= 20 means onset) showed at least six periods of recurrent geomagnetic storms in the first three months of 1996. Each of these was followed by an abrupt rise of the >2 MeV electron population measured by NOAA's GOES. Early in 1996, the increases were generally 2 orders of magnitude above background and in the last weeks of March the rise was almost 3 orders. Loren Acton and Lee Bargatze (Univ. Montana) examined special long-duration YOHKOH solar images for key dates and -- so far -- have found identifiable coronal holes near solar central meridian some two or three days before each of the geomagnetic storms (only data for the first 4 events have been processed.) It appears that coronal holes on roughly opposite sides of the Sun were emitting high speed solar wind streams that co-rotated across Earth roughly each 2 weeks. Finally, conditions during the last passage in March were optimal for connectivity with the magnetosphere and produced the results described.
Dan Baker has worked with a number of scientists to collect data from WIND, SAMPEX, POLAR, and other research satellites, from NOAA's monitoring satellites, and from ground-based monitors to describe the space environment conditions during this time. A paper about the space weather conditions during the time of the Anik and other anomalies is in preparation for publication in NASA's ISTP Newsletter. An electronic version should be available -- with color illustrations and imagery -- on WWW in a few weeks. A more scientific version will be contributed to a special magnetic storm volume of JGR being edited by Y. Kamide. Anyone having information about satellite anomalies during 1995/96 or other measurements that might be of interest is encouraged to communicate with Dan or with Joe Allen. This activity falls under STEP WG-5, Project 5.5.
J.H. Allen
COORDINATED OBSERVING CAMPAIGNS
Karen Harvey (kharvey@noao.edu) has advised the Secretariat of two coordinated observing programs.
X-Ray Bright Point Observations, 27-31 May 1996
High-resolution magnetic field and H-alpha observations from BBSO, MSO, CSUN; H-alpha filtergrams
from SOONSPOT, and full-disk HeI images from HAO. High-resolution, high-cadence information
of the intensity, velocity, and magnetic fields in the chromosphere at NSO/KP using the new
HeI 1083-nm filtergraph. If un-successful, the observations of HeI 1083 spectra of the target
area will be repeated. Targeting information will be posted under "Current Plans" on the
coordinated solar observations home page at:
http://www.sec.noaa.gov/solcoord/solcoord.html
or by sending the mail message: "get solcoord xrb96.targeting" to majordomo@sec.noaa.gov
Prominences and Filaments and/or Chromospheric Activity and Coronal Loops, 1-10 June 1996
Brigitte Schmieder and Lidia van Driel-Gesztelyi are planning these coordinated observations.
For more information look under "Future Plans" at the coordinated solar observations homepage
or send the mail message: "get solcoord soho_meudon96.info" to majordomo@sec.noaa.gov
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MLTCS Campaigns
Solstices, Equinoxes of 1996/97. Planetary wave hunting, with interest in tidal/gravity wave
interactions.
MLTCS Major (from International Geophysical Calendar)
MLTCS 9 March 19-22, 1996
MLTCS 10 October 8-12, 1996
MLTCS 11 January 6-10, 1997
MEETING REPORTS
MEETING OF THE ICSU COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND
INTERNATIONAL BIOSCIENCES NETWORK (COSTED-IBN)
Mexico City, August 16-18, 1995
Juan G. Roederer, SCOSTEP Representative
This was the second meeting of the Executive Committee of the recently merged COSTED-IBN and my first as the SCOSTEP Representative. It consisted of a "Workshop on South-South Cooperation in the International Development of Science and Technology" and the Executive Committee meeting proper. It was attended by 30 scientists, mostly from developing countries; some notable participants were M. G. K. Menon, Past President of ICSU and Chairman of COSTED-IBN; A. Badran, Assistant Director of UNESCO; M. H. A. Hassan, Executive Director, Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS); R. W. Nichols, Chief Executive Officer, New York Academy of Sciences; and J. Sarukhan, Rector of the 275,000-student National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The purpose of my report is to highlight matters of specific interest to SCOSTEP; it is not a chronological account of the deliberations.
Workshop on South-South Cooperation
The denomination "countries from the South" and "countries from the North" is now replacing the older terms of "developing" and "advanced" countries, respectively. In international science parlance, "The South" and "The North" do not necessarily have a geographical connotation (indeed, there are many countries in the geographic north that are considered developing, and vice versa!) A set of parameters describing the differences between The South and The North could serve as a (multidimensional) definition of these concepts. The quantifiable parameters are: percentage of GNP that goes to scientific research; percentage of scientists and engineers among total population; papers published in international journals; number of patents (all these one order of magnitude smaller in the South.) Less quantifiable parameters are: existence of long-term goals and programs in S&T; communication channels between research groups and availability of e-mail; intra-national cooperation, etc.
One of the biggest problems with the South was identified to be the deficient intra-South communication and a lack of information on training and research opportunities that exist both in the North and in the South -- despite the countless organizations, bulletins, books, reports, etc. disseminating this kind of information. The problem is particularly acute in Subsaharan Africa -- it was mentioned repeatedly that the information was not reaching the working scientists. This is why it is so important to promote the scientific cooperation within regions, i.e., South-South cooperation, the subject of this Workshop. It was pointed out that COSTED can play a fundamental catalytic role in this.
The meeting discussed the question of why South-South cooperation was still so weak. The above-mentioned lack of knowledge about research and training opportunities was perhaps the principal factor besides the chronic shortage of funds; one should also add the small number of South-South cooperative agreements, the North-South science gap, and the brain drain. Regarding the latter, it was stated that "we should not always cry about the brain drain", being very careful with plans to bring them back into scientific environments to which they are no longer used; rather, we should devise programs in which the "brain drain" is used effectively to build North-South bridges.
There was much discussion on current developments and future prospects for scientific research. Special attention should be paid to the newly emerging "interdisciplinary sciences" which also include the social sciences. It requires cooperation not just between individuals, groups, countries and regions, but also between disciplines, a concept that is much broader than today's traditional international scientific cooperation. Science is no longer attracting top high school students into universities; basic science will have to produce more results that are "meaningful" to both science and society. Financial difficulties and infrastructural costs such as travel will oblige the South to select scientific topics that can be done at lower cost and with maximum use of electronic networking. There are big gaps between research groups within a region, even within one country, as big as between the North and the South. This includes the problems with university-university cooperative programs in Latin America, which are hindered by the greatly differing nature of the various institutions, and by the lack of commitment on part of governments and local industry.
In general, until now, science had a "free ride", especially in the North; the globalization of markets will increase competition, which in turn will make S&T knowledge less free and less available; more knowledge will go to patents or be locked into industrial secrets of the corporations. It was predicted that the "Japanese model" will proliferate, in which most of the research will be done by industry, not by federal tax-based organizations. In such a development, certain areas will receive special attention: genetic engineering, biotechnology, pharmaceutical drugs, new materials, miniaturization, alternate sources of energy. There were voices of caution, however, stating that it would be unwise to uncouple the South from the North --more, rather than less, scientific involvement with the North is needed!
Finally, the importance of a dialogue between science and society was pointed out in the discussions. Science is viewed increasingly by society as "external" and "esoteric". The need of scientists to concentrate more on scientific literacy of the public was pointed out. New pedagogical strategies are needed; as an example, Fermilab Director Leon Lederman's statement to the US Congress was mentioned, in which he convincingly demonstrated that over 30% of the US GNP was based on the progress in "esoteric" quantum mechanics!
