Session programme

The increasing amount of data from an increasing number of spacecraft in our solar system shouts out for new data analysis strategies. There is a need for frameworks that can rapidly and intelligently extract information from these data sets in a manner useful for scientific analysis. The community is starting to respond to this need. Machine learning, with all of its different facets, provides a viable playground for tackling a wide range of research questions in planetary and heliospheric physics.

We encourage submissions dealing with machine learning approaches of all levels in planetary sciences and heliophysics. The aim of this session is to provide an overview of the current efforts to integrate machine learning technologies into data driven space research, to highlight state-of-the art developments and to generate a wider discussion on further possible applications of machine learning.

The ionospheres and (induced) magnetospheres of unmagnetized and weakly magnetized bodies with substantial atmospheres (e.g. Mars, Venus, Titan, Pluto and comets) are subject to disturbances due to solar activity, interplanetary conditions (e.g. solar flares, coronal mass ejections and solar energetic particles), or for moons, parent magnetospheric activity. These objects interact similarly as their magnetized counterparts but with scientifically important differences.
As an integral part of planetary atmospheres, ionospheres are tightly coupled with the neutral atmosphere, exosphere and surrounding plasma environment, possessing rich compositional, density, and temperature structures. The interaction among neutral and charged components affects atmospheric loss, neutral winds, photochemistry, and energy balance within ionospheres.
This session invites abstracts concerning remote and in-situ data analysis, modelling studies, comparative studies, instrumentation and mission concepts for unmagnetized and weakly magnetized solar system bodies.

Cosmic rays carry information about space and solar activity, and, once near the Earth, they produce isotopes, influence genetic information, and are extraordinarily sensitive to water. Given the vast spectrum of interactions of cosmic rays with matter in different parts of the Earth and other planets, cosmic-ray research ranges from studies of the solar system to the history of the Earth, and from health and security issues to hydrology and climate change.
Although research on cosmic-ray particles is connected to a variety of disciplines and applications, they all share similar questions and problems regarding the physics of detection, modeling, and the influence of environmental factors.

The session brings together scientists from all fields of research that are related to monitoring and modeling of cosmogenic radiation. It will allow sharing of expertise amongst international researchers as well as showcase recent advancements in their field. The session aims to stimulate discussions about how individual disciplines can share their knowledge and benefit from each other.

We solicit contributions related but not limited to:
- Health, security, and radiation protection: cosmic-ray dosimetry on Earth and its dependence on environmental and atmospheric factors
- Planetary space science: satellite and ground-based neutron and gamma-ray sensors to detect water and soil constituents
- Neutron and Muon monitors: detection of high-energy cosmic-ray variations and its dependence on local, atmospheric, and magnetospheric factors
- Hydrology and climate change: low-energy neutron sensing to measure water in reservoirs at and near the land surface, such as soils, snow pack, and vegetation
- Cosmogenic nuclides: as tracers of atmospheric circulation and mixing; as a tool in archaeology or glaciology for dating of ice and measuring ablation rates; and as a tool for surface exposure dating and measuring rates of surficial geological processes
- Detector design: technological advancements for the detection of cosmic rays
- Cosmic-ray modeling: advances in modeling of the cosmic-ray propagation through the magnetosphere and atmosphere, and their response to the Earth's surface
- Impact modeling: How can cosmic-ray monitoring support environmental models, weather and climate forecasting, irrigation management, and the assessment of natural hazards

The heliosphere is permeated with energetic particles of different compositions, energy spectra and origins. Two major populations of these particles are galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), which originate from outside of the heliosphere and are constantly detected at Earth, and solar energetic particles (SEPs) which are accelerated at/near the Sun during solar flares or by shock fronts associated with the transit of coronal mass ejections. Enhancements in energetic particle fluxes at Earth pose a hazard to humans and technology in space and at high altitudes. Within the magnetosphere, energetic particles are present in the radiation belts, and particle precipitation is responsible for the aurora and for hazards to satellites. Energetic particles have also been shown to cause changes is the chemistry of the middle and upper atmosphere, thermodynamic effects in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere region, and can influence components of the global electric circuit. This session will aim to address the transport of energetic particles through the heliosphere, their detection at Earth and the effects they have on the terrestrial atmosphere when they arrive. It will bring together scientists from several fields of research in what is now very much an interdisciplinary area. The session will allow sharing of expertise amongst international researchers as well as showcase the recent advances being made in this field, which demonstrate the importance of the study of these energetic particle populations.

