Expert Exchange: Collaboration between the Ichnology, Sedimentology, and Substrate Group (University of Buenos Aires) and the Astrobiological and Geomicrobiological Lab (University of Bologna)

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week).

Diana Elizabeth Fernandez of the Departamento de Ciencias Geologicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) – IDEAN (CONICET-UBA Institute) in Argentia visited Barbara Cavalazzi of the strobiological and Geomicrobiological Lab at the University of Bologna from 01-09 April 2024.

The primary objective was to establish collaborative efforts between the Ichnology, Sedimentology, and Substrate Group at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and the Astrobiological and Geomicrobiological team at the University of Bologna. The focus of this collaboration is the study of Microbially-Induced Sedimentary Structures (MISS) in Lower Cretaceous marginal-marine units from Patagonia, Argentina. These structures, which result from microbial activities, serve as valuable indirect evidence of microbial life throughout various geological time intervals. The collaboration aims to utilise Raman spectroscopy for a comprehensive characterisation of MISS samples,
providing crucial information relevant to geobiological sciences and astrobiological significance, particularly regarding the potential detection of biosignatures. With this in mind, Dr. Diana Elizabeth Fernández (UBA), an expert in marine and marginal marine trace fossils, collaborated with Dr. Barbara Cavalazzi, an expert astrobiologist, at the Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali-BiGeA, University of Bologna.

During the visit, discussions centered on the availability and utilisation of samples, opportunities for co-advising students from both institutions, fieldwork options in Argentina, and potential further project applications. Preliminary assessments of sample analyses were conducted, utilising the WITec Alpha 300 Raman microscope under the guidance of expert astrobiologist Dr. Barbara Cavalazzi, for the detection and identification of organic molecules and minerals. Employing Raman spectroscopy will lead to an in-depth characterisation of these MISS and their associated biosignatures.

Additionally, Dr. Fernández delivered a seminar to students at the University of Bologna on the topic of Principles of Animal-Substrate Interactions.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Transnational Access Training.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.

Expert Exchange: Mapping of chloride deposits on Icaria Planum on Mars, and its possible correlation with Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week).

Nicole Jimeno Ruiz of Universidad Mayor de San Andres, La Paz, Bolivia visited Angelo Pio Rossi at Constructor University, Bremen, Germany from 03-09 May 2024.

1st day: Bibliography recompilation

On the first day, we proceeded to create the schedule and define the study area. The first task was the compilation of bibliographic information about chloride deposits near craters on Mars. At the same time, studies of chloride salts in the Salar de Uyuni. The second task was to define the study area on Mars; the study in Icaria Planum was determined.

The third task was to find hypothetical correlations between the Salar de Uyuni and Icaria Planum, with a focus on the formation of the deposits in the areas and the type of salt.

2nd day: Data use

For the second day, I started with the download of spectral (CRISM), optical (HiRISE, CTX), DEM (Mola), and thermal (Themis) images of Icaria Planum and its surroundings. Prof. Rossi and his PhD candidate Javier Suarez explained to me the theory about the types of images used in Planetary Sciences, their characteristics, and how I can download them for free.

3rd day: ISIS

On the third day, I learned the use of ISIS for planetary image processing and its importance in correction and projection. For this, I used the Python programming language and learned about the types of projection that can be used on Mars depending on the required use (polar or equirectangular).

4th day: Qgis

For the fourth day, after having the images projected and corrected, I started the processing in Qgis, this tool helped me to understand and try to imagine the possible geoforms and dynamic processes that at some point happened on Mars. In Qgis, I made a Slope and Hillshade map and did the reprojection of the HiRISE images because there was an error and they were wrongly projected.

5th day: Mapping

On the last day, I dedicated myself to recognizing the spectral signatures of my images and comparing them with the existing signatures of certain saline components and important minerals. This task was a bit complicated because my signatures did not resemble any of the ones I had as a reference, so I had to look for more information online. In the end, I was able to understand how they should relate and that sometimes they differ a lot due to mineralogical composition. At the same time, I made a reconnaissance of some geoforms and delimitation of craters in my study area.

The project will be further developed, in the next days I will continue with the mapping from Bolivia and its possible correlation with the Uyuni Salt Flat and I will make the summary for the presentation at an international congress (EPSC 2024) in collaboration with PhD candidate Javier Suarez.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Early Career, Training

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Expert Exchange: Training on Laser Fluorination Oxygen Isotope Analysis

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week).

Hwayoung Kim of the Korea Polar Research Institute visited Ian Franchi at the Open University, UK, from 13-21 January 2024.

The three oxygen isotopes (¹⁶O, ¹⁷O, ¹⁸O) in rocks, minerals and meteorites can provide crucial
information about their origin and secondary processes that result from isotopic exchange.

As a lab technician of a laser fluorination oxygen isotope laboratory at the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI), I have been conducting oxygen isotope analyses of meteorites for past three years. During this period, I have encountered challenges such as limitations in analytical precision, difficulties in analysing water-rich samples, and a lack of theoretical background. The laser fluorination oxygen isotope laboratory at The Open University directed by Dr Ian Franchi is a laboratory with extensive experience in analysing various samples and achieving high-precision measurements with over 30 years of stable operation.

The purpose of this visit is to gather a better knowledge about the laser fluorination oxygen isotope
measurement techniques, to learn more about mass spectrometer laboratory maintenance, and to
analyse in-house obsidian standard materials for an inter-laboratory comparison. Through this visit, I
aimed to exchange improvements in each other’s analysis procedures, with the expectation that this
collaboration would enhance the stability and data precision of our analysis lines.

