MIST

Magnetosphere, Ionosphere and Solar-Terrestrial

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Announcement of New MIST Council 2025

We are very pleased to announce the following members of the community have been elected to MIST Council:

  • Gemma Bower (University of Leicester), MIST Councillor
  • Tom Elsden (University of St Andrews), MIST Councillor
  • Cameron Patterson (Lancaster University), MIST Councillor
  • Fiona Ball (University of Southampton), Student Representative

They will begin their terms in July 2025.

We thank outgoing MIST Council members: Maria Walach, Chiara Lazzeri and Emma Woodfield. Andy Smith will remain on council a little longer as a co-opted member to cover Rosie Johnson's maternity leave.

The current composition of Council can be found on our website (https://www.mist.ac.uk/community/mist-council).

Announcement of New MIST Councillors.

We are very pleased to announce the following members of the community have been elected unopposed to MIST Council:

  • Rosie Johnson (Aberystwyth University), MIST Councillor
  • Matthew Brown (University of Birmingham), MIST Councillor
  • Chiara Lazzeri (MSSL, UCL), Student Representative

Rosie, Matthew, and Chiara will begin their terms in July. This will coincide with Jasmine Kaur Sandhu, Beatriz Sanchez-Cano, and Sophie Maguire outgoing as Councillors.

The current composition of Council can be found on our website, and this will be amended in July to reflect this announcement (https://www.mist.ac.uk/community/mist-council).

Nominations are open for MIST Council

We are very pleased to open nominations for MIST Council. There are three positions available (detailed below), and elected candidates would join Georgios Nicolaou, Andy Smith, Maria-Theresia Walach, and Emma Woodfield on Council. The nomination deadline is Friday 31 May.

Council positions open for nomination

2 x MIST Councillor - a three year term (2024 - 2027). Everyone is eligible.

MIST Student Representative - a one year term (2024 - 2025). Only PhD students are eligible. See below for further details.

About being on MIST Council

If you would like to find out more about being on Council and what it can involve, please feel free to email any of us (email contacts below) with any of your informal enquiries! You can also find out more about MIST activities at mist.ac.uk. Two of our outgoing councillors, Beatriz and Sophie, have summarised their experiences being on MIST Council below.

Beatriz Sanchez-Cano (MIST Councillor):

"Being part of the MIST council for the last 3 years has been a great experience personally and professionally, in which I had the opportunity to know better our community and gain a larger perspective of the matters that are important for the MIST science progress in the UK. During this time, I’ve participated in a number of activities and discussions, such as organising the monthly MIST seminars, Autumn MIST meetings, writing A&G articles, and more importantly, being there to support and advise our colleagues in cases of need together with the wonderful council members. MIST is a vibrant and growing community, and the council is a faithful reflection of it."

Sophie Maguire (MIST Student Representative):

"Being the student representative for MIST council has been an amazing experience. I have been part of organizing conferences, chairing sessions, and writing grant applications based on the feedback MIST has received. From a wider perspective, MIST has helped to grow and support my professional networks which in turn, directly benefits my PhD work as well. I would encourage any PhD student to apply for the role of MIST Student Representative and I would be happy to answer any questions or queries you have about the role."

How to nominate

If you would like to stand for election or you are nominating someone else (with their agreement!) please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Friday 31 May. If there is a surplus of nominations for a role, then an online vote will be carried out with the community. Please include the following details in the nomination:

  1. Name
  2. Position (Councillor/Student Rep.)
  3. Nomination Statement (150 words max including a bit about the nominee and focusing on your reasons for nominating. This will be circulated to the community in the event of a vote.)

MIST Council details

  • Sophie Maguire, University of Birmingham, Earth's ionosphere - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
  • Georgios Nicolaou, MSSL, solar wind plasma - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
  • Beatriz Sanchez-Cano, University of Leicester, Mars plasma - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Jasmine Kaur Sandhu, University of Leicester, Earth’s inner magnetosphere - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Andy Smith, Northumbria University, Space Weather - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
  • Maria-Theresia Walach, Lancaster University, Earth’s ionosphere - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
  • Emma Woodfield, British Antarctic Survey, radiation belts - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
  • MIST Council email - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Winners of Rishbeth Prizes 2023

We are pleased to announce that following Spring MIST 2023 the Rishbeth Prizes this year are awarded to Sophie Maguire (University of Birmingham) and Rachel Black (University of Exeter).

