Conference organizers Drs. Mike Kosch and Judy Stephenson have announced that the next SuperDARN workshop will be held virtually and hosted by the South African National Space Agency (SANSA). The dates for the meeting are May 24-28, 2021. For more information see the conference home page at https://www.sansa.org.za/superdarn-workshop-2021/. Mike K has requested that all questions and comments be directed to
Significant dates:
Early bird registration deadline: 07 May 2021
Abstract Submission: 07 May 2021
Presentation submission deadline: 14 May 2021
Late bird registration deadline: 21 May 2021

On behalf of the SuperDARN Data Analysis Working Group, Co-chair Emma Bland (UNIS) has announced a new minor release of the Radar Software Toolkit, RST4.5. The release can be downloaded from Zenodo . For more information, click 'Read More'.

How to cite the software in publications:
SuperDARN Data Analysis Working Group, Thomas, E.G., Schmidt, M.T., Bland, E.C., Burrell, A.G., Ponomarenko, P.V., Reimer, A.S., Sterne, K.T., Walach, M.-T. (2021, January 13). SuperDARN Radar Software Toolkit (RST) 4.5 (Version v4.5). Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4435297

The research enabled by SuperDARN is due to the efforts of teams of scientists and engineers working in many countries to build and operate radars, process data and provide access, develop and improve data products, and assist users in interpretation. Users of SuperDARN data and data products are asked to acknowledge this support in presentations and publications. A brief statement on how to acknowledge use of SuperDARN data is provided below (click 'Read More').

Users are also asked to consult with a SuperDARN PI prior to submission of work intended for publication. A listing of radars and PIs with contact information can be found at Radar Maps/Tables/Links

As reported on the SWPC website (swpc.noaa.gov) Solar Cycle 25 has begun. Quoting: "The solar minimum between Solar Cycle 24 and 25 - the period when the sun is least active - happened in December 2019, when the 13-month smoothed sunspot number fell to 1.8, according to the Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel, co-chaired by NOAA and NASA. We are now in Solar Cycle 25 with peak sunspot activity expected in 2025." The press release by the National Weather Service with more details is available at https://www.weather.gov/news/201509-solar-cycle

Photo: Solar image obtained with Solar Ultraviolet Imager aboard GOES-East on Dec. 15, 2019. This is the sun at its least active. Credit: NOAA

Following the fizzle of the geomagnetic 'Big Event' (G3 storm) forecast for Dec 9-11, 2020 due to the CME observed on Dec 7, Prof. Patricia Reiff at Rice University offered her thoughts on how to identify promising solar conditions to HamSCI mailing list subscribers (https://www.hamsci.org/). Quoting from Pat's email:
>> I wasn’t alarmed enough to send out a special alert to my "spacalrt" system. Why?
Well, for the *really big* events, there is a halo CME, centered and expanding uniformly around the sun, saying the CME is pointed our way AND there is a HUGE amount of "snow" on the LASCO coronagraph, from the energetic particles hitting the detector. When I heard the announcement, I immediately downloaded the coronagraph movie and saw neither of these.<<
Pat has offered specific guidance on how to diagnose these conditions in SOHO coronograph observations - See 'Read More'.
The Rice space weather forecast and information on how to subscribe to the "spacalrt" email list are available at http://mms.rice.edu/mms/forecast.php

Photo credit: SOHO LASCO C2 image from the NASA SOHO website

SuperDARN PI Dr. Jiaojiao Zhang has passed on the news that two radars are under construction at a site in Inner Mongolia. The build is part of the Meridian Project phase II and follows the inauguration of the first SuperDARN radar in China at a site near Jiamusi (http://vt.superdarn.org/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=354). This will be a twin radar site. The photo shows the construction of one of the antenna arrays. A total of six radars are planned to be built as a chain across northern China. Jiaojiao has been assisted in this work from the beginning by her colleague Dr. Ailan Lan.

Congratulations to Dr. Zhang and her team at the National Space Science Center (CAS)!

Photo credit: Boyu Huang