International SCOSTEP Newsletter June 2000

COORDINATED EXPERIMENTAL CAMPAIGN FOR ESTIMATION OF EQUATORIAL WAVE MOMENTUM FLUXES

Ecodynamics and Geopolicy, Vol. 1: Global Problems
Advances in Geodesy and Geophysics Research in Africa
1999 ISAS Annual Report

INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE (ICSU)
President: H. Yoshikawa
Secretary General: H. A. Mooney
Executive Director: L. R. Kohler
ICSU Secretariat, secretariat@icsu.org
http://www.icsu.org

SCOSTEP SECRETARIAT
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/SCOSTEP/scostep.html
Scientific Secretary: J. H. Allen, Program Assistant: C. M. Hanchett
c/o NOAA/NGDC, 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80303
Telephone (1 303) 497-7284, Fax (1 303) 497-6513, email: jallen@ngdc.noaa.gov
Publication Coordinator: Belva Edwards, C, bmedward@staff.uiuc.edu

SCOSTEP BUREAU
President: M. A. Geller, mgeller@notes.cc.sunysb.edu
Vice President: R. A. Vincent, robert.vincent@adelaide.edu.au
Scientific Secretary: J. H. Allen, jallen@ngdc.noaa.gov
Members:
Yu. I. Galperin (COSPAR), ygalperin@iki.rssi.ru
B. Schmieder (IAU), schmieder@mesiob.obspm.fr
F. W. Sluijter (IUPAP), fws@phys.tue.nl
T. Tsuda (IAMAS), tsuda@kurasc.kyoto-u.ac.jp
S. K.Avery (URSI), savery@boulder.colorado.edu
D. J. Williams (IAGA), djw@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu

SRAMP STEERING COMMITTEE
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/SRAMP/sramp.html
Chairman: D. N. Baker, baker@orion.colorado.edu
Members: S. Basu, B. J. Fraser, E. Friis-Christensen, Y. Kamide, H. Koskinen, A. H. Manson, H. Matsumoto, P. Newman, G. Ya. Smolkov, ex officio: J. M. Forbes, S. Fukao, M. Hagan, V. N. Obridko, G. Shepherd, R. A. Vincent, S. T. Wu

EPIC STEERING COMMITTEE
http://www.kurasc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~epic
Co-Chairmen: S. Fukao, fukao@kurasc.kyoto-u.ac.jp,
R. A. Vincent, robert.vincent@adelaide.edu.au,
J. M. Forbes, forbes@zeke.colorado.edu
Members: M. A. Abdu, L. Gray, A. Matthews, R. F. Woodman, H. Wiryosumarto

SRAMP SUBGROUP: SPACE WEATHER
http://aoss.engin.umich.edu/intl_space_weather/sramp/
Chairman: H. Koskinen, hannu.koskinen@fmi.fi
Members: D. Boteler, J. K. Chao, J. Kozyra, R. Schwenn, X H. Singer, T. Tanaka, O. Troshichev, P. Wilkinson.

ISCS STEERING COMMITTEE
http://cspar.uah.edu/iscs
Co-Chairmen: S. T. Wu, wus@cspar.uah.edu,
V. N. Obridko, solter@izmiran.troitsk.ru
Members: T. Kosugi, P. K. Manoharan, B. Schmieder, M. A. Shea, S. Tsuneta, T. Watanabe

PSMOS STEERING COMMITTEE
http://www.hao.ucar.edu/psmos/home.html
Co-Chairmen: G. Shepherd, gordon@windii.yorku.ca, M. Hagan, hagan@ucar.edu
Members: P. Dyson, Y. Portnyagin, H. Takahashi, T. Tsuda

The SCOSTEP Secretariat invites contributions of information about publications or databases of special interest to scientists involved in the range of solar-terrestrial disciplines that comprise SCOSTEP and its programs. In general, we do not have time or opportunity to review whole works, but will rely on the involvement of contributors with related research or monitoring of STP phenomena. Probably, it will be best if contributions from Working Groups are sent through the Chairs/Co-Chairs of the Projects. At the least, they should receive a copy of the materials.

Judy Karpen, Chair of the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society sent the following message to SPD members concerning the present negative status of NASA's Living With a Star program in Congress. This item should be of major concern to many members of SPA since the LWS program will greatly benefit all of the disciplines within SPA, not just solar physics. Interested SPA members are urged to write to the appropriate people in Congress following the prescription outlined in the Karpen message. Immediate action is needed.

As you are probably aware, the major new large-scale program under development by NASA's SEC theme, Living with a Star (LWS), is an ambitious suite of missions and targeted modeling/data analysis efforts designed to attack the important problems of space weather and global change (see http://lws.gsfc.nasa.gov for more information.) While a new start for LWS enjoyed very prominent and positive visibility in the President's proposed FY2001 NASA budget, it is seriously threatened by political maneuvering in the budget process. Support by the broad community of solar and space physicists is absolutely necessary for a program of this magnitude to proceed, so it is time to express this support individually and collectively to your Congressional representatives.

On May 23 the House Appropriations subcommittee in charge of VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies recommended that funding for NASA's Living with a Star program ($20M) be dropped entirely from their FY2001 budget - the only change they recommend in the entire $2.4B Space Science request. This effectively stops LWS's "new start". The relevant wording reads as follows:

The budget request for Space Science is $2,398,800,000. The Committee recommends a funding level of $2,378,800,000, a reduction of $20,000,000 from the budget request. The Committee notes that the `Living with a Star' program is a new start in fiscal year 2001, and while the cost is initially quite low, the costs escalate rapidly to $64,000,000 in 2002 and balloon to $177,000,000 in 2005. The Committee is concerned with the manner in which NASA is administering the program and believes the NASA Inspector General should review the program at this time to ensure that contract awards are made only after full and open competition. Pending completion of this review, the Committee recommends no funding for the program in fiscal year 2001.

