SPEARHEAD had a strong presence at the European Space Weather Week 2026 (ESWW2026), held in Florence, Italy, from 2 to 6 November 2026. The project contributed to scientific discussions, presented research results, showcased its open-access resources at the Space Weather Fair, and even celebrated a shared prize at the conference’s Music Night!
Cosmic Rays in the Heliosphere – HEL2 Session
One of the scientific highlights was HEL2 – “Cosmic Rays in the Heliosphere”, convened by Alexander Mishev (University of Oulu), Mateja Dumbović (Hvar Observatory) and Athanasios Papaioannou (National Observatory of Athens).
Closely aligned with SPEARHEAD’s scientific objectives, the session brought together researchers investigating Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs), Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs), Forbush decreases and their space weather implications. Discussions addressed observations, modelling, data analysis and forecasting, highlighting the importance of combining spacecraft and ground-based measurements to better understand energetic particle populations throughout the heliosphere.
A Related Topical Issue – Contributions Welcome!
Building on the scientific exchanges at ESWW2026, as well as the SPEARHEAD and SOLER workshops, a related Topical Issue has been launched in the Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate (JSWSC):
The Topical Issue welcomes contributions addressing energetic solar eruptions, particle acceleration and transport, SEP and GCR variability, Forbush decreases, multi-spacecraft observations, numerical modelling, instrument calibration and innovative analysis methods.
The initiative builds on discussions at the SPEARHEAD Workshop #3 in Kiel, the SOLER Workshop #3 in Potsdam, and the ESWW2026 HEL2 session, while welcoming relevant contributions from the entire scientific community.
📅 Submission deadline: 30 June 2027
🔗 Read the full Topical Issue announcement
🔗 Submit your manuscript to JSWSC
Scientific Contributions and Research Highlights
SPEARHEAD partners contributed to the ESWW2026 scientific programme through several oral presentations and posters, presenting recent advances in energetic particle observations, analysis and modelling.
Among the contributions were the dedicated SPEARHEAD poster “SPEARHEAD: Delivering Open Datasets, Catalogues and Analysis Tools for Space Weather Research”, a multi-spacecraft investigation of the January 2026 CME and its impact on Galactic Cosmic Rays, and studies addressing Forbush decreases and particle transport.
These contributions showcased SPEARHEAD’s progress in producing high-quality, openly accessible scientific resources and improving our understanding of energetic particle acceleration and propagation throughout the heliosphere.
Explore the official ESWW2026 poster abstracts, as well as SPEARHEAD’s publicly available catalogues and datasets, analysis tools, scientific publications and GitHub repositories.
SPEARHEAD at the Space Weather Fair
Beyond the scientific sessions, SPEARHEAD was represented at the ESWW2026 Space Weather Fair, providing an opportunity to introduce the project’s activities, scientific results, datasets and analysis tools to conference participants.
The Fair encouraged direct exchanges with researchers, service providers and potential users of SPEARHEAD developments, supporting the dissemination and exploitation of the project’s outcomes.
And the Music Night Prize Goes To… SPEARHEAD (Too)! 🎶🏆
Science was not the only highlight of the week!
SPEARHEAD also participated in the ESWW2026 Music Night and Song of the Week competition, bringing creativity, enthusiasm and a healthy dose of humour to the space weather community.
The project was delighted to share the prize, making the evening an especially memorable celebration of science, music and community spirit!
A Successful Week in Florence
ESWW2026 provided an excellent opportunity for SPEARHEAD to disseminate its latest results, promote its open-access scientific resources, strengthen collaborations and engage with the international space weather community.
A big thank you to the ESWW2026 organisers, all participating SPEARHEAD partners, and everyone who visited our Fair stand, attended the presentations and contributed to the scientific discussions.
We look forward to continuing these exchanges through our collaborative research, open-access tools and datasets, and the upcoming JSWSC Topical Issue!