Venue & Format

The Ice Giant Systems workshop will be consist of four distinct components:

  1. Plenary Presentations: The first two days (January 20th-21st 2020) of the Ice Giant workshop took place at the prestigious London home of the Royal Society, in their Wellcome Trust lecture theatre. Talks will cover Ice Giant System science (origins, interiors, atmospheres, magnetospheres, satellites, rings), the connections to Exoplanetary science and heliophysics, and potential mission concepts and technologies to enable our future robotic explorers. Instructions for reaching the Royal Society are available here. Advance registration is essential and will remain open via this link..

  2. Poster Presentations: A dedicated poster session took place at the Royal Society on Monday January 20th, showcasing the latest research. Further posters were available during the Splinter sessions on Wednesday January 22nd (see below). Abstracts submitted to these sessions are available to plenary speakers for their invited reviews. Poster abstract submissions closed on December 10th.

  3. Splinter Sessions: The third day (January 22nd 2020) of the workshop featured Splinter Sessions hosted at the Learned Institutions of Burlington House (Royal Astronomical Society and Royal Geological Society). Contributed oral presentations covered two broad themes: Ice Giant Planets (Atmospheres, Origins and Interiors) and Ice Giant Systems (Magnetospheres, Auroras, Rings and Satellites). The Royal Society and Burlington House are separated by a 12-minute walk via St. James’s Square Gardens. Splinter session registration closed on December 10th.

  4. Review Papers: Outcomes of plenary sessions, poster sessions, and splinter meetings will be summarised by our invited speakers in a dedicated special issue of the prestigious Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

You can now download the Full Programme (PDF).

Plenary Programme

You can download the Full Programme (PDF). PDF copies of presentations are provided where applicable.

Day One: January 20th 2020:

Session 1 09:00-12:30: Ice Giant Planets

Session 2 13:30-15:00: Ice Giant Magnetospheres

Session 3 15:30-17:00: Agency Perspectives

  • 15:30-16:00 US Perspectives on ice giant missions, Dr Mark Hofstadter, JPL/Caltech, USA
  • 16:00-16:30 ESA perspectives on ice giant missions, Dr. Fabio Favata and Dr. Luigi Colangeli
  • 16:30-17:00 Discussion - individual agencies and mission proposals

Poster Session 17:30-18:30

Early-Career Networking Event 19:00-21:00

On the evening of Monday 20th January, the first floor of the Golden Lion pub is reserved for students and early career researchers attending the Ice Giant Systems 2020 meeting. Come and enjoy a casual drink at this quaint English pub that is only a 5 minute walk from the Royal Society venue where the first day of talks is taking place. Feel free to join any time between 7pm and 9pm, anyone is welcome. Address: Golden Lion, 25 King St, St. James’s, London SW1Y 6QY

Day Two: January 21st 2020:

Session 4 09:00-12:30: Cross-disciplinary perspectives

Session 5 11:00-12:30: Ice Giant Systems

  • 11:00-11:25 The rings and inner satellites of Uranus and Neptune, Dr Mark Showalter, SETI Institute, USA
  • 11:25-11:50 The Uranian satellite system, Dr Elizabeth Turtle, JHU-APL, Maryland, USA
  • 11:50-12:15 Triton and the Kuiper Belt connection, Dr Michele Bannister, Queen’s University Belfast, UK
  • 12:15-12:30 Discussion - Satellite/rings objectives

Session 6 13:30-17:00: Enabling technologies

Day Three: January 22nd 2020:

  • Splinter Sessions - see below.

Splinter Meetings

Two parallel splinter sessions took place between 10:00-17:00 on January 22nd 2020 at Burlington House.

  • Ice Giant Planets - Origins, Interiors, and Atmospheres will take place at the Royal Astronomical Society.
  • Ice Giant Systems - Magnetospheres, Auroras, Satellites and Rings will take place at the Geological Society.
  • Lunch is provided for all speakers at the Geological Society, 12:00-13:00.
  • A small number of poster boards will be available at the Geological Society during lunch, 12:00-13:00.
  • Afternoon tea/coffee is provided in the separate buildings, 14:45-15:15.
  • Arrival is from 09:30, talks start at 10:00.
  • You can now download the Full Programme (PDF).

Ice Giant Planets - Origins, Interiors, and Atmospheres

Talks are 15 minutes unless otherwise stated - plan for 12 minutes with 3 minutes of Q&A and handover. Please bring slides to the Session Chair in advance of your session.