During the 5 days, the programme was as follows:

• Day 1: Dr. Ian Franchi provided detailed explanation about their fluorination line components, laser fluorination process, oxygen purification process, analytical techniques for water-rich meteorite samples and analytical strategy for eliminating isobaric interferences using Variable Temperature Control (VTC) molecular sieve.
• Day 2: Due to a sudden problem in the mass spectrometer ion source, we had to replace ion source filament. I was able to learn how to maintain and manage a mass spectrometer without the assistance of an engineer, along with the key points necessary for its operation.
• Day 3: With Mr. James Malley we conducted optimisation processes of the mass spectrometer after replacement of ion source filament. Observing this process, I learned procedures to ensure the stability of the equipment and maintain optimal data quality. And Dr. Richard Greenwood kindly shared their safe handling procedures of BrF₅ , which is a highly toxic substance to humans.
• Day 4: We analysed an obsidian standard material using two different analytical processes: one
• following standard procedure and the other utilizing a VTC molecular sieve to minimize the presence of NF₃⁺ ions, which can significantly interfere with the analysis of ¹⁷O.
• Day 5: We had detailed and thorough discussions about data processing, methods to enhance data precision, sample-specific approaches for improved precision, analytical challenges, and strategies to overcome them.

From the visit, I was able to gain valuable information and insights that can help upgrade our laboratory line and improve data quality. Also, I found several important processes that were missing in our laboratory procedures to maintain a low blank level in the line. The followings are summary of what I have learned from this visit and I will implement in our analysis line and procedures:

• Additional purification of BrF₅ before introducing it to the reaction chamber that can lower blank level and improve analytical precision.
• Modifications to the design of the reaction chamber and sample holder to prevent the samples from popping out from the hole while lasering.
• Installation of an ultra-high vacuum gauge to monitor blank level down to 10 -6 Torr
• Introduction of a method to monitor NF₂⁺ that can help evaluating the extent of NF + interference with ¹⁷O.
• Attachment of a molecular sieve with fine-tuned temperature adjustments to separate NF + interference during ¹⁷O measurement.
• Reducing the amount of BrF₅ in the tube attached to the line for safety reasons These will be gradually applied to our laboratory equipment and procedure. During that process, we plan to stay in regular contact to exchange necessary information and updates on the progress.

I would like to say that this visit was highly successful. I had an excellent experience that help overcoming challenging issues in the laser fluorination oxygen isotopic measurements and expanding my perspective on high-precision analyses and laboratory safety. And I consider the newly formed collaborative relationship between KOPRI and The Open University to be significant and will probably provide important advances in the study of oxygen isotopes in meteorites. I’m grateful to Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme and The Open University for making this visit possible.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Transnational Access Training.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.

Expert Exchange: Training on metagenomic analysis to study the potential role of microbes in the precipitation of carbonates associated with Andean stromatolites

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week).

Estela Mlewski of the IMBIV-CONICET-UNC in Argentia visited Karen Olsson-Francis at the Open University, UK, from 25 November – 06 December 2023.

The purpose of expert exchange was to analyse the microbial diversity and microbial communities function of unexplored microbialites and lithifying microbial mats from a Mars analogs lake in the Puna Plateau (Catamarca, Argentina). Also, to explore and assess the metabolism involved in the calcium carbonate precipitation process (through a metagenomic-focused approach), particularly metabolisms related to photosynthesis, enitrification, ureolysis and the sulfur cycle. This project was done to allow us to characterise and correlate microbial metabolisms with specific mineral precipitation processes, gaining insight into the different taxa potentially involved in carbonate precipitation. During my stay, I took advantage of the low biomass capabilities developed in the Astrobiology OU and the bioinformatic facilities with Prof. Karen Olsson-Francis and her team.

During my first day I received training in Lab induction and risk assessment for molecular, microbiology and the low biomass laboratory. I extracted DNA using manual extraction methods using the low biomass facility. After DNA was measured with excellent values in concentration. Also during my first day I started with my computer-based techniques learning to analyse the diversity of microorganisms from the lithified and non-lithified microbial mats and microbialites from Laguna Negra to attempt to identify and correlate diversity with main metabolisms related to carbonate precipitation. So, on Day One, I received training on introduction to online databases, K base introduction and loading of my data.

The rest of the week I learned on setting the data for trimmomatic and assembly. To use different assemblers such as MEGAHIT and metaSPAdes, and quality. Afterwards, I continued my training on binning and metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs). Later I continued my Bin analysis using dastool and after GTDB and DRAM. Finally I used Kaiju for taxonomy of metagenomic data and RAST and BlastKOALA for automatic annotation. In the middle of my visit I gave a talk in a lab meeting showing our research on microbial and mineral interaction using different techniques as microdissector and confocal microscopy. This talk gave me the opportunity to share my work with other people from the Astrobiology department and new ideas and collaborations arise. Thus, reinforcing the exchange of experience between the astrobiological communities from different continents. In summary, the opportunity of learning how to analyse my data led me to the progression of my new line of research and formation of PhD students in Argentina.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Transnational Access Training.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.

Expert Exchange: GIS-based supporting of lunar south pole landing site selection

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week).

Richard Tomka of the HUN-REN Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences in Hungary visited Sarah Boazman at ESA-ESTEC, Netherlands, from 09-12-19 November 2023.

During my visit at ESTEC, I worked together with Sarah Boazman, a GIS expert supporting the landing site selection of the NASA-ESA CP-22 CLPS lunar mission, planned to be launched in 2026-2027, including the former eight candidate landing regions, and especially the recently identified 4 final locations. I analysed and made an overview of the effect of the surface topography on the local illumination conditions, in order to better understand the temporal changes of illumination conditions for the solar panels of the mission. Data acquisition was required using the Lunar QuickMap TerrainShadows tool, Digital Elevation Model, Solar position to calculate where and when will be the surface covered by shadow. The acquired *.TIF files were used to measure the duration of the illuminated period at the candidate sites.

