Space Weather REDI goals

Critical infrastructures utilized in modern society are becoming increasingly dependent on both global electrical power grid networks and extensive fleets of satellites. Satellites also enable both computer systems and people to stay connected throughout our home planet.. Ubiquitous technologies and services such as GPS systems, satellite television, remote sensing, weather forecasting, and certain long distance communication systems critically rely on space infrastructure. This complex technological environment is susceptible to space weather effects caused by the variability of our dynamic Sun. The importance of space weather, and its potential for significant and catastrophic societal and economic impacts, has been recognized both nationally and globally. Space weather awareness is a necessary element of not only monitoring and maintaining existing assets in space, but also ensuring the success and viability of any new space-based technological developments. There is a growing need for the next generation of science and technology professionals to have an understanding of the fundamentals of the Sun-Earth system, how space weather disrupts technological systems and how space weather is predicted. This trend calls for more educational opportunities for the exciting and rapidly maturing field of space weather.

The goals of the Space Weather Research, Education and Development Initiative (REDI) are:

• Promote space environment awareness as an important component of the new millennium core education.
• Facilitate establishment of space weather programs at universities worldwide.
• Provide undergraduate student internship opportunities at CCMC/SWRC to develop skills beneficial for any future career pursuit.

SW REDI brings a new generation of space weather instruction to educational institutes nationwide. The next generation hands-on training incorporates modern space weather observations and state-of-the-art space weather modeling and forecasting - from three-dimensional analysis of observed coronal mass ejections to modeling of the geomagnetic induction in the upper mantle of the Earth. The training also provides in-depth understanding on how various technologies are impacted by space weather - from single event upsets caused by solar energetic protons to increased corrosion of oil pipelines caused by geomagnetically induced currents.

SW REDI will facilitate the establishment of new space weather programs at participating educational institutions, support efforts to incorporate space weather material into institutions' core curriculum, and provide space weather training camps, hands-on experience and internship opportunities at the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) and the Space Weather Research Center (SWRC) at NASA GSFC. Each of these key elements of REDI will be integrated jointly with participating educational institutions into a coherent initiative to allow students to make a seamless transition from space weather activities in the classroom to performing research and hands-on forecasting at CCMC and SWRC. Although the focus of SW REDI will be undergraduate training, K-12 and graduate student participation will be important components of the initiative. In addiition, while REDI's primary mission is to enhance our nation's space weather readiness, participation by international educational insitutions, and other space weather entities, reflects the global and interdisciplinary nature of the field.