This budget request went to the full Appropriations Committee for markup on Wednesday, June 7, and could go to the House for a floor vote as early as next week. Despite the inclusion of LWS in the President's budget request and its likely inclusion in the imminent Senate version, Congress might conclude there is little community-wide support for the LWS program if we don't express concern about the House action. The Inspector General's review should be completed in the next few weeks, so the option still exists for a reversal if the House is satisfied with the results.

Therefore it is imperative that interested SPD members contact the head of the Appropriations Committee, the Hon. C. W. Bill Young (Chair, Appropriations Committee, U.S. House of Representatives, 2407 Rayburn Building, Washington, DC 20515), and your own Representatives immediately to highlight the importance of starting LWS in FY2001. The URL for finding your Congressional representatives' names and addresses is http://www.house.gov . Since time is short, faxes followed up by mailed letters would be the best route to take. Email is less acceptable, and may not be available for all Congresspersons. Good, concise guidelines for writing to Congress can be found at http://www.aip.org/gov/nb1.html .

We suggest including the following general points, briefly, in your own words (form letters may not be as effective.) Copies should be sent to George Withbroe george.withbroe@hq.nasa.gov .

Please take the trouble to express your opinions to your elected representatives. Thanks to the strong support shown by the NASA Administration for LWS, solar physics has been presented with a major opportunity. IT'S TIME TO DO YOUR PART TO ENSURE THAT THIS HAPPENS!

Excerpted from:
The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News Number 67:
June 16, 2000

On June 7, the full House Appropriations Committee marked up H.R. 4635, the FY 2001 VA/HUD appropriations bill. Under the bill, NASA would receive $13,713.6 million, an increase of 0.8 percent over the agency's FY 2000 budget, but 2.3 percent less than the Administration's FY 2001 request. Below are the Committee's recommendations for selected accounts within NASA, and related quotes from its report (H. Rpt. 106-674.) Space science and life and microgravity science would see substantial increases over current funding. The human space flight account would increase by 0.2 percent as requested, while Earth science funding would drop by 2.6 percent, also as requested.

SPACE SCIENCE: This account would receive $2,378.8 million. This is $20.0 million (0.8%) less than the request, but $186.0 million (8.5%) over current funding. According to the report, "The Committee notes that the 'Living with a Star' program is a new start in fiscal year 2001, and while the cost is initially quite low, the costs escalate rapidly to $64,000,000 in 2002 and balloon to $177,000,000 by 2005. The Committee is concerned with the manner in which NASA is administering the program and believes the NASA Inspector General should review the program at this time to ensure that contract awards are made only after full and open competition. Pending completion of this review, the Committee recommends no funding for the program in fiscal year 2001."

Scientists have detected changes in the rotation rates of violent, charged gases some 130,000 miles beneath the Sun's surface, a finding that may help them better understand the physical dynamics of the 11-year solar cycle that affects Earth.

Professor Juri Toomre, University of Colorado at Boulder, said the surprising discovery indicates there are significant speed-ups and slow-downs in the rotation rate of gases at the inner edge of a spherical shell, known as the convection zone, that makes up the outer 30 percent of the Sun's radius. The largest changes in the rotation rate occur at the interface between the convection zone and the adjacent radiative interior 130,000 miles into the Sun's interior at a place called the tachocline.

The tachocline is important because it is believed to be the place where the "solar dynamo" is operating, said Toomre, a professor in CU-Boulder's astrophysical and planetary sciences department. "As a physical process, the dynamo is essentially a great factory that builds and regulates the magnetic field of the Sun. This is the first time we have been able to measure changes in the heart of the solar dynamo."

A paper on the subject, by Rachel Howe of Tucson's National Solar Observatory, Toomre, and researchers at Stanford University and institutes in England and Denmark, was published in the March 31 issue of Science. The data for the discoveries came in part from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, a joint spacecraft of NASA and the European Space Agency, that is positioned toward the Sun about 1 million miles from Earth. Information also was obtained using the Global Oscillation Network Group, or GONG, a series of ground-based observatories around the world that monitor solar activity 24 hours a day. Toomre is the head of GONG's Scientific Advisory Committee.

Both SOHO and GONG analyze motions at the surface of the Sun caused by sound waves reverberating through the Sun's interior. The spacecraft and ground observatories measure up to 1 million specific locations and their corresponding sound pulses.

"We have to listen to the Sun for a few months at a time to detect the large-scale motions that carry the different sound waves around," said Toomre.

Using data from observations over the past four years, the scientists found "unexpected changes" in the rotation rate at the tachocline, showing it took about 15 months to rotate near the equator and about 12 months at higher latitudes, said Toomre. At some phases, the rotation rate in the tachocline appears to speed up at the lower edge of the convection zone and simultaneously slow down in the adjacent edge of the radiative zone located closer to the Sun's interior, he said.

"This is the first indication there are speed-ups and slow-downs in the area the solar dynamo is thought to be operating. We hope to be able to model the activity of the solar dynamo, which is linked with the 11-year solar cycle," said Toomre.