I wrote ArcGIS specific Python (arcpy) codes and ran them to make videos from the downloaded images and counting the periods, when enough illumination available at the landing sites to provide safe opertation windows to the PROSPECT driller. I received the ArcGIS compatible version of the Paige thermodynamic model at ESTEC to estimate the temperature and ice occurrence below the surface with extract values from raster dataset. The Paige model supports the searching process for potential water ice occurrence that is accessible for the driller. Using high resolution NAC images and Digital Elevation Model georeferenced created in ISIS and AMS Stereo Pipeline to make hazard survey of the surface (to detect boulders, craters etc.) that makes the landing dangerous. At ESTEC I also got a short introduction course into the ISIS environment, which shows me how can I produce such datasets. I attended a data science workshop where the advantages of Jupyter Lab were explained. For me as an end-user of planetary datasets this system provides an easier way to use ISIS and AMS Stereo Pipeline, supported by several technical tasks that require moderate knowledge in UNIX-based systems and package installation. The results supported the upgrade of an earlier manuscript, and I’m also compiling a new manuscript currently.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Training, Early Career Support.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.

Expert Exchange: Assessing the History of Magmatic Emissions from the Neo-Tethyan Magmas and their Contribution to Early Cenozoic Climate Changes

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week).

Léa Ostorero of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DISAT) University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy, visited Pierre Bouilhol Université de Lorraine, Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques (CRPG / CNRS) in France from 09-20 October and 2024 November 2023.

Motivations of the Visit

Magmatic melts and volatiles trapped in crystals as melt inclusions can record the storage conditions of the magmas and the pre-eruptive volatile contents. Based on the petrological records of volatiles within magmatic samples from Ladakh (India) and Iran, we aimed to retrieve their pre-eruptive CO₂ budget as a first step to reconstructing the time history of CO₂ emissions from the Neo-Tethyan margin and possible effects on the Early Cenozoic climate. Indeed, a climate warming and then cooling trend occurred during the Early Cenozoic and can be correlated with changes in the Neo-Tethyan magmatic activity.

With this visit, we analysed the CO₂ content in the melt inclusions of pyroxenes, feldspars and quartz from andesites and rhyolites from the study areas, with Secondary Ions Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), available at CRPG in Nancy (France). SIMS is an extremely versatile tool for analysis of glassy melt inclusions (Walter and Amelung, 2006; Esposito, 2021; Rose-Koga et al., 2021). Obtaining different pre-eruptive CO₂ budgets depending on the ages of the samples could help us unravel the relationships between plate tectonics, magmatism and climate.

Scientific outputs of the visit

SIMS uses a focused beam of primary ions to sputter secondary ions from the surface of a material. These ions are then accelerated and analysed by a mass spectrometer. SIMS is particularly useful in determining volatile element abundances (including C, O, H, for example) (Kent, 2008; Cannatelli et al., 2016) and provides sub-per mil precision analysis and a high resolution (Rose-Koga et al., 2021).

The visit was divided in two parts because when I first came to Nancy in October 2023, my SIMS session was cancelled due to a technical problem with the machine (the ion beam was not stable). I have been nevertheless able to prepare the samples on Indium mounts instead of resin mounts. Indium is a malleable metal, and allows positioning several crystals without the need to prepare a resin. Resin mounts are problematic, as they degas in vacuum, thus polluting the baseline signal. Indium mounts provides a better background for our purpose (Volatile analyses). I was able to come back in November 2023 to carry out SIMS analyses during one week.

The host group has a unique experience in carrying state of the art SIMS analyses, especially for volatiles, I thus benefited from their expertise. With the hosting researcher, I shared petrological observations on some thin sections I prepared and we had the opportunity to discuss the petrography of our samples.

The Expert Exchange thus allowed me to use SIMS facilities at CRPG in Nancy and acquire the first results of my postdoc. I also acquired new skills on how to prepare the samples, select standards before SIMS analyses, measure volatile data (e.g. CO₂, H₂O, F, Cl and S) in melt inclusions and process the volatile data after analyses. Overall, it allowed me to learn the inside-outs of SIMS analyses.

I also had the opportunity to give a seminar to the host group on my PhD and the first results of my postdoc, which was on “Crystals records: from magma dynamics before eruptions to climactic impacts”. This seminar allowed me to discuss the implications of the volatile analyses carried out at CRPG for my postdoc and find the best analytical conditions suitable for our samples during the SIMS session. It may also lead to future collaboration with other scientists from CRPG and other SIMS sessions in the future.

The measurements obtained during the visit will be processed and other data will be added to the SIMS analyses, to characterise volatile emissions from the magmas. SIMS analyses will allow us to quantify the role of CO₂ outgassing from the Neo-Tethyan magmatic arc in affecting Early Cenozoic climate. Unravelling the relationships between geodynamics and climate will help us framing current human-induced climate changes into the context of the natural climate variability, thereby improving our understanding of the functioning of the Earth System. This work is expected to result in at least one scientific publication in peer-reviewed journals.

References

• Cannatelli C, Doherty AL, Esposito R, et al (2016) Understanding a volcano through a droplet: A melt inclusion approach. J Geochemical Explor 171:4–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2015.10.003
• Esposito R (2021) Chapter 7: A protocol and review methods to select, analyze and interpret melt inclusions to determine pre-eruptive volatile contents of magmas. In: Fluid and Melt Inclusions: Applications to Geologic Processes. MAC, pp 1–32 Kent AJR (2008) Melt Inclusions in Basaltic and Related Volcanic Rocks. Rev Mineral Geochemistry 69:273–331. https://doi.org/10.2138/rmg.2008.69.8
• Rose-Koga EF, Bouvier A-S, Gaetani GA, et al (2021) Silicate melt inclusions in the new millennium: A review of recommended practices for preparation, analysis, and data presentation. Chem Geol 570:120145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2021.120145 Walter TR, Amelung F (2006) Volcano-earthquake interaction at Mauna Loa volcano, Hawaii. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 111:n/a-n/a. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JB003861

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Training, Early Career Support.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.

Expert Exchange: ISSI-BJ and APSCO-led Space Science School – Geological Mapping of a region within the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin with Chang’E data

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week).

Aurélie Van den Neucker (DLR Berlin-Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt), Germany, visited the ISSI-BJ Space Science School at the Geo-informa4cs and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), in Si Racha, Chon Buri Province, Thailand from 17-24 October 2023.

