The CISM Space Weather Summer SchoolW. J. Hughes and the CISM Team

Boston University

The CurriculumThe summer school curriculum is divided into 4 “courses” that are taught in consecutive segments each day. The morning sessions consist of three lectures focusing on different aspects of the same topic. The afternoon session is devoted to computer lab exercises. Through the two weeks the topics move from the Sun to the upper atmosphere. A Sample two-week schedule of lectures, seminars, and labs is given below. The morning lectures are broken up as follows.SW 101: The Solar-Terrestrial Weather System (Reality)An overview of the solar-terrestrial system that imparts an intuitive appreciation of its parts and their interconnection. The emphasis is on phenomenology and the approach is largely visual with a heavy use of images from spacecraft and computer graphics from numerical models. SW 102: Space Weather Effects and Consequences (Harsh Reality)An introduction to the many ways in which technological society is vulnerable to space weather effects and the indices used to rank the severity of space weather conditions. The approach uses reviews of accounts of historical events and the problems that they have caused.  SW 103: Space Weather Models (Virtual Reality)Introduction to the models used to represent and predict conditions in space. The approach is concrete and practical. Representative types of models will be described and students will use the model results in the labs.  

Introduction The Sun and Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Capstone

IntroductionThe CISM Summer School is an intensive two-week program aimed primarily at students entering graduate school or early in their graduate careers. Professionals in the space weather field, particularly in industry, government or the military, have also benefited from attending. The school provides an overview of the space environment (“Reality”), space weather hazards (“Harsh Reality”), and models that are used to understand, specify, and predict the space environment (“Virtual Reality”). Hands-on use of space weather models is a core component of the school. The goal is to provide students with the Sun-Earth system context for their subsequent more detailed and theoretical study in graduate school, and their thesis research topic. The school is introducing innovative pedagogy at the graduate level and it receives excellent reviews from participants.

CISM Team MembersNick Arge, AFRL

Robert Brunz, Florida Inst Tech

Alan Burns, NCAR

Jeffrey Hughes, Boston Univ.

Ramon Lopez, Florida Inst Tech

John Lyon, Dartmouth College

Stan Solomon, NCAR

Harlan Spence, Boston Univ.

Robert Spiro, Rice University

Robert Weigel, George Mason Univ.

Michael Wiltberger, NCAR

 

Non-CISMPatricia Doherty,

Boston College

Michael Golightly, BU

Micheal Hesse, NASA/CCMC

Keith Groves, AFRL

Robert Kerr, NSF

Dolores Knipp, Air Force Academy

Terry Onsager, NOAA/SEC

Peggy Shea, AFRL (Retired)

The FacultyThe summer school faculty include leaders in the field of space weather drawn from both inside and outside of CISM. Below are listed those scientists/instructors who participated in the Summer School.

PedagogyVarious innovative pedagogies are used in the summer school to improve the learning process. Peer Instruction: Programmed into each lecture are “Time out to Think” moments where participants are asked a question that tests the understanding of a concept. Students are asked to give their best answer. There is usually an array of answers given and the instructor calls on a few students to explain the reasoning behind their answer. Then students discuss their ideas with neighbors before answering again. Answers begin to converge on the correct one. Question Cards: At the end of each morning students write a question arising from the morning’s lectures on an index card. These cards are sorted by the instructors during lunch, and are answered at the start of the afternoon session.Modeling Labs: The afternoon modeling labs allow students hands-on use of the model simulations and visualization tools to explore for themselves, for example, the 3-D configurations of magnetic fields, currents, and plasma in the corona, solar wind, and magnetosphere.

