precipitation has been a focus of research and effective parameterizations have been developed, the effects of medium and high energy particle impacts have not been adequately investigated. The precipitation of particles from the ring current and radiation belt into the atmosphere is one of two significant loss processes that affect the delicate balance between acceleration and loss of the inner magnetospheric particle

environment. The resulting energy transfer causes changes in electron density and conductivities in the ionosphere, and compositional changes to the thermosphere, mesosphere, and stratosphere. The link between precipitation of particles originating from both the Sun and the magnetosphere, and atmospheric chemistry is a more than 60-year-old problem. This session provides a forum for cross-disciplinary discussions and exchange of ideas from across the Heliophysics and Earth Science communities. We invite abstracts on a range of relevant subjects, including loss processes in the inner magnetosphere, drivers of energetic particle precipitation, and the effects of particle precipitation on the ITM system and atmosphere, with the use of observational or modeling approaches.

12. Title: Predicting solar wind properties across the heliosphere with integrated modeling efforts (empirical or first-principles)

Description: Conveners:

Primary convener: Zhenguang Huang (University of Michigan)

Co-convener: Nishtha Sachdeva (University of Michigan), Lulu Zhao (University of Michigan)

An accurate solar wind background is critical to predict space weather that may impact our daily life. For example, a nine hour outage of Hydro-Québec's electricity transmission system in March 1989 was caused by a geomagnetic storm, which

was the result of the arrival of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) at Earth. The main drivers of space weather events include Corotating Interaction Regions (CIRs), CMEs, and Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs). These drivers start from the Sun, propagate

into the solar wind and then arrive at various locations in the heliosphere.

Extensive modeling efforts have been invested towards predicting the geoffective solar wind properties like density, velocity, and the southward magnetic field component Bz in the heliosphere. In the space weather community, there are two major approaches to predict the solar wind background: one uses empirical or semi-empirical models, and the other is based on first-principles models. Nowadays, the vast expanse of data products from spacecrafts like, Parker Solar Probe, Solar Orbiter, STEREO, SOHO, WIND, ACE, DSCOVR etc. can help evaluate the success of a solar wind prediction.

This session invites discussion on modeling efforts (both empirical and first-principles) that use observational capabilities to drive and improve space weather research and operations.

13. Title: Solar X-ray and VUV Spectra: observation, modeling, and planetary atmospheric impacts

Description: Conveners:

Samuel Schonfeld, Institute for Scientific Research, Boston College

Thomas Woods, LASP

Phillip Chamberlin, LASP

Liying Qian, UCAR

Amir Caspi, SWRI Boulder

Christopher Moore, CFA Harvard & Smithsonian

Joshua Pettit, LASP

James Klimchuk, NASA GSFC

Solar X-ray (~0.01-10 nm, or ~0.1-100 keV) and Vacuum Ultraviolet (VUV, 10-200 nm) emissions are produced in the solar atmosphere and significantly impact the atmospheres of the Earth and other planets. The spectral irradiance in the longer

wavelengths, typically generated by plasma cooler than 5 MK, changes over days to years as solar active regions emerge, evolve, rotate on and off the visible solar disk, and are modulated by the solar cycle. The entire wavelength range also varies

on short timescales due to solar flares, during which the X-rays associated with high plasma temperatures and accelerated particles can increase by orders of magnitude. Both scales of variability drive changes in planetary atmospheres. The slow

evolution determines the atmospheric background state, with its own space weather implications, on top of which flare and other space-weather-driven storms produce short-term heating and dynamics. Observations in these wavelengths also provide valuable physical diagnostics in the solar atmosphere, which are particularly important in light of upcoming missions to measure the critically under-observed ~0.1-6 nm (~0.2-10 keV) spectral range. This session invites presentations discussing measurements (spectroscopic and imaging) and models (empirical and physical) of spectrally-resolved solar X-ray and VUV radiation and its influence on the upper atmospheres of the Earth and other planets.