Session 1: Origins and Interiors (10:00-12:00)

Chair: Olivier Mousis

  • 10:00-10:15: Introduction (Chair)
  • 10:15-10:30: Atreya et al. - Science and Measurements Critical to Unravel the Origin and Migration of the Icy Giant Planets
  • 10:30-10:45: Mousis et al. - Key Atmospheric Signatures for Identifying the Source Reservoirs of Volatiles in Uranus and Neptune
  • 10:45-11:00: Mandt et al. - Determining the Origin of the Ice Giants’ Building Blocks Based on Analog Measurements from Comets
  • 11:00-11:15: Millot et al. - Laser-driven shockwave compression to explore new states of matter at planetary interior conditions
  • 11:15-11:30: Reinhardt et al. - Bifurcation in the history of Uranus and Neptune: the role of giant impacts
  • 11:30-11:45: Kegerreis et al. - Knocking Over an Ice Giant: High-Resolution Simulations of Collisions and their Consequences
  • 11:45-12:00: Hill et al. - Double-diffusive convection models of Uranus and Neptune

Lunch & Posters (Geological Society, 12:00-13:00)

Session 2: Atmospheres I (13:00-14:45)

Chair: Ricardo Hueso

  • 13:00-13:15: Guillot et al. - Uranus and Neptune are key to understand planets with hydrogen atmospheres
  • 13:15-13:30: Tortora et al. - Gravity and Atmospheric Science at Ice Giants through Radio Tracking from Earth
  • 13:30-13:45: Cavalié et al. - Ice Giant atmospheric chemistry and dynamics: from tropospheres to ionospheres
  • 13:45-14:00: Teanby et al. - Is Neptune Really an Ice Giant?
  • 14:00-14:15: Moses et al. - Chemical Consequences of a Large Cometary Impact on Neptune
  • 14:15-14:30: Simon et al. - Hubble OPAL Observations of Uranus and Neptune: 2014-2019
  • 14:30-14:45: Sánchez-Lavega et al. - Numerical simulations of Neptune’s Dark Spots

Afternoon Break (14:45-15:15)

Session 3: Atmospheres II (15:15-17:00)

Chair: Amy Simon

  • 15:15-15:30: Irwin et al. - Exploring clouds and composition of Ice Giants in the visible/near-IR.
  • 15:30-15:45: Roman et al. - Mid-IR imaging of Neptune from VLT-VISIR, 2008-2018: stratospheric changes and comparison to Uranus
  • 15:45-16:00: Orton et al. - Mid-Infrared Through Submillimeter Observations of Uranus and Neptune
  • 16:00-16:15: Toledo et al. - Microphysical simulations of methane clouds in the atmosphere of the ice giants
  • 16:15-16:30: Rowe-Gurney et al. - Longitudinal Variations in the Stratosphere of Uranus from the Spitzer Infrared Spectrometer
  • 16:30-16:45: Sinclair et al. - Spatial structure in Neptune’s 7.90-μm stratospheric CH4 emission, as measured by VLT-VISIR
  • 16:45-17:00: Martin-Torres et al. - Non-Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium model for the mid-infrared emissions in the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune

Ice Giant Systems - Magnetospheres, Auroras, Satellites and Rings

Session 1: Ice Giant Magnetospheres (10:00-12:00)

Chair: Chris Arridge

  • 10:00-10:15: Introduction (Chair)
  • 10:15-10:40: Kollmann et al. - Magnetospheric Studies: A requirement for addressing interdisciplinary mysteries in the Ice Giant systems
  • 10:40-11:00: Masters et al. - A More Viscous-Like Solar Wind Interaction With the Ice Giant Planets
  • 11:00-11:20: Griton et al. - Magnetohydrodynamic simulations of a Uranus type rotating magnetosphere at equinox and solstice
  • 11:20-11:40: Cohen et al. - The Ice Giant Radiation Belts
  • 11:40-12:00: Manners et al. - Ultra-Low-Frequency Waves throughout the Solar System: Implications for the Ice Giant

Lunch & Posters (Geological Society, 12:00-13:00)

Session 2: Ice Giant Systems (13:00-14:45)

Chair: Adam Masters

  • 13:00-13:15: Hsu et al. - Composition Mapping the Rings and Moons of Ice Giants
  • 13:15-13:30: Arridge et al. - Detectability of Induction Signatures from Subsurface Oceans at Uranus’ Main Satellites
  • 13:30-13:45: Dunn et al. - Soft X-ray Imaging for the Ice Giants: Satellite Composition and the Global Magnetosphere
  • 14:00-14:15: Kramer et al. - Alternate Radioisotope Heat Sources for Icy Moons Exploration
  • 14:15-14:30: Bertrand et al. - Climate modeling on Triton with a hierarchy of models
  • 14:30-14:45: Smith et al. - Neutral Tori: Potential key insight into Ice Giant Magnetospheres

