Issue6, May 2016
We hope the AOSWA framework helps
our activities for improving space weather activities.
http://aoswa.nict.go.jp/

In this Issue...

AOSWA
Link

Summary of the International Reference Ionosphere 2015 (IRI 2015) Workshop,
Bangkok, Thailand◆

Pornchai Supnithi, Prasert Kenpankho
Space and Atmospheric Communication and Informatics Laboratoy,
King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok, Thailand

Training of Space Weather Monitoring Forecasting in NICT, Japan◆

Zahira Mohd Radzi and Nyanasegari, ANGKASA, Malaysia

Space Weather Research in NCKU◆

Koichi Chen and Charles Lin,
Department of Earth Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan◆

The 4th AOSWA Workshop“The risk of space weather – Regional action” Oct. 24-27 2016, Jeju, Korea
Wi Gwan-sik,
Korean Space Weather Center, Korea

Your contribution is always welcome!
If you should wish to submit an article, you are greatly appreciated. The articles should be approximately 500 words and contain either figures or pictures. Also It is available for use as a means of
spreading information, such as upcoming conference and so on. Your feedback is always welcome.
Contact :Summary of the International Reference
Ionosphere 2015 (IRI 2015) Workshop,
Bangkok, Thailand
Pornchai Supnithi, Prasert Kenpankho Space andAtmospheric Communication and Informatics Laboratory,
King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang,
Bangkok, Thailand
Training Week: 2-6 November, 2015

The International Reference Ionosphere 2015
(IRI 2015) Workshop was held on the campus ofTen lecturers and thirty-three trainees partici-

King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkra-

pated in the 5-day Training session. The Trainessbang (KMITL), Bangkok, Thailand, from 2 to 13

were competitively selected from 114 applicants

November, 2015. The theme of this Workshop is

and represented 11 countries. On each Training“Improved Accuracy of IRI at Equatorial Latitudes

day, lectures were given in the morning, while theand Progress Towards Real-Time IRI.” This was
the first time it was held in the Southeast Asian

afternoons were devoted to the database, data

(ASEAN) region. The event consisted of the Train-

analysis as well as Team Projects. The lecturers

ing week (2-6 November), followed by theare Profs. Bodo Reinisch and Ivan Galkin

Presentation Week (9-3 November). The sponsors(University of Massachusetts, USA), Prof. Dieter

included Committee on Space Research

Bilitza (George Mason University, USA), Assoc.

(COSPAR), KMITL, Geo-Informatics and Space

Prof. Pornchai Supnithi (KMITL), Asst. Prof. Prasert

Technology Development Agency (GISTDA),

Kenpankho (KMITL), Prof. Andrzej Krankowski

AOSWA, ECTI Association among others.

(university of Warmia and Mazury, Poland), Prof.
Shigeto Watanabe (University of Hokkaido, Japan), Dr. Vladimir Truhlik (Institue of AtmosphericPhysics, Czech Republic), Dr. Takashi Maruyama(National Institute of Infromation and Communications Technology, Japan), Dr. Susumu Saito(Electronic Navigation Research Institute, Japan).

1Group photo, Nov. 2nd, 2015

Atmosphere in the lecture/computer room
sphere at low latitudes, Ion densities and plasma

The lecture topics during the training week
were: Ionosphere-An introduction, IRI-

temperatures, Solar irradiance and Upper atmos-

Introduction and open problems, Comparison ofpheric chemistry, Incoherent scatter radar, and

IRI with ionosonde data from the Asian sector,

Ionospheric storms.

IRIweb and related online services, Ionsonde

On the first training day the trainees were divid-

measurements, Real-Time IRI, Ionosondes in the

ed into 8 teams and the 8 science problems were

Asian Sector, Ionosonde data online: GIRO

distributed to the teams via lottery. A lecturer

and SPIDR, GNSS data and ionospheric studies,

was assigned to each problem to work as an ad-

Irregularities at equatorial latitudes, TEC compari-viser with the specific team. Below are the topics/

sons with IRI in the Asian sector, Access to GNSS

problems assigned to each team.

data, Coupling between ionosphere and thermo-

List of Problems
Problem 1: Compare the annual and semi-annual variation of foF2 in the two hemispheres. What are
the differences? What could be possible causes? What does IRI predict?
Problem 2: Compare the annual and semi-annual variation of foF2 in the two hemispheres. What are
the differences? What could be possible causes? What does IRI predict?
Problem 3: Investigate storm effects on foF2, hmF2, and TEC at a location in the Northern hemisphere. What are the differences? What is the storm effect on the slap thickness? Comparewith IRI and IRI-Real-Time predictions. Use the Halloween storm (Oct 28 - Nov 1, 2003) or
select your own storm event.
Problem 4: Investigate storm effects on foF2, hmF2, and TEC at a location in the Southern hemisphere. What are the differences? What is the storm effect on the slap thickness? Comparewith IRI and IRI-Real-Time predictions. Use the Halloween storm (Oct 28 - Nov 1, 2003) or
select your own storm event.
Problem 5: Different profile functions have been proposed for the representation of the topside electron density profile. Which ones are used in IRI and other models? Which give the best
results? With each profile type, a different scale height is defined how do the compare to
the theoretically expected scale height.

