The Jicamarca Radio Observatory (JRO) located near Lima, Peru is the venue for a summer school that is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by the Geophysical Institute of Peru. JIREP is an international internship program that is offered to junior/senior undergraduate, and/or first and second year graduate students. The program will cover the travel expenses (to and from Lima) as well as a reasonable stipend. Students with interests in atmospheric and ionospheric science and radar techniques, electronics, RF, instrumentation and computer science are encouraged to apply. If you would like to discuss this possibility with interested VT faculty, contact Dr. Mike Ruohoniemi (mikeruo@vt.edu) or Dr. Jo Baker (bakerjb@vt.edu) or any faculty member in the Space@VT research center listed at http://space.vt.edu/people.html The application deadline is February 20, 2020 and the JIREP web site is https://www.igp.gob.pe/convocatorias/jirep

The Boulder Space Weather Summer School (SWSS) will be held June 29 – July 10, 2020 at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) located in scenic Boulder, Colorado. The SWSS is a comprehensive two-week introduction to the science of space weather: what it is, what it does, and what can be done about it. The SWSS curriculum integrates the fundamental science of the Sun-Earth system with the impacts of space weather, and has a particular emphasis on modeling and forecasting. The School is broadly designed for graduate students who are considering space weather or space physics as a research field, as well as active practitioners from government and industry (for example, space weather forecasters). Admission is also open to advanced undergraduate students. For further information, and instructions on how to apply, see: https://www2.hao.ucar.edu/SWSS

Application deadline: March 1, 2020

Dr. Erxiao Liu of Hangzhou Dianzi University has been on an academic visit with the VT SuperDARN group for the past year. During this time he has worked on research related to the application of machine learning techniques to space science datasets, in particular to the estimation of the cross polar cap potential using SuperDARN data. He has made presentations and been an active participant in group meetings and activities. His wife Qiong Wang acclimated to life in Blacksburg and his daughter Zhenrui (Sherry) attended local school gaining remarkable proficiency in English. They enjoyed a boisterious (and victorious) Hokie home football game. The photo shows them decked out in Hokie gear on Erxiao's last day in the office; from left to right: Jo, Kevin, Erxiao, Sherry, Qiong, Mike, Bharat, and Shibaji. Erxiao and family now travel home in time for Chinese New Year. We wish them safe travels and much success !

Photo credit: Leon Harding

Simon Shepherd has announced that the Altitude Adjusted Corrected Geomagnetic Coordinates (AACGM-v2) model, originally developed to compare conjugacy of data from SuperDARN radars in the northern and southern hemispheres Baker and Wing, 1989, has been updated. In his words:

'With the recent release of the 13th generation International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF-13) (https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/IAGA/vmod/igrf.html) an update to AACGM-v2 is now available at http://superdarn.thayer.dartmouth.edu/aacgm.html

The update includes new AACGM-v2 coefficients that extend the date range to 2025 and small changes to the software to accommodate the new date range and coefficient files.

Note that small differences in the IGRF-13 coefficients will cause corresponding small changes in AACGM-v2 coordinates derived using the new model for dates beginning in 2010.'

The Los Alamos Space Weather Summer School is accepting applications for its 2020 session to be held June 1 - July 31, 2020. Sponsored by the Center for Space and Earth Sciences at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), this summer school brings together top space science graduate students and LANL space scientists to work on challenging space weather research. Students receive a prestigious Vela Fellowship (worth $10,000 to cover travel and living expenses), technical training, and opportunities for professional development. Applications due: January 31, 2020 (extended deadline)

Eligibility: Open to U.S. and foreign graduate students currently enrolled in PhD programs in space physics, planetary science, aerospace engineering, or related fields. For more details see 'Read More' or the website http://swx-school.lanl.gov

Dr. Jianjun Liu from the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) made a working trip to the SuperDARN Blackstone site on January 13, 2020 and assisted in bringing this radar back on line. The crew included SuperDARN regulars Kevin Sterne and Mike Ruohoniemi and Virginia Tech undergrad Ian Kelley who performed significant diagnostics on the damaged parts. The PRIC is a member of the international SuperDARN collaboration (PI: Dr. Hongqiao Hu) and operates a SuperDARN radar at the Chinese Antarctic base at Zhongshan Station where Jianjun wintered over during a 14 month stay. He has been visiting the VT SuperDARN group since December and will return home later this week. The photo shows (from left to right) Jianjun, Kevin, and Mike standing in front of the Blackstone electronics.

Photo credit: Ian Kelley