The peak of the 11-year cycle is marked by magnetic fields breaking out on the Sun's surface as sunspots, solar flares and coronal mass ejections spewing hundreds of thousands of miles into space. These outbursts are capable of disrupting satellite-based communications and power grids on Earth, he said.

"One of the great puzzles in nature has been why the Sun has the 11-year cycles of magnetic activity," said Toomre, also a fellow of JILA, a joint institute of CU and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. "The solar dynamo is responsible for the extremely violent but orderly rhythm in the cycle, including the stretching and breaking of magnetic field strands that eventually burst out onto the Sun's surface."

Toomre and his CU-Boulder colleagues use supercomputer computations to construct three-dimensional, high-resolution models of the complex fluid dynamics related to solar processes. Such models help to illuminate the interaction of small-scale and large-scale features on the Sun.

The Sun currently is very close to its 11-year peak in magnetic activity, which will occur in the next one to two years, and already is displaying large sunspots, solar flares and coronal mass ejections, he said.

Images are available on the web at: http://solar2. stanford.edu/~mdi/PR/SSU_2000/Tachocline/.

COORDINATED EXPERIMENTAL CAMPAIGN FOR ESTIMATION OF EQUATORIAL WAVE MOMENTUM FLUXES

The Equatorial middle atmosphere dynamics is dominated by phenomena such as stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and stratopause and mesopause semiannual oscillation (SAO.) The evolution of both QBO and SAO is a consequence of wave-mean flow interactions in which equatorial waves play a very significant role. Recent studies show that gravity waves also can make a contribution to momentum budgets of QBO and SAO. In order to assess the relative role of equatorial waves in the evolution of QBO and SAO the momentum fluxes associated with these waves have to be measured. In the past, estimation of these momentum fluxes associated with the equatorial waves were done using radiosonde data at limited altitude levels in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Now an attempt is made to measure the momentum fluxes in the low-latitude atmosphere from near the surface to 70 km height region using various ground-based and balloon-borne and rocket-borne measurements of atmospheric parameters.

For the estimation of vertical flux of horizontal momentum simultaneous measurement of horizontal and vertical winds or horizontal winds and temperatures at a specific location in the height region of interest is necessary. The locations of Indian MST radar, Lower Atmosphere Wind Profiler (LAWP), Rayleigh Lidar at Gadanki (13.5 N, 79.2 E), Indian rocket launching stations at SHAR (13.7 N, 80.2 E) and Thumba equatorial rocket launching station (TERLS) (8.5 N, 77 E) made it possible for the simultaneous measurement of horizontal winds and temperatures in the height region from near the surface to 70 km, necessary for the estimation of momentum fluxes associated with the equatorial waves.

A 40-day campaign to estimate vertical flux of horizontal momentum associated with the equatorial Kelvin and Rossby gravity waves in the troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere was successfully conducted from February 21 to April 01, 2000, at the above low-latitude locations over the Indian subcontinent. In the campaign, 40 RH 200 meteorological rockets, 80 balloons and ground-based instruments such as MST radar, LAWP and Rayleigh Lidar were used to measure every day the atmospheric winds and temperatures.

The various experiments in the campaign were jointly conducted by the Space Physics Laboratory and Rohini Sounding Rocket Project of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, University of Kerala, National MST Radar Facility and Sri Venkateswara University. Three-dimensional winds and temperatures up to 25 km height were measured every day during the 40-day campaign by the Indian MST radar and lower atmosphere wind profiler (LAWP) located at Gadanki. The Rayleigh Lidar located at Gadanki was used to measure temperatures in the 27-80 km height region. The horizontal winds in the 0-65 km height region were measured by high altitude balloons and RH-200 rocket-borne copper chaff at SHAR. The 3-dimensional winds in the 70-85 km region were measured by the MST radar. Horizontal winds in the surface to 22 km height were measured by balloons from TERLS during the 40-day campaign period. The momentum fluxes associated with the equatorial Kelvin and Rossby-gravity waves will be estimated from the daily wind and temperature profiles in the height region up to 70 km and consistency of the observed equatorial wave fluxes with the stratopause semiannual oscillation amplitudes will also be examined.

Dr. M. N. Sasi (Co-PI)
mnsasi@AEA-md4.vsnl.net.in
Dr. B.V. Krishna Murthy (Co-PI)
Srp@AEA-md2.vsnl.net.in

The Ninth International Workshop on Technical and Scientific Aspects of MST Radar (MST9) combined with the COST-76 Final Profiler Workshop (COST76) was held at the International Conference Centre of Météo France, in Toulouse, March 13-18, 2000. The merging of these two workshops was a natural consequence of the evolution of mesosphere-stratosphere-troposphere (MST) radars into wind profiler applications. It was a major event drawing together experts from all over the world engaged in research and development of these radar techniques to study the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and the ionosphere as well. It offered excellent opportunities to young scientists, research students, operators and meteorologists for close interactions with experts on technical and scientific aspects of MST radar and wind profilers and the corresponding operational applications, governed by COST (Cooperation on Science and Technology, an European Union project.)

The Workshop was prepared by the International Steering Group (J. Röttger, S. Fukao, M. F. Larsen, C. H. Liu, A. P. Mitra and W. Monna), the Program Committee (L. Alonso, K S. Gage, E. Legrand, G. Nastrom, G. Peters, M. Piringer, P. B. Rao, R. A. Vincent, and R. F. Woodman) and the Local Organizing Committee (J. P. Aubagnac and V. Klaus.) It was sponsored by the International Union of Radio Science (URSI), the Scientific Committee on Solar Terrestrial Physics (SCOSTEP), COST/European Union, the Université de Midi Pyrenees and Météo France.

