CEDAR email: research fellowships in UK, tenure track position in Virginia, and grad student summer projects in NM

[Barbara Emery]

This is a generic mailing to the CEDAR community sent 05 January 2012.
Meetings and jobs are listed at http://cedarweb.hao.ucar.edu under
'Community' as 'Calendar of Meetings' and 'CEDAR related opportunities'.
CEDAR email messages are under 'Community' as 'CEDAR email Newsletters'.
All are in 'Quick Links' on the main page.
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(1) Two Research fellowships in atmospheric chemistry at University of Leeds, UK 
- applications due 23 January.
 From John Plane (j.m.c.plane at leeds.ac.uk).
See also http://www.leeds.ac.uk/hr/jobs/index.htm.

(2) Tenure track position in Space Weather at George Mason University, VI - 
applications due 31 January.
 From Bob Weigel (rweigel at gmu.edu).
See also http://spacs.gmu.edu/ (position number F8410Z) and 
http://spaceweather.gmu.edu/.

(3) Summer 2012 Air Force Research Laboratory Space Scholars Program for 4 
graduate students at Kirtland AFB, NM - applications due 6 February.
 From Yi-Jiun.Su at Kirtland.af.mil.
See also http://prs.afrl.kirtland.af.mil/SpaceScholars/Eligibility.aspx

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(1) Two Research fellowships in atmospheric chemistry at University of Leeds, UK 
- applications due 23 January.
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 From John Plane (j.m.c.plane at leeds.ac.uk).

Two Research Fellowships in Atmospheric Chemistry in the School of Chemistry at 
the University of Leeds are available.

These positions are part of the 5-year advanced grant project “Cosmic Dust in 
the Terrestrial Atmosphere (CODITA)”, funded by the European Research Council. 
You will join an international team studying the evolution of dust from comets 
and its impact in the atmospheres of the Earth and other solar system bodies.

The first fellowship, on the Chemistry of Planetary Atmospheres, will have two 
research aims: to study the layers of metallic ions observed in planetary 
atmospheres, by measuring the rates of dissociative recombination of metallic 
molecular ions with electrons; and to develop a novel reactor for simulating 
meteoric ablation in the laboratory.

The second fellowship, on the Chemistry of the Upper Atmosphere, will 
investigate the chemistry of the metallic layers in the mesosphere, the 
formation of meteoric smoke, and the nucleation of noctilucent clouds, using a 
reactor employing laser photo-ionization and time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Suitable applicants for these positions should have a PhD in experimental 
physical/atmospheric chemistry, chemical physics, or a closely related 
discipline. You should be prepared to work as part of a dynamic team and, when 
appropriate, to use your initiative as an independent researcher.

Both positions are 54-month appointments, available from 1 April 2012. Salary in 
the range £29,972 - £35,788 depending on experience.

Further information on CODITA and Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of 
Leeds is available at http://www.leeds.ac.uk/hr/jobs/index.htm.

Informal enquiries to Professor John Plane, email j.m.c.plane at leeds.ac.uk, web 
http://www1.chem.leeds.ac.uk/JMCP/, tel +44 (0)113 343 8044.

Closing Date:	   23 January 2012

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(2) Tenure track position in Space Weather at George Mason University, VI - 
applications due 31 January.
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 From Bob Weigel (rweigel at gmu.edu).

The School of Physics, Astronomy, and Computational Sciences (SPACS) within
the College of Science at George Mason University announces the opening of a
tenure track position at the assistant professor level in Space Weather. The
SPACS academic program, leading to BS, MS and PhD degrees in astronomy,
physics, computational sciences, and data sciences (informatics), includes a
strong and growing Space Weather Program with 2 tenured faculty, 10 research
faculty, and 20 graduate students. The Space Weather Program emphasizes a
systems approach to Sun-Earth connections and research involving data
analysis, simulation, and modeling that has potential applications in space
weather prediction.

The tenure-track position requires a PhD in a space weather-related research
area, preferably in upper atmosphere/ionosphere physics. Experience in
planetary research is a plus. The applicant should have the potential to
support research and graduate students through sponsored programs.

Applicants should submit statements of research interests, teaching interests
and philosophy, and curriculum vita online at http://jobs.gmu.edu/ (position
number F8410Z; deadline January 31, 2012). For additional information, please
contact Kathleen Enos <kenos1 at gmu.edu> (703-993-3807).

The appointment will be in the newly formed School of Physics, Astronomy and
Computational Sciences.  SPACS has dynamic and growing graduate programs in
physics, computational sciences, and data sciences that provides an ideal
environment for faculty with an applied, collaborative orientation. For more
information, see http://spacs.gmu.edu/ and the Space Weather Laboratory's
website http://spaceweather.gmu.edu/.

George Mason University, Virginia’s largest public university, is located 15
miles from the US Capitol and is close to research centers and laboratories
including the National Institutes of Health, Naval Research Laboratory, and
the Goddard Space Flight Center. With more than 30,000 students, Mason is one
of the fastest growing research universities in the country.