Afternoon Break (14:45-15:15)

Session 3: Ice Giant Auroras and Plasmas (15:15-17:00)

Chair: Ian Cohen

  • 15:15-15:30: Moore et al. - The “H3+ Problem” at Neptune
  • 15:30-15:45: Melin et al. - Near-infrared observations of Uranus: spatially resolving of the H3+ ionosphere
  • 15:45-16:00: Ebert et al. - Plasma Instruments for Magnetospheric Science at Uranus and Neptune
  • 16:00-16:15: Jones et al. - Plasma Instrumentation for an Ice Giants Mission
  • 16:15-16:30: André et al. - An Energetic Particle Monitor for Ice Giant Atmospheric Probes
  • 16:30-16:45: Sulaiman et al. - The Scientific Potential of a Radio and Plasma Wave Experiment on an Ice Giant Mission
  • 16:45-17:00: Discussion (All)

Ice Giant Posters (Geological Society, Wednesday January 22nd)

  1. Colyer et al. - Semi-grey radiative modelling of giant-planet atmospheres
  2. Brueshaber et al. - Polar Vortex Dynamics on Gas and Ice Giant Planets
  3. d’Ollone et al. - Radiative modelling of the Ice Giant atmospheres – A first step toward Global Circulation Models
  4. Nordheim et al. - Digital elevation modelling of Uranian moons using Voyager 2 images
  5. Atkinson et al. - Measurements of Ice Giant Atmospheric Dynamics and Composition from Radiometric Tracking of an Entry Probe

Posters

Plenary Posters (Royal Society, Monday January 20th 17:00-18:30)

Poster boards are set up in the Dining Room during the final session of Day One. They are 2m high and 1m wide, and we are limited to a maximum of 32 posters.

  1. André et al. - An Energetic Particle Monitor for Ice Giant Atmospheric Probes
  2. Andrews et al. - A radio and plasma wave experiment for the ice giants
  3. Apéstigue et al. - INTA’s Mars miniature sensors: synergies for Ice Giants exploration
  4. Aslam et al. - Net Flux Radiometer for Ice Giant Probes
  5. Atkinson et al. - Possible Payload for Future Ice Giant Entry Probe Missions
  6. Blanc et al. - Science Goals and Mission Objectives for the Future Exploration of Ice Giants Systems: A Horizon 2061 Perspective
  7. Brozović et al. - Know before you go: status of the ephemerides and physical parameters in the Uranus and Neptune systems
  8. Cohen et al. - New Frontiers-class Uranus Orbiter: Exploring the feasibility of achieving multidisciplinary science with a mid-scale mission
  9. Dalba et al. - Adding Context to the Exoplanet Case for In Situ Exploration of the Ice Giants
  10. de Pater et al. - Ice Giant Research at UC Berkeley
  11. DiBraccio et al. - Voyager 2 Constraints on Plasmoid-based Transport at Uranus
  12. Dobinson et al. - Breaking Neptune’s Methane/Haze Degeneracy
  13. Ebert et al. - Plasma Instruments for Magnetospheric Science at Uranus and Neptune
  14. Friedson et al. - Nonradial oscillations of Uranus
  15. Gershman et al. - Alfvénic Mach Number Variations in the Outer Solar System: Implications for Uranus and Neptune
  16. Greathouse et al. - The Alice/UVS Line of Instruments: Uniquely Equipped for Ice Giant System Studies
  17. Hadid et al. - Polarization electrostatic field in the presence of negatively charged grains: implications for dust levitation near Saturn’s F ring
  18. Hedman et al. - Using the rings of Ice Giants to probe their planets’ interiors, magnetospheres and moons.
  19. Izraelevitz et al. - Feasibility of an Ice Giant Deep Probe (1kbar)
  20. Jones et al. - Plasma Instrumentation for an Ice Giants Mission
  21. Lamy et al. - A modern digital High Frequency Receiver to explore the Ice Giants radiosources
  22. Leonard et al. - Tectonic resurfacing on Ariel, a Uranian satellite
  23. Lopes et al. - Cryovolcanism in the Outer Solar System
  24. Morooka et al. - Science opportunities with the Langmuir probe experiment for the Icy Giants
  25. Nixon et al. - The CIRS-Lite Infrared Fourier Transform Spectrometer for missions to the Ice Giants
  26. Nordheim et al. - Cosmic ray ionization of Ice Giant atmospheres
  27. Probst et al. - IPED: Study on the Impact of the Entry Zone on the Trajectory and Design of a Planetary Entry Probe
  28. Sayanagi et al. - SNAP: Small Next-generation Atmospheric Probe
  29. Scheibe et al. - Thermal Evolution of Uranus and Neptune
  30. Soyuer et al. - Constraining the Depth of the Winds in Uranus and Neptune
  31. Tortora et al. - Gravity and Atmospheric Science at Ice Giants through Radio Tracking from Earth
  32. Venkatapathy et al. - Enabling Entry Technologies for Ice Giant Missions

