CHAMOS

The European Space Agency has selected Pekka Verronen for the CAIRT Mission Advisory Group. CAIRT (The Changing-Atmosphere Infra-Red Tomography Explorer) is one of the four Earth Explorer 11 mission candidates entering Phase 0. The role of MAG is to provide the most robust basis for a rigorous and feasible mission definition, in particular through the consolidation of requirements, by identifying and addressing concerns and challenges, and proactively challenging the proposal and proposed concepts, all needed to successfully pass through the next evaluation step. More on the Earth Explorer 11 missions.

The Research Council of Finland has named Pekka Verronen into its EISCAT Council delegation as a scientific representative for the year 2021. The EISCAT Council is the governing body of EISCAT Scientific Association and has an overall responsibility for the activities of the Association. More on the EISCAT council.

This year the CHAMOS Workshop is held as a series of zoomcons between October 2020 and March 2021. Organized by the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, we gathered to discuss CHAMOS science and our collaboration projects, including new instrument funding for scanning doppler imagers, recent work on SH ozone, and the results of ESA Deadalus Phase 0 project.

International Space Science Institute in Bern hosted and funded our first meeting of the Space Weather Induced Ionisation Effects on the Ozone Layer project on 3-7 February, 2020 . Antti leads the project and Jia, Annika, Niilo, and Pekka are also in the team. Overall, ISSI funding covers two one-week meetings in Bern for the whole team and two young scientists. Thanks to the team for a productive week! Project web page is here

Maxime and Pekka worked in a research team that identified a new form of aurora. Originally found by citizen scientists, we contributed to the analysis and interpretation of the discovered Dunes and related upper atmospheric phenomena. A press release from University of Helsinki is here.

The CHAMOS team participated heavily in the SGO Observatory Days, presenting our ionospheric and atmospheric research. The meeting web page is here.

SUNVAC consortium between University of Helsinki, FMI and CSC unite forces to connect state-of-the-art Vlasiator magnetospheric simulations and WACCM atmospheric simulations. The idea is to calculate most detailed auroral electron forcing and use it to solve the current underestimation of NOx species in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere.

The CHAMOS workshop 2019 was held on 8 - 11 Oct at the Finnish Meteorological Institute. We had four days of intense collaboration, discussions, and presentations, with new people joining from ISEE, Boston University, and Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Official group photograph is here.

Pekka Verronen begins a 5-year position as Professor in Atmospheric Research and Remote Sensing. Funded 50/50 by University of Oulu and Finnish Meteorological Institute, the joint professorship is aimed at strengthening collaboration, especially in Sodankylä Space Campus where both institutes operate. Congratulations!

Daedalus is a ESA EE-10 satellite mission (proposed, Phase 0 study on-going) for the science of lower thermosphere-ionosphere region, incl. energetic particle precipitation and its impact on neutral and ion composition. Mark and Pekka are members of the Science Team, and Mark is also a member of the Mission Advisory Group. Daedalus PI is Theodoros Sarris (Democritus University of Thrace).

International Space Science Institute in Bern has decided to fund our project entitled Space Weather Induced Ionisation Effects on the Ozone Layer. Antti leads the project and Jia, Annika, and Pekka are included the proposed team. The funding covers two one-week meetings in Bern for the whole team and two young scientists. Congratulations, Antti and the team!

FMI group hosted a four-day workshop on energetic electron precipitation and its atmospheric and climate effects took. In addition to the old guard from FMI (Monika, Niilo, Max, Pekka), BAS (Mark), and Otago (Annika and Craig), the meeting was attended by newcomers: Dan Marsh (National Center for Atmospheric Research), David Newnham (BAS), Aaron Hendry (University of Prague), and Harriet George (University of Helsinki). Read a news item on our activities, complemented by a group picture.

Jia, Antti, and Kenneth visited FMI on 4-8 February 2019. Discussions on ozone and EPP continued for a week, with special focus on the statistical effects of solar proton events in the stratosphere and mesosphere. Monika, Niilo, Pekka, Erkki, Viktoria, and Max participated from the FMI side.

The Research Council of Norway has decided to fund a project led by Noora and UNIS. The title of the project is Which Types of Particle Precipitation Matter in the Middle Atmosphere. In addition to the UNIS people, the list of collaborators includes Annika, Monika, and Pekka. Congratulations to Noora and the team!

Pekka visited SGO in Sodankylä 26-29 November to work with Thomas, Antti, Jia, Kenneth, Emnarul, and Rigel. Topics covered mesospheric ozone in the context of the MeMO project, EEP microbursts, SPE and total ozone, WACCM-D possibilities, and VLF/SIC studies during solar eclipses. And then some more!

Shin visited FMI on 29 October to discuss with Pekka about new instrument proposals and possible support from FMI/WACCM modelling.