Sophie wins the prize for the best MIST student talk which was entitled “Large-scale plasma structures and scintillation in the high-latitude ionosphere”. Rachel wins the best MIST poster prize, for a poster entitled “Investigating different methods of chorus wave identification within the radiation belts”. Congratulations to both Sophie and Rachel!

As prize winners, Sophie and Rachel will be invited to write articles for Astronomy & Geophysics, which we look forward to reading.

MIST Council extends their thanks to the University of Birmingham for hosting the Spring MIST meeting 2023, and to the Royal Astronomical Society for their generous and continued support of the Rishbeth Prizes.

Nominations for MIST Council

We are pleased to open nominations for MIST Council. There are two positions available (detailed below), and elected candidates would join Beatriz Sanchez-Cano, Jasmine Kaur Sandhu, Andy Smith, Maria-Theresia Walach, and Emma Woodfield on Council. The nomination deadline is Friday 26 May.

Council positions open for nomination

  • MIST Councillor - a three year term (2023 - 2026). Everyone is eligible.
  • MIST Student Representative - a one year term (2023 - 2024). Only PhD students are eligible. See below for further details.

About being on MIST Council


If you would like to find out more about being on Council and what it can involve, please feel free to email any of us (email contacts below) with any of your informal enquiries! You can also find out more about MIST activities at mist.ac.uk.

Rosie Hodnett (current MIST Student Representative) has summarised their experience on MIST Council below:
"I have really enjoyed being the PhD representative on the MIST council and would like to encourage other PhD students to nominate themselves for the position. Some of the activities that I have been involved in include leading the organisation of Autumn MIST, leading the online seminar series and I have had the opportunity to chair sessions at conferences. These are examples of what you could expect to take part in whilst being on MIST council, but the council will welcome any other ideas you have. If anyone has any questions, please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..”

How to nominate

If you would like to stand for election or you are nominating someone else (with their agreement!) please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Friday 26 May. If there is a surplus of nominations for a role, then an online vote will be carried out with the community. Please include the following details in the nomination:
  • Name
  • Position (Councillor/Student Rep.)
  • Nomination Statement (150 words max including a bit about the nominee and your reasons for nominating. This will be circulated to the community in the event of a vote.)
 
MIST Council contact details

Rosie Hodnett - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Mathew Owens - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Beatriz Sanchez-Cano - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Jasmine Kaur Sandhu - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Andy Smith - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Maria-Theresia Walach - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Emma Woodfield - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
MIST Council email - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

MIST Acronyms

Please notify any corrections/ additions to the MIST webmaster A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W XYZ