The Workshop was attended by 156 participants from 27 countries and 6 continents. A total of 195 papers were presented, whereof 76 were poster papers. Dr. Daniel Cariolle, Director of the Research Division of Météo France, attended the opening session. The participants were invited by the Lord Major of Toulouse to a reception in the town hall. They also enjoyed a banquet at a country-side restaurant. The Workshop ended with a plenary session and a tour of the Météo France facilities on Saturday.

The scientific and technical part of the Workshop was held in 8 major sessions; each of these highlighted by one or two review papers.

In Session 1 (11 oral/10 poster papers) on Scattering Processes and Refractive Index Irregularities in the Neutral Atmosphere the high resolution interferometer and imaging techniques played a dominant role, since these help to improve the understanding of the atmospheric structures causing the radar scatter.

Session 2 (20/19) was devoted to the Mesosphere, Lower Thermosphere and the Ionosphere, where the latter essentially concentrated on coherent scatter from electron density irregularities. The VHF radar studies of meteors, of Polar Mesosphere Summer Echoes (PMSE) and Quasi-Periodic (QP) Echoes from the midlatitude E region were the highlights of this session.

Session 3 (26/7) on Waves and Turbulence covered planetary and gravity wave climatology and momentum flux measurements with radars. Simulations of turbulence generation and development and the observations by radar and RASS (radio acoustic sounding systems) were a particular topic.

Session 4 (9/9) Boundary Layer Meteorology was the topic, where it was shown that UHF and VHF profilers are particularly useful observing instruments, and RASS and SODAR are most suitable complements.

Session 5 (7/5) Studies of Precipitation and Clouds were presented. It was highlighted that profiler observations provide suitable ground truth calibration for remote sensing of rainfall rates.

Session 6 (10/3) Synoptic and Larger-Scale Meteorology was treated. This included radar observations of thunderstorms, tropopause, fronts, hurricanes, Hadley circulation and the potential of wind profiler radars for studies of El Niño related effects.

Session 7 (25/14) dealt with Wind Profilers and Complementary Techniques. Reports from radar facilities, networks and new systems were presented. RASS and SODAR were part of this session. Many details of methods, parameter estimation and optimization and calibration procedures were discussed and evaluated.

Session 8 (11/9) The Operational Aspects of Wind Profilers, were a final highlight of the Workshop. The inclusion of wind profiler data into weather forecasting projects and models has proven to be a most rational asset. It was also pointed out that wind profiler measurements have essentially the same accuracy as the radiosonde wind measurements

The Plenary Session was held at the end of the Workshop on Saturday morning. W. Monna presented a report on the COST-76 project on radar wind profiler networks. The future activities within this frame are foreseen to focus on combining various observing techniques.

Reports from the five Permanent Working Groups (PWG) of the MST radar community were given and the continuation of the groups approved.

PWG-1 on System Calibrations and Definitions (co-chaired by P. Chilson and J. Röttger) has to fulfill a most tedious task to prepare a glossary of specific terms. This could be done together with the preparation of lecture material for future schools on atmospheric radar. Calibration procedures are required to be worked out, for instance, to allow better estimates of turbulence parameters and comparison of observations made with different radars.

PWG-2 on Data Analysis, Validation and Parameter Deduction Methods (co-chaired by D. Holdsworth and M. Yamamoto) has been divided into three distinct groups on (1) general processing, (2) analysis techniques, and (3) post-analysis techniques. It was suggested to make a time-series of raw data available to verify the results of different analysis techniques. The idea was also explored to make libraries of analysis routines available to the community.

PWG-3 on Accuracies and Requirements for Meteorological Applications (chaired by G. Nastrom) is considering options for data distribution, archiving and the corresponding format.

The report of PWG-4 on International Collaborations (chaired by P. B. Rao) was given by S. Fukao. Several projects have been carried out and will continue, such as those on midlatitude sporadic-E echoes, gravity waves and turbulence.

A short report on observation during the Leonid meteor shower was given from PWG-5 on Transient Phenomena.

A. P. Mitra gave a report on activities on international projects for atmospheric studies in the Indian region.

A proposal for a new working group on education and training was brought forward. This should preferably be handled in the context of future schools on atmospheric radars. A special school will be held in November 2000, in Trieste, for students from developing countries. In 2003, the Third International School on Atmospheric Radar (ISAR3) should also take place in Trieste. To take care of these subjects, the ISAR Working Group was established consisting of the members S.Fukao, D. N. Rao, J. Röttger and R. F. Woodman.

It was also decided to intensify the interaction between the working groups and their relation to similar groups of other communities. Also to be investigated is the establishment a permanent MST radar web page and an e-mail discussion group.

The publication of Extended Abstracts in the Workshop Proceedings will take place as usual. SCOSTEP and Météo France will handle this business. Papers related to COST76 will be published in Zeitschrift für Meteorologie and those on MST radar in Annales Geophysicae.

The format of future workshops was discussed. It was generally agreed to emphasize the workshop aspect again more clearly on timely topics of MST radar techniques and science, whereas a conclusion was not established whether to have part of the workshop in conference format and the other part in a less formal working group style. It was agreed that the Steering Committee and the Chairs of the Working Groups should consider this evolution in more depth.

Invitations to hold the forthcoming Workshop MST10 in Adelaide, Australia, and in Peru, were presented. That Workshop would be in late 2002.

