A Memorable Experience at the IAGA-IASPEI Meeting 2025

Hello Readers,

I am Sunil Kumar Ramatheerthan, working at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, and the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University, both located in Prague, Czech Republic. I am delighted to share my experience attending the IAGA/IASPEI Joint Scientific Meeting 2025, held from 31 August to 5 September 2025 at the Lisbon School of Engineering (ISEL), Portugal.

This conference holds a special place in my academic journey as it was my first scientific meeting where I had the opportunity to chair a session. Taking on this responsibility significantly enhanced my networking opportunities and boosted my confidence as an emerging researcher in the fields of atmospheric and space sciences.

During the meeting, I presented a talk titled “Vertical coupling between sudden stratospheric warming and the European mid-latitude ionosphere” and chaired a session on “Coupling Processes in the Atmosphere-Ionosphere System”, which featured five insightful talks. Although I was a bit nervous at first, I soon became more comfortable and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of chairing the session.

Throughout the conference, I had the chance to engage with several experts working on vertical coupling between the atmosphere and ionosphere. Their valuable feedback on my presentation not only refined my perspective but also led to potential collaborative research opportunities.

The scientific program included numerous interesting oral and poster sessions. I especially enjoyed the poster sessions during the coffee breaks, they provided a great opportunity to explore diverse research topics and engage in informal yet meaningful scientific discussions. As one of the IAGA School participants, I got the opportunity to present my research on camera as part of the outreach project “Lights, Camera, IAGA ECS in Action!”, a science communication initiative supported by the IAGA Outreach Grant and coordinated by Dr. Katia Pinheiro.

There was also a social gathering for early-career researchers (ECRs), organized by the IAGA and IASPEI committees, which provided a relaxed space to discuss career development, networking, and collaboration opportunities.

In the end, this meeting proved to be an excellent platform to share my research, gain valuable insights from both experts and ECRs, and draw inspiration and motivation from the scientific discussions and visions for future work.

IAGA-IASPEI School 2025: My Experience

Hello Readers,

I am Sunil Kumar Ramatheerthan, a final-year PhD student at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, and the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University, both located in Prague, Czech Republic. In this blog, I would like to share my experience attending my first summer school, the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) and International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI) school, held from 24 to 30 August 2025 at the Lisbon School of Engineering (ISEL) in Lisbon, Portugal.

The IAGA-IASPEI school was an excellent opportunity to learn, connect, and engage with researchers and students from around the world in the fields of geomagnetism and aeronomy. I arrived in Lisbon from Prague, where I am currently pursuing my PhD. The school began with an informal gathering on 24 August, where I had the pleasure of meeting participants from diverse scientific backgrounds.

The school lectures began the next morning with an excellent talk by Dr. Julie Carlut on the Earth's magnetic field and paleomagnetism, followed by Dr. Anna Morozova’s engaging lecture on ionospheric space weather, which was especially relevant to my research. Her talk provided insights into solar activity, the ionosphere, and the economic impacts of space weather.

The following day featured two enriching lectures and practical sessions, Dr. Ondřej Santolík’s session on plasma waves and Dr. Ivana Klomšková’s on lightning discharges, both of which were technically and theoretically stimulating.

On Wednesday, a joint session with IASPEI participants, led by Dr. Ciaran Beggan, focused on digitizing archive data, where we gained hands-on experience using specialized software tools and working in teams. In the afternoon, we visited the Quake Museum in Lisbon, which offered a fascinating overview of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, the experiences of earthquakes, as well as other major seismic events and advances in seismological science. Sharing this experience with both IAGA and IASPEI participants made it even more enjoyable and memorable.

On Thursday, Dr. Chris Finlay discussed magnetic field modeling using data from ground observatories and satellites, followed by a hands-on session with Swarm satellite data using the VirES platform.

On Friday, Dr. Alexander Grayver introduced electromagnetic induction methods in geophysics, providing valuable insights into subsurface exploration. The school concluded with our final practical sessions, the certificate ceremony, and a treat kindly arranged by Dr. Barbara Leichter and Dr. Ashley Smith.

The week ended on a lovely note with a relaxed Tagus riverside dinner, a perfect way to celebrate the learning, teamwork, and new friendships built throughout the program.

Attending the IAGA-IASPEI School 2025 was a truly rewarding experience. I learned a great deal about geomagnetism and space physics, but more importantly, I had the opportunity to meet inspiring researchers and share ideas with people who share my curiosity and passion for the field. It’s an experience I will definitely carry with me as I continue my research journey. 

A new view of lunar magnetism

One of the enduring mysteries about the Moon is whether it ever had an internal-generated magnetic field, and if so, when the core dynamo ceased. New research by Tinghong Zhou, John Tarduno, Rory Cottrell, and Eric Blackman at the University of Rochester and collaborators from the University of Notre Dame, UC Santa Cruz, and the University of Arizona, in a study supported by NSF and NASA, have provided new insights into this lunar puzzle, narrowing down the potential lifespan of the Moon’s dynamo to its first ~140 million years. The new study focused on analyzing magnetic field intensity (called paleointensity) recorded in Apollo samples that are between 4.36 to 3.7 billion years old. Using an advanced technique known as single-crystal paleointensity analysis, the researchers were able to obtain accurate measurements of the Moon’s ancient ambient surface magnetic field environment – which indicated negligible field strengths. This evidence for the absence of a dynamo resolves the long-lasting paradox between the previously hypothesized long-lived lunar dynamo and energy considerations, namely that the tiny lunar core would have been unable to power a strong, sustained magnetic field.

