UK Solar System Planetary Atmospheres

The study of Planetary Atmospheres is a key component of the UK’s planetary science portfolio, enabling leadership in instrumentation, multi-spectral data analysis (both space- and ground-based), and numerical simulation. In recent decades, this has provided unique results from astronomical observatories and visiting spacecraft (e.g., Venus Express, Mars Express, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, Galileo, Cassini, and Juno).

Meeting Announcement - November 11th 2022

RAS Geophysics Specialist Discussion Meeting:

Exploring Planetary Atmospheric Processes from Terrestrial Worlds to Giant Planets

Hybrid meeting, with in-person attendance at the Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington House (10:00-16:00), followed by a RAS Ordinary Meeting and the James Dungey Lecture to be delivered by Dr. Licia Ray.

Abstracts for invited and contributed presentations (orals and posters) can be found here.

The schedule for the discussion meeting can be found here.

With the exception of presenters, all attendees, both online and in person will have to register in advance via Eventbrite (follow these links). Registration closes at midnight (GMT) on 10 November.

Organisers: Leigh N. Fletcher (University of Leicester, leigh.fletcher@le.ac.uk), Karen Aplin (University of Bristol), Dann Mitchell (University of Bristol), Licia Ray (Lancaster University)

Call for Abstracts [CLOSED] - DEADLINE EXTENDED TO October 14th:. We invite abstracts from the Solar System Planetary Atmospheres community, highlighting new research and discoveries, new missions and opportunities, and sharing of techniques and tools to foster future collaborations within the community. We will give priority to early-career speakers who have had limited opportunities to present their work during the pandemic. To submit an abstract, please complete this form by October 14th), stating your preference for in-person or virtual participation. The details of the hybrid approach (e.g., the platform for posters and interactions) will be provided in the coming weeks - please watch this space.

The community last met at a RAS-sponsored meeting in February 2020, providing an opportunity to celebrate achievements, to network and discuss future opportunities, and to give early-career researchers a chance to present their latest discoveries. We hope to build on this foundation, and have secured the endorsements of both the Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS) and Europlanet Ireland-UK Hub to host this next community meeting.

Invited Speakers: We are delighted to welcome two invited speakers to help set the theme for the discussion meeting:

• Dr William J. M. Seviour, Department of Mathematics and Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter, discussing “Theory, models, and methods: Translating Earth science to planetary atmospheres.”
• Dr. Luke Moore, Research Assistant Professor of Astronomy, Center for Space Physics, Boston University, discussing “From the depths of the atmosphere to the dusty vacuum of space.”

Proposed Schedule:

• 10:00-10:25 Arrival - Tea/Coffee at the RAS
• 10:30-12:45 Session I: Terrestrial Worlds
• 12:45-13:45 Lunch (Not Provided)
• 13:45-15:30 Session II: Atmosphere-Magnetosphere Connections
• 15:30-16:00 Tea at the Society of Antiquaries of London

Important Information for Attendees:

• Lunch: RAS meeting schedules are often rather tight, and only an hour can be provided for lunch. With venues busy during the lunch break, it might be wise to purchase lunches in advance to eat in the RAS library, which will give you plenty of time to view posters and chat to colleagues!
• Contributed talks are allocated 10 minutes, for both talks and Q&A. We recommend 8-minute talks, but if you wish to retain more time for discussion, please feel free to shorten!
• Speakers should bring their slides on a USB stick and upload to the RAS machine either before 10:30 or during the lunch break.
• Attendance at the meeting is free to members of the Royal Astronomical Society and presenters (posters and orals). Presenters should not use the RAS Eventbrite Links unless they can do so for free as a RAS member. Fees are waived for presenters (oral and posters), and the RAS already has a list of names.
• A RAS staff member will be on the door checking attendees names against the list of presenters and/or attendees.
• The Europlanet UK-Ireland hub will cover the fees for Europlanet Society members. Attendees from Europlanet (who are not speakers) should register and pay via Eventbrite, and then seek later reimbursement (details will be circulated to Europlanet members).
• For non-RAS and non-Europlanet members, the cost is £15 per person (£5 for registered students).
• Poster presenters are invited to submit a single advertising slide (PDF or PPTX) to leigh.fletcher@le.ac.uk before the meeting, to present in 60-seconds during the morning session.
• Portrait poster boards accommodate up to size A0. Posters can be mounted at the start of the day (from 10am) and taken down before 4pm.
• Remote speakers will be provided with a special Zoom Webinar invite link ahead of their presentations.
• Student attendees: Students can become members of the RAS for a low cost. If you are already in the process of becoming elected, please bring the nomination form with you (electronic or hardcopy) to show at the welcome desk, and do not pay extra via the Eventbrite list.

Ordinary Meeting

Tickets are also available for the Ordinary Meeting on 11 November, 4pm. This is a hybrid event and will feature two talks:

• Dr Olivia Jones - Early science from JWST
• Dr Licia Ray - Neither here nor there: The coupling between giant planets and their surroundings (James Dungey Lectureship) This meeting will be held at the Society of Antiquaries of London, Burlington House.

Previous Community Meetings

• UK Planetary Atmospheres Meeting 2020, February 2020. A write-up of the meeting can be found here, the full schedule for the meeting can be found here, with the abstracts here.
• Weather on other planets: measurement and interpretation, 2015
• Weather and climate on the planets, 2008

UK Planetary Atmospheres Community

The UK community is spread across a number of universities (Bristol, Exeter, Leicester, Leeds, Newcastle, Open University, Oxford, UCL, Lancaster, Imperial), but unlike other UK communities (e.g., MIST, UK-Solar-Physics, Exoplanets) there are no regular community meetings. A UK community meeting is timely given (i) upcoming atmospheric research opportunities from JWST in 2022/23; (ii) the forthcoming launch of ESA/JUICE in 2023; (iii) capitalising on data being provided by missions including ExoMars/TGO and Juno; (iv) preparing for the ExoMars Rover and landing platform; and (v) paving the way for future atmospheric science investigations on Venus (e.g., recently-selected EnVision for ESA’s M5 mission, as well as US Discovery-class missions) and the Ice Giants. In particular, this meeting will be held just a few months after the results of the US decadal survey in planetary science (spring 2022), providing a chance to discuss new mission opportunities with international partners.