The Earth's inner magnetosphere contains different charged particle populations, such as the Van Allen radiation belts, ring current particles, and plasmaspheric particles. Their energy range varies from eV to several MeV, and the interplay among the charged particles provides feedback mechanisms that couple all those populations together. Ring current particles can generate various waves, for example, EMIC waves and chorus waves, which play important roles in the dynamic evolution of the radiation belts through wave-particle interactions. Ring current electrons can be accelerated to relativistic radiation belt electrons. The plasmaspheric medium can also affect these processes. In addition, precipitation of ring current and radiation belt particles will influence the ionosphere, while up-flows of ionospheric particles can affect dynamics in the inner magnetosphere. Understanding these coupling processes is crucial.

While the dynamics of outer planets’ magnetospheres are driven by a unique combination of internal coupling processes, these systems have several fascinating similarities which make comparative studies particularly interesting. We invite a broad range of theoretical, modeling, and observational studies focusing on the dynamics of the inner magnetosphere of the Earth and outer planets, including the coupling of the inner magnetosphere and ionosphere and coupling between the solar wind disturbances and various magnetospheric processes. Contributions from all relevant fields, including theoretical studies, numerical modeling, observations from satellite and ground-based missions are welcome. In particular, we encourage presentations using data from MMS, THEMIS, Van Allen Probes, Arase (ERG), Cluster, cube-sat missions, Juno, SuperDARN, magnetometer, optical imagers, IS-radars, and ground-based VLF measurements.

The present state of Earth and other rocky planets are an expression of dynamical and chemical processes occurring throughout their history. In particular, giant impacts, core formation and magma-ocean crystallisation and other processes occurring in the early solar system set the stage for the long-term evolution of terrestrial planets. These early processes can happen simultaneously or in recurring stages, and are ultimately followed by progressive crustal growth, long-term mantle mixing/differentiation, core-mantle interaction, as well as inner-core crystallization. The rock-record, through geochemistry and magnetism, is used to interrogate changes in the tectono-thermal regime of Earth’s interior through time, while seismic imaging and gravity data, for instance, provide a snapshot of processes occurring in the contemporary mantle, crust and core. These classes of observations may be linked through geodynamic models, whose accuracy is underpinned by the physical properties (e.g., viscosity and density) of its constituent phases (minerals, melts and fluids). Information on the fundamental thermodynamic and physical behaviour of phases is subject to constant advance via experimental and ab-initio techniques.

This session aims to provide a holistic view of the formation, dynamics, structure and composition of Earth and the evolution of terrestrial bodies by bringing together studies from geophysics, geodynamics, mineral physics, geochemistry, and petrology. This session welcomes contributions focused on data analysis, modeling and experimental work that address the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets and moons in the Solar System, and around other stars.

In June 2021, NASA and ESA selected a fleet of three international missions to planet Venus. 28 years since the Magellan orbital radar mapping mission, and 37 years since the last Venera/VeGa landing, Venus remains our enigmatic neighbour. Shrouded by its dense atmosphere, the surface is only studied from space at radar frequencies and in a limited number of near-infrared spectral windows. Many significant questions remain on the current state of Venus, suggesting major gaps in our understanding of how our nearest planet's evolutionary pathway diverged from Earth's. Did Venus ever have an ocean, how and when did greenhouse conditions develop, and to what degree do volcanic eruptions still affect the surface and atmosphere today? Comparing the interior, surface and atmosphere evolution of Earth and Venus is essential to understanding what processes have shaped our own planet. This is particularly relevant in a decade where we expect hundreds of Earth- & Venus-size exoplanets to be discovered. The session will also address how these new missions will better understand Venus’ early evolution and past and present habitability.

Understanding the structures and dynamics of the core of a planet is essential to construct a global geochemical and geodynamical model, it has implication on its thermal, compositional and orbital evolution.

