UCL – DEPARTMENT OF SPACE AND CLIMATE PHYSICS
MULLARD SPACE SCIENCE LABORATORY
The Newsletter - Volume 11, Issue 3
29 September 2014
Covers events between 1 May and 31 July 2014
Contents
New staff .................................................................................................................................................................1
Promotions .............................................................................................................................................................1
Departing staff .......................................................................................................................................................1
Visitors ....................................................................................................................................................................1
Prizes and Awards .................................................................................................................................................2
Appointments .........................................................................................................................................................2
Grants and Contracts ............................................................................................................................................2
Mission Status and Developments ......................................................................................................................2
Publications – Refereed ........................................................................................................................................3
Teaching Developments .......................................................................................................................................3
Invited Talks and Conferences .............................................................................................................................4
Press Releases ......................................................................................................................................................5
Outreach .................................................................................................................................................................5
Media Broadcasts and Features ..........................................................................................................................5
Acknowledgements ...............................................................................................................................................6
New staff
Departing staff


Dimitry Pokhotelov joined the Space Plasma
Group at the end of May. He will be working on
a grant secured by Jonny Rae, looking at the
dynamics of the radiation belts;
Gherardo Valori joins the Solar Group as a
Leverhulme
Trust
funded
post-doctoral
researcher.
Promotions

Congratulations to Geraint Jones and Daisuke
Kawata who were both promoted to Reader.

David Shelton and Demetrio Martinez left the
Solar Group;
Chris Arridge will be leaving MSSL at the end of
September. We wish him well in his new
position at University of Lancaster.
Visitors


Shaun Bloomfield - Trinity College Dublin;
Tom Cravens - University of Kansas. Tom
visited the Planetary Science Group on 9 May
and gave a seminar;






University passed away on 25 July. We are
planning the continuation of his PanCam related
work with Aberystwyth.
Mark Gibbs, David Jackson and Suzy Bingham
- Met Office;
Joanna Haigh visited;
Iain Hannah - University of Glasgow;
Marta Marchese - Palermo University. Marta
visited in May and June to carry out a project
using XMM-Newton data of Jupiter, under
Graziella's supervision;
Lorenzo Matteini - Imperial College. Lorenzo
visited the Space Plasma Group on June 6th
and gave a seminar entitled ‘Kinetic Processes
in the Solar Wind’;
Scott McIntosh - High Altitude Observatory in
Boulder, Colorado.
Mars 2020 – Andrew Coates and the UCL-MSSL
team were selected as co-investigator on
MastCam-Z for the NASA Mars 2020 Rover, 31
July. Funding under discussion with UK Space
Agency.
Mars Express/Venus Express – science output
continuing (see lists).
QB50 – On 19 June, two QB50 Precursor
CubeSats were lifted off on a Dnepr launch vehicle
along with a record-breaking 35 other satellites.
The QB50 Precursor CubeSats are demonstrators
for key components of the QB50 project, including
two environment sensors: the Ion and Neutral
Mass Spectrometer (INMS) built by MSSL and
FIPEX built by the Technical University of Dresden.
The sensors are designed to study the Earth’s
upper thermosphere. FIPEX measures Atomic
Oxygen, complementing the INMS. Both payloads
are highly miniaturised to fit within 10x10cm and
built to a rapid schedule - from start of build to
launch in approximately 7 months.
Prizes and Awards

David Long was awarded an Early Career
Fellowship by the Leverhulme Trust;

Tom Pollard won ‘best doctoral poster’ at
the UCL Festival for Digital Health.
Appointments
David Long and Deb Baker were both appointed to
the Solar Orbiter EUI instrument team as Co-Is.
Signals from both Precursor Satellites were
received within 30 minutes of launch and continue
to transmit with data received via the MSSL
Groundstation. The science payloads are expected
to be commissioned by end of 2014.
Grants and Contracts


