CEDAR email: SAVE THE DATE: OCTOBER 16, 2026 | RAS SPECIALIST DISCUSSION MEETING | HOW DOES SOLAR WIND CONTROL EARTH'S RADIATION BELT DYNAMICS?

[Suman Chakraborty]

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce an upcoming Royal Astronomical Society Specialist Discussion Meeting:

"How Does Solar Wind Control Earth's Radiation Belt Dynamics?"
Date: Friday, 16 October 2026
Venue: Burlington House, Piccadilly, London

— About the Meeting —

The solar wind is the primary external driver of Earth’s radiation belt variability. Therefore, understanding the chain of processes connecting upstream solar wind conditions to radiation belt dynamics is crucial to obtain a systemic understanding of the near-Earth geospace environment. This meeting will bring together the UK and international community spanning observations, modelling, and theory to synthesise current understanding and identify priorities for the next phase of research.
Recent years have produced some of the most intense solar wind driving events on record, captured by an unprecedented constellation of spacecraft, including the Solar Orbiter and Parker Solar Probe providing upstream solar wind measurements, together with radiation belt observations from ERG/Arase, MMS, and THEMIS, along with the upcoming joint ESA/CAS SMILE mission. This is therefore a timely opportunity for the space weather community to come together and synthesise this remarkable observational resource.

The meeting will bring together researchers working across observations, modelling, and theory, with sessions covering:
• Solar-terrestrial coupling and radiation belt response: CME- and CIR-driven dynamics, substorm activity, and particle acceleration and loss
• Wave-particle interactions and the solar wind connection: How solar wind conditions modulate plasma wave generation and drive acceleration and loss across different timescales
• Modelling and future directions: Gaps in physics-based and data-driven models, and how current and planned missions can advance our understanding

We warmly invite contributions from researchers at all career stages working across all aspects of solar wind-radiation belt coupling. Both oral and poster presentations are welcome. We will circulate a separate email with a link to submit abstracts shortly.

We look forward to seeing you in London in October.

With best wishes,
Dr Suman Chakraborty, Northumbria University
Dr Ahmad Lalti, Northumbria University
Dr Oliver Allanson, University of Birmingham
Dr Jasmine K. Sandhu, University of Leicester
Dr Ravindra T. Desai, University of Warwick

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Dr. Suman Chakraborty (Ph.D., FRAS)
(he/him/his)
Post Doctoral Fellow, Space Plasma Physics
School of Engineering, Physics, and Mathematics
Northumbria University | Newcastle upon Tyne | NE1 8ST | UK
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