Figure 1: Astronaut John Young stands on the rim of the Plum Crater on the Moon. Image source: NASA, Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, Apollo Image Library Hasselblad Magazine, 109/G (B&W), AS16-109-17804.

A key part of this new understanding of lunar magnetic history comes from a focus on magnetic carriers meeting the demanding requirements of paleointensity theory. Single-domain magnetic grains, which are very small, some 20 to 200 nm in size, are required. In contrast, larger magnetic grains are far less reliable because their internal domain walls can move with time and during laboratory treatments, corrupting any original magnetic signal. Magnetic minerals in lunar rocks are dominated by these problematic multidomain grains, making paleointensity analysis very challenging. The single-crystal paleointensity technique used in the study by Zhou and others builds on an earlier study led by the University of Rochester and focuses on silicate crystals that contain single-domain magnetic grain inclusions to meet the paleointensity recording requirement. The authors tested the fidelity of their records by CO2 laser heating in different fields and in the presence or absence of an applied field. These tests exclude thermal alteration and provide a measure of recording efficiency. The authors found high recording efficiencies, indicating that if surface fields had been present, they would have been recorded. Hence, the absence of a paleointensity indicates absence of a surface field.

In addition to the single crystal paleointensity, the study also employed whole rock paleointensity on 3.7-billion-year-old Apollo basalts using a non-thermal technique. Unlike thermal methods that measure magnetization acquired from natural cooling, non-thermal methods rely on additional assumptions and empirical calibrations. The results from the non-thermal technique showed abnormally high and inconsistent paleointensities. These anomalies could indicate shock magnetization from lunar impacts or issues with the multidomain grains and/or the applied non-thermal method. Because non-thermal analysis of whole rocks is the basis for some calls for an episodic lunar dynamo, the researchers conclude there is no robust evidence for such a phenomenon from Apollo samples.

Figure 2: Lunar magnetic history indicated by paleointensity data. Single crystals suggest a null lunar magnetic field since 4.36 Ga, while some whole rock data obtained by non-thermal methods yield abnormally high values that might be related to large multidomain magnetic grains and/or impact induced magnetic field. Figure modified from Tarduno et al., 2021 and Zhou et al., 2024.

If the Moon did not have a dynamo for most of its history, the early Earth’s (for example, during the Archean and Hadean eons) atmosphere can be transferred to the Moon, which would be unshielded by an intrinsic field, and preserved in its regolith. With a smaller Earth-Moon distance and the stronger solar wind in the Archean and Hadean, this transfer would have been enhanced. By studying the volatiles trapped in the lunar regolith, we might have opportunities to better understand the composition of the early Earth’s atmosphere and the conditions that influenced the evolution of life.

Tinghong Zhou is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Rochester mentored by Professor John A. Tarduno. Her research focuses on the long-term evolution of the geomagnetic field and its correlation with the Earth’s deep interior, and the origin of the lunar magnetism. Email address: tzhou16@ur.rochester.edu

IAGA Sponsorship for Meetings

IAGA provides sponsorship for people interested in organising meetings under its remit, especially for students, early career researchers or scientists in developing countries. The funding can be used for various purposes such as registration fee waiver or enabling participation of participants who otherwise wouldn't be able to travel by supporting their travel/accommodation costs. There are two rounds of applications open- end of May and November- each year with outcomes aimed for June and December, respectively.

The ideal time for submitting funding request is a year before the event, with details of the meeting such as venue, dates and scientific focus. The submission is made to the Secretary General and is evaluated by the Executive Committee. The funding capacity may differ for different years but in general, the maximum amount is about 3000 EUR.

More details can be found here. Please feel free to leave your queries in the comments below and we will answer them.

IAGA 2025 Abstract Submission Closing!

The International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) will have a joint conference with the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI) this year from 31st August to 5th September in Lisbon, Portugal. It will be preceded by a week long summer school organised by the two associations for early career researchers in their respective fields. 

The abstracts submission as well as travel grant applications are closing soon on 12th March 2025 while the early bird registration deadline is 21st May 2025. More details about abstract submission, registration and the conference can be found on the website. The abstract and travel grant notifications will be sent out by 17th April 2025. Abstract title and text are limited to 20 and 250 words respectively.

All information, new and old will be regularly posted on our blog page including many outreach sessions planned. Stay tuned for more info to start preparing for the upcoming conference! You can see the list of blogs related to the assembly by visiting this webpage.

IUGG ECSNet Project

The IUGG ECSNet (Early Career Scientists Network) project awarded to Katia Pinheiro aims to bring together the 8 associations under IUGG through early career involvement. The project has an ECS representative from each association and organises a 'How to get involved' Day which can provide more information. The first event was held on 3rd February 2025 and the next event will be on 3rd March. We hope you take this chance to know more about the associations and participate in it! Below is the 'How to get involved' pamphlet for IAGA.

IAGA Data and Products

IAGA has a database of products and services that are free and available to use for all scientists requiring it. Here are some of the latest links/updates on them which might be useful to the community-

IGRF: A very well known model that is updated every 5 years. The 14th model is now available, the details of which can be found in our previous blog.

INTERMAGNET: All your magnetic ground observatories list and its data can be accessed here. It also offers software tools most often used within the community.

ISGI: Database and updates on the various indices used in geomagnetism. It contains the list of magnetic events that can be extracted from the data available at INTERMAGNET.

PALEOMAGIA: database of Precambrian paleomagnetic data. Its website recently got updated which can be found on clicking the link.

MagIC: Magnetic Information Consortium which is an open digital data archive primarily for rock and paleomagnetic data.

There are several other databases and products, the details of which can be found on the IAGA website or here.