Dear colleagues,
I hope you had wonderful holidays and are starting the new year
feeling refreshed, optimistic, and in good health!
Please find below some VERSIM-related news that you may find
useful. In particular:
1) Info/call for ideas regarding ESA/ESTEC Magnetized
Plasma Chamber (MPC) project
2) Advertisement for URSI GASS sessions
3) Advertisement for EGU session
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1)
Subject: Collecting Ideas and Use-Cases for ESA/ESTEC Magnetized Plasma Chamber (MPC) project
Dear Colleagues,
ESA ESTEC is currently conducting a feasibility study to design and build a magnetized plasma chamber (MPC) at ESTEC. The main objectives of the MPC are the testing and validation of:
Instrument measuring principles
Instrument designs
Environmental tests for instruments, electronics, and materials
New instrument concepts
If constructed, the MPC will be available to academic and industrial entities across all ESA member states as well as to international collaborators.
The feasibility study focuses on design (technical) and cost elements, which will form the basis for the final decision on MPC implementation.
A key factor influencing the decision to develop an MPC facility is the potential usefulness of the plasma chamber, i.e., the number and scope of possible applications for future missions.
We invite you to share your ideas and suggestions on potential applications and uses of the planned MPC by completing the following
survey by 19 January 2026 here:
https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/payload-technology-validation/magnetic-plasma-chamber-survey
Please feel free to distribute this email among the potential user.
Malik Mansour Janos Lichtenberger
ESA ESTEC Eotvos University
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2)
URSI GASS 2026 Commission H Session
Announcement (From: Bob Marshall)
The triennial URSI General Assembly and Scientific Symposium (URSI
GASS) will be held August 15-22, 2026, in Krakow, Poland, as a
fully in-person conference with only on-site presentations. The
conference will have a series of convened and open sessions within
the domains covered by all ten Commissions of URSI. Abstract
submissions are now open, and the submission deadline is January
25, 2026. Details on the conference can be found at
https://www.ursi-gass2026.pl/.
Also, don’t forget URSI's Young Scientist award program: a limited
number of awards are available to assist young scientists
from both developed and developing countries to attend this
meeting. More details here:
https://www.ursi-gass2026.pl/youngscientist
Commission H sessions
H01: Open Session
In one sentence: A broad session inviting papers on any
aspect of waves in space or laboratory plasmas that do not fit
within other Commission H topics.
Conveners: Craig Rodger, Robert Marshall
H02: Plasma waves, wave‑particle interactions, and their
multifold effects on the radiation belts
In one sentence: This session focuses on understanding how
plasma waves influence radiation belt dynamics through
wave‑particle interactions, including their properties,
propagation, and global impacts.
Conveners: David Hartley, Ondrej Santolik, Yoshizumi
Miyoshi
H03: Drivers, Detection, and Ionospheric Impacts of
Precipitation from the Radiation Belts
In one sentence: A session examining the drivers,
measurements, and ionospheric consequences of energetic particle
precipitation from the radiation belts.
Conveners: Allison Jaynes, Mark A. Clilverd
H04: Recent advances in geospace research from wide‑range to
multi‑point observations
In one sentence: This session highlights new insights into
geospace dynamics using multi‑point, long‑term, and wide‑range
observations combined with modeling and data‑driven approaches.
Conveners: Jyrki Manninen, Francois Ripoll, Yoshiya
Kasahara, Hanna Rothkaehl
H05: Computer Simulations and Machine Learning methods in Space
Plasmas
In one sentence: A session dedicated to advances in
simulations, numerical methods, and machine learning techniques
applied to space plasma physics.
Conveners: Esa Kallio, Yohei Miyake, Shahab Fatemi
H06: Turbulence and Instabilities in Space Plasmas
In one sentence: This session explores plasma turbulence
and related instabilities across solar, stellar, and planetary
environments through theory, modeling, and observations.
Conveners: Alexander Pitňa, Gary Zank, Julia E. Stawarz,
Victor Montagud Camp
Joint Sessions Led by Commission H
HG1: Small satellites, suborbital experiments, and new
instruments for near‑Earth space science
In one sentence: A session on recent and upcoming
small‑satellite, sounding‑rocket, and balloon missions that
advance near‑Earth space science through innovative instruments
and measurements.
Conveners: Robert Marshall, Bruce Fritz, David Malaspina
HG2: Active Experiments in Space Plasmas
In one sentence: This session covers active space and
laboratory experiments that perturb plasmas to test theories,
develop diagnostics, and improve predictive capabilities.
Conveners: Robert Moore, Mark Golkowski
HGE: Atmospheric, ionospheric, magnetospheric, and high‑energy
effects of lightning discharges
In one sentence: A session exploring lightning‑driven
energetic phenomena and their impacts on the atmosphere,
ionosphere, and magnetosphere, with emphasis on new space‑ and
ground‑based observations.
Conveners: Ivana Kolmašová, Martin Fullekrug, Ningyu Liu
HGJ: Panel Discussion for Early Career Researchers
In one sentence: A panel session where senior researchers
discuss the evolution of space physics, emerging research
directions, and career insights for early‑career scientists.
Conveners: David Hartley, Bruce Fritz, Mohamed Said Darwish
HJ: Radio observations and diagnostics for the Sun, heliosphere
and space weather
In one sentence: This session invites work on radio
observations and modeling of solar and heliospheric emissions to
advance understanding and forecasting of space weather.
Conveners: Mauro Messerotti, Pietro Zucca, Yihua Yan,
Natchimuthuk Gopalswamy, Divya Oberoi
Joint Sessions Involving Commission H Led by Other Commissions
EFGH: Natural Electromagnetic Noise and Radio Sensing
Applications in Terrestrial and Planetary Environment
In one sentence: A session presenting studies of natural
and man‑made electromagnetic noise and their applications in
remote sensing of atmospheric, space weather, and planetary
environments.
Conveners: Yasuhide Hobara, Sujay Pal, Tomoo Ushio
GH: Planetary Space Weather
In one sentence: This session highlights advances in
understanding planetary ionospheres, atmospheres, and
space‑weather processes across the Solar System.
Conveners: Alessandro Ippolito, Bruno Nava, Hanna
Rothkaehl, Yuki Harada
...on top of these Commission H sessions,
there will be additional VERSIM-related sessions, particularly
those convened by Liliana Macotela:
G07 (The high latitude atmosphere)
and FG (Innovations in Space Surveillance and
Environmental Interaction)
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3)
Dear
colleagues,
We invite submissions to the EGU
2026 session ST2.4: Regimes of wave-particle interactions in
terrestrial and planetary magnetospheres and the solar wind.
The conference will take place in Vienna, Austria, from 3 to 8
May, 2026.
The full session description is available at https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU26/session/57140
Short description: This session focuses on wave-particle
interactions in collisionless plasmas and their role in wave
generation, damping, and particle scattering in the radiation
belts and beyond. It gathers theorists, data analysts, and
modelers to advance frameworks that integrate nonlinear and
non-resonant effects into diffusion-based plasma models.
We look forward to receiving your abstracts!
With best regards
Mirek Hanzelka, Oliver Allanson, Anton Artemyev, Xiaojia Zhang,
and Emma Woodfield
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Best regards,
Frantisek
--
Prof. RNDr. Frantisek Nemec, Ph.D.
Space Physics Laboratory e-mail: frantis...@mff.cuni.cz
Department of Surface and Plasma Science web: http://nemec.matfyz.cz
Faculty of Mathematics and Physics phone: +420 95155 2330
Charles University
V Holesovickach 2, 180 00
Prague, Czech Republic
