Topical Discussion Meeting - Assessing the need to further integrate upper atmosphere facilities for improved specification of space weather effects and for space climate research advances

Anna Belehaki (National Observatory of Athens); Jean Lilensten (IPAG/CNRS, France)
Thursday 30/11, 17:15 - 18:30, Mercator

Europe operates a large number of excellent facilities for the observation of the ionosphere, plasmasphere and thermosphere with their sizes ranging from small instruments to spacecrafts. These include observational experiments, data infrastructures and models. The efficient use of these infrastructures can lead to the development of new advanced methods to fully characterize large scale and small scale ionospheric disturbances, thermospheric circulation and storms, and can lead to sustainable services for the academia, and for all relevant communities (industry, space agencies, environmental disaster managers and operations of critical systems) that require to have highly accurate ionospheric-thermospheric data and validated services to support their operations, studies and risk management procedures. In this discussion meeting we will assess ways for the optimal use and joint development of these research facilities in order to release improved and harmonized services for the academia and the industry.