The purpose of my expert exchange call to participate to the ISSI-BJ Space Science School, was to gain more knowledge and training in lunar sciences, connect with international researchers and enable possible collaborations between Asian countries and Europe within the lunar scientific community. The gained knowledge will help me for my future career in lunar and planetary sciences as I will continue to work with lunar samples and remote sensing data for my PhD project at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Berlin.

The joint space science school is organized between the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) and the International Space Science Institute in Beijing (ISSI-BJ) with as goal to share knowledge between the researchers. The focus of this year’s school was the Moon, which aligned with the renewed interest within the scientific community to explore this celestial body for the upcoming Chang’E, Artemis and other lunar missions.

The workshop was held at the Geo-informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), in Si Racha, Chon Buri Province, Thailand from October 17 – 24, 2023. The programme started with two days of classes held by invited researchers and professors from different universities and research facilities from China. These professors are experts in the lunar science field, and their lectures covered a wide range of topics; From lunar surface analysis with remote sensing data to computer modelling of the lunar crust. After each talk there was enough time to ask ques4ons, which allowed the exchange of ideas between speakers and participants. The speakers were also open for discussion during the coffee, lunch breaks or after working hours.

For the following days, participants were subdivided in groups with as common goal to analyse the evolution and geological events of an area of the Moon. The project outline I completed during the school was to map a region within the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin on the far side of the Moon, by using Chang’E remote sensing data. This work was made in collabora4on with Yizen Ma, Fanglu Luo and our project supervisor Le Wang of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan).

We used the open-source geographical information system QGIS 3.28 LTR and its different plugins (Mappy, OpenCraterTool and qProf) to import and process the remote sensing data to generate atvthe end of the workshop a geomorphological map of the designated lunar region. For the analysis, we imported a 500 mpp Digital Elevation Model (DEM) derived from the Chang’E 1 mission data, a 120 mpp Digital Orthophoto Map (DOM) derived from the Chang’E 1 mission data, and a 100 mpp Global mosaic derived from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) wide angle camera (WAC).

These layers allowed a beder understanding of the research area to delimit the region in different geological units. After generating the final map, it was possible to define the formation chronology and relative dates from one unit to the other, respec4vely to the different laws of stratigraphy. The absolute age of the units could also be determined, using the craterstat2 tool. The final generated map can be seen in Fig.1. This mapping project helped us comprehend the geological seeng of our research area, which is of significant importance to understand the formation geology of the SPA.

The workshop concluded with an end ceremony, where all the different working groups would sit together and share the work they have been doing over the past week. Questions were asked at the end of each section, which provided interesting discussions and excellent feedback.

I can conclude that the school was an amazing way to collaborate with this community of researchers. This workshop provided me a beder understanding of the SPA basin region on the far side of the Moon and how to use the Chinese Chang’E data. After the school, the different working groups will still work together to combine our research in a final report to be published in the TAIKONG ISSI-BJ magazine for public outreach.

These types of initiatives will hopefully remain, as sharing knowledge in these types of settings is in my opinion very important to reinforce the collaborations between Europe and Asia. I would like to thank the organisers Maurizio Falanga, Mohammad Seyedabadi Ebrahimi, Lijuan En, Francesca Garfagnoli and lecturers Min Ding, Jun Huang, Yang Liu, Long Xiao, Zhiyong Xiao, Yi Xu, Qingyun Deng, Le Wang, as well as all other participants for making this lunar workshop successful. A special thank you to Europlanet Expert Exchange and ISSI-BJ for this opportunity and I am looking forward to sharing our work in further details in the near future.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Training, Early Career Support.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.

Expert Exchange: Training on remote sensing techniques for the study of planetary science, La Paz, Bolivia

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week).

Javier Eduardo Suarez Valencia of Constructor University, Germany, visited Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in La Paz, Bolivia, from 21 July 21 to 4 August 2023.

The main objective of activity was to train the scientific community of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, the biggest university of Bolivia, on remote sensing techniques to study planetary surfaces. This was the first activity of its kind done in Bolivia, an under-represented country in the field of space sciences, but one with great potential.

We received a positive response from the different sectors of the academic community, a total of twenty-eight people applied for the training, of which twenty-two were selected due to space limitations. Of the total attendees, five were personnel of the Planetario Max Schreier, six were professionals, and eleven were undergraduate students from different universities. The participants came from diverse areas, mainly geology, physics, chemistry and astronomy, whit some participants from agronomical sciences. Since most of the attendees were young professionals and students, we can consider as a success the main objective of the Planetario Max Schreier, to attract the new generation of Bolivian scientist to space sciences, the host institution is interested in continuing research in the area, as well as supporting the students that want to continue a professional path in this direction.

The activity was madein a workshop-like style, where the participants actively worked in the understanding, processing, and interpretation of planetary data. This methodology was optimal since the bottleneck of planetary sciences training is usually not related with data acquisition or availability, but more with the techniques and computational power to develop it. During the activity, the participants learnt about the basic notions of planetary geology, space missions, data download and management, and cartography. Furthermore, thanks to the five days of the course, the participants had enough time to apply modern techniques with real data on the Moon and Mars. The work made followed the same steps that a professional planetary geologist would do, culminating with the creation of a geomorphological map of a region on the Moon or Mars, analysed from scratch.

Overall, the activity was a great introduction for those interested in the subject and would ease the path for anyone that wants to continue in the field. This was also a great opportunity to test two tools developed at Constructor University, and one developed at the University of Padova under the scope of the Europlanet GMAP initiative.

• The first one is a docker tool for processing planetary data, which is a robust, easy-to-install package that comprises all the necessary software to work with planetary information. This proved to be useful, as the students were able to follow the workflow in their own laptops without worrying about OS differences and complex installation processes.
• The second one is the Jupyterhub GMAP platform, a web service that serves a similar objective as the docker tool, but without any installation and that needs only a stable internet connection. This tool is still under development, so this was a good test to measure its limitations and margins of improvement.