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(3) Summer 2012 Air Force Research Laboratory Space Scholars Program for 
graduate students at Kirtland AFB, NM - applications due 6 February.
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Multiple summer research topics of the 2012 AFRL scholars program are now
open for application. Qualified graduate students (U.S. Citizens only) are
encouraged to apply before 11:59pm MT on Feb. 6, 2012.
The applicant eligibility and information can be found at
http://prs.afrl.kirtland.af.mil/SpaceScholars/Eligibility.aspx
Students are encouraged to email their questions regarding a specific topic
to the contact personnel listed below the research title.

<b>(1) Title: Electromagnetic energy deposition to the high-latitude ionosphere</b>
*Contact: Yi-Jiun.Su at Kirtland.af.mil
*Topic Description: 
http://prs.afrl.kirtland.af.mil/SpaceScholars/Topic.aspx?TopicId=3

Electromagnetic energy deposited in the form of Joule heat into the
ionosphere is transferred to thermospheric neutrals whose temperatures,
chemical reaction rates, density scale heights, and wind patterns can be
altered. Moreover, altered density scale heights affect drag coefficients
and alter neutral wind patterns affecting global electric fields. To date,
no systematic method has been developed for incorporation of the Poynting
flux into existing models. Students will be encouraged to analyze DMSP data
and to develop an automated technique for cleaning up magnetic field
datasets. The goal of this topic is to develop spatial maps of Poynting flux
for different activity levels and/or solar wind conditions. Poynting flux
derived from DMSP observations will be used to estimate Joule heating as
input for the thermosphere-ionosphere electrodynamics general circulation
model (TIEGCM).

<b>(2) Title: Understanding Variability in Ion Flows and Auroral Precipitation</b>
*Contact: Dan Ober <Daniel.Ober at Kirtland.af.mil>
*Topic Description: 
http://prs.afrl.kirtland.af.mil/SpaceScholars/Topic.aspx?TopicId=9

The heating in the upper atmosphere is important to understand
for satellite drag prediction.  Times exist when the heating due to auroral
processes far exceeds the heating due to solar illumination.  It is during
these times that our ability to predict satellite orbits is the worst.  This
is primarily because we lack an understanding of the energy deposition into
the thermosphere due to both Joule and auroral heating.  These heating
sources are intimately related, since the aurora creates electron density,
which is needed for Joule heating.  In addition, auroral arcs are typically
associated with strong electric fields, which drive Joule heating.  On the
large scale, when the aurora increases, the electric fields increase.  On
smaller scales, studies have shown that the aurora and the electric fields
are sometime correlated, sometime anti-correlated and sometimes not
correlated at all.  We are interested in investigations that explore the
relationship between auroral precipitation, ion flows, and the heating that
results from these utilizing Defense Meteorological Satellite Program data.

<b>(3) Title: Remote sensing of plasmasphere density using field line resonances</b>
*Contact: Eftyhia Zesta <Eftyhia.Zesta at Kirtland.af.mil>
*Topic Description: 
http://prs.afrl.kirtland.af.mil/SpaceScholars/Topic.aspx?TopicId=12

The plasmasphere is a vast region of the inner magnetosphere
filled with trapped low energy ions and electrons of ionospheric origin.
The plasmasphere is important for several reasons including accurately
specifying the propagation of waves which contribute to the decay and
acceleration of energetic particles in the radiation belts.  Precise
knowledge of the plasmasphere is therefore important for accurately
predicting the evolution of energetic particle populations.  Time-dependant
three-dimensional models of the plasmasphere are needed to accurately model
the field-aligned plasma densities, composition, and temperatures.  This
effort will combine the first principles 1-d field line interhemispheric
plasma (FLIP) model with observationally determined field line resonances
(FLRs) to produce a more reliable dynamic three-dimensional plasmasphere.
FRLs will be determined from pairs of ground magnetometers at appropriate L
values. The main goal of this effort will be to determine quantitative ways
to parametrize the FLIP model based on the FLR values from the ground
magnetometers.

<b>(4) Title: Modeling penetration electric fields during magnetic storms</b>
*Contact: Chaosong Huang <Chaosong.Huang at Kirtland.af.mil>
*Topic Description: 
http://prs.afrl.kirtland.af.mil/SpaceScholars/Topic.aspx?TopicId=7

The objective of this project is to develop the modeling capability of
penetration electric fields. Penetration electric fields play a critical
role in controlling the ionospheric electrodynamics and the generation of
ionospheric disturbances during magnetic storms. However, it has not been
well understood how penetration electric fields are quantitatively related
to the interplanetary electric field, how long penetration electric fields
can last, what determines the shielding efficiency, and what the interplay
of penetration and dynamo electric fields is during the course of magnetic
storms. In this project, the field-aligned currents derived from the Iridium
magnetometer data will be used to drive the Thermosphere-Ionosphere
Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIEGCM) to simulate penetration
electric fields and low-latitude ionospheric disturbances. The simulation
results will be compared with measurements of ionospheric incoherent scatter
radars and satellites.

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