Jonny Rae and Colin Forsyth, in collaboration
with Geoff Darch at Atkins Global, successfully
applied for a NERC Knowledge Exchange
Grant to study the effects of space weather on
water infrastructure;
David Long and Jonny Rae were awarded an
18-month grant from the USAF EOARD office
to develop an automated algorithm to identify
and track chromospheric Moreton waves.
Mission Status and Developments
Cassini – We hosted the Cassini CAPS and INMS
team meeting at MSSL 6-8 May. The meeting
attracted approximately 40 international attendees
and UCL-MSSL speakers presented several talks
(see list). We continue to be very productive
scientifically (see publication and presentation
lists).
The QB50 Precursor CubeSats carrying FIPEX (left)
and INMS (right)
ExoMars – Andrew Coates and Craig Leff
attended an EXOC meeting on 2 June, and
discussed progress and funding profile with UK
Space Agency at MSSL on 24 June. We hosted a
PanCam science team meeting at MSSL on 5
June, with ~20 UK and international attendees. We
are still progressing with instrument PDR actions,
and Andrew Coates and Craig Leff are involved
with rover system PDR activities. Tragically, our
collaborator Prof Dave Barnes from Aberystwyth
Rosetta – We are monitoring RPC-IES data and
have offered help with instrument planning
activities.
Solar Orbiter - The MSSL PI team for SWA,
particularly Khalid Al’Janabi, has continued to
support the Italian DPU team in their efforts to
prepare for SWA CDR and beyond. A team
meeting was held on 15-17 July in Rome with a
particular focus on the review of the design of the
2
Publications – Refereed
DPU and documentation. It highlighted that there
was much needed extra support required from
MSSL on the software. Technical interface
telecons continue to be held with the ESA project
office and members of Airbus DS to discuss the
interface of the various SWA elements with the
spacecraft. A number of actions have been raised
but the main issues of contention continue to be
the thermal boundary conditions for all three
sensors, EAS interface bolts and purge
connectors. The international PI team also
completed the first of two sets of document
deliveries for the SWA CDR on the 18 July; a
second set is due on the 15 August prior to the
CDR kick-off meeting at ESTEC on 29 August.
Published
Bunce, E.J., D.C. Grodent, S.L. Jinks, D.J.
Andrews, S.V. Badman, A.J. Coates, S.W.H.
Cowley, M.K. Dougherty, W.S. Kurth, D.G.
Mitchell and G.Provan, Cassini Nightside
Observations of the Oscillatory Motion of
Saturn’s Northern Auroral Oval, J. Geophys.
Res., 119, 3528–3543, DOI:
10.1002/2013JA019527, May.
Harra, L. K., Matthews, S. A., Long, D. M.,
Doschek, G. A., DePontieu, B. The Impact of a
Filament Eruption on Nearby High-lying Cool
Loops, ApJ, 2014, 792 (2), 93.
Rae, I. J., K. R. Murphy, C. E. J. Watt, G.
Rostoker, R. Rankin, I. R. Mann, C. R.
Hodgson, H. U. Frey, A. W. Degeling and C.
Forsyth (2014), Field Line Resonances as a
Trigger and a Tracer for Substorm Onset, J.
Geophys. Res. Space Physics, 119, 5343–
5363, doi:10.1002/2013JA018889.
Varsani, A. et al. [2014], Cluster Observations of
the Substructure of a Flux Transfer Event:
Analysis of High-Time Resolution Particle Data,
doi: angeo-2014-82.
Walsh, A. P., Haaland, S., Forsyth, C., Keesee, A.
M., Kissinger, J., Li, K., Runov, A., Soucek, J.,
Walsh, B. M., Wing, S., and Taylor, M. G. G. T.,
Dawn–dusk Asymmetries in the Coupled Solar
wind–Magnetosphere–Ionosphere System: a
review, Ann. Geophys., 32, 705-737,
doi:10.5194/angeo-32-705-2014, 2014.
Yao, Z. H., et al. (2014), Pressure Gradient
Evolution in the Near-Earth Magnetotail at the
Arrival of BBFs, Chin. Sci. Bull, 59, DOI
10.1007/s11434-014-0618-6
The Boom EMC testing took place over the first 3
weeks of July in PTB Berlin in order to measure
the degree of interference between the boommounted sensors, including SWA-EAS. The test
went well from EAS’ point of view: although there
were a small number of artefacts in MAG data from
the test, these could not be related to any EAS
operation and indeed still have an unclear origin.
Moreover, in both time and spectral domain there
is no visible trace of EAS operation in the MAG
data. Use of the PTB SQUID provided data that
demonstrates that EAS was operating with a
maximum noise which is approximately 1 order of
magnitude smaller than MAG background noise.