COSTED-IBN Executive Committee Meeting
There was general agreement that a thorough and critical examination of COSTED is necessary. Chairman Menon urged COSTED to proceed "much faster" in its activities; he thought that COSTED was attaching too much importance to the formality of regional secretariats -- these should be active "persons", rather than formal permanent structures. In general, considerable attention was paid to the African region during the meeting. The South African representative pointed out the need to take advantage of the momentum created by recent political changes (also in Mozambique, Angola and Morocco), but he cautioned that a growing fear in other African countries to be "overrun" by South Africa had to be overcome; he hoped that COSTED could help allay such concerns.
It was suggested that COSTED organize its regional secretariats and networks with the working scientists, leaving politicians out during the initial stage. I pointed out that in many developing countries this may lead to some psychological problems: leaving out the "bosses" of the younger, working generation may elicit jealousies among the administrators that may jeopardize COSTED's objectives in the region. In general a great deal of attention was paid to the need for better communication of the scientists with politicians and the public. The importance of inviting politicians and decision-makers to specially organized workshops and elicit commitments on their part was pointed out. One such workshop for Latin America is being proposed to be held in Brazil. In general, the need to organize workshops to train scientists from developing countries in science policy and science management was emphasized.
The question of improving the information dissemination on "who was doing what" kept coming up during the discussions. It was suggested that a comprehensive directory on scientific institutions and scientists in the South be prepared, but unless this directory was strongly selective and included only truly active researchers, it would be useless. This, however, would be nearly impossible to accomplish in an objective manner. It also was suggested that there be a follow-up on young scientists sent to advanced countries for training; it would be very useful if sometime after their return they could go back to the country in which they were trained for a short period as a sort of "reinforcement" -- such a program would, of course, be very expensive.
A report was presented on a meeting on Latin American scientific publications that took place in Guadalajara before the COSTED meeting, at which many problems of regional scientific publishing have been addressed. Electronic publishing was considered out of question for developing countries; there were problems with speed of publication: scientists want "immediate" publication; the competition with "recognized" international journals was difficult, pointing to some hypocrisy: university faculty are encouraged to publish in local journals, but for promotions or new jobs, only international journals count! It was very important for local and regional journals to publish articles that serve needs in public information and education in science.
At the conclusion of the meeting, it was announced that Professor Menon will step down as Chairman of COSTED-IBN, and that ICSU was appointing Dr. Nichols of the New York Academy of Sciences as his successor. Dr. R.R. Daniel, long-time Secretary of COSTED will also step down, to be replaced by Dr. G. Thyagarajan, also from India. The Secretariat will remain in Madras.
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SECOND SCHOOL OF ATMOSPHERIC RADAR AND THE SEVENTH WORKSHOP
ON TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OF MST RADAR
The Seventh Workshop on Technical and Scientific Aspects of MST Radar (MST7) was held 7-11 November
1995 at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA. It was preceded by the Second International
School of Atmospheric Radar (ISAR2) held on Sunday and Monday, 5-6 November 1995, at Hilton Head.
The co-conveners of MST7 and ISAR2 were C.H. Liu, J. Ršttger, S. Fukao and M.F. Larsen.
The ISAR2 was attended by 81 participants. A total of eight lectures were given at the ISAR2,
covering theory, experiments and hardware for atmospheric radar. Lecture notes were available
to the participants. The lectures were:
- Signals from Scatterers in Turbulent Flow (R.J. Doviak)
- Atmospheric Radar Hardware (I.M. Reid)
- Radar Signal Processing (D.T. Farley)
- Introduction to Radar Techniques for Studies of the Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Stratosphere and Troposphere (J. Ršttger}
- UHF and VHF Techniques (T. Tsuda)
- Spaced Antenna and Interferometer Methods (E. Kudeki)
- MF, HF and Meteor Studies of the Middle Atmosphere (W.K. Hocking)
- Radar Studies of Gravity Waves and Turbulence (R.A. Vincent)
Following this School, the Workshop MST7 took place from Tuesday to Saturday. One hundred fifty-nine abstracts were submitted, indicating the broadened interest of the expanding MST radar community. The papers were presented orally in ten sessions with the topics given below (session conveners in brackets.) In addition, there were two well-attended poster sessions. Posters showing summaries of existing and planned facilities were on display throughout the Workshop as well.
The Workshop sessions were:
- Scattering processes and Interpretation of MST Radar Echoes (S. Fukao)
- Gravity Wave and Turbulence Studies (W.K. Hocking)
- Combined MST Radar and Optical Measurements (L. Thomas)
- Combined MST/ST Radar and other Ground-based, In-situ or Space-borne measurements (S.K. Avery)
- Comparison of Wind, Wave, and Turbulence Measurements Obtained with Different Techniques (M. Yamamoto)
- Signal and Data Processing (T. Sato)
- Mesosphere Summer Echoes, Meteor Echoes, and Ionosphere Echoes (J.Y.N. Cho)
- Meteorological Applications (M.F. Larsen)
- Multiple Receiver/Interferometer Techniques (R.D. Palmer)
- New Hardware Developments and Systems (S. J. Franke)
A total of 124 oral and 29 poster papers were presented, and the total number of Workshop participants was 127. Extended Abstracts of many these papers will be printed in the Workshop Proceedings. Selected papers are scheduled to appear in a special issue of Radio Science.
A plenary session was held on the last day of the Workshop to summarize highlights of the sessions. It was noted that a Joint Working Group "FG1. The Middle Atmosphere", comprising URSI Commissions F and G, was established at the 1993 URSI General Assembly. The function of this Joint Working Group is to promote scientific activities concerned with atmospheric radars and other related techniques applying radio waves, coordinate organization of future MST Workshops and ISARs, collect and formulate recommendations to URSI Commissions F and G and advise them of related activities.
The activities of a Task Group to define accuracies required for specified investigations and wind profiler applications of MST radar were acknowledged and their continuation and extension found full support of the plenum.
Two Resolutions and one Recommendation (to be presented as a Resolution) were adopted and will be presented to URSI Commissions F and G and SCOSTEP, as follows:
Resolution on Equatorial Observations
Considering that the equatorial atmosphere is closely coupled with other parts of the earth's atmosphere and gives a significant influence to the global weather and climate, and
that a variety of observations have been extensively conducted there with very little coordination made among the observations, and
Recognizing that little effort has been realized in coordinating these observations despite the recommendations made by international bodies like URSI and SCOSTEP, and
Noting that the MST community has the vast potential to contribute to the related research in these fields,
It is resolved that those international bodies should take all effective measures to realize these efforts to make really international collaboration feasible in the equatorial atmosphere observations.
Resolution on Polar MST, Meteor and MF Radars for Polar Atmosphere-Ionosphere Radar Observations
Regarding the fact that particular dynamic processes, such as Polar lows, the Polar vortex, Polar Mesosphere Summer Echoes, etc. are characteristic for the Polar troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere, respectively ,
Recognizing that processes in the high latitude middle atmosphere are affected by processes originating in the magnetosphere and ionosphere and that mutual coupling of these processes from above and from below, namely, the troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere particularly takes place in the Polar middle atmosphere,
Considering the fact that high emphasis is presently developing to study the Polar ionosphere and upper atmosphere by incoherent scatter radar as well as supporting instrumentation and satellites,
It is resolved that MST and MF radars should be added to these upper atmosphere facilities for studying also the middle and lower atmosphere.
Recommendation on Training Courses and Schools
A recommendation was also adopted by the plenum to foster training courses and schools to be held by a small group of experts at radar sites on demand.
This Workshop MST7 and the School ISAR2 was sponsored by SCOSTEP, Clemson University, the National Science Foundation, and URSI. Thanks are expressed to the local organizers of ISAR2 and MST7 in particular Miguel and Patti Larsen from Clemson University for their tremendous and very productive work to make these activities at Hilton Head a great success.