Many further details on this workshop MST9 are found on the homepage of Météo France: http:/www.cnrm. meteo.fr/mst/ .

An International Symposium "From Solar Corona Through Interplanetary Space, Into Earth's Magnetosphere and Ionosphere: Interball, ISTP Satellites, and Ground-Based Observations" was held in Kiev (Ukraine) on 1-4 February 2000. The National Space Agency of Ukraine (NSAU) and Taras Shevchenko, Kiev University were the main Organizers. The Space Research Institute RAS (IKI, Russian Academy of Sciences and Russian Space Agency) and the Space Research Institute (Ukrainian Academy of Sciences and NSAU) participated in the organization. The Symposium was mostly based on recent INTERBALL results, but also included results of other ISTP projects, ground-based observations, and space instrumentation. Special attention was drawn to new space projects, spacecraft control, data acquisition, processing, archiving and dissemination. The total number of participants was 127 scientists from 16 countries.

V. N. Ivchenko
Vice-Head of the Organizing Committee
O. P. Verkhoglyadova
Secretary of the Organizing Committee
Dept. of Astronomy and Space Physics,
Physics Faculty, Kiev University,
Glushkova, 6, Kiev 252022, Ukraine
Phone/Fax: +380(44) 266-4507

The PSMOS 2000 Workshop was held May 23-26, 2000, at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. The program was organized into three components, Advances, Progress and Future. The Advances component included advances in modeling, space-based observations and ground-based observations. The Progress component applied specifically to progress with PSMOS projects, and included progress in the understanding of gravity waves and tides, trends and variability, and planetary scale investigations. The Future component included near-term ground-based, near-term space-based, as well as the long term future concerning satellite missions in the proposal phase.

Overall there were twenty-eight invited papers, fourteen oral contributed papers and 27 poster papers. The countries represented were Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Georgia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, the UK and the USA. The Workshop was supported by SCOSTEP, and by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. In addition to supporting the travel of participating scientists, it was possible to bring six young scientists from Bulgaria, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and South Africa, as well as students from Canada. Individual meetings were held for each of the current six PSMOS projects, and a plenary session on the results was held afterwards.

Sessions were held in the Sandford Fleming Building, named after the person who first conceived standard time zones. This building was formerly known as the McLennan Physics Laboratory; and is where the airglow atomic oxygen green line was produced in the laboratory for the first time. It is also very near the site of Canada's first magnetic observatory (1840), one of the original eight used by Gauss. A reception was held in the Croft Chapter House, one of the oldest university buildings.

The papers were all of high quality, and the participants were impressed by the reports on the advances in the field, and the progress with the projects. The emphasis is currently on making use of the ground-based measurements, but with the Odin and TIMED satellites to be launched around the end of the year 2000, PSMOS will be able to combine ground-based and satellite measurements before the end of its five-year period. Beyond that lies the possibilities for future space missions which would be closely coordinated with the ground-based measurements. PSMOS plans to meet in association with the STP Symposium in Boulder in 2001, and in Brazil in 2002.

This large book (1,039 pages) by K. Ya. Kondratyev and V. K. Donchenko was sent to the SCOSTEP Secretariat, by the first author, together with a note of thanks for past copies of newsletters and other publications. The book is in Russian, although parts are also in English. The frontispiece is given in English and is copied here:

The book has 2,083 referenced items. A summary in English is included (pages 59-95) and references for the summary are given in English (pages 96-111.) The conclusion to the summary is quoted here:

References for the entire book are given in English (pages 948-1022) and an English version of the Table of Contents (pages 1028-1032) is at the end. The book was published in 1999 in St. Petersburg.

Published by the International Commission for Earth Sciences in Africa, ICESA International Secretariat, Department of Physics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria ISBN 978-30718-3-1.

The book, 498 pages, is the proceedings of the Second Regional Geodesy and Geophysics Assembly in Africa, hosted by Nigeria in Ibadan, from November 14-25, 1994. The International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior, UNESCO Regional Office in Africa, and many local organizations sponsored the Assembly.

There are forty-two research papers in the book and they are refereed by renowned scientists. These research papers cover a broad spectrum of topics in Geodesy and Geophysics Research in Africa. The papers have been divided into the following five sections.

The cost of the book, outside Nigeria, with postage by Air Mail is One Hundred and Twenty US Dollars ($120 US).

Please send an International Bank Draft and the address to which the Book will be posted to the following bank: ICESA Account, Union Bank of Nigeria PLC Agodi Branch, Ibadan, NIGERIA

If you have other questions, e-mail to: ebunoni@sesp-ui.oauife.edu.ng or telephone: 234-2-8104376.

The Institute of Space and Atmospheric Studies, University of Saskatchewan, has mailed its 1998 Annual Report. The introduction of the Chair's Report (A. H. Manson) is reproduced here. The report is very informative and may be of general interest for those wanting to keep up with what is happening in the academic community. Herewith, the introduction:

Research program activities for 1998 are described for: Planetary Atmospheres, Mid-Latitude E-Region, Atmospheric Dynamics, SuperDARN, and Aeronomy Research. Appendices give details about publications, talks, theses, etc.

E-mail and on-line addresses for ISAS are: isas@usask.ca, and http://www.usask.ca/physics/ isas/.

Carl McIlwain was awarded the year 2000 Hannes Alfvén Medal of the European Geophysical Society at its recent (April 24-29) XXVth General Assembly in Nice, France. The citation read "in recognition of his creation of the magnetospheric L-coordinate system, which constitutes the principal tool for organizing magnetospheric phenomena, and his pioneering observations of magnetospheric particles and electric fields."