The RPW sensor was able to detect a 4.88 kHz
signal from EAS functional heater which is 15 dB
above the EID-A specification. Some further
characterization has been performed at ESTEC
during subsequent EAS EMC tests and a
correlation has been found between current
measurements (differential mode) and the
generated magnetic field. As the magnetic field is
directly proportional to the differential current
drawn, MSSL are investigating how to reduce the
differential current. A signal of 18.3 kHz was also
detected by RPW coming from EAS-1; the root
cause was identified and corrected during the test
campaign. We do not expect to see this in the FM.
The MAG PI formally thanked everybody for
participating to the test and in particular praised the
work of the SWA team leading to improved design
performance over the prototype which was
previously tested at Chambon-la-Foret.
Papers in press
Attrill, G. D. R., Long, D. M., Green, L. M., Harra, L.
K., van Driel-Gesztelyi, L.,EUV Observations of
Global Coronal Wave Rotation, Apr 2014.
Masters, A., N. Achilleos, C.B. Agnord, S.
Campagnola, S. Charnoze, B. Christophe, A. J.
Coates, L.N. Fletcher, G.H. Jones, L. Lamy, F.
Marzari, N. Nettelmann, J. Ruiz, R. Ambrosi, N.
Andre, A. Bhardwaj, J. J. Fortney, C. J. Hansen,
R. Helled, G. Moragas-Klostermeyer, G. Orton,
L. Ray, S. Reynaud, N. Sergis, R. Srama, M.
Volwerk, Neptune and Triton: Essential Pieces
of the Solar System
Puzzle, Planet. Space Sci., May 2014.
There was an in situ SWG and SOWG meeting 8
to 10 July at ESAC in Madrid. These 2 meetings
were attended by Chris Owen and Khalid Al
Janabi, as well as Philippe Louarn from IRAP and
Jim Raines from Michigan for SWA. In the latter
meeting, Chris Owen presented some thoughts on
making the link between IS and RS instruments
through the use of composition signatures.
Teaching Developments
A new Doctoral Skill Development Course entitled
3
“Data Analysis and Image Processing with Python”
was awarded funding (2515) by UCL (Doctoral
Skills Development Programme). The course will
be held on 4-5 Nov in the Common Room.
The Planetary Science Group was involved in
several activities:
 UCL-MSSL hosted the Cassini CAPS-INMS
team meeting on 6-8 May. Presenters
included: (MSSL) Jamie Jasinski: Saturn's
Cusp, Marianna Felici: Cold Ions in Saturn's
Magnetosphere,
Andrew
Coates:
Photoelectrons in the Saturn System, Geraint
Jones: Enceladus: Combined Results from all
CAPS-ELS
Datasets,
Tom
Nordheim:
Dione/Hyperion, Leonardo Regoli: Titan
Electrons with CAPS and MIMI, Anne
Wellbrock: Negative Ion Density Trends
update, (MSSL operations team) Lin Gilbert:
ELS Archiving update, (UCL) Nathan
Pilkington: A Global Model of Saturn's
Magnetopause, Licia Ray: Why is the Plasma
in Saturn's Inner/Middle Magnetosphere so
Sub-corotational?;
 Andrew Coates attended the 9th UK-China
workshop workshop on space science and
technology in Shanghai, China, 28-29 May. He
presented talks on (1) Instrumentation for solar
system studies at UCL-MSSL, (2) Electrons at
Mars, (3) Penetrators for planetary exploration,
(4) ExoMars PanCam and (5) UCL MSc in
space science/engineering and other training
opportunities at 9th UK-China workshop on
space science and technology, Shanghai,
China, 28-29 May;
 Andrew Coates, Geraint Jones, Chris Arridge,
Marianna Felici and Leonardo Regoli attended
the Cassini MAPS workshop at MPS,
Göttingen/Germany, June 18-20, presenting
talks as follows:
- Coates A.J., Photoelectrons in the Saturn
System;
- Jones G.H., et al., Detection of Hypervelocity
Impacts by CAPS-ELS inside the Enceladus
Plume;
- Felici M, et al., Evidence for the Ionospheric
Outflow in Saturn’s Magnetotail;
- Arridge C.S., et al., Observations of an Ion
Diffusion Region in Saturn's Magnetotail;
- Regoli, L., et al., Mapping the Flow of
Energetic Particles in Titan's Exobase;
 Convened and hosted the 6th Alfven
Conference on plasma interactions at
unmagnetized objects: anticipating Rosetta,
Maven and the Mars Orbiter Mission, at UCL,
7-11 July. The conference was very successful
attracting ~80 international delegates. UCLMSSL’s presentations included:
- Ramanjooloo, Y., G.H. Jones, A.J. Coates,
M.J. Owens, K. Battams, Solar Wind Velocity
Measurements from Near Sun Comets C/2011
W3 (Lovejoy), C/2011 L4 (PanSTARRS) and
C/2012 S1 (ISON);
Invited Talks and Conferences