14. Title: Drivers and dynamics of the coupled ionosphere-thermosphere-mesosphere-atmosphere system

Description: Conveners:

Thomas Berger (University of Colorado)

Martin Mlynczak (NASA Langley Research Center)

Jeffrey Thayer (University of Colorado)

Katie Garcia-Sage (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

The dynamics of the ITMA system in response to solar forcing, magnetospheric currents, and upper atmospheric conditioning can have a large impact on orbital technology, particularly during severe geomagnetic storms driven by solar

eruptions. As the recent loss of 40 Starlink satellites in very Low Earth Orbit demonstrates, even a minor geomagnetic storm can have severe impacts on satellite operations due to mission constraints. While there have been recent developments in

both observing systems and models for this critical region of Geospace, a clear understanding of how large scale disturbances in neutral density propagate following solar flares and during geomagnetic storms is still lacking. In this session we invite talks and posters that analyze past events and their impacts to the environmental conditions in low-Earth orbit, review current and past missions or models to highlight existing predictive capabilities, and look ahead to future capabilities enabled by new missions or model developments. The session welcomes presentations on solar eruption and/or solar wind impacts to the ITM system, magnetospheric coupling, gravity wave, stratospheric warming, and other upper atmospheric influences on the thermosphere/mesosphere system, and other system science presentations that appeal to a broad crosssection of the TESS audience.

15. Title: Understanding solar eruptions using data-driven models and multi-height observations of the solar atmosphere

Description: Conveners:

Yuhong Fan (HAO/NCAR)

Maria Kazachenko (CU Boulder)

Mausumi Dikpati (HAO/NCAR)

Determining the build-up and evolution of the realistic magnetic field for the observed solar eruptions is important for both understanding the physics of the explosive magnetic energy release in the solar corona and advancing the space weather

predictive capability. This session focuses on recent progress in the wide-ranging modeling efforts to use observation data to construct, drive, constrain and validate the coronal magnetic field evolution underlying the solar eruptive events. Topics to

be addressed include:

(1) NLFFF and magnetostatic constructions of pre-eruption magnetic field and observationally constrained modeling of eruptive events

(2) Boundary data-driven modeling of eruptive events using photosphere magnetograms

(3) How chromospheric and coronal measurements from current and future instruments (e.g. SDO, IRIS, SO, DKIST, UCoMP)

can be used to construct, constrain, and/or validate the modeled coronal magnetic field

(4) Validating models with heliospheric observations (e.g. PSP)

(5) Prospects of using data-assimilation in predictive modeling of the solar interior and flux emergence

The format of this session will be 2 invited talks plus contributed talks. Invited speakers: Mark Cheung (LMSAL), Samuel Badman (SSL/UC Berkeley).

16. Title: High-Energy Solar Investigations Through Next-Generation Remote Sensing: Spectroscopy, Imaging, and Beyond

Description: Conveners:

Amir Caspi (SwRI)

Lindsay Glesener (UMN)

Tom Woods (CU/LASP)

Energetic phenomena on the Sun, including impulsively-driven eruptions (flares and coronal mass ejections) and more gradual coronal heating and solar wind outflows, provide crucial insight into unique regimes of plasma physics and astrophysical processes, and are also the primary drivers of space weather. Physical processes within these phenomena, including particle acceleration and plasma heating, emit signatures across the electromagnetic spectrum, from Xrays/

gamma-rays, through UV/EUV, to infrared and radio. Spectral and imaging observations of these emissions provide critical diagnostics into the macro- and microphysics underlying these processes. The X-ray and EUV emissions are also significantly geoeffective, contributing to societally-important dynamical effects in Earth’s upper atmosphere and ionosphere on a variety of timescales.

Recent measurements from numerous solar observatories including RHESSI; SDO; SolO; MinXSS; SphinX; Chandrayaan-2; the FOXSI, MaGIXS, Hi-C, EUNIS, and EVE rockets; the GRIPS balloon; EOVSA; and many others – and from opportunistic

observations by non-solar observatories such as NuSTAR, Fermi, ALMA, and VLA – have significantly advanced our understanding of these phenomena and their driving processes. They have also shown the pressing need for increasingly advanced high-resolution, high-sensitivity measurements across the entire spectrum, including polarimetry and especially imaging spectroscopy, to gain further insight into these high-energy processes and the solar magnetic field that powers them.