The CHAMOS workshop 2018 was held on 8 - 12 Oct at the University of Otago. We had five days of intense collaboration, discussions, and presentations, for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere! Official group photograph is here.

Monika, Niilo, Max, and Pekka participated the SOLARIS-HEPPA Working Group 5 meeting in Bergen (but remotely from Helsinki). Plans were made to compare different MEE forcing data sets, their effects in atmospheric simulations, and agreement with satellite-based observations. More about WG5 here.

Annika visited FMI on 27-31 August to work with Monika, Niilo, and Pekka. The CHAMOS-related topics included dynamical responses to EPP and ozone loss in the middle atmosphere, and planning of funding applications.

Both are hired as PhD students for the MeMO project, they will be working on particle precipitation and stratospheric ozone. Welcome!

Emma, Esa, Shin, Max and Pekka attended the 7th International HEPPA-SOLARIS Workshop which was held in Roanoke, VA, USA, on 11-15 June, 2018, with a very much CHAMOS-related scope: Influences of solar radiation and energetic particle precipitation on the atmosphere and climate. More information here.

Erkka spent three days of April at FMI in Helsinki, working with Pekka on WACCM-D ionospheric simulations and comparison against ground-based observations of cosmic radio noise absorption during solar proton events.

Annika, Niilo, Max, Pekka, and Craig visited Mark at the British Antarctic Survey. Three days of collaboration on energetic electron precipitation and its atmospheric and climate effects took place. We were greeted by typical, refreshing English weather in the historical surroundings of Cambridge. See a group photo here.

Esa and Pekka were members of a PhD review panel at the Stockholm University, Department of Meteorology and Bolin Centre for Climate research. The candidate, K. Hendrickx, defended well and it was our pleasure to accept his thesis entitled Solar Forcing of Nitric Oxide in the Upper Atmosphere. Congratulations, Koen! Access the thesis here.

Pekka, Craig, and Esa are in the Scientific Organising Committee for the 7th International HEPPA-SOLARIS Workshop. The meeting will be held in Roanoke, VA, USA, on 11-15 June, 2018, with a very much CHAMOS-related scope: Influences of solar radiation and energetic particle precipitation on the atmosphere and climate. More information here.

Antti Kero started as an Assistant Professor in Radio Science at Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory and University of Oulu. Congratulations!

Thomas organises the SGO Observatory Days in Sodankylä on 10-12 January. The SGO locals (incl. Esa, Antti, Jia) attended, of course, as well as Shin, Carl-Fredrik and Pekka. Conditions: true winter wonderland with stars and aurora visible! See the meeting web page here.

Johanna is now the Head of the FMI Earth Observations Research Unit, and Pekka becomes the Head of the FMI Atmospheric Remote Sensing Group. Congratulations to both! Read the unit/group descriptions here.

Sanna-Mari Päivärinta successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled Roles of Sudden Stratospheric Warming Events and Energetic Particle Precipitation in the Polar Middle Atmosphere: Odd Nitrogen and Ozone. That counts to two CHAMOS doctors in 2017. Congratulations, Sanna! Download the thesis from here.

Annika, Pekka, and Max participated in the SOLARIS-HEPPA working group meeting in Paris focusing on detection of solar signals in observations and simulations. Link to the meeting www.

The CHAMOS workshop 2017 was held on 30 Oct - 3 Nov at the Finnish Meteorological Institute. We had five nice days of intense collaboration, discussions, and presentations. Official group photograph is here.

Emma joins the UNIS group to work on electron density and D-region absorption as higher-level data products from the SuperDARN radars. Welcome!

Maxime Grandin successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled Multi-instrument and modelling studies of ionospheres at Earth and Mars. All well, we have another CHAMOS doctor. Congratulations, Maxime! See the SGO blog here.

Jia joins the SGO group to work on the MeMO project led by Thomas. Previously working with the SCIAMACHY instrument in Germany, she now joins a team building instruments to measure polar mesospheric ozone from the ground. Welcome!

Erkka spent three weeks of August at FMI in Helsinki, working with Pekka on WACCM-D ionospheric simulations and comparison against ground-based observations of cosmic radio noise absorption during solar proton events.

Pekka, Craig, Mark, Monika, Annika, and Max are among the authors of the CMIP6 solar forcing paper, now published in the special issue Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) Experimental Design and Organization. Our contribution is the medium-energy electron precipitation from the outer radiation belt. Access the paper here.

EISCAT_3D, the next generation radar system gets go-ahead for construction. The scientific aim is to understand the effect of solar storms and space weather on the upper atmosphere in the Arctic. More about the good news here!

Annika has left FMI to take a new position as Senior Lecturer at the University of Otago. We expect that this will only strengthen the CHAMOS collaboration. Congratulations, Annika!