Chandra Anekallu gave a talk ‘ The Earth's
magnetopause: Some recent contributions
from the Cluster mission’ at the 11th annual
meeting of Asia Oceanea Geosciences Society
(AOGS) during 28 Jul - 01 Aug, held in
Sapporo, Japan;
Andrew Fazakerley, Chris Owen, Kirthika
Mohan, Ali Varsani and Zhonghua Yao
attended the European Geophysical Union at
Vienna, Austria on 27th April – 02 May.
Andrew Fazakerley gave a talk on ‘The Alfven
Mission : A possible ESA M4 Mission
Candidate’. Andrew also presented a poster on
‘Cluster Observations of Electron and Ion
Holes in the Auroral Acceleration Region’. Ali
Varsani and Kirthika Mohan also presented
posters on ‘Microscale Dynamics within KelvinHelmholtz Waves’ and ‘Observation of Ion
Bands
in
the
Inner
Magnetosphere’
respectively. Zhonghu gave an invited talk
entitled ‘Multi-spacecraft Observations of the
Current System around the Dipolarization
Front and its relation to the substorm current
wedge’;
Deborah Baker visited Meudon Observatory for
a collaborative visit;
David Williams visited the University of
Cambridge for a seminar and collaborative
visit;
The Solar Group was represented at NAM
2014, Portsmouth, by Sarah Matthews, Jack
Carlyle, David Williams and Louise Harra, who
presented talks on their work and chaired
parallel sessions, while David Williams also cochaired the UK Solar Physics general sessions
and lunc, and Jack Carlyle gave updates on
the social media work he’s been doing for
UKSP as the Student Council member;
Louise Harra presented talks on her work at
the COSPAR meeting in Moscow, Russia, 2-10
August;
David Long and Stephanie Yardley presented
talks on their work at the 7th Solar Image
Processing Workshop in La Roche en
Ardennes, Belgium, 18-22 August;
Lucie Green gave a talk on the formation of
solar eruption at the SEREN worshop on
predicting the magnetic field conditions in the
solar wind.
4
- Coates, A.J., A. Wellbrock, R.A. Frahm, J.D.
Winningham, A. Fedorov, S. Barabash, R.
Lundin, Distant Ionospheric Photoelectron
Energy Peak Observations at Venus;
- Bertucci, C., D.C. Hamilton, W.S. Kurth,
G.Hospodarsky, D. Mitchell, N.J. Edberg, M.
Dougherty, N. Romanelli, N. Achilleos, R.
Modolo, A.J. Coates, The Interaction of Titan
with the Solar Wind: Cassini Observations;
- Wellbrock, A., A. Coates, G. Jones, Titan’s
Photoelectron Energy Peaks: Cassini
Observations in the Ionosphere and Tail;
- Regoli, L., M. Feyerabend, A. Kotova, G.
Jones, N. Krupp, A. Coates, Mapping the Flow
of Energetic Particles in Titan's Exobase;
- Arridge, C.S., N. Sergis, M.F. Thomsen, A.J.
Coates, F.J. Crary, S.M. Krimigis, A Statistical
Analysis of Plasma Parameters near Titan’s
Orbit;
- Nordheim, T.A., G.H. Jones, E. Roussos, A.J.
Coates, Modelling of Moon Surface Charging
in the Saturn System and Comparison with
Cassini Observations at Rhea and Hyperion;
- Jasinski, J.M., C.S. Arridge, A.J. Coates,
Cassini Observations of Saturn Cusps;
- Birkett, K.S., G.H. Jones, A.J. Coates,
Modelling the Neutral Sodium Tails of' Comets;
- Dunn, W., G. Branduardi-Raymont, A.J.
Coates, X-ray Emission from Jupiter's Aurora –
Chandra Observations in 2011: CME and/or Io
Connection.

