2nd SSS

The 2nd Space Science School on Study Space Weather Effects: From the Sun to the Ground was jointly organized by the International Space Science Institute in Beijing (ISSI-BJ) and the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO), in cooperation with the EISCAT Scientific Association (EISCAT). The School was held on October 10-19, 2018, at the Sanya Institute of Remote Sensing (RADI), CAS, located in Sanya, Hainan Province, China.

This was the second joint space science school organized between the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) and the International Space Science Institute in Beijing (ISSI-BJ).  The 2018 school was also co-organized by the EISCAT Scientific Association (EISCAT).  It is intended to promote a biennial School on space sciences for Master’s and Ph.D. students, as well as post-doctoral and early career scientists or engineers. This school provided the participants with the in-depth knowledge of the science of Space Weather, observational methods and its relevance to applications from the Sun to the ground. While there are many different ground-based measurements of space weather and its effects, in this school we focused on the use of incoherent scatter radars as operated by EISCAT. The school builded links between participants and between teachers and participants in order to facilitate future collaboration in Space Weather. 

The School will teach the students to work on observational Space Weather space and ground data, theory and modelling. Ionosphere/ Incoherent Scatter Radars group will be organized on the model of an EISCAT school to give an introduction to and a practice of the ground-based facilities (principally the incoherent scatter radar systems) to observe and study space-weather effects. It will also introduce the International Meridian Circle Project (IMCP), to which several APSCO member states participate, and the different generic categories of instruments used to monitor space weather from the ground. The School will also facilitate and initiate different discussions in an international and multi-disciplinary way; it will encourage creativity and provide the contacts for the participants to develop a professional network. International collaboration will also be an important theme at the school.

The school started with two and half a day of invited speakers giving introductory lectures about various elements of Space Weather. After each lecture, there was plenty of time for questions and discussion. The speakers were chosen among experts and well-recognized scientists and engineers with an excellent reputation in teaching and supervising participants.  The participants were divided in four groups to analyze in parallel few well-observed extreme Space Weather event. Each group had its own theme and agenda using actual observations, as well as computer models. Each group was to produce a report, and all group reports will be merged and published after the school . The different groups will be supported and guided by expert tutors. At the end of each day, a joint dinner is planned where the students, teachers, tutors, and organizers reflect on the day and interact with each other on a more social level. The school will finish with the presentations of the groups results to which feedback will be given from the other groups, as well as the teachers and tutors.

This was a 10 days School (Wednesday, October 10 - Friday, October 19, 2018). The school will take place at China Remote Sensing Satellite Ground Station - RADI/CAS - in Sanya, China.