C.-H. Liu and J. Ršttger
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CHAPMAN CONFERENCE ON MAGNETIC STORMS
More than 100 scientists from 20 countries met at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, during the week of February 12-16, 1996, to discuss recent developments in research on magnetic storms. In spite of the importance of magnetic storms in the science of Solar-Terrestrial relationship, surprisingly this was, to our knowledge, the first large-scale international conference on this topic ever held. A press conference was held and followed by an article in Science.
The conference focused on many different aspects of magnetic storms, starting with its origin at the Sun and in the interplanetary medium, followed with the storm dynamics and structure in magnetospheric and ionospheric regions, and ending with studies about its main atmospheric and ground effects. The present efforts to forecast its occurrence were also discussed. Twenty invited review talks covered a vast number of topics, addressing not only tutorial perspectives but also very recent unpublished research contributions. The invited talks will be published as a special Monograph of the American Geophysical Union.
These review talks were complemented by about one hundred contributed (oral and poster) papers, many of which will be published in a special issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics (with regular review procedures.) The editor (Y. Kamide) of the special JGR issue also welcomed papers on magnetic storms by authors who had not participated in this Chapman Conference.
SOLAR AND INTERPLANETARY PROCESSES. Certainly our ultimate answer about the origin of geomagnetic storms resides in the knowledge of associated solar and interplanetary processes. Toward this search, in this Conference important new clues were unveiled among the review and contributed papers. T. Kosugi presented new evidence for magnetic reconnection at the solar corona using YOHKOH images, both for active region-scale lengths and for larger regions at the solar corona, probably related to CMEs, in which observable morphological changes can be identified. Referring also to YOHKOH observations, H. Hudson discussed an important new coronal feature associated with a CME: a dimming of the corona. If this effect can be substantiated it will certainly represent a key factor for forecasting geomagnetic storms associated with CMEs, although critical information about the ecliptic) component of the IMF, necessary for the growth of storms, will still need to be added toward a more precise forecasting. With respect to the origin of intense geomagnetic storms, Gonzalez et al. presented evidence about combined solar structures of the "coronal hole-active region-current sheet" (CHARCS for short) type, as being candidates for the origin of intense storms, especially when the associated coronal hole grows in size rapidly near the active region-current sheet structures.
With respect to the solar-interplanetary coupling, J. Chen summarized several theoretical and observational aspects of the CME/prominence association and of the solar ejecta's transport in the interplanetary medium as a magnetic cloud structure. Toward the interest of forecasting geomagnetic storms, B.V. Jackson summarized heliospheric-remote sensing observations using ground and satellite techniques, both for transient as well as for corotating solar-interplanetary features.
Concerning the interplanetary structures that cause magnetic storms, C.F. Farrugia summarized our present understanding about magnetic clouds, whereas B.T. Tsurutani and W.D. Gonzalez reviewed other structures which also involve large-amplitude and long-duration Bs fields, mainly of the "sheath" field type. These two complementary presentations focused also on the currently unsolved problems about the interplanetary origin of storms. In addition to those two presentations, D. Odstrcil presented a 3-dimensional, time-
dependent MHD numerical model to investigate the interaction between magnetic clouds and the heliosphericcurrent sheet, which could lead to an additional source of Bs structures and consequently to the development of storms.
MAGNETOSPHERIC PROCESSES. The above-mentioned interplanetary structures involving substantial Bs fields are expected to effectively transfer energy to the magnetosphere which, after being stored mainly in the tail, gets channeled to the inner magnetosphere. Among the magnetospheric processes that signal the occurrence of storms, it has been classically accepted that the most accepted one is the intensification of the ring current. Thus, in this Conference some reviews and contributed papers have dealt with such basic magnetospheric processes as a general background for the understanding of storm dynamics. V.M. Vasyliunas presented an overview of the global energetics of the magnetosphere during magnetic storms, starting with the solar wind MHD dynamo concept and following with general concepts about energy storage and dissipation processes in the magnetosphere. Toward a more quantitative understanding of those processes, R.A. Wolf presented an updated overview of the Rice convection model as applied to the understanding of magnetic storms, including the relation-ship between time-dependent convection and diffusion. For completeness, S. Kokubun presented a summary of our present knowledge about the dynamic behavior of the distant magnetotail during magnetic storms, using GEOTAIL and ISEE-3 data. Three additional contributions dealt with the tail behavior during storms. W. Baumjohann et al. presented data from the IRM satellite in the near magnetotail to discuss tail signatures during isolated substorms as compared to intervals with substorms occurring within storm events. They concluded that not all substorms are alike and that the near-earth neutral line scenario may apply only to thestorm-time substorms. L. Frank presented plasma velocity distributions obtained from GEOTAIL measurements also at the near-earth magnetotail, showing that during storm intervals there are clear field-aligned electron beams and field-aligned beams of singly charged oxygen ions flowing from the ionosphere. On the other hand, C.M. Ho and B.T. Tsurutani, using ISEE-3 data collected at the distant magnetotail, presented evidence of strong earthward flowing events probably originated at distances beyond ISEE-3. It is not thought that such distant tail reconnection/jetting is important for near-Earth substorms, however. Such events are probably associated with additional flux sloughing.
The issue of magnetospheric energization and its dissipation in storms and substorms was discussed by R.M. MacMahon et al. They presented results associated with superstorms, for which it was found that about 1% of the energy transferred by them solar wind to the magneto-sphere is used to build up the ring current.
STORM DYNAMICS. The topic of storm dynamics, involving ring current evolution and population as well as the issue of storm/substorm relationship(s), was certainly one of the hottest and busiest in this Conference. I.A. Daglis, while discussing the role of magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling in storm dynamics, raised the very interesting issue of the role of the ionosphere in ring current population and evolution. He presented evidence from the CRRES and AMPTE/CCE spacecraft about the dominance of oxygen ions over the other ring current constituents during the main phase of intense storms. D.C. Hamilton added more evidence to these findings by also contrasting the ring current population during the maximum and minimum phases of the solar cycle. Further, M. Grande complemented these talks with a review about ring current composition contrasting the solar wind material and the ionospheric one as competitive sources. He also raised the subject of the difference between substorms during storm times and quiet times.
Modeling ring current formation and decay is a key subset of storm research. This was addressed by M.W. Chen et al., who reviewed our present understanding of the trans-port and loss processes, involving large-scale electric and magnetic field variations, wave generation and convection versus diffusion processes under both quiescent and storm-time conditions. This talk was complemented by another review given by J.V. Kozyra et al. about the role of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves in storm-time ring current erosion. L.M. Kistler concentrated on the pitch angle distributions of ring current ions during the main phases of storms, showing statistical results of the distributions of four major species, namely H+, O+, He+ and He++.
On the evolution of the storm-ring current, A.L. Clua de Gonzalez et al. examined the energy balance equation in order to understand the role of energy input variability, as governed by the solar wind. Some analytic solutions for Dst variations were found for simple solar wind governing structures.
Two interesting presentations also addressed the role of electric fields in the energization of ring current and radiation belt particles. J.R. Wygant, using electric field observations from CRRES during major magnetic storms, showed clear associations between intense convection electric fields and large changes in the ring current injection rate, as well as between intense fluctuations in the electric field (with large power) and abrupt appearance of trapped radiation belt-electron population. To complement this, M.K. Hudson et al. presented results from MHD simulations of the radiation belt formation during storm sudden commencements.
Among new experimental projects which are expected to help us to better understand the processes associated with ring current formation and decay, G. Haerendel reviewed the instrumentation and scientific goals of the EQUATOR-S satellite, expected to be launched in early 1997.
The very important issue of storm/substorm relationship was reviewed by R.L. McPherron and by G. Rostoker. They presented complementary talks showing that the ring current is mainly controlled by changes in the interplanetary electric field variability and that substorms, despite the fact that they occur more intensively and frequently during the storm's main
phase, may not play an important role in ring current development. However, the final (panel) session of the Conference considered this issue as one deserving furtherfuture studies (a small workshop was held at Lake Arrowhead, California, after the Conference, to discuss this matter.)