Ice Giant Posters (Geological Society, Wednesday January 22nd)

Poster boards will be set up in the Lower Library at the Geological Society during the Splinter workshop, for viewing during lunch.

  1. Colyer et al. - Semi-grey radiative modelling of giant-planet atmospheres
  2. Brueshaber et al. - Polar Vortex Dynamics on Gas and Ice Giant Planets
  3. Vatant d’Ollone et al. - Radiative modelling of the Ice Giant atmospheres – A first step toward Global Circulation Models
  4. Nordheim et al. - Digital elevation modelling of Uranian moons using Voyager 2 images
  5. Atkinson et al. - Measurements of Ice Giant Atmospheric Dynamics and Composition from Radiometric Tracking of an Entry Probe
  6. Li et al. - Future Exploration of the Radiant Energy Budgets and Internal Heat of Uranus and Neptune
  7. Kegerreis et al. - Knocking Over an Ice Giant: High-Resolution Simulations of Collisions and their Consequences
  8. Blanc et al. - Science Goals and Mission Objectives for the Future Exploration of Ice Giants Systems: A Horizon 2061 Perspective
  9. Izraelevitz et al. - Feasibility of an Ice Giant Deep Probe (1kbar)
  10. Probst et al. - IPED: Study on the Impact of the Entry Zone on the Trajectory and Design of a Planetary Entry Probe
  11. Sayanagi et al. - SNAP: Small Next-generation Atmospheric Probe
  12. Nixon et al. - The CIRS-Lite Infrared Fourier Transform Spectrometer for missions to the Ice Giants
  13. Aslam et al. - Net Flux Radiometer for Ice Giant Probes
  14. Jarmak et al - QUEST: A New Frontiers Uranus Orbiter Concept Study

Registration and Abstracts

The formal registration deadline for this meeting was December 10th 2019. However, free registration for the Royal Society two-day plenary sessions (January 20th and 21st 2020) will remain open via this link.

Splinter Registration [Closed]: Registration for the splinter workshops on January 22nd at Burlington House was via a separate process using this link - a £55 fee will be charged to cover the costs of venue hire and catering (refreshments and lunch will be provided). Closing deadline for registration was 23:00 UT on Tuesday December 10th 2019.

Abstract Submission [Closed]: We invited contributed abstracts from the scientific community for both a poster session (Monday 20th, evening) and/or the splinter workshops on Wednesday 22nd. Please download this form and follow the instructions carefully. This allows you to state your preferred presentation (oral or poster), your preferred splinter workshop, provide a 200-word plain text abstract, and (optionally) figures with extended captions and links for further reading. Once complete, please send the completed form to ice-giants@le.ac.uk before 23:00 UT on Tuesday December 10th 2019 (and remember to register for BOTH the plenaries and the splinters).

Local Information

Details on accommodation and transport during your stay in London.

Instructions for reaching the Royal Society are available here. Information about Burlington House (for the splinter meetings) is available here, and the nearest Underground stations are Green Park and Piccadilly Circus.

Hotels

London accommodation can be expensive, so you are advised to book early. The following list of hotels provide good value for money, but the organisers take no responsibility for the quality of the accommodation.

Organisers

  • Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester)
  • Adam Masters (Imperial College)
  • Ian Cohen (Applied Physics Laboratory)
  • Amy Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center)
  • Mark Hofstadter (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
  • Athena Coustenis (Observatoire de Paris Meudon)
  • Chris Arridge (Lancaster University)
  • Kathleen Mandt (Applied Physics Laboratory)

Along with advice and guidance from Diego Turrini, Laurent Lamy, David Atkinson, Pontus Brandt, Olivier Witasse, Olivier Mousis, and Abigail Rymer.

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