The StudentsThe students who attend the summer school are diverse in several respects, gender, employment/school, geographic location, etc. Approximately 30% of those attending are employed by government, industry or the military, and have a job assignment that will benefit from a knowledge of space weather. These, usually young professionals, add a different perspective to the space weather curriculum. Benefits to young space weather professionals include:

•Networking with both research and operational leaders in the field

•Networking with future researchers•Exposure to the latest research results•Exposure with research models some of which are in transition to operations•Networking with other space weather professionals

The Capstone Integrative ProjectThe final day of the summer school is devoted to a capstone project designed to allow the students to use the knowledge they have gained during the two weeks. Students analyze real observational data from several days around a significant space weather event using expert and jigsaw collaborative learning techniques. Expert Groups: First the school is split into four equal-sized expert groups: solar, heliosphere, magnetosphere, and ionosphere/ground-based. Each group is given the data specific to their region and asked to identify important features, properties, chronologies, etc, and to deduce as much as they can about this interval. Equally important is to come up with a series of questions they want to ask of the data being analyzed by the three other groups. Faculty are available to explain what the data plots are, but not what they mean. Jigsaw Groups: New 4-person groups are created, each containing one person from each of the expert groups -- thus each jigsaw group contains a solar, a heliosphere, a magnetosphere and an ionosphere/ground-based “expert.” These groups must then piece together what happened in the Sun-Earth system during these period and produce a wall-chart to illustrate their findings. They are asked to explain what happened, identify concepts used, and suggest which models might have been helpful in predicting the outcomes expected during the time period. The students are given the remainder of the morning to complete this part of the project.Wisdom Walk: The Jigsaw Groups’ wall charts are posted during the lunch break. After lunch everyone walks around the posters comparing and learning from what the different groups have determined from the same data sets.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

SW 101

Space Environment(Reality)

Welcome and Overview

Hughes

The Sun

Hughes

Solar Wind and Interplanetary Magnetic Field

Hughes

Coronal Mass Ejections (CME)

Hughes

Solar Energetic Particles(SEP’s)

Schwadron

SW 102

Effects & Consequences(Harsh Reality)

Introduction to Space Weather Effects

Spence

Solar Radiation Effects I (Flares)

Spence

“Killer Electrons" Deep Dielectric Discharges

Spence

Galactic Cosmic Rays(GCR)

Spence

Space Weather Operations

Illg

SW103

Modeling(Virtual Reality)

The Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling

Hughes

Magnetohydro-dynamics and MHD Models

Hughes

The Wang-Sheeley-Arge Model of the IMF and Solar Wind Flow

Arge

The Community Coordinated Modeling Center

Michael Hesse

Managing Astronaut Radiation Risk

Golightly

SW 105

Modeling Labs

Introduction to Labs: Visualizing Space Weather Models

Bruntz & Gross

Exploring solar magnetic structure using MAS

Hughes & Arge

Predicting Solar Wind and IMF Conditions at Earth: Wang SheeleyArge & Bruntz

Exploring Solar Wind Structure: Enlil model with DX

Arge & Bruntz

Predicing the arrival of CMS’s at Earth

Owens & Hughes

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Magnetosphere Structure 

Hughes

Magnetospheric Storms and Substorms 

Hughes

Ionospheric/ Thermosphere Structure

Solomon

Ionospheric Storms 

Burns

Analysis of Real Space Weather Event

Predicting Space Weather at the NOAA/Space Environment CenterOnsager

Ground Induced Currents(GIC)

Onsager

Modeling Equatorial Ionospheric Scintillations

Retterer

Storm Effects on WAAS navigation system

Doherty

Magnetospheric MHD Models

Wiltberger

Radiation Belt Models

Perry

Magnetic Indices and Empirical Models

Hughes

Aurora

Solomon

Analysis of Real Space Weather Event (continued)

Visualizing the Magnetosphere(LFM & DX)

Lyon & Wiltberger

Numerics and Particle Drift Paths: Programming in OpenDX

Lyon & Wiltberger

Satellite Drag

Knipp

Visualizing the Thermosphere & Ionosphere

Burns & Solomon

Wrap up session and student feedback All

EvaluationsThe response to the summer school has been overwhelmingly positive. On the daily evaluations and the post summer school survey, average participant ratings are all above “4” on a 5 point Likert Scale. Participant CommentsThe following comments made as part of the post summer school survey.

•I liked the teachers most and how they presented the material at a good pace. I also liked the data and the way questions were asked after a lecture (pedagogical methods)•SWSS gave me an overall picture of Sun-Earth Interaction. [I liked] the diversity of the SWSS participants.•Complete Sun-> mud overview in a (generally) clear and concise manner without going into excessive detail on any one subject.

The CISM Space Weather Summer School

for 2006 is listed as an IHY Educational Program