Remote sensing of planets interior from space and ground-based observations is entering a new era with perspectives in constraining their core structures and dynamics. Meanwhile, increasingly accurate seismic and magnetic data provides unprecedented images of the Earth's deep interior. Unraveling planetary cores structures and dynamics requires a synergy between many fields of expertise, such as mineral physics, geochemistry, seismology, fluid mechanics or geomagnetism. In such a cross-disciplinary context, we identify the need to combine observations, e.g. from geo/paleo/rock magnetism, to generate field models and carefully compare their properties with numerical simulations of the dynamo process. This requires community-wide efforts to share data and models in standardized formats, which we aim to address.


This session welcomes contributions from all the disciplines mentioned following theoretical, numerical, observational or experimental approaches, with the aim to proceed towards an integrated, self-consistent picture of planetary core's structure, dynamics, magnetic field and their evolution.

The Mars Science and Exploration Session will address the latest results from Martian missions: from ground-based and satellite measurements, to martian meteorites research, terrestrial analog studies, laboratory experiments and modelling. All past/current results as well as future exploration ideas and prospects are welcome. The session aims to bring together contributions on theoretical models concerning the deep interior and subsurface structure and composition; observations of the surface morphology and composition; analyses of the atmospheric composition, dynamics and climate; the ionospheric environment and its interaction with the solar wind; astrobiology, analog studies and habitability of Mars.

The Lunar Science, Exploration & Utilisation Session will address the latest results from lunar missions: from ground-based and satellite measurements, to lunar meteorites research, terrestrial analog studies, laboratory experiments and modelling. All past/current results as well as future exploration ideas and prospects are welcome. The session aims to bring together contributions on theoretical models concerning the deep interior and subsurface structure and composition; observations of the surface morphology and composition; analyses of the atmospheric composition, dynamics and climate; the interaction with the solar wind; astrobiology, analog studies and future habitability of the Moon.
This session aims at presenting highlights of relevant recent results regarding the exploration and sustainable utilization of the Moon through observations, modelling, laboratory. Key research questions concerning the lunar surface, subsurface, interior and their evolution will be discussed. More in detail, the topics of interest for this session include:
-Recent lunar results: geochemistry, geophysics in the context of open planetary science and exploration
-Synthesis of results from Clementine, Prospector, SMART-1, Kaguya, Chang’e 1, 2 and 3, Chandrayaan-1, LCROSS, LADEE, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Artemis and GRAIL
- First results from Chang'E 4, Chandrayaan2, Chang’E5, Commercial Lunar Payload
- Goals and Status of missions under preparation: orbiters, Luna25-27, SLIM, GLXP legacy, LRP, commercial landers, Future landers, Lunar sample return missions
- Precursor missions, instruments and investigations for landers, rovers, sample return, and human cis-lunar activities and human lunar surface sorties with Artemis and Intl Lunar Research Station
- Preparation for International Lunar Decade: databases, instruments, missions, terrestrial field campaigns (eg EuroMoonMars), In-Situ Resources, ISRU, support studies
- ILEWG and Global Exploration roadmaps towards a global robotic/human Moon village

Note that this session is open to all branches of lunar science and exploration, and is intended as an open forum and discussion between diverse experts and Earth geoscientists and explorers at large. The session will include invited and contributed talks as well as a panel discussion and interactive posters with short oral introduction.

The session covers contributions on dwarf planets and small solar system objects, including comets, asteroids, meteoroids, and dust. Topics include dynamics, evolution, physical properties, and interactions of dust and meteors in space as well as planetary atmospheres. Presenters are invited to highlight results obtained from recent space missions (SO, PSP, etc.), observations, laboratory studies, theoretical and numerical simulations, as well as the latest results on the physics of meteors and of dust in ionospheres, ionospheric phenomena, other atmospheric phenomena, and space weathering of surfaces. This session further provides a forum for presenting future space instrumentation on these topics. We welcome young minds and encourage the presentation of multi-disciplinarity research.

