International Space Science Institute ISSI

01/06/2026

Sprites, Elves, and Giants: Lightning’s Strange Family in the Upper Atmosphere

Webinar with Alejandro Luque (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain)

At a global flash rate of roughly 44 lightning strokes per second, thunderstorms represent one of Earth's most powerful electrical engines. Yet the electromagnetic consequences of lightning extend far beyond what is visible to the naked eye at ground level.
At altitudes between 40 and 100 km - in the mesosphere and lower ionosphere - lightning drives a class of optical phenomena known as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs). Sprites, elves, jets and their variants are not mere curiosities: they are manifestations of electrical discharge physics operating in a low-pressure plasma regime that cannot be replicated in laboratory conditions.

What physical mechanisms govern their initiation and morphology? How do they couple the troposphere to the mesosphere and ionosphere? And what do they reveal about large-scale charge transfer processes in Earth's atmosphere?
This webinar traces the evolution of our understanding of TLEs — from their serendipitous discovery to current modelling efforts — and maps out the open questions that continue to drive research in this field.
Missed it live? The full recording is available to rewatch:

About 44 times per second a lighting stroke hits out planet. As one of the most awe-inspiring phenomena in nature, we are all deeply familiar with the immedi...

28/05/2026

Towards Operational GNSS-IR: A New Era for Coastal Sea Level Observations

Coastal sea level sits at the crossroads of the ocean, atmosphere, cryosphere, and solid Earth, and tracking it accurately is vital for anticipating future coastal impacts. Yet major observational gaps persist along the world's coastlines. GNSS-Interferometric Reflectometry offers a promising way to fill those gaps, but it has not yet made the leap into operational tide-gauge networks. This ongoing ISSI Forum "Challenges and Advances in Remote Sensing of Coastal Sea Level with Ground-based GNSS-IR" (27-29 May 2026) brings the ocean, sea level and geodetic communities together to assess where GNSS-IR stands today, the latest methodological advances, and what is still needed to reach the desired accuracy target, including for real-time monitoring. The Forum will facilitate the application of this technique on a global basis, aligned with the Global Sea Level Observing System priorities, and will work towards providing guidance and ensure that more communities will have access to this promising technology.

The Forum "Challenges and Advances in Remote Sensing of Coastal Sea Level with Ground-based GNSS-IR" is convened by G. Wöppelmann, O. Ravndal, P. Knudsen, and M. Marcos

https://forum.issibern.ch/remote-sensing-coastal-sea-level/

22/05/2026

How are structures in Earth’s magnetic and plasma environment, called the Magnetosheath, formed and how do they propagate towards the Earth?

ISSI International Team #627, “Magnetosheath structures as seen by spacecraft observations and numerical simulations”, led by Martin Volwerk & Tomas Karlsson, is trying to figure that out. Such structures are important in forming the close space environment around the Earth.

Based on the comparison of simulations and measurements of magnetic bubbles (‘magnetic holes’), the team's expected outcome is to understand how they form and move in the Magnetosheath of the Earth and other planets.

Read more about the team and their research: https://teams.issibern.ch/magnetosheath/

21/05/2026

🌕 Missed our latest Pro ISSI Talk ... or want to revisit it?

Last night, Claire Nichols (J. Geiss Fellow 2026 & Associate Professor at the University of Oxford) took us on a fascinating journey into one of the Moon's greatest mysteries: its ancient magnetic field.

In "The Curious Case of the Lunar Dynamo", Claire explored the surprising evidence that the Moon once generated a magnetic field stronger than Earth's today (!) and how new data from the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program and the upcoming Artemis missions are reshaping and deepening our understanding of lunar volcanism and magnetism.

The talk sparked a lively Q&A, and the conversation continued well into the Apéro afterwards -> a testament to just how captivating both talk and topic were!

🎥 Re-watch the full recording here: https://youtu.be/frzGS1594D8

Thank you, Claire, for a truly thought-provoking evening! 🌟

The Curious Case of the Lunar Dynamo with Claire Nichols

15/05/2026

ISSI International Team #634,

“WAVE-GAP – Watching Atmospheric Variability Evolve in the Global Absence of Satellite Platforms?”,

led by M. Bramberger and C. Wright, is identifying present and future gaps in atmospheric wave observations and modelling. These gaps directly affect how well we can predict future weather and climate. The team is working on a review to map what’s missing and how we can fix it.

15/05/2026

Flare ribbon fine-structure: where does it come from and what can it tell us?

ISSI International Team #658, led by P. Wyper and J. Dahlin, is investigating the fundamental causes of this fine structure, in order to discover what it reveals about solar eruptions – the most explosive energy release events in the solar system.

This topic has seen dramatic growth in the past few years, driven forward by the latest generation of solar images that have revealed an exciting ‘zoo’ of new structures.

A major goal of the team is to take inventory of these features, what they reveal about flares, and identify the key unresolved science questions in order to build consensus and chart a course for the future of this burgeoning research area.

14/05/2026

Surface-exosphere interactions are shaping the evolution of airless bodies, allowing us to understand the past, present, and future of many moons and small bodies in our Solar System.

ISSI International Team #616, “Multi-scale Understanding of Surface-Exosphere Connections (MUSEC)“, led by Liam Morrissey and Sébastien Verkercke, brings together theoretical, observational, and experimental expertise to better understand key planetary processes on the scale in which they occur on airless bodies.

Over the past year, the team has made progress on understanding the surface-exosphere connections, and the link between the atomic and the planetary scales. MUSEC studies lunar water transport, Mercury’s exosphere variability, airless bodies regolith structures, and icy moons environment, leading to several new collaborative studies. This work is important to prepare for future space missions targeting airless bodies such as BepiColombo, JUICE, and MMX.

02/05/2026

ISSI International Team #583, “Investigation of the Lithosphere–Atmosphere–Ionosphere Coupling (LAIC) Mechanism before Natural Hazards” led by D. Marchetti and E. Ghamry, is investigating how the lithosphere, the Earth’s surface, the atmosphere, and the ionosphere might interact with each other, specifically before earthquakes and other natural hazards, such as volcanic eruptions and geomagnetic storms.

They are discussing the current evidence for such interactions and how to improve and integrate existing methodologies to better understand the physical mechanisms of such coupling by combining ground-based and satellite data.
A better understanding of such interactions within the Earth system might eventually help to mitigate future natural hazard risks.

The team has identified signals suggesting possible lithosphere–atmosphere–ionosphere coupling (LAIC), and is developing new methodologies and tools to study these processes.