Esa and Antti visited ISEE to discuss the status of our plans for pulsating aurora studies and publications with Shin and Shinji. Check out our latest joint JGR publication here.

The annual CHAMOS team workshop will be held in Helsinki, Finland from 30 October to 3 November, 2017. The plan is to have five days of intensive collaboration, this time in an urban environment. See you there!

The Thule institute of the University of Oulu has granted a four year funding for the MeMO project. The project is led by Thomas with many CHAMOS people in the team. The idea is to measure mesospheric ozone using a low-cost ground-based instrument, based on satellite TV receivers operation at 11 GHz. The funding covers a post-doc and two PhD students for 2017-2021, and includes also building of instruments.

Niilo, Max, Pekka, and Craig visited Mark and Annika at the British Antarctic Survey. Three days of collaboration on energetic electron precipitation and its atmospheric and climate effects was combined with an afternoon walk around the historic colleges of the University of Cambridge. See a group photo here.

Esa and Pekka visited Yoshi, Shin, Shinji, and Antti at ISEE. We all participated in the annual Pulsating Aurora Workshop and discussed our joint research, especially related to the first coordinated campaign of ERG satellite (now named ARASE) observations and ground-based ionospheric measurements.

JAXA has successfully launched the ERG satellite to orbit! Important to CHAMOS, measurements of energetic electrons can now be made using the Plasma Particle Experiment Suite (PPE) which has 62 energy channels in the range of 10 eV to 20 MeV. Congratulations to the ISEE ERG team! More information about the ERG mission.

Amazing Luosto provided perfect conditions for the 2016 CHAMOS workshop. Our week of intensive hands-on collaboration, discussions, and presentations was again very successful. Our group photograph can be seen here.

SGO and FMI are members of the 3DGeoSpace consortium, with Esa leading. Our proposal was selected for the second round in the Center of Excellence call by the Academy of Finland! A lot of work is now needed to write a full application. We can do it!

The annual CHAMOS team workshop will be held again in Luosto, Sodankylä, Finland from 28 November to 2 December, 2016. The plan is to have five days of intensive collaboration in a remote log cabin, see you there!

Max, Annika, Mark, Craig, and Pekka published a model for 30-1000 keV radiation belt driven electron precipitation, designed for calculations of decadal time series of atmospheric ionization. The paper is part of the special section Energetic Electron Loss and its Impacts on the Atmosphere. Access the paper.

Esa, Antti, Pekka, Yoshizumi, Shin-Ichiro, and Shinjin published a paper on mesospheric ozone depletion associated with pulsating aurora. It is part of the special section Energetic Electron Loss and its Impacts on the Atmosphere. Access the paper here.

Antti has started a 6-month Designated Associate Professorship in Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research (ISEE) at Nagoya University! The scope of the visit relates closely to the CHAMOS science.

Mark, Craig, Monika, Annika and Pekka have written a chapter called Linkages Between the Radiation Belts, Polar Atmosphere and Climate: Electron Precipitation Through Wave Particle Interactions, which part of the book Waves, Particles, and Storms in Geospace. Access the book.

Pekka, Craig, Esa, Monika, Niilo, Antti, Erkki, Johanna, Mark, and Shin participated in the 6th International HEPPA-SOLARIS Workshop in Helsinki, Finland, on 13-17 June, 2016. Topic: Influences of solar radiation and energetic particle precipitation on the atmosphere and climate. More information here.

Esa and Pekka participated in the 6th Space Climate Symposium in Kittilä, Finland. There was also some time for joint work on funding applications. Fun! More about the Space Climate Meeting here.

Snowy Luosto provided the excellent conditions for the 2015 CHAMOS workshop. 5-days of intensive collaboration in a remote log cabin adds to our yearly tradition.

Craig, Mark, and Pekka participated in the SPARC SOLARIS-HEPPA working group meeting in Boulder, Colorado. Suggestions of solar input for the CMIP6 climate simulations (which will be the used for the next IPCC report) were outlined, including energetic particle precipitation for the first time! More about the meeting here.

Pekka, Craig, Esa, Monika, and Niilo are in the committees that organize the 6th International HEPPA-SOLARIS Workshop in Helsinki, Finland, on 13-17 June, 2016. The topic is very much CHAMOS-related: Influences of solar radiation and energetic particle precipitation on the atmosphere and climate. More information here.

Annika et al. published a paper in GRL: Substorm-induced energetic electron precipitation: Impact on atmospheric chemistry. More details here.

Next CHAMOS meeting is scheduled for 07 - 11 Dec, 2015, again taking place in Finnish Lapland. See you there!

Pekka visited SGO on 7-9 September and worked with Antti and Esa on pulsating aurora and its atmospheric effects.