Lastly, we used the Mappy tool, a QGIS plugin developed in the University of Padova. This mapping-assisting tool have been tested several times, so this was an opportunity to spread its use among Bolivian scientists. Furthermore, we applied all the mapping guidelines and workflows developed by GMAP during the last years, again spreading its use to a larger user base.

Lastly, this was a great scenario to engage the Bolivian scientific community in Europlanet activities, the participants and the host institution were not aware of the multiple opportunities that Europlanet has. They were particularly interested in the mobility and training programs supported by the institution. To continue their involvement with Europlanet, they were all invited to upcoming Europlanet activities, such as the 1st Europlanet Latin American Planetary Science Workshop, to be held at the end of October in Buenos Aires, and the Winter School 2024, which will be fully virtual and open to everyone. We consider the exchange as a success, and we expect the Planetario Max Schreier and the Bolivian community to remain in contact with the Europlanet RI.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Training, Early Career Support.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.

Expert Exchange: Visit to the Finnish Meteorological Institute

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week).

Gabor Facsko of HUN-REN Wigner, Hungary, visited Ilja Honkonen of FMI and Esa Kallio of Aalto University, Finland from 5-11 February 2023.

From the Wigner Research Centre for Physics, three researchers visited the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) in Helsinki, Finland. Two junior researchers, Ms. Nikolett BIRO and Mr. Gergely KOBAN; furthermore I travelled there. The visit of Mr. KOBAN was also covered by the Europlanet Expert Exchange (EEE) Programme. All of us are working on the feasibility study of an active protection system against solar storms (or coronal mass ejections, CME). I use the Grand Unified Magnetosphere–Ionosphere Coupling Simulation (GUMICS-4) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation code to determine a baseline for known, simulated, observed and studied solar storms.

I launched two CME event simulations using GUMICS-4 and determined the boundary of the open-close field lines (oc) on both magnetic poles. The area surrounded by the oc boundary follows well the solar wind pressure. We would like to calculate the geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) at some locations from GUMICS-4 simulations too. The main purpose of the visit was to understand the calculations and get the code from Dr. Ilja HONKONEN and Dr. Ari VILJANEN. The savings of the GUMICS-4 must be modified a bit for the feasibility study. Our second purpose was to discuss this issue with Dr. HONKONEN. I also wanted to introduce my younger colleagues to as many Finnish researchers as possible. Hence, I also scheduled a visit at Prof. Esa KALLIO in the Aalto University in Espoo. I am sure that we would have used our time in Helsinki efficiently.

Unfortunately, I got a bowel infection that lasted almost three weeks in February 2023. Hence, I had
to cancel my flights and hotel reservations. Therefore, my young colleagues visited the FMI and Aalto University without me. Mr. KOBAN has already submitted his post-visit report to the EEE Programme. In the FMI, my former colleagues showed great hospitality. We got the GIC calculating codes, the PhD students had the opportunity to do some networking. Therefore, we reached the original objectives of the visit. Finally, I visited the FMI from 22-27 May 2023. Ilja, Ari and I still had to discuss something but in the meantime, the Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF) showed some interest to build its space weather forecast capability. This task is provided by the FMI in Finland, therefore I could have spent my time effectively there.

The COVID-19 changed the work schedule of the FMI. Nowadays, most researchers work remotely in the home office most of the time. The scientists go to their offices only once or twice per week. On Monday everybody participates in the group meeting. In the sunshine, we had an outdoor walking group meeting. Dr. Tiera LAITINEN introduced me to the younger member of the group. I talked about my research interests and stated the purpose of my visit. I also greeted the group because of their hospitality and care for my PhD students during their visit in February. Later Dr. LAITINEN gave mea long and detailed introduction to the space weather forecast system of the FMI. We focused on the PECASUS for ICAO system because of the HDF interests. Finland has just joined NATO and Dr. LAITINEN got an appointment to the MilSWx (the space weather) NATO panel. He also suggested that military forecasters participate in the Space Weather Introductory Course held at the Solar- Terrestrial Centre of Excellence in Brussels. However, he also told me that NATO had its course. Tiera also suggested joining the International Space Environment Service (ISES) if we will start a space weather prediction centre. Only the Operating Space Weather Institute could be a member of ISES.

Dr. VILJANEN is interested in the Hungarian GIC research. He gave me hints for collaboration with Austrian GIC experts. However, he now analyses strong solar storm scenarios. He talked about his research and we analyzed together some events. He took my attention for the “National risk assessment 2023, 14 February 2023” for Finland. In that document, the Carrington-size solar storm event will be mentioned. I am going to prepare such a document for Hungary too.

On Wednesday I visited Prof. Esa KALLIO at the Aalto University. I acknowledged his hospitality in February. I was going to apply for the interdisciplinary scientist position in the Comet Interceptor Mission of the ESA. I would have proposed the study of the cometary bow shock and transient events.

I asked him to do hybrid simulations if I got the position. I had to realize that he has neither time nor manpower for such research. However, he is ready to host a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow. I suggested accepting the application of Ms. BIRO and Mr. KOBAN. Now, we are working on the details of the application. It is not easy because the candidates must apply for the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Doctoral Networks.

On Thursday I gave a seminar titled “Conjugated observations of interplanetary shocks” from the results of my MSc student Mr. Munkhjargal LKHAGVADORJ. He got many useful comments just before he submitted his MSc thesis. Thursday afternoon I talked to Dr. Kirsti KAURISTIE. She is the Chief Science Officer of the PECASUS for the ICAO Consortium. Dr. KAURISTIE gave me much useful advice for developing military space weather capabilities. She suggested contacting the authority that provides high-accuracy positions in Hungary. She suggested installing independent scintillation receivers in Hungary for the HDF. She also suggested starting Sun radio burst observations because the burst often occurs on the frequencies of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). She took my attention for the eCallisto collaboration (https://www.e-callisto.org/). She suggested installing independent ionosondes for military purposes and determining the maximum useable frequency. She also suggested calculating a local K-index using the measurements of the Tihany Geophysical Observatory located in Tihany, Hungary (http://91.226.79.148/).