This session invites presentations covering new instrumentation, enabling technology, missions, and concepts for next-generation solar remote sensing -- including spectroscopy, imaging, and beyond -- aimed at studying high-energy (hot and

non-thermal) aspects of the Sun, as well as the solar magnetic field. Presentations are also invited on the science enabled by such new observations, including space weather-related science and impacts to Earth’s atmosphere and ionosphere.

Recognizing the 2023-2032 Heliophysics Decadal Survey currently under way and the community-led Heliophysics 2050 vision, we also encourage presentations that include longer-term future outlooks and both intra- and inter-disciplinary integration of solar and heliospheric physics, space physics, and other relevant fields.

17. Title: Sun-to-Earth Campaign-style Study of Large Space Weather Events

Description: Conveners:

Jie Zhang (George Mason University)

Allison N. Jaynes (University of Iowa)

Nick Pedatella (National Center for Atmospheric Research)

The process of an eruption on the Sun resulting in adverse space weather events on the Earth comprises a long chain of cause-effect activities. This chain of activities includes the emergence of active regions from Sun’s sub-photosphere, energy build-up in Sun’s corona, flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs) and CME-driven shocks that in turn accelerate energetic particles. Upon an ICME striking the Earth, this chain continues as geomagnetic sub-storms and storms, particle and plasma wave fluctuations in the radiation belts, disturbances in the ionosphere and upper atmosphere, and induction of electric field on the ground. The disturbances and resulting storms in space may subsequently wreck-havoc on advanced technological systems in space and on the ground.

Studying the full chain of Sun-to-Earth activities shall provide us a systematic understanding of how disturbances and energy transfer from the surface of the Sun to the surface of the Earth and how physical processes couple across vastly different space domains. Such improved understanding shall provide a benefit toward forecasting space weather events with a long lead time. Toward emphasizing a global study of the coupled Sun-Earth system, this TESS proposal calls a session on Sun-to-Earth campaign-style studies of large space weather events. A large space weather event refers to an intense geomagnetic storm and/or large solar energetic particle (SEP) event, which usually traces back to a major solar flare and/or fast CME on the Sun. The usage of a large space weather event enables a campaign-style study that employs a large array of data and involves experts from the wide solar-terrestrial communities. The majority of observations in the solar-terrestrial system, whether remote-sensing or in-situ, whether in space or on the ground, are synoptic. These synoptic observations allow a campaign-style study for large space weather events, even though observations are not coordinated prior to the events. Furthermore, recent advances in coupled modeling frameworks enable simulations of large space weather events that can be compared with observations.

This TESS session shall appeal to a broad TESS audience. The session shall attract experts from the communities of solar physics, heliospheric physics, magnetospheric physics, ionospheric physics and aeronomy, as large space weather events are

of concern and interest to all these communities.

This session invites contributions of studies of large space weather events in solar cycle 24. In particular, it invites studies that emphasize the physical coupling across two or more domains along the Sun-Earth chain. Observational, theoretical, and modeling studies are all welcome. Focused Sun-to-Earth events in solar cycle 24 can be the

ones on 2015 March 15-17, 2012 July 12-14, and other large events.

18. Title: Solar Flare Prediction

Description: Conveners:

Juliana Vievering (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)

Juan Camilo Buitrago-Casas (UC/Berkeley)

Gordon Emslie (Western Kentucky University)

Solar flares are some of the most energetic events in our solar system. Under certain circumstances, they can cause significant disruptions to Earth's surroundings in terms of space weather. Predicting the occurrence of a flare and its

attributes with sufficient certainty is critical for diminishing the impact of these extreme events. Also, knowing in advance the imminent triggering of a flare would allow for coordination of flare observation campaigns using instruments with a limited

field of view (FOV) and/or observing time (e.g., astrophysical observatories); this capability would increase the multiwavelength coverage of flares and maximize the science return for a wide variety of missions targeting solar eruptive events.