There are two position openings currently available with the Geomagnetism program of the USGS.

1. Group Leader - A GS-14 position for a research scientist to manage the USGS Geomagnetism Group in the Geologic Hazards Team. The appointment would be located here in Golden, Colorado.

2. An operational geophysicist position located in Fairbanks, Alaska, to operate the College Magnetic Observatory. This would be a great opportunity for a young scientist or engineer to start a career with the Government and work closely with the University of Alaska.

Both of these announcements are in the May 9, 2000, issue of EOS (p 217), and both are full-time civil service positions. The closing dates are currently listed for this month, but our group has decided to extend the closing dates by at least a month. The announcements are available at:

Position 1: http://www.usajobsopm.gov/bla (click on OF-612doc) or calling: 1-303-236-5900 X 354
Position 2: http://www.usajobsopm.gov/

Please inform anyone and everyone you might about these opportunities. If the US Geomagnetism Program is to succeed, it is vital that the best persons possible fill these important positions in our Group. Your help in locating possible candidates would be very greatly appreciated.

BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY RESEARCH ASSISTANT
(12 Month Appointment - Flexible Working Pattern)

A Research Assistant is required to support a project funded by the Tsunami programme involving gathering data and developing software tools to predict levels of risk to spacecraft from space weather events. A degree in either mathematics, physics or statistics is required together with experience in computing and programming. Knowledge of UNIX operating systems, IDL graphics and writing web pages is preferred but not essential.

This is a full-time post, but part-time would be considered. Salary from 17,000 per annum (pro-rata.) Applications, including computing experience, should be sent to Gill Alexander, Physical Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET or email G.Alexander@bas.ac.uk. quoting Reference BAS47/00 before 26 June 2000.

GRAD STUDENTS OR POST-DOCS AT COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY, USA, OR ALOMAR, NORWAY, USING NA TEMP/WIND LIDAR

Challenge and Opportunity in Narrowband Na lidar Observation. Since its deployment at Fort Collins, CO (41ºN), the Colorado State narrowband Na lidar has been in regular operation in excess of nine years, measuring atmospheric temperature and Na density in the mesopause region (80-110 km.) This continued long-term observation supported by the NSF/CEDAR program, has led to exciting science results including seasonal and tidal variations of the mesopause thermal structure. In addition, an unexpected discovery revealed the response of the measured nocturnal temperature to external perturbations caused by volcanic eruption and the solar flux cycle.

Parallel technological advances in the past four years with CEDAR support have led to the development and implementation of Faraday filters, Double-pass acousto-optic modulators (AOM) and a c.w. laser source at 589nm based on the sum-frequency generation (SFG) technique. When used along with the narrowband Na lidar, the Faraday filter and AOM, respectively, made daytime measurements and simultaneous measurement of temperature and line-of-sight wind possible. With the joint support of NASA and NSF via the TIMED/ CEDAR program, the Colorado State narrowband Na lidar is being upgraded to a two-beam system capable of simultaneous observation of Na density, temperature, zonal and meridional winds, including the daytime. This system will play a unique role in the Fort Collins/ Platteville ground-based instrument cluster for collaborative observations in pursuit of TIMED science objectives. In collaboration with Colorado Research Associates, a two-beam Na lidar transmitter based on this technology including the unique SFG is being deployed at the ALOMAR observatory, Andoya, Norway (69ºN), as a DURIP (Defense University Research Instrumentation Program) project sponsored by AFOSR, to take the advantage of the dedicated twin telescopes with large apertures of 1.8m in diameter. When installed this summer, the ALOMAR (Arctic Lidar Observatory for Middle Atmosphere Research) Weber Na Lidar will be conducting simultaneous observations of Na density, temperature, zonal and meridional winds with high spatial and temporal resolution along with other lidars, radars and passive optical/microwave instrumentation to explore polar middle atmospheric wave dynamics and layer phenomena from a single station.

Opportunities exist for young scientists to take part in learning and using the unique narrowband Na lidars for TIMED/CEDAR observations in =46ort Collins and/or Arctic mesospheric observations at ALOMAR. Graduate students (at Colorado State University) and post-doc positions are available. Since the narrowband lidar is not yet a turn-key instrument, young investigators motivated to handle complex instrumentation and to perform reliable observations by acquiring a good understanding of the underlying measurements involved are especially encouraged to take up these exciting scientific and technological challenges. Anyone who wishes to know more about these projects and/or available opportunities, please contact Joe She (joeshe@lamar.colostate.edu), Dave Fritts (dave@co-ra.com) or Dave Krueger (krueger@ lamar.colostate.edu) during the upcoming CEDAR workshop or by e-mail.

Joe She and Dave Krueger
Physics Department, Colorado State University
970-491-6261 and 970-491-7381 (O)
970-491-7947 (F)
Dave Fritts
Colorado Research Associates
303-415-9701, ext. 205 (O)
303-415-9702 (F)

On 18-19 January 2000, SCOSTEP's Long-Range Planning Committee (LRPC) met at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia. Dr. Brigitte Schmieder chaired the meeting. After a day of discussions, the LRPC focused on certain ideas and produced the summary given below. This will be a subject of iteration within the LRPC until it is ready to be published in an issue of the SCOSTEP International Newsletter as a draft plan to which the STP-community is invited to respond.