The knowledge transfer was bidirectional. Some Hungarian researchers developed an accurate method for flare forecast from the position and size of the solar spots. I provided access to their paper to Drs. LAITINEN and HONKONEN. Dr. KAURISTIE showed some interest in the Zero Magnetic Field Laboratory built in Fertoboz, Hungary (http://zbl.ggki.hu/). In the Nurmijarvi Geophysical Observatory, there was a similar instrument however it was sold to Millog Ltd.

I also talked to Dr. VILJANEN about the Space Weather monitoring system in Hungary developed by the Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science (EPSS), Sopron, Hungary. In that database, the GIC data measured in the EPSS will be available soon.

Most of the original objectives of my visit were fulfilled in February without me. However, I also had fruitful discussions with the scientists of the FMI on the same and other topics during my visit to Helsinki.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Training, Early Career Support.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.

Expert Exchange: Exoplanets by the Lake II: Geoastronomy

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week).

Nimisha Verma of the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Germany, attended the Exoplanets By the Lake II: Geoastronomy summer school from 21-26 July 2024.

In its wake, the pandemic has dramatically transformed the way that academia conducts its conferences, workshops and summer schools. Exoplanets by the Lake was intended to be a signature summer school series that aims to reinstate an interactive, in-person summer school format among participants that is not easily achievable online. In 2024, its focus was on the application of the geosciences (especially geochemistry) towards understanding exoplanets, which we term “geoastronomy”. Specifically, geoastronomy examines how the secondary atmospheres of small, rocky exoplanets are sourced by outgassing and shaped by complex processes involving their atmospheres, surfaces and interiors. The outcomes of these processes provide geological false positives for biosignature gases. Studying them has long-term implications for next-generation telescopes seeking to characterise habitable exoplanets. 

Emphasis of the summer school was on in-person interaction at an attractive, self-contained venue with at most 20 participants. The number of participants was kept small in order to encourage unrestricted, interactive discussions among exoplanet scientists of all sub-disciplines and seniority.

The event was held for 5.5 days (5 nights). The first 3 weekdays involved pedagogical lectures during the day. The last 2 days featured a mini-conference format, where a small number of invited experts shared their views and interacted with the participants. Participants had the chance to contribute short talks.


Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Early Career, Training

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.

Expert Exchange: Visit to Slovakia, Hungary & Romania

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week).

Marcelo de Cicco of INMETRO/LAORT (Brazil) attended the Europlanet Research Infrastructure Meeting (ERIM) 2023 and visited Dr Tibor Hegedüs of the Baja Observatory of the Szeged University in Hungary, Dr Mirel Birlan of the Astronomical Institute of Romanian Academy in Bucharest and Dr Iharka Csillik of the Romanian Academy of Sciences in Cluj-Napoca, Romania from 19 June – 13 July 2023.

The aim of this expert exchange was to share knowledge and views on the theme Brazilian meteors network EXOSS and deliver lectures on Meteor grazing types and Numerical investigation of an Earth-grazing fireball’s Close approach under the Europlanet Mentorship programme.

I had the opportunity to participate in the ERIM and EPEC Annual Week 2023 event held in Bratislava, Slovakia, June 19-23, where I engaged in fruitful discussions and exchanged experiences with numerous researchers in the planetary and meteor observation fields. As part of my contributions, I prepared a presentation titled “Studying Meteors: The Experience of Studying and Recording Meteors in Brazil,” which was intended for secondary school students. However, due to scheduling constraints imposed by the event organisers, my presentation unfortunately could not be delivered.

After the conclusion of ERIM 2023, I proceeded to Hungary on June 23, where I spent three days in the city of Baja, undertaking a technical visit to explore the projects at the Baja Observatory. Dr. Tibor Hegedüs, director of the Baja Observatory of the Szeged University, extended a gracious invitation and introduced me to the facility’s infrastructure, along with insights into their satellite and NEOs monitoring projects. Moreover, I was deeply engaged with their commitment to protecting the night sky planning.

Subsequently, I journeyed to Bucharest – Romania on June 27, invited by Dr Mirel Birlan the director of the Astronomical Institute of Romanian Academy, who offered me to stay and work there, and ask me to have the presentation at Aira Seminar, titled “A Brief Overview of Earth-grazing Fireballs” to a specialised audience at the observatory, as well for the whole Romanian researchers in astronomy. Besides,I actively volunteered for the “Asteroid Day” event. During my stay in Romania I worked on 3 main topics: coding python and matlab algorithms for a specific project about numerical integration modeling for grazing meteors analyses using a 4th order sympletic integrator with 9 stages SER3BP. At each day of the week, many activities were done in order to fulfill and implement many tasks involving coding, bibliographic revision, discussions and conference attendance.

My mentor, Dr. Iharka Csillik, led me a study reviewing the Matlab code for numerical integration backward and forward using a new approach of the symplectic 4th order integrator with 9 stages SER3BP and a study of integrator Rebound python package and its application to that grazing meteor case, making runs and comparing results with the analog Matlab script, also it was possible to improve the graphs and outputs, comparing them with Rebound and Matlab algorithms. So it was possible to accelerate the integration and get better quality results.

The main goal was to test a sympletic 4th order algorithm based on Neri numerical integration (Neri, 1987) SER3BP supposed to be a fine solution for celestial bodies close encounters. In fact the Neri approach is able o reproduce before /after orbits of the grazing meteor case, taking in account minimum distance between bodies. Those results were compared to that python package Rebound and they both showed good agreement. Also I attended to the 7th International Conference in Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Sciences, Cluj-Napoca, July 10-12, 2023 (ZAC 2023) presenting a lecture: “Numerical investigation of an Earth-grazing Fireball’s close approach”, about meteor study topics, its physical parameters, image processing and video registering instruments, updating Exoss project, and talking about the published paper of De Cicco and Szucs-Csillik in Romanian Astron. J. , Vol. 32, No. 3, p. 175–194, Bucharest, 2022 -”Earth-grazing fireball’s recurrence“ also discussing some preliminary results, that were produced using matlab and python codes, as mentioned above.

