CEDAR email: Draft Focused Science Topics for NASA LPAG

[Anthea J Coster]

Dear Heliophysics Community,

This summer, we solicited your input for Living with a Star (LWS) Focused Science Topics (FSTs) for ROSES 2019 and beyond. We received 46 topics from all areas of Heliophysics and many comments (see https://lwstrt.gsfc.nasa.gov/viewinput/2018/). We met in early July to carefully review all of these community suggested science topics, as well as topics submitted in previous years, keeping in mind the Heliophysics Decadal Survey goals, the overall Living with a Star goals, and the TR&T Strategic Science Areas (SSAs). Based on this, we have prepared a draft set of 19 Focused Science Topics, plus a Tools and Methods theme and a Sun-Climate theme, appended here for your inspection and comment. We considered all of the submitted topics very carefully and tried to create Focused Science Topics that included as much of this input as possible. Please keep in mind that these are draft topics only. We are now soliciting community feedback on these drafts, as the next, critical stage of this year's process of generating science topics. All of these draft topics are posted on our website at https://lwstrt.gsfc.nasa.gov, with input boxes for comments and feedback on each individual topic, as well as on the overall process. The feedback site will be open for comments until October 19, 2018. After this comment period closes, the committee will meet again to review the community feedback on the topics and, based on this feedback and on the Decadal Survey, LWS, and TR&T goals, to finalize the topics for our annual report to NASA Headquarters. We look forward to your feedback on these draft topics.

Sincerely,
Mark Linton & Anthea Coster (co-chairs)
On behalf of the Living with a Star Program Analysis Group Executive Committee

Draft Focused Science Topics:
● Understanding the Impact of Thermospheric Structure and Dynamics on Orbital Drag
● Understanding and Predicting Radiation Belt Loss in the Coupled Magnetosphere
● Pathways of Cold Plasma through the Magnetosphere
● Understanding the Variability of the ITM System Due to Tides, Planetary Waves, Gravity Waves, and Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances
● The Variable Radiation Environment in the Dynamical Solar and Heliospheric System
● The Origin and Consequences of Suprathermal Particles
● Connecting Thermospheric Composition and Space Weather
● Understanding Ionospheric Conductivity and Its Variability
● Modeling and Validation of Ionospheric Irregularities and Scintillations
● Fast Reconnection Onset ● Extreme Solar Events -- Probabilistic Forecasting and Physical Understanding
● Connecting Auroral Phenomena with Magnetospheric Phenomena
● Understanding Space Weather Effects and Developing Mitigation Strategies for Human Deep Space Flight
● Solar Photospheric Magnetic Fields
● Magnetospheric and Ionospheric Processes Responsible for Rapid Geomagnetic Changes
● Coupling of Solar Wind Plasma and Energy into the Geospace System
● Combining Models and Observations to Study CME Plasma Energetics in the Inner Corona
● Atmospheric Evolution and Loss to Space in the Presence of a Star
● Hemispherical Asymmetries in Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere Coupling Processes: Fundamental Causes and Myriad Manifestations

Draft Sun-Climate Theme:
● Variability and Predictability of the Solar-Driven Earth System

Draft Tools and Methods Theme:
● Data Science and Analytics





Anthea J. Coster, PhD
MIT Haystack Observatory
99 Millstone Road
Westford, MA 01886


phone:    617-715-5753
fax:          781-981-5766
email:     ajc at haystack.mit.edu<mailto:ajc at haystack.mit.edu>
web:        www.haystack.mit.edu

Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.   Niels Bohr



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