Festival, 3 June;
Cassini, Mars Express and ExoMars
Horsham Astronomical Society, 2 July.
at
Colin Forsyth
 Gave a talk entitled “The Greatest Light Show
on Earth” at the Festival of Nature in Bristol on
the 15 June. The Bristol Natural History
Consortium hosted the event;
 Participated in the National Space Centre’s
careers event for year 10 students on 30 June,
speaking to groups of ~40 students, parents
and teachers about careers in space science
and engineering and the work of MSSL;
 Attended the Future’s Day hosted by the UK
Space
Agency
at
the
Farnborough
International Airshow on 18th July. Colin spoke
to attendees about the opportunities in space
science and engineering for space missions.
Louise Harra
 Gave a careers talk at Tunbridge Wells Girl’s
Grammar School in July.
Lucie Green

Gave a SLOOH broadcast discussing the
sun and solar physics research;

Participated in the Ntsan Google Hangout,
discussing space weather;
Participated in the ‘Pint of Science’ initiative
and gave a talk on her research;
Ran a poetry evening with Simon Barraclough
for the local community;
Gave a talk on Solar Max at the UK Astro
Show;
Gave a talk on solar physics at the Henley
Cafe Scientifique.


Press Releases

Planetary Science Group: A colour camera for the
red planet, Picture of the week UCL MAPS faculty
– ExoMars PanCam filter wheel, 12 May.

Outreach
Kirthika Mohan
 Participated in the Big Bang Fair at Sutton
Grammar School on the 8th July, speaking to
high school students about degrees related to
physics at university, and careers in space
science.
The Astrophysics group led a week-long work
experience programme for sixth-form students from
schools in London and the South East.
Graziella Branduardi-Raymont
 Gave a contributed talk on 'Solar System Xrays: what we know and what we are looking
for' at The X-ray Universe 2014 conference in
Dublin, 16-19 June;
 Gave a solicited talk on 'Planetary X-ray
Exploration' at the Asia Oceania Geosciences
Society symposium in Sapporo, Japan, 28 July
- 1 August.
Media Broadcasts and Features
Lucie Green




Andrew Coates talked on
 Rosetta: mission to comet ChuryumovGerasimenko, Oxford University Space and
Astronomy Society, 12 May;
 Rosetta: Rendezvous with a Comet, Steyning
Presented a BBC programme on extreme
weather and its impact on our lives;
Presented on the BBC’s Sky at Night;
Presented a programme on BBC Radio 4 on
the BICEP results;
Discussed the sun and space weather on BBC
Radio 4’s Infinite Monkey Cage.
Louise Harra
 Gave an ‘In Our Time’ interview on Radio 4 in
July.
5
The Space Plasma Group was involved in a range
of activities:
 Tributes to Colin Pillinger Read: Daily Mail,
More: Express, THE, Northern Echo, Yorkshire
Post, 9 May;
 Interview for Space:UK on ExoMars –
appeared Spring 2014 (issue 40) p12-20, May
19;
 Interview for BBC World Service Business
Daily on space exploration (mentioned
ExoMars, Cassini, Rosetta) used 8 July;
 Dorking Advertiser article on MSSL, Cassini,
ExoMars, etc, 11 July;
 Interview on BBC Radio 4 Today programme,
BBC Radio Surrey, BBC Radio 5 live Drive,
BBC R4 The World Tonight, on space
exploration
(mentioned
UK
spaceport,
ExoMars, Cassini, JUICE, bilaterals), 15 July.
Acknowledgements


CAPS-INMS
meeting
local
organising
committee;
Andrew Coates thanks Annie
Wellbrock, Suzanne Winter, Gethyn Lewis,
Geraint Jones, Chris Arridge and the planetary
team for help with the meeting organisation;
Alfven conference LOC – convenor Andrew
Coates thanks the whole team who worked on
this important conference, for all the work
which ensured a well-run and internationally
appreciated meeting. Special thanks to Anne
Wellbrock (LOC co-chair), Geraint Jones, Chris
Arridge, Rosalind Medland, Gethyn Lewis,
Leonardo Regoli, Marianna Felici, Jamie
Jasinski, Nick Achilleos, Tom Nordheim,
William Dunn, Kimberley Birkett, Yudish
Ramanjooloo. Many thanks also to the meeting
sponsors ESA, Rosetta project, UCL MAPS,
UCL-MSSL, RAS, UK Space Agency, Airbus
Defence & Space, as well as to the
International Science Organising Committee.
Next Issue
The next issue of The Newsletter (Volume 11,
Issue 4) will be published in November 2014. This
will cover activities from 1 August 2014 to 31
October 2014.
6