Processes controlling the global cycles of volatiles (e.g., C, H, O, S) across reservoirs regulate planetary climate and habitability. Their cycling pathways and efficiency are dependent on numerous factors including the presence of liquid water and the tectonic mode; and involves the atmosphere, hydrosphere, crust, mantle and even the core.

On Earth, major volatile cycles are balanced to first order through ingassing and outgassing, mainly occurring at subduction zones, and major sites of volcanism (i.e., mid-ocean ridges and hotspots), respectively. In planetary interiors, volatiles are partitioned into the existing minerals, or stabilize minor phases such as diamond or various hydrous phases in the mantle and crust, something that directly influences the spatial distribution of melt formation as well as rock properties. Conversely, melt transport induces volatile exchanges between planetary reservoirs and favours outgassing. Outgassing, in turn, will regulate planetary climates, hence influencing the habitability.

The aim of this session is to bring together numerical, experimental and observational expertise from Earth and Planetary Sciences to advance the understanding of interior-atmosphere coupling and volatile exchange and evolution on Earth and terrestrial (exo)planets, as well as the role of those volatiles on the interior composition and dynamics. This session features contributions on topics including volatile cycling, melt and volatile transport, mineral-melt phase relations, geophysical detections, tectonic regimes, outgassing, atmospheric composition and planetary habitability.

Juno has transformed our view of Jupiter through major discoveries about its interior structure, origin, and evolution; atmospheric dynamics and composition; magnetic field and magnetosphere. Juno’s extended mission began in August 2021 and includes new objectives that reach beyond the planet itself to the Galilean satellites and Jupiter’s enigmatic ring system. This session invites observational and modeling results related to Juno’s results on Jupiter and the comparison to other giant planets, including exo-planetary systems. New results from Juno’s extended mission on Jupiter’s northern latitudes as well as the satellites and ring system are welcome.

The Gas and Ice Giant System Exploration session solicits abstracts on the scientific exploration of the Jovian, Kronian, Uranian and Neptunian systems with past and current missions (e.g. Juno, Cassini, remote observations), as well as presentations on future explorations missions and concepts (e.g. JUICE). This includes studies on their interiors, atmospheres, ionospheres, and magnetospheres, out to their ring systems and satellites, as well as the respective interactions between these regions.
We also explicitly welcome presentations on gas and ice giant exoplanet systems and encourage participation by colleagues more traditionally aligned with astronomy.

The session solicits contributions that report on nonthermal solar and planetary radio emissions. Coordinated multi-point observations from ground radio telescopes (e.g., LOFAR, LOIS, LWA1, URAN-2, UTR-2) and spacecraft plasma/wave experiments (e.g., Cassini, Cluster, Demeter, Galileo, Juno, Stereo, Ulysses and Wind) are especially encouraged. Presentations should focus on radiophysics techniques used and developed to investigate the remote magnetic field and the electron density in solar system regions, like the solar corona, the interplanetary medium and the magnetized auroral regions. Interest also extends to laboratory and experimental studies devoted to the comprehension of the generation mechanisms (e.g., cyclotron maser instability) and the acceleration processes (e.g., Alfven waves). Further preparations, evaluations, investigations, analyses of forthcoming space missions or nanosatellites (like BepiColombo, Juice, Solar Orbiter, Solar Probe, SunRISE, UVSQ-Sat, Inspire-Sat 7) are also welcome.

This session primarily focuses on the neutral atmospheres of terrestrial bodies other than the Earth. This includes not only Venus and Mars, but also exoplanets with comparable envelopes and satellites carrying dense atmospheres such as Titan or exospheres such as Ganymede. We welcome contributions dealing with processes affecting the atmospheres of these bodies, from the surface to the exosphere. We invite abstracts concerning observations, both from Earth or from space, modeling and theoretical studies, or laboratory work. Comparative planetology abstracts will be particularly appreciated.

The biosphere and geology of a planet are intrinsically interlinked. The geological habitat of Earth has driven the origin and evolution of life and biology has dramatically changed the planets surface and mineralogy over the last 4 billion years. In our Solar System, there are a broad range of planets and moons with potential habitable environments, and future missions will aim to determine if these ever had life or have life today. Planets orbiting other stars have different spectral types and metallicities and thus different starting bulk compositions which may impact the origin and evolution of life on those worlds. This session will examine the interplay of biology, and more broadly, habitability, from a planetary perspective.