A very new topic has been added to my presentation in Cluj-Napoca, related to space debris, featuring a discussion of a concrete case that occurred on June 19th in the southeastern region of Brazil. This addition sparked extensive debate during the lecture, with many questions and inquiries concerning satellite reentry. This trip was a tremendous learning experience, and I am grateful for the invaluable opportunities to interact with esteemed professionals and explore the forefront of astronomical research and observations.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Training, Early Career Support.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.

Expert Exchange: 2nd BIGEA-Raman Spectroscopy Training course

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week).

Frédéric Foucher of CBM, CNRS, Orléans (France), visited the team of Barbara Cavalazzi at the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Università di Bologna (Italy), from 27-31 March 2023.

Raman spectroscopy is a vibrational spectroscopy method used to detect and identify organic molecules and minerals. This versatile method is used in many domains, from biology to Earth science.

The possibility to miniaturise its components now permits to use it also for space exploration. The NASA rover Perseverance, exploring the surface of Mars since February 2021, is equipped with two Raman spectrometers (SuperCam and SHERLOC) and the future ESA ExoMars mission will have on-board the Raman Laser Spectrometer instrument. Raman spectroscopy is a key instrument for astrobiology to study ancient and active traces of life on Earth and to detect putative traces of life on
Mars. Since the last decades, the method has strongly improved with the development of Raman
microscopy imaging. Geological, (astro-)biological and chemical research institutes are now numerous to be equipped with one of these systems.

Recently, the University of Bologna in Italy, acquired a WITec Alpha 300 Raman microscope under the responsibility of Dr Barbara Cavalazzi from the Astrobiologica and Geomicrobiologica Laboratory. This system, freshly installed in the new Raman Laboratory at the Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali-BiGeA, is used to study materials of astrobiological interest as well as for more general geological and biological applications.

Dr Frédéric Foucher from the CNRS, Orléans, France, was one of the first researchers to use a WITec system in Europe. He is in charge of a WITec Alpha 500RA since January 2009. Now recognised as a specialist, he has published several articles and book chapters on this technique during the last decade.

The main objective of this Europlanet Expert Exchange project was thus to give the opportunity for Dr Frédéric Foucher to share his experience on the system and to provide training on theoretical and practical aspects of Raman micro-spectroscopy and imaging for the future users at the University of Bologna. A similar exchange was organised in November 2021 and it was very fruitful.

From March 27 to March 31, the programme was as follows:

• Monday 27: Dr Frédéric Foucher travelled from Orléans to Bologna and visited of the Astrobiologica and Geomicrobiologica team and the Raman Laboratory at the end of the afternoon.
• Tuesday 28: From 9h00 to 12h00, Dr Frédéric Foucher gave a 3h lesson on the theory of Raman spectroscopy and imaging for more than 30 researchers, students and technicians. The afternoon was dedicated to the preparation of the practical training courses.
• Wednesday 29 and Thursday 30: Dr Frédéric Foucher trained the participants to use the system during 3h training courses sessions, from 9h00 to 12h00 and from 14h00 to 17h00. The participants were split in four small groups to permit to all of them to work on the system.
• Friday 31: From 9h00 to 12h00, Dr Frédéric Foucher gave a 3h lesson on data processing. He came back to Orléans in the evening.

Finally, as in 2021, this Europlanet Expert Exchange project was a success. Helped by the active announcement of Dr Barbara Cavalazzi, the training course was full. All the participants found the training course interesting and were very satisfied by the programme. This event was also a good opportunity to reinforced the interactions between the Exobiology group at the CNRS, Orléans and the Astrobiological and Geomicrobiological team at the University of Bologna. This collaboration will continue in the future. In particular, a PhD thesis supervised by Dr Barbara Cavalazzi and Dr Frédéric Foucher is envisioned in the near future.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Training, Early Career Support.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.

Expert Exchange: Visit to the Finnish Meteorological Institute

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week). 

Gergely Kobán of HUN-REN Wigner, Hungary, visited Ilja Honkonen of FMI and Esa Kallio of Aalto University, Finland from 5-11 February 2023.

The main aim of the trip was to learn the calculation of Ground Induced Current (GIC) from the output of the GUMICS simulation code. The code was created and is maintained by the Finnish Meteorological Institution. The GIC calculation is needed for a feasibility study of an active protection system against solar storms on Earth.

Visit at the FMI

The first day, we met with Ilja Honkonen and Ari Viljanen from the FMI, and discussed the steps we needed to take in order to produce valid results for our feasibility study. During the week, we obtained codes that do the necessary coordinate transformations, calculates ground magnetic field, and then finally, the electric field. From this step, the GIC can be calculated for a model electric grid for either a part of the old finnish power grid, or for two nodes in the Austrian grid – using the coefficients determined in previous studies. We also discussed properties of the GUMICS code, and what problems might arise from using it like the feasibility study requires.

Visit at Aalto University

We also visited the Aalto University, where we were hosted by Esa Kallio. He gave a tour of the facility, showing us the machinery and facilities where they design, build and test cubesats, and also gave a presentation about the active research projects that they are involved in. He showed us models of the cubesats, of which the Suomi 100 was especially interesting because of its camera. One very interesting common point was about solar wind propagation. They use a hybrid model to propagate radially outwards from the Sun. Our research group, on the other hand, uses ballistic propagation models and actively researching longitudinal and latitudinal variations in solar wind, as well as pressure correction and other improvements for our model. This presents an opportunity for a possible future collaboration.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Training, Early Career Support.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.

Expert Exchange: Expert Exchange: Developing Synergies Between Exoplanet Research and Solar-System Analyses

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week). 

Óscar Carrión-González of LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, visited Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibersitatea in Bilbao from 18-23 December 2022.