Showing in fact that the topic of storm/substorm relationship is still largely open for more research, I.V.A. Sergeev discussed about steady magnetospheric convection events involving strong recurrent substorms and near-earth cross tail intensified currents, whereas Y.I. Feldstein and A. Grafe dealt with latitudinal and intensity changes of auroral electrojets and of the ionospheric role in ring current development.
THERMOSPHERIC, IONOSPHERIC AND GROUND EFFECTS-STORM FORECASTING. The thermospheric and ionospheric effects of storms are observationally an old field of research. However the processes which are involved are even at present not fully understood. Nevertheless, an excellent review about some of the key processes was given by G.W. Proelss, who concentrated on the large scale morphology and the physical processes associated with magnetic storm perturbations in the upper atmosphere. He also focused on the large-scale wind circulation at several latitudinal regions and on the associated compositional changes. In a complementary effort, T. Fuller-Rowell reviewed the present status of modeling the thermospheric response to magnetic storms, including the "positive" and "negative" ionospheric responses and their seasonal and local time variability. He also presented a summary of the sources for ionospheric and thermospheric perturbations at low latitudes, although a more detailed description of this subject, especially in terms of electric fields, was given by B.G. Fejer and L. Scherliess. Further, J.H.A. Sobral et al. discussed this same topic as applied to intervals with intense storms.
On the other hand, Szuszczewicz et al. presented an overview of storm-time characteristics of the global ionospheric-thermospheric system using a global network of observations carried during several observational campaigns, in an effort that exemplifies several of the points reviewed by the previous speakers.
Two other talks focused on detailed aspects of ionospheric and thermospheric response to storms during particular events. B.A. Emery et al. presented the results of such a study for the storm of March 28-29, 1992, as well as the related TIGCM/AMIE simulations. D.J. Knipp presented the results of a similar collaborative study for the storm of November 3-4, 1993, including complementary observations at the sun, the interplanetary medium and the magnetosphere, as collected through the CEDAR and GEM campaigns.
W.H. Campbell reviewed several aspects related to what he called a "societal impact of geomagnetic storms", including satellite damage and tracking, induction in long pipelines and electric power grids, communication and global positioning systems as well as association of geomagnetism with weather and life forms. The issue of geomagnetic effects on power systems were further discussed by D.H. Boteler and by J.G. Kappenman and W.A.Radasky, who described also the need of further research in this field towards a better protection of he electric utility industry, including delicate situations such as nuclear power plants.
Finally, with regard to the important goal of geomagnetic storm forecasting, several presentations raised comple-mentary aspects of this problem. H. Lundstedt reviewed AI methods used in long, medium and short-term predictions of geomagnetic storms, using solar and solar wind data. He stressed the importance of using more advanced neural networks and hybrids of different AI-methods, which together with new observations can improve the accuracy of storm forecasting.
T.R. Detman and D. Vassiliadis tried, on the other hand, to review different approaches of storm forecasting using linear and nonlinear techniques in order to be able to obtain short-term predictions for the geomagnetic indices as well as medium and longer term predictions of storms. For the latter case they discussed the importance of improving present heliospheric and magnetospheric models as well as remote sensing techniques of solar and interplanetary processes.
Other talks on storm forecasting helped to visualize more the present problems for improving our forecasting ability. A.S. Sharma et al. discussed non-linear dynamic models involving phase space reconstruction techniques that allow quantitative predictions of the level of storm development as a function of solar wind data. J. Chen et al. discussed another approach to forecast storms, following the evolution of physical features of interplanetary structures rather than a simple time-series information. This approach is expected to help us better understand also the physical processes associated with the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction. On the other hand, S. Bravo focused on the difficult problem of long-term storm forecasting using soft x- ray imaging of coronal transients and the tracking of solar wind disturbances by means of interplanetary scintillations.
The Conference was closed by a Panel Discussion, chaired by Y. Kamide and R. McPherron, in which S.W. Kahler, H. Hudson, W.D. Gonzalez, D.C. Hamilton, L.R. Lyons, E.P. Szuszczewicz, H.H. Lundstedt and J.A. Joselyn highlighted some of the main conclusions and also presented open questions for future research. The AGU Monograph (with the review papers of this conference) will contain also a chapter about this Panel Discussion.
This summary was contributed by the Conveners of the Conference: W.D. Gonzalez (INPE - Brazil), Y. Kamide (STEL- Japan), and B.T. Tsurutani (JPL, Pasadena.)
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NATO ADVANCED RESEARCH WORKSHOP ON GRAVITY WAVE PROCESSES
AND THEIR PARAMETERIZATION IN GLOBAL CLIMATE MODELS
Santa Fe, NM, April 1-5, 1996
Kevin Hamilton, Director
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory/NOAA
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08542
It has become increasingly clear that credible simulations of climate (and predictions of climate response to anthropogenic forcing) require some physically justifiable parameterization of the momentum transport due to unresolvable gravity waves. This issue is now recognized as one of the most important current challenges in dynamical meteorology.
To address this issue a NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Gravity Wave Processes and Their Parameterization in Global Climate Models" was held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, April 1-5, 1996. The Workshop was cosponsored by STEP and by Stratospheric Processes and Their Role in Climate (SPARC) initiative of the World Climate Research Programme.
The meeting was attended by a total of 36 scientists from 10 countries. The Workshop was notable in bringing together experts in middle atmospheric observations, theoretical modeling of gravity wave processes, and representatives of several climate modeling groups.
A number of very exciting results were presented. It now appears that the one-dimensional (vertical) spectrum of typical variability in the upper stratosphere and mesosphere can be characterized quite well from observations, particularly as radar measurements increasingly are being supplemented by active optical (lidar) observations of various types. The use of very high power lasers and large telescopes in lidar systems allows extremely high temporal and vertical resolution measurements to be made. There were even observations presented of the time-height distributions of the regions of statically unstable temperature structure (i.e., likely locations of wave-breaking.) Work on detailed numerical modeling of the generation and propagation of gravity waves was also seen to be progressing quite rapidly. Notable here were simulations of the stratospheric gravity waves forced by tropospheric convection or tropospheric frontal collapse events.
There was naturally considerable discussion of the currently proposed approaches to models of the gravity wave effects that are simplified enough to be suitable for incorporation as parameterizations. Particularly interesting here was comparison of results from models which treat the saturation and breaking of each wave component independently with those that make an attempt to treat statistically the entire gravity wave spectrum.
One problem apparent in all the current schemes was a tendency for the waves to break significantly only at high altitudes (near and above the mesopause.) This leads to a predicted gravity wave drag that has a distribution that is centered at higher altitudes than that required by numerical simulation models in order to obtain realistic results for the global circulation.
The discussion focused on the outstanding basic scientific problems that remain for formulating realistic gravity wave parameterizations for the middle atmosphere. Notable was the question of the horizontal spectrum of waves near the tropopause that is needed as input to any parameterization. There is currently a lack of detailed observations to characterize the spectrum and its relation to possible wave sources. Another important question arose concerning the very longest vertical wavelength components of the spectrum emerging into the middle atmosphere from below. This end of the spectrum is extremely hard to characterize from observations, but is very important high in the atmosphere, since the longest vertical wavelengths correspond to the highest phase speeds and vertical group velocities. Discussion of these issues led to consideration of whether an extensive field program of measurements might be valuable. The possibility of a field program to characterize the gravity waves forced by tropospheric convection was considered and further discussions of this issue will be held in the future.