Processes responsible for formation and development of the early Earth (> 2500Ma) are not well understood and strongly debated, reflecting in part the poorly preserved, altered, and incomplete nature of the geological record from this time.
In this session we encourage the presentation of new approaches and models for the development of Earth's early crust and mantle and their methods of interaction. We encourage contributions from the study of the preserved rock archive as well as geodynamic models of crustal and mantle dynamics so as to better understand the genesis and evolution of continental crust and the stabilization of cratons.
We invite abstracts from a large range of disciplines including geodynamics, geology, geochemistry, and petrology but also studies of early atmosphere, biosphere and early life relevant to this period of Earth history.

Analogue planetary research (APR) describes the development and testing
of space exploration strategies including scientific, technical,
operational, social and medical aspects in terrestrial environments
under simulated space or planetary conditions. As such, APR can be
performed in analogue planetary simulation, for example Lunar or Martian
analogue missions, where future crewed or robotic space exploration
missions are simulated and evaluated towards their performance.

With increasing popularity of analogue planetary simulations as
test-beds to develop and test technologies, techniques and operational
procedures for planetary missions in facilities such as HiSeas, MDRS,
LunAres, AATC, MMAARS or similar facilities, this session invites
contributions in the field of analogue planetary research including, but
not limited to:

- data analysis about sites for future exploration
- results and lessons-learned from Lunar / Martian analogue missions
- instruments development for analogue and space research
- field tests for space exploration hardware, software and techniques
- scientific contributions through analogue research
- geological field work during planetary simulations
- future analogue mission concepts
- transferring APR results into actual space exploration missions

This session aims to inform the geoscientists and engineers regarding new and/or improved instrumentation and methods for space and planetary exploration, as well as about their novel or established applications.
The session is open to all branches of planetary and space measurement tools and techniques, including, but not limited to: optical, electromagnetic, seismic, acoustic, particles, and gravity.
Please, kindly take contact with the conveners if you have a topic that may be suitable for a review talk.
This session is also intended as an open forum, where discussion between representatives of different fields within planetary, space and geosciences will be strongly encouraged, looking for a fruitful mutual exchange and cross fertilization between scientific areas.

Aeolian processes are active on various planetary surfaces throughout the Solar System and yield similar landforms across a wide range of spatial scales despite differences in atmospheric and surface properties. They are typically associated with the movement of sediments driven by an atmospheric flow but can also be controlled by other modes of matter transport such as ice sublimation. The combination of terrestrial and extra-terrestrial experiments and observations provides the opportunities as well as challenges for improving our fundamental theories and numerical models for better understanding of these aeolian environments. Innovations in instrumentation and experimental techniques continue to yield novel insights on Earth, while space missions and remote probes constantly deliver new and surprising evidence from aeolian environments on other planetary bodies. This session welcomes research on all aspects of aeolian processes and landforms, contemporary and ancient, on planetary surfaces across the Solar System.

The Planetary Geomorphology session aims to bring together geomorphologists who study the Earth with those who work on other bodies such as Mars, Venus, Mercury, the Moon, icy satellites of the outer solar system, comets, and/or asteroids. Studies applicable to landscapes on any scale on any solid body are welcome. We particularly encourage those who use Earth analogues or laboratory/numerical simulation to submit their work. Considered processes could include aeolian, volcanic, tectonic, fluvial, glacial, periglacial, or "undetermined" ones. We especially welcome contributions from early-career scientists and geomorphologists who are new to planetary science.