Before the end of this decade, the first direct-imaging observations of exoplanets in reflected starlight will become available with the launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. A number of additional direct-imaging instruments observing in reflected starlight both on the ground and in space will become available in the next decades. This will enable the detection and atmospheric characterisation of a population of planets significantly different from that analysed to date. In particular, this technique will be sensitive to cold and temperate exoplanets with orbital periods similar or longer than that of the Earth. Part of the preparatory work for these missions is to determine the scientific output of direct-imaging measurements in reflected starlight.

The aim of this Expert Exchange visit was to combine the expertise of Óscar Carrión-González on direct-imaging observations of exoplanets with that of the host institution (the Planetary Sciences Group of the University of the Basque Country) on the atmospheric characterisation of Solar System planets. Solar System observations and atmospheric retrievals using Solar System data will be informative for similar analyses focused on cold and temperate exoplanets.

The visit focused on analyses of Neptune’s atmospheric perturbations as an analogue of the variability that might be present in cold exoplanets imaged in reflected starlight.

The host, Santiago Pérez-Hoyos, and the host group have a vast expertise on the use of the NEMESIS radiative-transfer and retrieval code. Óscar received training on how to initialise this code to produce synthetic spectra of the nominal atmosphere of Neptune with the models by Irwin et al. 2022.

During his PhD thesis, Óscar had developed an MCMC retrieval code for future direct-imaging observations of exoplanets in reflected starlight. During the visit, a strategy to couple the NEMESIS code with an MCMC retrieval methodology was discussed. This will benefit from the efficiency of MCMC methods to sample multi-dimensional spaces of parameters and the accuracy of NEMESIS computations for complex light scattering processes which take place in planetary atmospheres.

Óscar also gave a seminar to the host group on the topic of direct-imaging observations of cold and temperate exoplanets in order to explain the fundamentals of the technique, and foster discussion on possible Solar-System synergies.

The work developed during the visit is being continued and is expected to result in a scientific publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Read the full report on the visit.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Training, Early Career Support.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.

Expert Exchange: Training on Theoretical Phase Curve Modelling 

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week). 

Ms. Milagros Colazo of IATE (Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental) in Córdoba, Argentina, visited Dagmara Oszkiewicz of the Institute Astronomical Observatory – Adam Mickiewicz in Poznan, Poland, from 22 October – 08 November 2022.

The aim of the visit was to provide training on theoretical phase curve modelling in support of possible future time applications for the Europlanet Telescope Network.

Characterising phase curves – the variation of the asteroid’s brightness as it moves along its orbit around the Sun – is an important area of asteroid studies. To obtain accurate phase curves, it is necessary to combine data from different epochs/observatories and use complex mathematical models to correct for variations in shape, rotation, and aspect changes.

Milagros has worked with phase curve parameter determination for large catalogues of observations, but has used a simplified approach to find a first estimate of the parameters. The goal of the Expert Exchange was to start a project to derive phase curves of high accuracy for a small number of objects.

In preparation, Milagros studied the theoretical background on light curve inversion, light curve inversion with Bayesian technique and reference phase curves. During her visit, she learned to use software developed by the team in Poznan to derive accurate phase curves by combining data from ground-based observations with European telescopes and the ATLAS database. One day of the visit was dedicated to hands-on practice and testing.

Once Milagros had learned to use the software, calculations were started of the phase curves for 77 asteroids. The first tests were performed on personal computers but, as the calculations for each asteroid took at least 2 days, the group turned to the “Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center”. This was the first time the group had worked with this tool, and so they had to learn quickly how to use it. Calculations on the cluster were started and the first results for asteroid 281 obtained. While the calculations for the following asteroids were submitted, Milagros started writing a paper for publication.

In addition, Milagros gave a talk on her doctoral work at the Institute. The visit was an ideal opportunity to combine Milagros’s knowledge of large database management with the knowledge of theoretical modeling of phase curves provided by the Poznan working group.

The Europlanet Expert Exchange has been an important opportunity to kick-off a collaboration that the participants hope will bear fruit in several papers that will provide important advances in the study of phase curves and the combination of dense and sparse data catalogues.

Read the full report on the visit.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Training, Early Career Support, Widening Participation from Under-Represented States.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.

Expert Exchange: Training on Molecular and Computer-based techniques

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week). 

Ermias Balcha from Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, visited Karen Olsson-Francis and Dr Michael Macey at the Open University, UK, from 18-24 October 2022.

The purpose of expert exchange was for Ermias Balcha to receive training in a combination of molecular and computer-based techniques to catalogue the diversity of microbes in samples collected from hyper-saline environments in the Afar Depression in Ethiopia. Ermias’s studies aim to identify the presence and diversity of novel antimicrobial and their associated production pathways, and potentially identify novel antibiotics within these extreme environments. This is the first time that these microbial communities, which often host unique metabolic adaptations due to their extreme nature, have been characterised in terms of the potential medical applications.

The visit was very successful: the data analysed will contribute to two or three data chapters of Ermias’s PhD thesis, and training has reinforced the exchange of experience between scientific communities in Europe and Africa.

Read the full report.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Early Career Support, Widening Participation.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.

Expert Exchange: Visiting the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and the Esrange Space Center

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week). 

András Illyés of Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Budapest, Hungary, visited Mats Holmström of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Kiruna, Sweden, from 27 June – 1 July 2022.

András is a Mechatronics Engineering student at Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and a Research Assistant at Wigner RCP, working on atmospheric magnetic research and involved in the commissioning of a SERF magnetometer for future experiments.

The objective of the visit was to further expand knowledge on ESA-certified development processes and experiments at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF).

During the Expert Exchange, András visited and gained a better knowledge about the test facilities used at IRF, especially the thermo-vacuum chamber and other mechanical test instruments. He learned more about the IRF’s quality insurance system, their CAD/CAM systems and PCB design softwares and about soldering and its quality assurance in workshop. He also gained a better understanding of the usage of SERF magnetometers.

Read the full report.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Early Career Support, Widening Participation.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.