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Statement of Task

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will appoint an ad hoc committee to organize a workshop that will focus on the research agenda and observations needed to improve the understanding of the Sun–Earth system that generates space weather consequences. Specifically, the Phase II workshop will:

• Examine trends in available and anticipated observations, including the use of constellations of small satellites, hosted payloads, ground-based systems, international collaborations, and data buys, that are likely to drive future space weather architectures; review existing and developing technologies for both research and observations;
• Consider the adequacy and uses of existing relevant programs across the agencies, including NASA’s Living With a Star (LWS) program and its Space Weather Science Application initiative, the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Geospace research programs, and NOAA’s Research to Operations (R2O) and Operations to Research (O2R) programs for reaching the goals described above;
• Consider needs, gaps, and opportunities in space weather modeling and validation, including a review of the status of data assimilation and ensemble approaches;
• Consider how to incorporate data from NASA missions that are “one-off” or otherwise nonoperational into operational environments, and assess the value and need for real-time data (for example, by providing “beacons” on NASA research missions) to improve forecasting models; and
• Take into account the results of studies, including NASA’s space weather science gap analysis (part of the NASA Heliophysics Division’s Space Weather Science Application program) and the NSF Investments in Critical Capabilities for Geospace Science (2016), to identify the key elements needed to establish a robust research infrastructure.

A proceedings summarizing the presentations and discussions at the workshop will be prepared by the committee in accordance with institutional guidelines. The workshop proceedings will not include findings or recommendations.