Geomorphometry, a science of quantitative land surface analysis, gathers various mathematical, statistical and image processing techniques to quantify morphological, hydrological, ecological and other aspects of a land surface. The typical input to geomorphometric analysis is a square-grid representation of the land surface: a digital elevation model (DEM) or one of its derivatives. DEMs provide the backbone for many studies in Geo sciences, hydrology, land use planning and management, Earth observation and natural hazards.
One topic of active research concerns compromises between the use of global DEMs at 1-3 arc second, ~30-90 m grid spacing, and local LiDAR/structure from motion (SFM) elevation models at 1 m or finer grid spacing. Point clouds from LiDAR, either ground-based or from airborne vehicles, are a generally accepted reference tool to assess the accuracy of other DEMs. SFM data have a resolution comparable to LiDAR point clouds, but can cost significantly less to acquire for smaller areas. Globally available DEMS include the recently published Copernicus GLO-90 and GLO-30. This session provides an exciting forum to show the potential applications of this new DEM and its improvements over SRTM. We would like to investigate the tradeoff between the employment of the two kinds of data, and applications which can benefit from data at both (local and global) scales.
The improvements in the global DEMs, as well as the increasing availability of much finer resolution LiDAR and SFM DEMs, call for new analytical methods and advanced geo-computation techniques, necessary to cope with diverse application contexts. We aim at investigating new methods of analysis and advanced geo-computation techniques, including high-performance and parallel computing implementations of specific approaches.
Commercial applications of DEM data and of geomorphometric techniques can benefit important business sectors. Besides a proliferation of applications that can tolerate low accuracy geographical data and simple GIS applications, a large base of professionals use high-resolution, high-accuracy elevation data and high-performance GIS processing. We would like to survey and investigate professional, commercial and industrial applications, including software packages, from small enterprises to large companies, to ascertain how academic researchers and industry can work together.

Networking is crucial for scientists of all career stages for collaborations as well as for their personal growth and career pathways. Your scientific network can support you when struggling with everyday academic life, help with making career choices and give feedback on job applications/proposals/papers. Further, having a scientific network can provide new perspectives for your research while leading to interdisciplinary collaborations and new projects.
Building up an initial network can be challenging, especially outside of your research institution. As scientific conferences and social media platforms are evolving, the possibilities of academic networking are also changing. In this short course we will share tips and tricks on how to build, grow and maintain your scientific network. Additionally, panelist will talk about their own personal experiences. In a second part of the short course we will do a networking exercise. This short course is relevant to scientist who are starting to build/grow their network or want to learn more about networking in today’s scientific settings.

The European Research Council (ERC) is a leading European funding body supporting excellent investigator-driven frontier research across all fields of science. ERC calls are open to researchers around the world. The ERC offers various different outstanding funding opportunities with grants budgets of €1.5 to €3.5 million for individual scientists. All nationalities of applicants are welcome for projects carried out at a host institution in Europe (European Union member states and associated countries). At this session, the main features of ERC funding individual grants will be presented.

Finding funds can be challenging in academia, be it during PhD, or after that. A great proposal or just a great idea does not guarantee success, instead, it involves developing skills and exploring the paths which can lead to securing funds. It involves meticulous steps of evolving idea, proposal development, budget generation, and finally finding funding opportunities. In this course, early-career scientists, and faculty members with a wide range of backgrounds will provide guidance both in the research, and financial aspects of the proposal writing. The course is integrated with open Q&A which will provide participants to ask and seek advice from the experts. This course targets a wide range of audience ranging from graduate students to early-career scientists, but anyone with an interest in finding funds could participate

Visualisation of scientific data is an integral part of scientific understanding and communication. Scientists have to make decisions about the most effective way to communicate their results everyday. How do we best visualise the data to understand it ourselves? How do we best visualise our results to communicate with others? Common pitfalls can be overcrowding, overcomplicated plot types or inaccessible color schemes. Scientists may also get overwhelmed by the graphics requirements of different publishers, for presentations, posters etc. This short course is designed to help scientists improve their data visualization skills in a way that the research outputs would be more accessible within their own scientific community and reach a wider audience.
Topics discussed include:

- Choosing a plot type – keeping it simple
- Color schemes – which ones to use or not to use
- Creativity vs simplicity – finding the right balance
- Producing your figures – software and tools
- Figure files – publication ready resolutions

This course is organized by the Young Hydrologic Society (YHS), enabling networking and skill enhancement of early career researchers worldwide. Our goal is to help you make your figures more accessible by a wider audience, informative and beautiful. If you feel your graphs are complicated or not intuitive, we welcome you to join this short course.