21st International EISCAT Symposium 2024 and 48th Annual European Meeting on Atmospheric Studies by Optical Methods

The conference is dedicated to research into the upper polar atmosphere carried out with EISCAT and similar radars in combination with other observations. EISCAT is an international organization with research infrastructure based in the northern polar and auroral regions in Fennoscandia and on Svalbard. The EISCAT Symposium brings together researchers that carry out aurora and atmospheric observations in the Nordic and polar regions. The host of this symposium rotates through the EISCAT member affiliates, specifically Norway, Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Japan, and China. In 2024 it is Norway’s turn in the rotation to host the symposium. This year the symposium is organized together with the annual European Meeting on Atmospheric Studies by Optical Methods. The timing for Norway to host is fortunate, as it coincides with the expected first commissioning operations of EISCAT 3D, in Skibotn, Norway. EISCAT 3D is a novel atmospheric and ionospheric radar system developed and constructed to replace the aging EISCAT infrastructure located in Ramfjordmoen, Norway, a short distance from Tromsø. A significant portion of EISCAT 3D has been funded by the Norwegian Research Council and the hosting of this EISCAT Symposium by Norway further emphasizes the research council’s commitment to international high impact research projects in the auroral and polar regions. The symposium will be hosted by UiT The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø. The conference will include a visit to the Skibotn EISCAT 3D site. It will provide the opportunity for attendees to present their world-leading research on polar and auroral region atmospheric and space phenomena with high powered large aperture radars and optical imagers. These attendees attend from around the globe, where researchers from outside the EISCAT organization have previously attended (e.g., North America). Based on the attendance at previous Symposiums, it is expected that there will be between 80-120 attendees.