AA: Auroral Absorption
ACE: Advanced Composition Explorer
ACF: Autocorrelation Function
ADAF: AGONet Data Analysis Facility
AE: Auroral Electrojet (auroral activity index)
AG: Annales Geophysicae
AGO: Automatic Geophysical Observatory
AGONet: Antarctic Geospace Observatory Network
AGU: American Geophysical Union
AGW: Atmospheric Gravity Wave
AIS: Advanced Ionospheric Sounder
AL: Auroral Lower (auroral activity index)
ALOMAR: Arctic Lidar Observatory for Middle Atmosphere Research
AMIE: Assimilative Mapping of Ionospheric Electrodynamics
AMPTE: Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers
Ap: (Planetary magnetic activity index)
AU: Astronomical Unit
AU: Auroral Upper (auroral activity index)
AVDAS: Advanced VLF Data Analysis System
AXO: Atmospheric X-ray Observatory
BAS: British Antarctic Survey
BGS: British Geological Survey
BNSC: British National Space Centre
BTW: By the way
CAMMICE: Charge and Mass Magnetospheric Ion Composition Experiment (on Polar)
CANOPUS: Canadian Auroral Network for the OPEN Program Unified Study
CAPS: Cassini Plasma Spectrometer 
CCD: Charge-Coupled Device
CDAW: Coordinated Data Analysis Workshop
CDF: Common Data Format
CDHF: Co-ordinated Data Handling Facility
CEDAR: Coupling, Energetics and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions
CEPPAD: Comprehensive Energetic Particle and Pitch Angle Distribution Experiment (on Polar)
CIR: Co-rotating Interaction Region
CIS: Cluster Ion Spectrometry Experiment (Cluster)
CMAT: Coupled Middle Atmosphere and Thermosphere (model)
CME: Coronal Mass Ejection
CNA: Cosmic Noise Absorption
CNES: Centre Nationale des Etudes Spatiales (France)
Co-I: Co-Investigator
COSPAR: Commission on Space Research
CP: Common Programme (EISCAT, SuperDARN etc)
CRRES: Combined Release / Radiation Effects Satellite
CTIM: Coupled Thermosphere Ionosphere Magnetosphere (model)
CTIP: Coupled Thermosphere Ionosphere Plasmasphere (model)
CUTLASS: Collaborative UK Twin-Located Auroral Sounding System
DABS: Data Access and Browsing System
DASI: Digital All-Sky Imager
DAT: Digital Audio Tape
DE: Dynamics Explorer
DFT: Discrete Fourier Transform
DMSP: Defense Meteorological Satellite Program
DSP: Digital Signal Processing
Dst: Disturbance storm time (geomagnetic index)
DWP: Digital Wave Processing Experiment (Cluster)
ECH: Electron Cyclotron Harmonic
ECPC: Expanding-Contracting Polar Cap
EFW: Electric Fields and Waves (Cluster)
EGS: European Geophysical Society
EGU: European Geophysical Union
EIS: EUV Imaging Spectrometer
EISCAT: European Incoherent Scatter Radar
ELF: Extremely Low Frequency
EMIC: Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron Waves
ENA: Energetic Neutral Atom
EPC: EISCAT Project Committee
EPCI: Electron Pedersen Conductivity Instablity
ESA: European Space Agency
ESR: EISCAT Svalbard Radar
ESTEC: European Space Research and Technology Centre
ETAP: EISCAT Time Allocation Panel
EUV: Extreme UltraViolet
FAC: Field Aligned Current
FAQ: Frequently asked Questions
FAST: Fast Auroral SnapshoT explorer
FBI: Farley-Buneman Instability
FFT: Fast Fourier Transform
FGM: Fluxgate Magnetometer
FLR: Field Line Resonance
FOV: Field Of View
FPI: Fabry-Perot Interferometer
FTE: Flux Transfer Events
FTP: File Transfer Protocol
FWIW: For what it's worth
FYI: For Your Information
GCM: Global Circulation Model
GEM: Geospace Environment Modelling
GEOS: GEOstationary Satellite
GFM: Global Field Model
GGS: Global Geospace Study
GIC: Geomagnetically Induced Current
GIF: Graphics Interchange Format
GIME: Global Imaging of Magnetospheric Electrodynamics
GMT: Greenwich Mean Time (same as UT)
GOES: Geostationary Orbiting Environmental Satellite
GPS: Global Positioning System
GRL: Geophysical Research Letters
GSE: Geocentric Solar Earth (coordinates)
GSFC: Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA)
GSM: Geocentric Solar Magnetic (coordinates)
HCS: Heliospheric Current Sheet
HESSI: High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager
HF: High Frequency
HIREX: High-Resolution X-ray Explorer
HST: Hubble Space Telescope
HXT: Hard X-ray Telescope
IAGA: International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy
IBIZA/IMPACT: Investigation BIsatellitaire des Zones Aurorales/Investigation of Magnetospheric Particles Acceleration and Turbulence
IC: Imperial College
ICME: Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejection
ICSU: International Council of Scientific Unions
IDF: Ion Distribution Function
IDI: Imaging Doppler Interferometer
IDL: Interactive Data Language
IGBP: International Geosphere Biosphere Programme
IGRF: International Geomagnetic Reference Field
IGY: International Geophysical Year
IHV: Inter-Hourly Variation
IHY: International Heliophysical Year
IKI: Inter-Kosmos Institute (Russian Space Research)
ILWS: International Living with a Star (program)
IMAGE: International Monitor for Auroral Geomagnetic Effects
IMAGE: Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration
IMF: Interplanetary Magnetic Field
IMHO: In my humble opinion
IMP: Interplanetary Magnetic Probe
INPE: Instituto de Pesquisas Espaciais (Brazil)
IPS: Interplanetary Scintillations
IPY: International Polar Year
IRI: International Reference Ionosphere
IRIS: Imaging Riometer for Ionospheric Studies
IRM: Ion Release Module (of AMPTE)
IS: Incoherent Scatter
ISAS: Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (Japan)
ISEE: International Sun-Earth Explorer
ISTP: International Solar Terrestrial Physics Programme
ITM: Ionosphere Thermosphere and Mesosphere
JAG: Joint Association of Geophysics
JATP: Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics
JGR: Journal of Geophysical Research
JGR: Journal of Geomagnetism and Geoelectricity
JIM: Jovian Ionospheric Model
KCL: Kings College, London
KHI: Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability
Kp: (Planetary magnetic activity index)
L: McIlwain's geomagnetic coordinate
LANL: Los Alamos National Laboratory
LASCO: Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (on SOHO)
LENA: Low Energy Neutral Atom (IMAGE)
LEO: Low Earth Orbit
LEP: Lightning-induced Electron Precipitation
LEPA: Low Energy Plasma Analyzer
LF: Low Frequency
LIE: Lightning-induced ionisation enhancement
LLBL: Low latitude boundary layer
LT: Local Time
LWPC: Long Wave Propagation Capability
LWS: Living with a Star
MACCS: Magnetometer Array for Cusp and Cleft Studies
MAGIC: Magnetometer Array on the Greenland Ice Cap
MAGPIES: MAGnetospheric Plasma Imaging Explorer Satellites
MALT: Mesosphere And Lower Thermosphere
MC: Magnetic Cloud
MF: Medium Frequency
MHD: Magneto-hydrodynamics
MIAOW: Mirrow and Slow Mode Waves
MICS: Magnetosphere Ionosphere Coupling Satellite
MIDAS: Multi-Instrument Data Analysis System
MIST: Magnetosphere Ionosphere and Solar Terrestrial (community in the UK)
MLAT: Magnetic Latitude
MLT: Magnetic Local Time
MPI: Max Planck Institute
MR: Magnetospherically Reflected
MSIS: Mass-Spectrometer-Incoherent-Scatter (neutral atmosphere model)
MSSL: Mullard Space Science Laboratory
NARMAX: Nonlinear AutoRegressive moving average model with eXogenous Inputs
NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NCAR: National Centre for Atmospheric Research
NENL: Near Earth Neutral Line
NERC: Natural Environment Research Council
NIPR: National Institute for Polar Research (Japan)
NLC: Noctilucent Cloud
NOAA: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
NRC: National Research Council (USA)
NRF: Non-Radial Flow
NSF: National Science Foundation (USA)
NSSDC: National Space Science Data Centre (USA)
OCB: Open-Closed fieldline Boundary
OPP: Office of Polar Programs (USA)
OST: Office of Science and Technology
PACE: Polar Anglo-American Conjugate Experiment
Pc: Pulsation continuous
PC: Polar Cap (magnetic activity index)
PCA: Polar Cap Absorption
PCB: Polar Cap Boundary
PDF: Probability Distribution (or Density) Function
PEACE: Plasma Electron And Current Experiment (Cluster)
Pi: Pulsation irregular