This session will highlight the most recent developments in solar flare prediction, from long-term (e.g., 24-hour) forecasts to near-term, actionable flare predictions and nowcasting. Topics of interest also include predictions of flare-related phenomena, such as solar energetic particle (SEP) events, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and geospace effects (e.g., radio blackouts, geomagnetic storms). We seek contributions that use remote sensing and/or in-situ measurements, machine learning techniques, innovative data processing methods (e.g., spatial/temporal transforms), and/or modeling. Contributions featuring new instrumentation/observatories that would support flare prediction efforts (e.g., real-time measurements, alternate viewpoints, etc.) are also welcome. We invite abstracts on all topics relevant to the session theme, and we also

invite all TESS attendees to attend what promises to be a lively topical session.

19. Title: Understanding the Formation and Evolution of Ambient and Transient Solar Wind Outflow

Description: Conveners:

Yeimy Rivera (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian)

Samantha Wallace (USRA, NASA/GSFC)

Nour Raouafi (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)

Several fundamental outstanding questions in heliophysics pertain to the genesis and energization of the solar wind. It remains unclear what drives the formation and evolution of solar wind as it traverses physically disparate regions of the solar

atmosphere and heliosphere, wherein its structure and physical properties (e.g. plasma beta, alfvenicity, ionization stage, emission mechanism, magnetic topology, collisional frequency) transition over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales.

The evolution spans several key regions of space (i.e. transition region, middle corona, Alfven surface, inner heliosphere boundary) that are spatially and temporally dynamic, making it difficult to investigate solar wind formation and evolution in a comprehensive manner.

We have entered a new era where we are now able to connect observations of the solar wind in these dynamic regions of the heliosphere. For instance, on April 28th 2021 Parker Solar Probe (PSP) crossed the Alfven surface to observe the corona

in situ for the first time, providing an unprecedented view of the corona-heliosphere system. As PSP continues to probe the solar atmosphere, further progress hinges on interdisciplinary collaborations to investigate the physics driving solar wind

dynamics across the corona and heliosphere to couple these physically different regions. In these efforts, it is particularly important to capitalize on synergies among newly launched space missions such as PSP and Solar Orbiter, and groundbased

observatories, such as the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST), as well as the current fleet (e.g., STEREO, SOHO, Hinode). We invite contributions that bridge models, theory, and observations to advance our understanding of the physical

processes driving the solar wind (i.e. ambient outflow, transient events, and SEPs) across transitional boundaries of physically different regions from the base of the corona to the inner heliosphere.

20. Title: Solar and Atmospheric Science with Eclipses

Description: Conveners:

Jay Pasachoff (Williams College)

Kevin Reardon (NSO/University of Colorado)

Dan Seaton (CIRES/University of Colorado)

Jenna Samra (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian)

Total solar eclipses are the rare moments when the Earth-Moon-Sun alignment permits unique research on the solar corona. It also provides a localized and impulsive perturbation of the solar flux on the Earth’s atmosphere, allowing for studies of this dynamical system. Eclipses are also key occasions of public fascination in science through a shared experience of an astronomical event. This session, taking advantage of this joint meeting between solar and terrestrial scientists, will highlight

the broad range of studies that can be done during these special events.

During solar eclipses, the extreme reduction of scattered light in the Earth’s atmosphere allows the electron-scattered K-corona to be fully visible. Because the continuum intensity is primarily only sensitive to the line-of-sight density, this allows the coronal structures to be fully mapped around the Sun with good spatial resolution, clearly revealing the extended topology of the magnetic field in the lower corona. The application of advanced image processing techniques reveals the details of that structuring and extends the view out into the middle corona. Eclipses also provide an opportunity to map the emission from highly ionized ions in the corona, providing a more cohesive view of their distribution and relative strengths. All this provides insights into the physical conditions of the corona, which can be compared to models and observations at other wavelengths, to understand the connections from the solar surface out into the heliosphere. This becomes especially intriguing as we look forward to future eclipses when we will have Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter embedded, at relatively small radial distances, in the same corona we observe during the eclipse, opening new investigative avenues.

At the same time, there has been an increasing realization that the sudden loss of irradiation in a restricted volume of the Earth’s atmosphere can serve as a well-defined stochastic disturbance that can permit unique studies of the atmospheric system, both locally and globally. Eclipses are especially good at creating perturbations in the ionospheric total electron content, either due to the obscuration of the ionizing radiation in the UV or the generation of gravity waves due to a supersonically propagating temperature variation. Such disturbances can expand to have global effects as they impact the overall magnetospheric dynamics. Studies of the varied atmospheric responses to eclipses can provide a valuable tool for testing the validity and predictive power of physical models of the upper atmosphere.