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Problem 6: How well is the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) represented in IRI? Use the EIA parameter model developed by Xiong et al. (2013) based on CHAMP and GRACE data. Compare with EIA parameters determined from IRI. Suggest ways to improve IRI.
Problem 7: An East-West Coast difference has been reported over the continental US. Investigate
analogous effects in the South-Asian sector. What are the causes for these differences?
Are these differences reproduced by IRI?
Problem 8: E-region physics. Investigate improvements of the representation of foE and hmE for use
in IRI. IRI currently depends on the 12-month running mean of sunspot number. Find out
if a daily or monthly index can be used. Do you see a dependence on magnetic activity.

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Training of Space Weather
Monitoring Forecastingin NICT, Japan
Zahira Mohd Radzi & Nyanasegari
us to predict the impact on the space weather on

Introduction

Earth. Space weather is predicted based on the

National Space Agency (ANGKASA) is develop-

time difference between the moment of the solar

ing infrastructure and facility to monitor space

flare occurred and the time when the high-weather effects. Currently ANGKASA is in theenergy particles released from the event reaching

progress of developing the Malaysia Space Envi-

the Earth. When a solar flare occurs on the solarronment and Space Application Centre (MySES)

surface, X-rays will take about eight minutes, andto provide current condition of solar activity. Pri-

high-energy particles will take from less than an

or to the establishment of this center, researchers

hour to a few hours to reach the Earth. While thein ANGKASA are continuously build their capacity

solar wind may reaches the Earth in about anknowledge and skill in monitoring and forecast-hour. And a coronal mass ejection takes two to

ing the space weather conditions.

three days. These parameters are used to monitor and predict the space weather.

On March 2015, NICT offered an opportunity
for researchers from ANGKASA to apply for funding from NICT to do attachment program under
their International Cooperation Promotion Program. With that, both of us attended the Professional Training and Job Attachment on Space
Weather Forecasting for 2 months at NICT.
The training in Space Environment Informatics
Laboratory started on 07th Sept – O5 Nov 2015.
During our two months stay, we concentrated toenhance our knowledge in three areas which includes basics and operation of ionosonde thatare placed under SEALION project, deriving plasma bubble from GPS data in GTEX format andSpace Weather Monitoring and Forecasting.
These three areas were chosen based on theneed for Malaysia to provide space weather re-

Figure 1 : Ini al discussion in Na onal Space Centre
a ended by Dr. Mamoru Ishi and Dr. Hadeketsu Jin
in October 2015 led to the most valuable training
in NICT

lated information to our stakeholders.
As we knew, few parameters are important for

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These activities made our training more useful as we also given a chance to present ourforecast of the day. With all information andknowledge given within two months finally, we
successful presented our forecast. We also realize
it is a challenging task for a forecaster to provide
daily information on the solar events as it needmore practice to achieve the most correct forecast, like a famous proverb say “practice makes
perfect”.

In this training, we managed to conduct ourpresentation on space weather forecast. In NICT,
they conducted a forecast and prediction meeting around 2:30 p.m JST daily to monitor andpredict the space weather effect. The forecast
includes information about the solar flare activity,
geomagnetic activity, and the status of solar energetic particles released from CMEs and reaching the Earth. Besides, they also provide infor-

It was indeed a good experience having thetraining in NICT. It is a good start on preparing
ourselves for the operating our space weather
center.

mation about the possibility of impact on highfrequency radio communications and satellite operations.

Figure 2: Explana on and training on the Solar Weather Forecast given by Dr. Yuki Kubo

Figure 3: Demonstra on of Space Weather Monitoring and Forecast

5Space Weather Researchin NCKU
Koichi Chen and Charles Lin,
Department of Earth Sciences, National Cheng Kung University,
Tainan, Taiwan
significant TEC decreases are seen during the

National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) is located in the Tainan City, a historical old capitalstorm recovery phase (3/18). The dynamic varia-

of Taiwan. The city sitting in the southern parttions on the storm-time ionosphere are well cap-of the island (23.0°N and 120.2°E) has a mild andtured by the DA model.

warm weather. It is also located right underThe DA model could be further improved

neath the northern crest of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA), where the plasma density iswith inclusion of more observations, especiallymuch greater than other latitudes. During thethe RO soundings. It is expected that the follow-

nighttime, the plasma bubbles are also frequent-

on mission of FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC, calledly observed. Both ionospheric effects make the

FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 (F-7/C-2), will provide 2worse conditions for the radio communication~ 4 times more RO data than the current mis-and satellite positioning affecting not only in Tai-sion. The F-7/C-2 mission will launch its six out

nan but also entire Taiwan.

of twelve satellites into low-inclination orbits in
2016. The Tri-GNSS RO system of F-7/C-2 will be

To provide warnings and monitoring of

capable of tracking much more high-quality pro-space weather events, a space weather operation

files per day. Figure 2 shows the comparison be-

program is recently found in Taiwan. The NCKU

tween the 3-hr observation points of F-3/C andgroup contributes to the program by developingthat of F-7/C-2. The follow-on mission will pro-an ionospheric space weather forecast model.

vide roughly 4 times more RO data.

The ensemble Kalman filter based data assimilation (DA) model assimilates both total electron

In addition to ionosphere forecast model, thecontent (TEC) observed by ground-based GPS

all-sky camera system, ground-based GPS receiv-

network and radio occultation (RO) observations

ers and satellite beacon receivers are installed toby FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC (F-3/C) satellite. Fig-

simulatneously observe the ionospheric plasma

ure 1 shows an example of the DA output for

bubbles. Fig. 3 shows the all-sky camera system

the space weather event on 17 March 2015 (theinstalled at the roof of Tainan Astronomical Edu-

St. Patrick’s Day Geomagnetic Storm). From thecation Area (TAEA) to automatically taking image

snapshot of global ionospheric TEC distributionsof ionospheric plasma bubbles. The coordinatedduring +/- 1-day of the storm (Fig. 1), the global

multiple instrument observations will help moni-

TEC increases largely during the storm main

toring the plasma bubbles for space weather

phase (3/17 1200 UT), comparing with the D-1

forecast.

day (3/16). Following the TEC enhancements,

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Figure 2. Global RO observations during 3
hours by F-3/C (upper panel) and F-7/C-2(bottom panel).

Figure 1. The results of storm me ionospheric TEC byassimilated FORMOSAT‐3/COSMIC RO observa ons at
1200UT on 16 (pre‐storm, upper panel), 17 (storm,
middle panel), and 18 (a er‐storm, bo om panel)
March 2015.

Figure 3. NCKU all-sky
camera system and an example of observed plasma
bubbles in 630.0 nm.

7The 4th AOSWA Workshop“The risk of space weather – Regional action”
Oct. 24-27 2016, Jeju, Korea
Wi Gwan-sik,
Korean Space Weather Center, Korea
I am delighted to invite you to the 4th

all over the world, where they will be able to

Asia Oceania Space Weather Allianceseek for international cooperation on the in-(AOSWA) Workshop!

creasing risk of space weather risks and promote research exchanges in space weather.

I am Wi Gwan-sik, the Director of the Korean Space Weather Center at the National

I look forward to welcoming you to Jeju inRadio Research Agency that is the nation’s

October 2016, an island of world-class beauty!

command module for space weather forecasts
For more information on the workshop,

and alerts and space weather risks. The 4th

AOSWA Workshop will be held on October 24 please visit the workshop homepage:-27 2016 in Jeju, Korea, and the Korean Space http://aoswa4.spaceweather.org
Weather Center had the honor and privilege

Contact(The 4th AOSWA Workshop LOC) :of organizing the workshop.

driving@korea.kr

Under the banner of “The risk of space
weather – Regional action,” the workshop willconsist of:• Special sessions where participating countries will present their plans to respond to
space weather risks and relevant policies;• Sessions designed to vitalize international
exchanges and cooperation in each area ofspace weather; and• General sessions where participating countries and individuals will present their researchorientations and outcomes in the field ofspace weather.
I hope that this workshop will serve as aforum for all those interested in space weather not only in Asia and Oceania but also from8

Editor’s notes
Yuko Uchida, Editor of AOSWA LINKThe 4th AOSWA workshop hosted by KSWC will
be held in Jeju, Korea on this October.
Actually I visited KSWC last November as a secretariat of AOSWA.
Although it was beginning of Winter and a bit
cold, I really enjoyed the beautiful nature of island
and also warm welcome by KSWC people.
I appreciate the all effort of SOC and LOC who isorganizing the 4th workshop. I hope the workshop
will be successful. Also the workshop lead us to theBeau ful rainbow I encountered in Jeju island.

strong collaboration.
I am really looking forward to seeing you again in
Jeju!

AOSWA LINK is issued by AOSWA Secretariat
AOSWA Secretariat
c/o NICT Applied Electromagnetic Research Institute,
Space Environment Laboratory
4-2-1 Nukui-Kitamachi, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8795 Japan
URL: http://aoswa.nict.go.jp/
Email: sw‐project‐oﬃce@ml.nict.go.jp

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