Among the practical recommendations emerging from the discussion was one for a modest international program using available high-resolution radiosonde data from as many countries as possible to characterize the gravity wave field in the lower stratosphere. This will be led by Robert Vincent of the University of Adelaide. Also a more formal comparison of the results from current gravity wave parameterizations will be undertaken by representatives from a number of research groups.
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FOURTH LATIN AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON SPACE GEOPHYSICS (COLAGE)
Juan G. Roederer, International STEP Coordinator
Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska-Fairbanks
The fourth Latin American Conference on Space Geophysics (Spanish acronym COLAGE) took place in Tucuman, Argentina, 22-26 April 1996, at the modern facilities of the Cultural Center of the University of Tucuman (UNT) located in the city center. Organized by the Ionospheric Laboratory of UNT and sponsored by SCOSTEP, IAGA, the International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and several Latin American and Argentine organizations, the meeting was attended by over 100 participants from seven Latin American countries as well as 11 scientists from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the USA. It comprised 25 invited reviews, 102 contributed poster papers and five general interest public lectures. The topics discussed covered the entire range of "space geophysics", including solar physics and studies of the solar wind, comets, cosmic radiation, the magnetosphere, ionosphere and middle atmosphere. During the week, the first general assembly of the Latin American Association of Space Geophysics (ALAGE) was held; an afternoon excursion took the participants to the lovely hills near the city of Tucuman, followed by a dinner and dance at a local restaurant.
The Opening Ceremony included an eloquent speech by the Rector of the UNT, who remarked that the lemma in the university's logo, "Pedes in Terra ad Sidera Visus" (Feet on Earth, Face toward the Sky) described remarkably well the scientific aims of the conference. He pointed out the timeliness of the meeting, which was placing a Province that was going through great economic difficulties in the spotlight of international science.
The scientific sessions started with a review by J.G. Roederer appraising the successes and failures of the Solar Terrestrial Energy Program (STEP), followed by a review by M. Acuna on the NASA-ESA-ISAS-IKI International Solar Terrestrial Physics Program emphasizing the opportunities for research participation by Latin American scientists. In general, the remaining review topics and speakers were very well chosen; they all addressed subjects of specific interest to the scientists of the region. Examples include: Equatorial F-Region Electrodynamics over South America (I. Batista, INPE, Brazil); Space Weather and Ionospheric Variations (S. Radicella, ICTP, Italy); Stratosphere Ozone Depletion (J.P. Pommereau, CNRS, France); Cosmic Ray Modulation and Acceleration in the Heliosphere (H. Moraal, Potchefstroom University, South Africa); Solar Coronal Dynamics and Flares Revealed by Yohkoh (T. Kosugi, National Astronomical Observatory, Japan); The Solar Wind and the 3-D Heliosphere: Ulysses and SOHO (R. Schwenn, MPAE, Germany).
The poster sessions were very well attended, and many of the poster papers elicited lively discussions. It was very encouraging to see that this method of presentation is now an accepted, even welcome, part of scientific meetings in Latin America. Examples of posters surrounded by a "cloud" of interested people were: Confinement Regions of Dust Grains in the Magnetospheres of Jupiter and Earth (D. Maravilla, UNAM, Mexico); Extensive Air Shower Observations at Mt. Chacaltaya (N. Martinic et al., La Paz, Bolivia); The Occurrence Rate of El Nino and its Relationship to Solar Activity (B. Mendoza and R. Perez Enriquez, UNAM, Mexico); Catastrophic Atmospheric Changes produced by a Large Impact: the K/T Chicxulub Crater (A. Ocampo, JPL, USA). By far, the largest number of poster papers dealt with ionospheric topics, in particular the dynamic properties of the equatorial upper atmosphere -- a clear demonstration that regional geo-physical characteristics can become a fertile ground for frontier scientific research at the local level. Another remarkable achievement of this conference was the many new scientific links established between individual scientists and research groups, both within Latin America as well as with scientists from other countries.
The outreach effort evidenced through the public lectures was particularly noteworthy. They were delivered in Spanish, scheduled in the late afternoon to allow attendance of secondary school students, and without exception very well attended. The following lectures were given: Astronomy of the Andean Cultures: Enigma of the Tucuman Menhirs (O. Bravo, UNT); Cometary Showers and Impact Craters (A. Poveda, UNAM, Mexico); Auroras: Science and Legend (J. Manzano, UNT); The Universe seen Through the Hubble Space Telescope (D. Macchetto, Space Telescope Science Institute, USA); and The Argentine Satellite Program (M. Machado, CONAE, Argentina).
During the general assembly of ALAGE, this organization was established formally by the adoption of statutes. The discussion proceeded smoothly thanks to the preparatory work and chairmanship of ALAGE's provisional president, J. Valdes Galicia of UNAM, Mexico. The perhaps most difficult part was to agree on a concise definition of the somewhat fuzzy concept of "Space Geophysics." The first Executive Committee was elected: President: JosŽ Valdes Galicia (Mexico); Vice President: Walter Gonzalez (Brazil); Financial Secretary: Dolores Maravilla (Mexico); Publications Secretary: Virginia Silbergleit (Argentina); and Secretary of the Exterior: Juan Roederer (USA).
The financial support from SCOSTEP, IAGA, ICTP and the other organizations was well invested, leading to the organization of an excellent scientific meeting in the Third World, at minimum cost. It is worth mentioning that as an exemplary contribution, the Brazilian Air Force made a plane available for the transportation of the sizable delegation from Brazil that included a number of graduate students.
We should look forward with great interest and high expectation to the next COLAGE to be held in 1998 in San Jose de Costa Rica.
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WIND MEASUREMENTS WORKSHOP
Toronto, Canada, May 1996
This event was well supported and very successful; it must represent the most extensive set of inter-comparisons between GB radar/optical and Satellite - UARS systems ever presented.
Although some "puzzles" remain, understanding flowing from the Workshop will now allow more collaborations between GB/UARS systems to proceed, using the relative strengths of the various systems.
Thanks must go the Gordon Shepherd (UARS) for organizing this event; and to several of the MLTCS - radar/optical groups for participating so effectively.
A.H. Manson
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REPORT TO SCOSTEP ON VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA
Juan G. Roederer, International STEP Coordinator
Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska-Fairbanks
This report describes a visit to South Africa (Pretoria, Potchefstroom, Hermanus, Grahamstown and Durban) February 27 -March 12, 1995. The main purpose was to learn about and discuss STEP-related activities in South Africa, especially in the light of the dramatic trans-formations which have brought back this country fully into the mainstream of international scientific cooperation. As on previous occasions, this report is not intended to be a systematic review of STEP activities and plans; it is confined to items which I feel should be of interest to SCOSTEP officers or which may warrant some formal action on part of SCOSTEP. The opinions given below are strictly personal.
General Impressions
My first visit to South Africa took place in 1973 when I toured several major universities at the invitation of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), to discuss programs of SCOSTEP's International Magnetospheric Study. To a casual and well-shielded visitor like me, South Africa appeared at that time as a First World country; in terms of its economic, scientific and technological interactions with the outside world, it actually acted as such -- the non-white majority did not enter the international equation. In the "New South Africa", all virtual walls have come down in just a few years, and new laws and programs of equal employment opportunity and affirmative action are now driving a "diffusion" of the black majority into the formerly impenetrable white establishment. This has elicited an array of complex psychological problems, not only because of the deep-seated mental barriers of racial prejudice and bigotry that cannot be overcome overnight by reason or governmental fiat, but also because of the abysmal differences in education and standard of living between the white minority and the previously neglected majority. Whites must now learn to live with the facts that "their" nation has suddenly become a Third World country, or, better, a "newly industrialized, economically developing" country belonging to all its citizens. And the blacks must learn to live with the fact that the newly-gained freedom comes with responsibilities to be shared by all.