In this session we invite contributions on all range of scientific results obtained from observations of solar eclipses. The session will feature two talks reviewing results in coronal and atmospheric science from recent eclipses. We also welcome talks looking forward to unique science or public engagement opportunities for future eclipses with a powerful constellation of spacecraft and Earth-based coronal facilities.

21. Title: Explosive Energy Release Processes in the Solar Corona and Earth’s Magnetosphere

Description: Conveners:

Bin Chen (NJIT)

Vadim Uritsky (CUA)

James Drake (UMD); Spiro Antiochos (NASA/GSFC); Joel Dahlin (NASA/GSFC); Rick DeVore (NASA/GSFC); Fan Guo (LANL); Maria Kazachenko (CU Boulder); Marit Oieroset (UC Berkeley); Jiong Qiu (MSU)

This session focuses on explosive energy release processes occurring in the solar corona (solar flares, coronal mass ejections, jets, etc.) and in the Earth’s magnetosphere (magnetic storms, substorms, etc.). They share the widely important process of explosive release of the previously stored magnetic energy, as well as the subsequent conversion of the magnetic energy to other forms of energy such as mass motion, accelerated particles, and heated plasma. Despite the vastly different plasma

density and magnetic field strength values, the system length scales and Alfvén speeds in the two systems are strikingly similar. In both cases, the impulsive energy release is usually followed by a fast field-line shrinkage (or dipolarization) of the reconnected field lines, forming closed magnetic field lines anchored to the surface of the Sun/Earth.

Observations and models have shown that the processes of energy build-up, triggering, release, and conversion involved in both systems are highly complex and dynamic. They include a plethora of physical processes including, but not limited to, ideal/resistive instabilities, magnetic reconnection, bursty plasma flows, turbulence/waves, shocks, and magnetic islands.

We invite contributions that facilitate an in-depth interdisciplinary discussion of these fundamental processes. Studies that contrast the similarities and differences in the two environments are particularly encouraged. Possible focal topics include the roles of ideal versus resistive instability; the triggers for fast magnetic reconnection; the mechanisms of particle acceleration and plasma heating in the reconnection site, field-line shrinkage region, and elsewhere; the connections between multiscale spatiotemporal structures and dynamics.

Format:

We plan to have invited + contributed talks and, if we have more than one session, a panel discussion toward the end.

22. Title: Connecting Magnetic Reconnection across Space and Laboratory Plasmas

Description: Conveners:

H. Ji (Princeton University)

J. Karpen (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

Q. Hu (University of Alabama, Huntsville)

J. Leake (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

Y. Zou (University of Alabama, Huntsville)

Magnetic reconnection – the topological rearrangement of magnetic fields – underlies many explosive phenomena across a wide range of natural and laboratory plasmas [1,2]. It plays a pivotal role in electron and ion heating, particle acceleration to

high energies, energy transport, self-organization, and turbulence. In heliophysics, magnetic reconnection plays a key role in coronal mass ejections/ flares, coronal heating, the interaction of the solar wind with planetary magnetospheres, the disturbances in the planetary magnetospheres such as magnetic substorms, and the behavior of the heliospheric boundary with the interstellar medium. Reconnection is also integral to the solar and planetary dynamo processes. In short, magnetic

reconnection plays a key role in many energetic phenomena throughout the Universe, including extreme space weather events that have significant societal impact and laboratory fusion plasmas intended to generate carbon-free energy.

The purpose of this session is to summarize the frontier issues of magnetic reconnection research and to discuss how to work together to solve these grand challenge problems collectively. In the first part of our session, major scientific

challenges will be discussed across solar, heliospheric, and magnetospheric plasmas. In the second part, major research opportunities will be discussed via observation, computation, data science, and laboratory experiments. Each part of our

session will include both invited and contributed talks. If time allows, a panel discussion will also be part of the session with panel members composed of the named convenors, to maximize multi-community participation.