Antti and Pekka visited Solar-Terrestrial Laboratory of the University of Nagoya, Japan, on 1-5 June. Joining Esa there, they worked with Yoshi Miyoshi, Shin Oyama, and Shinjin Saito on pulsating aurora and its atmospheric effects, and participated in the "Energetic particle precipitation and its impact on middle atmosphere" workshop on 2 June.

Antti visited FMI on 4-5 May and worked with Pekka on pulsating aurora and its atmospheric effects.

Esa is working from 1 April to 30 June 2015 at Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory (STEL) in Nagoya University, Japan, as a visiting professor. The purpose is to study the chemical effect of pulsating aurora in atmosphere and prepare for the ERG satellite mission in 2016. For latest results on pulsating aurora, see Miyoshi et al. (2015)

Antti and Pekka worked together on the development of the new SIC model version (V8) on 2-4 March. Vroom!

Mark visited the FMI CHAMOS team on 24-27 February. We discussed many CHAMOS matters, including long-term proxies for medium energy electron precipitation for the WACCM-D model and atmospheric effects of substorms. Konstan möljä!

Thomas visited Sanna, Monika, and Pekka at FMI. We had a discussion on SGO meteor radar observations during sudden stratospheric warming periods. Annika and Alexander participated remotely.

Once again, on 3-7 November, we gathered together to discuss and make plans for our CHAMOS science in the enchanting Finnish Lapland, see the updates in the photo gallery. Also, have a look at the SGO blog.

Monika, Pekka, Craig, Mark, and Annika published a paper in Nature Communications! It's about electrons and mesospheric ozone, with speculation about possible regional climate effects. Available here!

The next CHAMOS gathering will be held in November 2014 in Luosto, Lapland. See you there!

Antti and Pekka worked together on the development of the new SIC model version (V8) during 30 June - 4 July.

Pekka's SECTIC (Sun-Earth Connection Through Ion Chemistry) proposal was granted a 4-year funding by the Academy of Finland. Great!

Mark and Pekka participated in an International Space Science Institute-funded team meeting in Bern, Switzerland. Topic of the meeting was Quantifying Hemispheric Differences in Particle Forcing Effects on Stratospheric Ozone.

Monika, Annika, and Pekka visited Craig and Mark at the University of Otago before and after the SPARC General Assembly. Nice penguins!

Carl-Fredrik leaves SGO and begins his new job as a EISCAT staff scientists in Kiruna, Sweden. Congratulations!

Niilo joins Annika's CLASP project as a PhD student. Welcome aboard!

Monika, Craig, Mark, and Antti attended the IAGA meeting, which provided an opportunity to talk also CHAMOS business.

Antti and Pekka worked on SIC development and EISCAT/NO-related paper.

Prof. John Plane from University of Leeds visited FMI to talk about ion chemistry and the SIC model with Pekka, Annika, Monika, Esa, and Carl-Fredrik.

Esa, Carl-Fredrik, and Antti visited FMI in SIC/CHAMOS-related issues. See you soon again in Dylan's!

Annika, Craig, Mark, and Pekka participated in an International Space Science Institute-funded team meating in Bern, Switzerland. Topic of the meeting was Quantifying Hemispheric Differences in Particle Forcing Effects on Stratospheric Ozone.

Craig and Mark visited SGO and participated in the FP7 PLASMON meeting. It was cold and snowy in Sodankylä! PLASMON is here.

Pekka's Starting Grant proposal to the European Research Council was selected for the second round. A panel interview will take place in April in Brussels. About 50% of the second round proposals will be funded. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Esa Turunen from Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory visited FMI. We worked on CHAMOS-related science topics and made plans for future collaboration. Always good to see you, Esa!

Esa Turunen assumes his position as the Director of Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, after spending four years with EISCAT. Welcome back!

Craig Rodger from the University of Otago visited FMI 13.8-17.8. Craig, Pekka and Monika were working on electron precipitation and mesospheric hydroxyl. It was nice having you here Craig!

The award is given to one European young scientist once a year. Annika will receive her award in the EMS & ECAC meeting in Poland in September. Congratulations Annika!

Thule institute funds Thomas's research project "Mesospheric Monitoring of Ozone above the Polar Vortex during Solar Maximum 24" (MeMO). The 4-year funding covers one Ph.D. student and a setup of a TV-receiver-type instrument in Sodankylä. Congratulations!

Academy of Finland funds Annika's research project "Climate and Solar Particle forcing". In addition to Annika's 5-year Academy Research Fellow position, the funding covers two Ph.D. students. Congratulations!

Pekka, Annika, Esa, and Thomas are involved in a Centre of Excellence proposal to the Academy of Finland. The proposal, entitled "Space Weather", is led by the University of Helsinki. Selections for the second round will be made by the Academy in November.

Annika's Starting Grant proposal to the European Research Council has been selected for the interview round. The interview will take place later in spring in Brussels. About 50% of the second round proposals will be funded. Let's keep our fingers crossed!