As a recently industrialized, economically developing country the New South Africa has unique chances to become a leader in Africa, particularly among its Southern African neighbors. The existing scientific and technological infrastructure, equipment and talent offer an excellent training ground for individuals from other African nations; for instance, in science, South Africa has a most promising potential as a gateway to research activities in Antarctica for other African countries. It is important to realize, however, that funds for such international roles of South Africa should come from international sources; internal resources are needed in their totality to solve internal problems.
The impact on science is far-reaching. First of all, for the first time, scientific research in South Africa faces the need to justify itself to the people and not just to a handful of government officials. It is now necessary to develop a science policy with research priorities serving the needs of society at large, but without jeopardizing that part of science that pursues research in response to intellectual curiosity alone.
A debate is presently going on in circles of government, industry and academe concerning the relative apportionment of governmental funds to basic, strategic (called developmental in South Africa), and applied research, respectively. It is of fundamental importance for South Africa not to fall into the trap that is beginning to hurt basic science in the United States and other advanced countries where basic science funding has become an easy prey of politicians striving to ingratiate themselves with their constituents by being "tough" on the budget. In addition, as a result of democratization, public awareness and concern about the environment, which in South Africa includes some exclusive nature reserves and regions of pristine beauty, is beginning to influence government action. It is of fundamental importance to draw on the results of multidisciplinary scientific studies that assess the impact of current and future human activity on the environment, before any important decisions in terms of industrial and urban development are made.
Antarctic Research
During my visit with different research groups active in solar-terrestrial research, I found Antarctica to be a common thread through many of their projects. It became clear how important the antarctic program was, not just for STP but also for other geophysical and environmental research in South Africa.
At the present time, scientists and managers involved in the antarctic program are struggling to find a convincing justification for a program that is being perceived by the general public and the politicians as "big" expensive science benefiting only a small segment of the scientific community. With increasing insistence the researchers are being asked the question: can South Africa afford antarctic research, given the pressing needs of social programs? I have heard this question before, in Latin America. It is important for the scientists involved to develop a public education campaign, in which the long-term benefits of antarctic research are clearly explained, pointing out: (i) the scientific importance of Antarctica as a giant natural laboratory to study how the global terrestrial machine works, and the unique geographic (longitudinal) position of SANAE in this "laboratory"; (ii) the practical importance of understanding many environmental problems such as the ozone hole and the role of the southern oceans in shaping regional climate and sustaining marine resources; and (iii) the political importance of maintaining a presence as the only African nation in Antarctica, fulfilling treaty and convention commitments, and forging related international scientific cooperation. It is also important to point out that, from a logistic point of view, this program could not be shut down temporarily without a prohibitive cost for re-starting it at a later time.
Specific Activities During My Visit
Pretoria - The first day-and-a-half of my South African visit was spent in the capital, meeting with officials from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEA), which manages the antarctic research program with joint funding from the Foundation of Research Development (equivalent to the National Science Foundation in the USA.) In these interviews the importance of international participation in, or cooperation with, the South African antarctic program was pointed out; a special effort should be made to let scientists in both advanced and developing countries know about opportunities for joint research and special training experiences. South Africa can provide equipment and logistics, but the cost of the international components of joint programs would have to borne by the external participants.
SANAE will be moved inland, where a new state-of-the-art base (Vesleskarvet) will be built on firm ground: 1997 was mentioned as the year for the start of operations at the new site. Unfortunately, recent storms have joined the general financial woes contributing to a delay of many plans for antarctic operations.
Potchefstroom - I visited the Department of Physics of the University of Potchefstroom and the gamma ray telescope site near the city March 2 and 3. The university has a long tradition in cosmic ray studies and gamma-ray and radio astronomy; of particular interest to STP are the experimental, theoretical and numerical simulation studies of heliospheric modulation of galactic cosmic rays. The group is responsible for the operation of four neutron monitors (Potchefstroom, Hermanus, SANAE and Tsumeb) and they have plans in installing a neutron monitor (one of the Canadian instruments) at a mountain top in Kenya (at 3,000 m) to operate as an absolute instrument, in particular for the detection of solar neutron events. Scientists at the University of Nairobi would like to cooperate, but there are no funds for this project as yet. A joint project with the University of Natal is the construction of an HF radar (SHARE--Southern Hemisphere Auroral Radar Experiment) for the new antarctic base at Vesleskarvet; this will form part of the international SUPERDARN project. The construction of the equipment at Potchefstroom is now complete and the radar will be installed in Antarctica in 1997.
Hermanus - A visit to the venerable Hermanus Magnetic Observatory (HMO) on March 6 revealed some notable changes. In 1986, the CSIR, on which the observatory depends, changed its mission to technological applications. This forced HMO into the business of magnetometer technology. After some time of worries, the institution is now engaged very successfully with a very competent cadre of engineers in developing and building state-of-the-art instruments, that also include navigational equipment for the Defense Forces. Since 1988 HMO is no longer involved with universities; yet at the present time it is building a magnetometer to be flown in a small remote sensing and communications satellite being constructed as part of a training program by students at the University of Stellenbosch. There is still a small research program at HMO; out of a staff of 25, two are scientists. The traditional magnetic field monitoring program at the site continues.
Grahamstown - I spent March 7 and 8 visiting the Department of Physics at Rhodes University. Ionospheric research has a long tradition, with special interest in regional studies, including ionospheric modeling (neural network techniques are presently used.) Research on the South Atlantic Anomaly (precipitation of geomagnetically trapped energetic particles into the upper atmosphere), which was an important component of research for many years, unfortunately had to be phased out due to lack of funds and difficulties with operating ground-based equipment at Gough Island (which is situated in a unique position with regards to the Anomaly.) A proposal to join a network of HF radars with a station in South Africa (at a similar latitude as Adelaide) is being formulated. The main external funding for the group is now coming for ionospheric modeling studies for defense and communications. There is also interest at Rhodes in working on lightning and its effects on the ionosphere.
Durban - I visited the University of Natal March 9 and 10. Two major STR programs at the university's Physics Department are whistler and ozone studies. The former includes a study of wave-induced electron precipitation events using OMNIPAL systems in Durban and at SANAE; conjugate measurements with Budapest are being conducted jointly with Hungarian scientists. A joint project at SANAE with the British station at Halley Bay uses triangulation measurements to determine drifts (electric fields) in the plasmasphere; the SHARE HF radar (see Potchefstroom above) will be operated in conjunction with the British Antarctic Survey and the Applied Physics Laboratory, Maryland, USA. Two advanced digital processing systems were developed for the analysis of VLF signals and are producing quick-look VLF spectrograms. The magnetospheric studies are complemented with auroral imaging observations with low light-level TV cameras at SANAE, as well as with magnetic pulsation measure-ments. The ozone program involves measurements of (anthropogenic) tropospheric ozone in Durban, and ground-based stratospheric ozone (total column) and UVB flux measurements at SANAE. The ozone program is inter-disciplinary, with participation of biologists, air chemists, geographers, etc.
Acknowledgments
I am deeply grateful to Professor Arthur Hughes for the excellent organization of my visit and for acting as my overall host. I am also grateful to Professors Stoker, Sutcliffe, and A. Poole for their hospitality in Potchefstroom, Hermanus and Grahamstown, respectively. A grant from the South African Foundation for Research and Development covered my travel within South Africa and most of the lodging expenses. My work as the International STEP Coordinator was supported by grant ATM93-04200 from the US National Science Foundation.
PUBLICATIONS
SOLAR SYSTEM NEWS
Issue No. 16 of ESA's "SOLAR SYSTEM NEWS", dated October 1995 rrived at the SCOSTEP Secretariat. It contains a number of interesting articles arising from the ULYSSES mission. Other articles give updates about NASA's WIND mission, SOHO, CLUSTER and others. The ESA Solar System Division announces a Web site at the address: http://helio.estec.esa.nl/ . Anyone interested in hard copy of this newsletter could write to or contact: K.-P. Wenzel, ESTEC, Postbus 299, 2200 AG Noordwijk, The Netherlands; or kwenzel@estec.ea.nl .