PI: Principal Investigator
PIF: Pulsed Ionospheric Flow
PLHR: Power Line Harmonic Radiation
PMAF: Polward-moving auroral form
PMSE: Polar Mesospheric Summer Echo
PPARC: Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
PSBL: Plasma Sheet Boundary Layer
PSD: Power Spectral Density
PSMOS: Planetary Scale Mesopause Observing System
PSS: Planetary and Space Science
PUS: Public Understanding of Science
PWI: Plasma Wave Instrument
QBO: Quasi Biennial Oscillation
QDC: Quiet Day Curve
QJRAS: Quarterly Journal of the RAS
QP: Quasi-Periodic
RAL: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
RAPID: Research into Adaptive Particle Imaging Detectors (Cluster)
RAS: Royal Astronomical Society
RF: Radio Frequency
RFI: Radio Frequency Interference
RFI: Resonant Flux Instability
RMS: Root mean square
RS: Royal Society
RWD: Regular World Day
S/C: SpaceCraft
SABRE: Swedish and British Radar Experiment
SAGA: South Atlantic Geomagnetic Anomaly
SAMNET: Sub-Auroral Magnetometer Network
SAMPEX: Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer
SAPS: Sub-Auroral Polarization Stream
SAR: Subauroral Red
SAR: Synthetic Aperture Radar
SCAR: Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
SCE: Substorm Chorus Event
SCOSTEP: Scientific Committee on Solar Terrestrial Physics
SEEP: Stimulated Emission of Energetic Particles (satellite)
SEL: Space Environment Laboratory (USA)
SEP: Solar Energetic Particles
SESAME: Satellite Experiments Simultaneous with Antarctic Measurements
SGO: Sodankyla Geophysical Observatory
SHARE: Southern Hemisphere Auroral Radar Experiment
SID: Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance
SLAMS: Short large-amplitude waves
SNR: Signal to Noise Ratio
SOC: Self-Organised Criticality
SOHO: Solar Heliospheric Observatory
SPEAR: Space plasma exploration by active radar
SSC: Sudden Storm Commencement
SSC: Satellite Situation Centre
STAFF: Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Field Fluctuation (Cluster)
STARE: Scandinavian Twin Aurora Radar Experiment
STEP: Solar Terrestrial Energy Programme
STEREO: Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory
STP: Solar-Terrestrial Physics
SuperDARN: Super Dual Auroral Radar Network
SUPIM: Sheffield University Plasmasphere-Ionosphere (model)
SXT: Soft X-ray Telescope
TBD: To be decided
TCR: Travelling Compression Region
TCV: Travelling Convection Vortex
TEC: Total Electron Content
TID: Travelling Ionospheric Disturbance
TIMAS: Toroidal Imaging Mass-Angle Spectrograph
TIMED: Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics
TIROS: Television InfraRed Observation Satellite
TLA: Three letter acronym
TOI: Tongue of Ionisation
TRACE: Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (satellite)
TSS: Tethered Satellite System
UARS: Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite
UCL: University College, London
UCLA: University of California, Los Angeles
UHF: Ultra High Frequency
UKEUG: UK EISCAT Users' Group
UKS: UK Satellite (of AMPTE)
UKSP: UK Solar Physics (community)
ULF: Ultra Low Frequency
UMLT: Upper Mesosphere Lower Thermosphere
UNIS: University Courses in Svalbard (Longyearbyen, Norway)
URSI: Union of Radio Science International
UT: Universal Time
UTC: Universal Time, Coordinated (nearly the same as UT)
UV: UltraViolet
UVI: Ultraviolet Imager
UWA: University of Wales, Aberystwyth
VELOX: VLF/ELF Logger Experiment
VERSIM: VLF/ELF Remote Sensing of the Ionosphere & Magnetosphere
VHF: Very High Frequency
VLF: Very Low Frequency
VO: Virtual Observatory
VSPO: Virtual Space Plasma Observatory
WCS: World class science
WDC: World Data Centre
WEC: Wave Experiment Consortium (Cluster)
WEP: Wave-induced Electron Precipitation
WFT: Windowed Fourier Transform
WHISPER: Waves of High frequency and Sounder for Probing of Electron density by Relaxation (Cluster)
WOT: Waste of time
WPI: Wave - Particle Interaction
WRT: With respect to
WWW: World Wide Web
WYSYWYG: What you see is what you get
YDAC: Yohkoh Data Archive Centre