Participants:
LRPC Members: B. Schmieder, Chairperson; S. Basu; W. Baumjohann; J. Lean; T. Ono; and R. Vincent
Invited Participant: M. A. Geller
Also Attending: J. H. Allen, Scientific Secretary, SCOSTEP; and D. Williams, ad hoc advisor

1. OVERALL OBJECTIVE
We agree SCOSTEP should identify and produce improved scientific understanding of variations in the Sun-Earth System, especially those variations that have great impact on Space Weather and Climate (broadly defined) and that impact habitability of the human environment.

Motivations: Science and Application
Sun-Earth science is much better understood because of study of the amount of data obtained by the armada of space missions launched during the last century, and from analysis of data of the well-developed global ground-based networks of instruments. Study of the combined Earth-Space environment is a new science, which is crucial for human life.

2. WHY NOW?
SCOSTEP's Long-Range Plan should address the following points:
Why is a new program needed in this decade of the 21st Century?
Is there something specific for SCOSTEP to do?
What are national and international program plans for this time? (SCOSTEP should not duplicate program efforts already in progress.)
Should any new program be national rather than international?

Following are some relevant answers to these questions:
We have a better knowledge of the SUN now than during the STEP Program.

3. SPECIFIC NEW OBJECTIVES FOR THE SCOSTEP PROGRAM
Some specific objectives for SCOSTEP are:

History
SCOSTEP should formulate, promote, and conduct a new international STP program because of its constitutional and historic roles within ICSU.

A. Constitution
SCOSTEP exists to perform the following tasks according to its Constitution:

B. Former Programs
A history of SCOSTEP and its programs: review of the historic role of SCOSTEP and its programs helps answer the question "Why now?" A precursor ICSU body to SCOSTEP (CSAGI) organized the International Geophysical Year (IGY) for 1957/58, and created the World Data Center (WDC) system to preserve the data and products arising from IGY. This was the first globally coordinated observing program of modern times and documented the first large-scale picture of Sun-Earth Connections.

The International Quiet Sun Year (IQSY) 1964-65 followed after IGY and contained many of the STP observing networks, data processing plans, and archiving and dissemination systems developed for IGY. It led directly to the creation of IUCSTP, the linear forerunner of SCOSTEP.

The STP part of CSAGI evolved into the Inter-Union Commission on Solar-Terrestrial Physics (IUCSTP) formed by ICSU in 1966. In part this resulted from the successful STP work on IGY and IQSY. In 1972, ICSU created a Special Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics (SCOSTEP) from the IUCSTP activity.

This recognized that STP needs of ICSU bodies were gaining in scientific importance, and deserved such status.

IMS (International Magnetospheric Study) was SCOSTEP's main program from 1976-1979. IMS was the first globally coordinated STP program to integrate satellites, airborne, ship, and ground-based observing platforms in the effort to study the driving forces that form and affect the magnetosphere. During IMS, ICSU recognized that STP topics were likely to remain important among many other ICSU bodies (e.g., IAU, IUGG, URSI, IUPAP, and several scientific committees.) This led to the designation of SCOSTEP as a "Scientific Committee." Special Committees have limited lifetimes, usually until completion of the program around which they formed. Scientific Committees continue for indefinite lifetimes, although they undergo periodic ISCU reviews.

SMY (Solar Maximum Year) was a smaller SCOSTEP program in the post-IMS time, 1979-81. It was focused specifically on solar physics.

MAP (Middle Atmosphere Program) was a major, broad STP program coordinated by SCOSTEP from 1982-85. Besides investigating a region of the Sun-Earth connected environment previously largely ignored, the Middle Atmosphere, it had other unusual features. Preliminary Pre-MAP programs were identified and conducted to help define MAP science objectives and refine or standardize observational techniques. After MAP ended, there was a MAP Continuation period to complete some programs.

Both IMS and MAP produced a good scientific picture of the physics of Sun-Earth Connections in particular regions. Some satellite resources planned for MAP were delayed in launch until after MAP ended.

STEP (Solar-Terrestrial Energy Program) was SCOSTEP's umbrella program from 1990-95 and was later extended through 1997 to take advantage of satellite arrays that were delayed in launching. The grand objective of STEP was to tie together observations and scientific understanding of the different STP regions. A STEP goal was to build and operate models based on already known and newly discovered scientific principles from each of the regions. Again, some satellite arrays were delayed in launching even beyond the extended end of STEP. However, many of the satellites launched during STEP continued in good operation after STEP ended in 1997, so that there is an unprecedented array of excellent STP satellites now in orbit.

C. On-Going Programs
S-RAMP (STEP-Results, Applications and Modeling Phase) 1998-2002 was created to take STEP results and combine data and models in ways that did not happen during STEP, with the objective of verifying the overall Sun-Earth Connection picture. To take advantage of the improved array of STP satellites, the availability of new models, the continued improvement of ground-based observing networks, and the new data and product dissemination capabilities arising from the Internet and World-Wide Web, S-RAMP initiated some new STEP-like studies in years after STEP ended.

ISCS (International Solar Cycle Study) 1998-2002 is a smaller, more focused STP disciplinary post-STEP program. It looks mainly at the Sun and solar processes, but aspires to consider effects of solar activity at Earth and in near-Earth space as part of the justification to continue solar scientific programs. It is making abundant use of new satellites.

PSMOS (Planetary Scale Mesopause Observing System) 1998-2002 is a smaller, more focused STP disciplinary post-STEP program. It has the objective to better understand dynamic processes in the atmosphere. This includes atmospheric variability, long-term trends, and improved models. An important part is the creation of an adequate global network of observing sites taking standardized measurements of phenomena.