*********************************************
STEP SIMPO NEWSLETTER -- FINAL ISSUE
Two editions of the SIMPO (STEP Simulation Promotion Office) Newsletter arrived at the SCOSTEP Secretariat on 16 April. They are clearly significant issues. Vol. 5, Spring, March 1996, No. 16, contains simulation papers, a workshop report, a brief description of the first Post-STEP program, S-RAMP, and news about the first four meetings of the International School for Space Simulation (ISSS) and the 5th one which will be held in March 1997.
The second volume is the "Final Issue" of the SIMPO NL. It is devoted to the topic "Future Vision and Scope of Space Simulations" and contains a table of contents and authors' index for all issues of the NL. This forward-looking publication has 24 contributions from an international suite of authors. We commend it to our community and strongly thank Hiroshi Matsumoto, his editor colleagues, and staff for their fine work during STEP. They are on the Internet at:
simpo@kurasc.kyoto-u.ac.jp .
A flyer enclosed with the NLs tells that the SIMPO Mailing Directory is available on-line and
will continue to be updated beyond the termination of the NL. Different versions available will
match requirements of Macintosh, Windows, or Unix users. They are available through anonymous
FTP site:
Address: ftp.kurasc.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Log-in name: anonymous
Password: (please type your e-mail address)
Data files are located under /pub/simpo/MailDir. If users have corrections, updates, or new
names to be added, please let them know. Their postal address is:
STEP Simulation Promotion Office
Radio Atmospheric Science Center, Kyoto University
Uji Kyoto 611, Japan.
STEP has been fortunate to have the services of this dedicated group of scientists-simulationists-publicists for the past 5 years. Of course, they have been supported by an international group of editors and contributors. Also, they have had support from Kyoto University and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of Japan.
There is some hope that this publication may be resumed in the future under new conditions. Everyone interested in the past issues or future plans is encouraged to communicate with Hiroshi Matsumoto and his colleagues.
J.H. Allen
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SCOSTEP Constitution and Directory
Updates and Corrections
Page 6, WG3, Project 3.5, Add C. Fesen and R. Johnson as Co-Leaders (with A. H. Manson)
Page 21, S. A. Bowhill, Fax (1 508) 287-0543; Email: sbowhill@tiac.com
Page 26, Y. Kamide, Email: kamide@stecmu.stelab.nagoya-u.ac.jp
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SUPPLEMENT OF THE CATALOGUE OF POLAR AURORAE <55oN IN THE PERIOD 1000 - 1900
Ladislav Krivsky
Astronomical Institute, Academy of Sciences
251 65 Ondrejov, Czech Republic
Summary: The Supplement contains corrections and new data of the past observations of north polar aurorae (<55o)
In the monograph Solar Activity, Aurorae and Climate in Central Europe in the Last 1000 Years
(Krivsky and Pejml 1985, 1988) we have published Part II -- World List of Polar Aurorae <55oN
and their Secular Variations.The Supplement presented contains corrections and new data about
occurrences of north polar aurorae (<55o.) New data are based predominantly on the
two Catalogues, i.e., of Loomis (Loo) and of Schršder (Sc 2.) The aurorae which were observed
in North America are in the Loo Catalogue. New data sources with their abbreviations are shown.
In the Catalogue to be canceled:
| Year | MO | Day | Ref |
| 1792 | 9 | | M |
| 1820 | 4 | | Mo |
| 1829 | 12 | | Mo |
| 1831 | 7 | | Mo |
| 1832 | 8 | | Mo |
| 1833 | 12 | | Mo |
| 1834 | 9 | | Mo |
| 1834 | 10 | | Mo |
| 1835 | 8 | | Mo |
| 1836 | 2 | | Mo |
| 1836 | 5 | | Mo |
| 1836 | 7 | | Mo |
| 1836 | 9 | | Mo |
| 1837 | 5 | | Mo |
| 1837 | 6 | | Mo |
| 1837 | 12 | | Mo
|
| Year | MO | Day | Ref |
| 1838 | 2 | | Mo |
| 1838 | 3 | | Mo |
| 1838 | 8 | | Mo |
| 1839 | 2 | | Mo |
| 1840 | 11 | | Mo |
| 1841 | 4 | | Mo |
| 1842 | 4 | | Mo |
| 1846 | 1 | | Mo |
| 1848 | 5 | | Mo |
| 1853 | 6 | | Mo |
| 1857 | 9 | | Mo |
| 1871 | 12 | | Mo |
| 1872 | 9 | | Mo |
| 1872 | 10 | | Mo |
| 1872 | 11 | | Mo |
| 1872 | 12 | | Mo
|
Travaux Geophysiques, XXXVII (1993-96), 1-21.
KUDOS
NCAR SCIENTIST RAYMOND ROBLE WINS PRESTIGIOUS ARCTOWSKI MEDAL
FROM NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Raymond Roble, who has studied the sun's effect on the earth's upper atmosphere for over 25 years, has been awarded the Arctowski Medal for 1996. Roble is a senior scientist in the High Altitude Observatory (HAO) of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. The prize is given every three years by the National Academy of Sciences to recognize achievements in solar physics and solar-terrestrial relationships. Roble will receive the medal -- along with a cash prize and an award of $60,000 to be given to an institute of his choice -- at an April 29 ceremony at the NAS in Washington. He plans to use the award to promote and enhance solar-terrestrial research at NCAR.
Roble's citation from the NAS cites his "indispensable contributions to understanding the effects of variable solar inputs on the earth's atmosphere and ionosphere by powerful global modeling techniques."
Over the past two decades, Roble and his colleagues have refined and expanded a computer model that simulates the circulation, temperature, and compositional structure of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere -- the region around 80 to 500 km above the earth. They have used this thermosphere-ionosphere-electrodynamics general circula-tion model to study the response in upper atmospheric regions to variations in the radiation and plasma emitted by the sun. Roble's model has been used by more than 100 university scientists and students to study the chemistry and physics of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere and to determine their response to solar and auroral variability.
Among Roble's current activities are the linking of his model to NCAR's community climate model of the lower atmosphere and eventually to a new climate system model. The result will be a major global climate model that spans the entire atmosphere from ground level to 500 km. Roble will use the model to investigate how deeply into the atmosphere solar and auroral effects penetrate and how processes in the lower atmosphere affect the upper atmosphere and ionosphere.
A native of Michigan, Roble completed his doctorate in aeronomy (the study of the physics and chemistry of the atmosphere) at the University of Michigan in 1969. Shortly afterward he joined NCAR as a postdoctoral researcher and began work on the computer model that has become his crowning achievement. He became an NCAR senior scientist in 1978 and heads the HAO section that studies terrestrial impacts of solar output.
Roble's wide range of professional affiliations has included membership on a number of NAS panels and committees. A Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, he has written over 250 scientific papers.
Among the past recipients of the Arctowski Medal are former HAO scientist John Eddy, Thomas Donahue of the University of Michigan, William Gordon of Rice University, Francis Johnson of the University of Texas at Dallas, and Eugene Parker of the University of Chicago.
"I'm very, very pleased," says Roble on receiving the Arctowski Medal. "It is certainly an honor for me as well as for HAO, NCAR, and UCAR." NCAR is operated by the University Corporation of Atmospheric Research (UCAR) under sponsorship of the National Science Foundation.
FORTHCOMING MEETINGS
THE MONITORING OF ENVIRONMENT AND SUN-EARTH PHYSICS PROBLEMS
June 18-21, 1996, Tomsk, Russia
June 19, 1996, is the 60th Anniversary of regular experimental investigations of the ionosphere in Russia.
