The Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics (SCOSTEP) is pleased to announce the SCOSTEP Fellow Award Ceremony and the 28th SCOSTEP/PRESTO Online Seminar which will be held on 4 November 2025, 10:00 PM – 11:00 AM UTC.
The mesosphere, which lies about 50-90 km above the earth’s surface, is often referred to as the “ignorosphere” because of a historical lack of attention. But it plays a critical role in solar terrestrial physics, as it connects Earth’s lower atmosphere to the upper atmosphere and space.
This seminar will focus on mesospheric cloud and gravity wave measurements from the NASA Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) Cloud Imaging and Particle Size instrument (CIPS). AIM was launched in April of 2007 and reentered the atmosphere in August of 2023. It was the first satellite mission that was dedicated to understanding how polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs) ? also poetically known to ground-based observers as “noctilucent” or “night-shining” clouds ? form and why they vary.
The talk will summarize some of the history and scientific highlights of the AIM mission and will discuss how AIM CIPS investigations evolved over the years to study not only PMCs and their environment, but also coupling of remote atmospheric regions. Although AIM is no longer operating, the talk will describe the treasure trove of CIPS data that is available for mining.