EPIC (Equatorial Processes Including Coupling) 1998-2002 is a smaller, more focused STP disciplinary post-STEP program. Its purpose is to provide a coordinated international observation program, uniform data processing, and archival/dissemination of data and products at a central facility to support study of convective processes and influences on the Atmosphere-Ionosphere system in equatorial regions.

6. HOW TO PREPARE FOR A FUTURE PROGRAM
Taking account of the conclusion of SCOSTEP's past large umbrella programs and the planned end in 2002 of the focused disciplinary programs now in progress, we see the need for a new global STP program. SCOSTEP should lead in identification of the elements of that program.

In order for SCOSTEP to continue its historic role within the ICSU family, it should immediately lead out in circulating a draft document outlining a future major Solar-Terrestrial program. SCOSTEP should also:

VARIABLE SUN-EARTH ENVIRONMENT 2002-2008,
OR
CHANGING SOLAR TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT

OBJECTIVES
Science Theme: The changing Solar-Terrestrial Environment or Variable Sun-Earth Environment

Physical and Chemical Processes
Thermal and Non-Thermal Processes
Magnetism: MHD, Reconnection
Coupling, Response and Forcing

SCOSTEP LONG RANGE PLANNING
Some preliminary thoughts for 2002-2007
Judith Lean and Sunanda Basu

•1990-1997: STEP's five (+ Informatics) Working Groups identified and covered the entire domain of STP -

•2002-2007 (??) -
Need a new concept that doesn't replicate either STEP or S-RAMP, or any of the existing programs that address aspects of solar terrestrial relations under other programs (e.g., SPARC under WCRP)

Cross disciplinary…
- Coordinate community research to integrate disciplines and diagnostics

Applications …
- Societal benefits .. field has matured sufficiently in past 50 years to expect this "payback"/transition more than just token dissemination of knowledge
- Effective active use of the Web - for more than just posting notices
- Among scientists, the broader community and the public

A special meeting on SCOSTEP's Long-Range Plan will be held on Tuesday, October 3, 2000, at 7:30 PM in Sapporo, Japan, to discuss the Plan and get reaction on the above report, submitted by Brigitte Schmieder. Location of the meeting will be announced at Sapporo.

June 14-17: SHINE 2000 Summer Workshop, Stateline, NV, Contact: V. Pizzo (vpizzo@vulcan.sec.noaa.gov)

June 18-23: GEM (Geospace Environment Modeling) Workshop, Snowmass, CO, Contact: K. Baker (kbaker@nsf.gov)

June 27-30: Ninth UN/ESA Workshop on Basic Space Science, Toulouse, France, Contact: H. J. Haubold (haubold@kph.tuwien.ac.at)

June 27-30: Western Pacific Geophysics Meeting, Session SPA5 Electrodynamic Coupling of the Magnetosphere, Ionosphere, Thermosphere System, Tokyo, Japan, Contact: Gang Lu (ganglu@ucar.edu)

July 16-23: 33RD COSPAR Scientific Assembly, Warsaw, Poland
COSPAR Session C4.1/D3/9 on Modeling the Topside Ionosphere and Plasmasphere, Contact: D. Bilitza (dieter.bilitza@gsfc.nasa.gov)
COSPAR-2000 Symposium D2.1/E3.2: Solar Composition: New Perspectives from in situ and Remote Sensing Studies, Contact: R. Mewaldt (RMewaldt@srl.caltech.edu )
COSPAR Symposium No.D3.1/C3.3, Planetary Magnetospheres, Contact: W. Kurth (william-kurth@uiowa.edu) COSPAR Session D3.3: Advances in Global Magnetospheric Structure, Dynamics, and Region Coupling, Contact: H. E. Spence (spence@bu.edu)
COSPAR Symposium on Space Weather (PSWI), Contact: T. Onsager (tonsager@sec.noaa.gov)

July 25-28: IAGA Workshop on Lower Atmosphere Effects on the Ionosphere and Upper Atmosphere, Prague, Czech Republic, Contact: J. Lastovicka (jla@ufa.cas.cz)

September 25-29: First SOLSPA -Euroconference, The Solar Cycle and Terrestrial Climate, Tenerife, Spain, Contact: (Brigitte.Schmieder@obspm.fr)

September 27-29: COSPAR Colloquium on Space Weather Study Using Multi-Point Techniques, Green Bay, Taiwan, Contact: J. K. Chao (jkchao@jupiter.ss. ncu.edu.tw)

October 1: SCOSTEP Bureau, Sapporo, Japan, Contact: J. H. Allen (jha@ngdc.noaa.gov)

October 2-6: First S-RAMP Conference, Sapporo, Japan, Conveners: Y. Kamide (kamide@stelab.nagoya-u.ac.jp), H. Matsumoto (matsumot@kurasc.kyoto-u.ac.jp)

October 3: Long-Range Plan, Sapporo, Japan, Contact: J. H. Allen (jha@ngdc.noaa.gov)

October 3-6: 34th ESLAB Symposium on the 3-D Heliosphere at Solar Maximum, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, Contact: R. Marsden (rmarsden@estso4.estec.esa.nl)

October 7: SCOSTEP Bureau, Sapporo, Japan, Contact: J. H. Allen (jha@ngdc.noaa.gov)

November 6-10: Second SPARC General Assembly, Mar Del Plata, Argentina, Contact: Céline Phillips (sparc2000@at1.fcen.uba.ar)