Below we list a number of scientific challenges as well as future cross-disciplinary research opportunities to solve these challenges. We encourage everyone to submit abstracts to this session on these or any other related topics, and to participate in our discussion.

Part I: Major scientific challenges

1. How does reconnection start?

2. How does reconnection couple global fluid (magnetohydrodynamic) scales to local dissipation (kinetic) scales?

3. How does reconnection take place in 3D?

4. How are particles heated and accelerated?

5. How does partial ionization affect reconnection?

6. What role does reconnection play in related processes such as turbulence, shocks and transport?

7. How, and under what conditions, is magnetic reconnection a driver or a consequence of explosive phenomena such as

Earth's magnetospheric substorms and Coronal Mass Ejections?

Part II: Future directions for cross-disciplinary research

1. Observation: both in-situ and remote-sensing

2. Numerical modeling: both fluid and kinetic

3. Data science: both machine learning and data mining

4. Laboratory experiments

[1] “Major Scientific Challenges and Opportunities in Understanding Magnetic Reconnection and Related Explosive

Phenomena in Solar and Heliospheric Plasmas”, H. Ji, J. Karpen, et al. (2020). https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.08779

[2] “Magnetic reconnection in the era of exascale computing and multiscale experiments”, H. Ji, et al. (2022).

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42254-021-00419-x

23. Title: Investigating the Solar Chromosphere at Millimeter Wavelengths”

Description: Conveners:

Adam Kobelski (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center)

Gianna Cauzzi (National Solar Observatory)

One of the most notable new developments in the study of the solar chromosphere is the ability to obtain high resolution observations of the Sun at millimeter wavelengths using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA).

This interferometric imaging array of 64 dishes, located at an altitude of 5000 meters in Chile, is currently able to observe the Sun at frequencies from 90 GHz to 370 GHz (~ 0.85 – 3.0 mm wavelengths), achieving spatial resolutions as high as 0.6”, with

1 s cadence.

The millimeter continuum is emitted by electrons over much of the range from the temperature minimum to the transition region, and provides a direct measure of the local temperature. Thus, ALMA data provide important new diagnostics for studying the spatio-temporal structure and dynamics of the solar chromosphere. Over the past few years, the community has made significant progress in the processing and interpretation of this interferometric data. and numerous studies have used these data to probe various features and processes in the solar atmosphere. Within this session, we aim to introduce the community to both novel science results obtained by this new facility and to highlight future scientific opportunities enabled by ALMA, especially those in coordination with ground and spaced based instruments. We invite contributions from previous users of ALMA about their results, but also presentations of studies of the solar chromosphere that would potentially benefit from the additional temperature and magnetic field diagnostics from these millimeter observations. Two featured talks will provide a broad overview of solar ALMA science, including the potential for observations of solar activity and flares, and provide guidance for potential new users of the facility, with the goal of inspiring a broader participation in this exciting science.

24. Title: Multi-scale physics of Earth's magnetotail

Description: Conveners:

Kevin Genestreti (SWRI)

Mikhail Sitnov (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)

Drew Turner (Aerospace Corporation)

Earth’s magnetotail stores and eruptively releases energy from the solar wind plasma. Meso-scale flows and meso-to-macroscale transient structures, which originate from micro-scale reconnection, mediate global energy reconnection. The global impact of tail activity is largely coherent, with some repeatable characteristic features resulting from repeatable initial conditions and solar drivers. Major open questions exist regarding how dynamics at all scales are interrelated, and which of

many possible dynamical processes are responsible for accelerating particles to very high (>100’s keV) energies in the active magnetotail. Multi-spacecraft missions like MMS, THEMIS, and Cluster independently provide insight into near-Earth magnetotail dynamics at a variety of scale sizes. The multi-probe ARTEMIS mission provides insight into the often unique magnetotail environment near lunar orbit. Single-probe missions like Geotail provide a comprehensive historical record during many solar cycles, enabling statistical analysis and data mining. Modeling and theory advances our understanding of global and local physics, while providing testable hypothesis for experimental studies. This session provides a venue for these groups to share their research on the multi-scale physics of magnetotail energy transport and particle acceleration.