The first station to begin ionospheric monitoring by the vertical impulse sounding method, was opened by The Siberian Physical and Technical Institute, Tomsk State University.
On October 27, 1935, the chief of the USSR Academy of Sciences' commission on the preparation for observations related to the solar eclipse of 19 June 1936, Professor B. P. Gerasimovich, appealed to SPTI for supporting observations. He cited a suggestion by Professor M. A. Bonch - Bruyevich that ionospheric observations of the effects of the solar eclipse should be taken at Tomsk.
The first synoptic observations to produce recordings of height-frequency characteristics (HFC) of the ionosphere began at Tomsk on May 30, 1936, using equipment made at SPTI.
From 17:00 hours Universal Time (UT) on June 14 until 17:24 UT on June 24, a continuous cycle of observations connected with the solar eclipse was carried out. In this series of observations, the sounding of the ionosphere with photo-registration of HFC, which illustrates the dependence of the working height of reflection upon the frequency, was first accomplished in Russia.
The creation in 1936 of this first routinely operating ionospheric station in Tomsk was the start of the service of ionospheric observations in Russia.
The creators of the Tomsk ionospheric station were N. D. Bulatov, V. N. Kessenikh and A. I. Likhachyov. It was their pioneer work on the radiation of powerful impulses in a wide frequency range, attenuation of transmitter and receiver frequencies, as well as interpretation of iono-grammes, that led to the development of the ionospheric service(1- (1-3).
In 1936, N.D. Bulatov suggested investigation of the ionosphere with the use of a panoramic automatic station.
This way of investigating the ionosphere was appreciated as an invention and he was given an Author Certificate dated July 13, 1936 (4). The method of N. D. Bulatov made it possible to record the HFC in the frequency range 5-10 MHz in only 3 minutes. For example, the first swept frequency vertical ionospheric sounding station of the British Admiralty (5) had no synchronization of transmitter and receiver; reception time for each ionogram was increased up to 30 minutes.
For the 60 years of regular daily records the Tomsk ionospheric station has accumulated, there is no analog bank of ionospheric data for use in the solution of scientific and applied tasks within the different inter-national and Russian programmes.
In 1995, SPTI received a grant from the Russian Fund for Fundamental Investigations and the Russian Ministry of Science to purchase a "Parus" digital iono-probe. Since 7 February 1996, it has operated daily on an experimental basis. In the first half of 1996, "Parus" will be equipped with an active receiving antenna, which will make it possible to identify iono-magnetic components of received signals. "Parus" will become part of the equipment and analysis techniques used daily for high-precision measurement of the critical frequency of the ionospheric F2 layer (6).
To honor this 60th anniversary, an International Symposium, "The Monitoring of Environment and Sun-Earth Physics Problems" will be held at Tomsk (SPTI) June 18-21, 1996.
References
- N.D. Bulatov, The panoramic method of observation for ionosphere, SPTI Works, Tomsk, 1936, vol. 4, part 3.
- V.N. Kessenikh, N.D. Bulatov, A.I. Likhachyov, The Ionization of upper layers during magnetic storm at June 18-20, 1936 in Tomsk, The Works of Expeditions for the Observation of the Full Solar Eclipse at June 19, 1936. Leningrad, 1938, vol. 1.
- A.I. Likhachyov, The types of high - frequency characteristics under vertical collapse. J. Theoretical Phys., 1940, vol. 10.
- N.D. Bulatov, The way of ionosphere investigation. Author certificate of the USSR N 197780/50518. Feb. 28, 1937, classification 21.
- S.S. Chavdarov, Private talks, 1957-1968.
- L.S. Terekhov, B.B. Borisov, S.L. Sokolnikov, Yu.E. Taraschuk, The method of measurement of
ionospheric plasma layer critical frequency. Author certificate of the USSR N1493938,
classification G01 22/00. Published Jule 15, 1989, Bulletin N 26.
A.G.Kolesnic, Yu.E. Taraschuk
Siberian Physical and Technical Institute (SPTI)
Tomsk State University
1 Revolution Square, Tomsk, 634050, Russia
E-mail: root@eccpti.tomsk.su Fax: (3822) 233034
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SCOSTEP BUREAU MEETING
July 11 - 14, 1996, London, UK
In May, Joe Allen visited the home of David and Janet Rees, Walnut Tree Cottage, and the Foxbury House training and conference center. This appears to be an excellent location where we can assemble to hold meetings of the Bureau, the STEP and S-RAMP Steering Committees, and various other timely discussions of SCOSTEP business.
Nancy Alkire is mailing brochures and maps to each person who notified the Secretariat that they plan to attend. If we get new information, we'll transmit it by e-mail. If you have questions, please contactus and we'll seek the answers.
Please contact the SCOSTEP Secretariat if you do not receive the mailed information by the end of June.
We expect most participants to reside at Foxbury House where the daily rate includes room, three meals per day, morning and afternoon tea/coffee, and part of the cost of rooms and facilities used by the meetings. Cost for a 24-hour period for each participant is about $150 US during the week and $126 on weekends. Foxbury House staff will maintain two financial records for each participant. One will be the basic accommodation and meals fee for participants which will be paid by SCOSTEP. The other will be for personal expenses incurred by participants, e.g., cash bar for alcoholic drinks, telephone calls, charges for accompanying person, etc.
If a participant has their expenses covered by a source other than SCOSTEP, we can arrange for them to be billed personally for their room and meals.
Foxbury House did not accept credit cards at the time of my visit in May, but they are making arrangements to take VISA and/or Mastercard. This will be confirmed. Also, they plan to secure e-mail to support our needs. The Secretariat will carry a small fund of traveler's checks and pounds for special expenses.
Anyone taking advantage of the offer of housing from David and Janet Rees will be in their private home and provide transportation to Foxbury House each day. For these participants (and anyone staying in some other hotel or private home), Foxbury House charges a Day Rate of $46 US for week days and $42 US for weekend days. This reduced rate covers lunch, coffee/tea breaks, and meeting facility space charges. Notice, there is no accompanying person charge for persons staying with the Rees's at Walnut Tree Cottage. Janet plans to take off during the week from her work as a professional chef in order to care for these people.
Foxbury House's address is: Foxbury, Woolwich Management Training and Conference Center, Kemnal Road, Chislehurst, Kent BR7 6LY, United Kingdom.
The telephone number is: 0181-295-8001
The Fax number is: 0181-295-8002
David Rees's telephone number is: 01-689-853418
Gatwick is the nearest international airport. Participants arriving at Heathrow should take a
shuttle bus to Gatwick. We are seeking to have a car available that could drive to Gatwick to
meet arrivals there. This will require working out on an individual basis. The nearest railway
station is Chislehurst, just over a mile from Foxbury. There is a taxi rank alongside the
station or a car can easily come from Foxbury House if called.
Instructions are also available (with map) on the SCOSTEP Homepage under "Meetings" at:
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/SCOSTEP/details.html
If time is pressing, Nancy can fax detailed maps to anyone who requests them before 4 July, 1996.
We plan a group dinner one evening for participants and accompanying persons at The Bottle House Inn, a 13th century freehouse. I can confirm that this will be an excellent meal in good company.
J.H. Allen
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PROFILER WORKSHOP 97 (PWS-97)
May 12-16, 1997, Engelberg, Switzerland
Within the framework of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST-76) Action "Development of VHF/UHF Wind Profilers and Vertical Sounders for use in European Observing Systems", a workshop will be organized. It is scheduled for May 12 - 16, 1997, and will take place in Engelberg in Central Switzerland.
The topics to be treated at the Workshop are:
- Operational experience with wind profilers
- Quality control and quality evaluation
- Technical and scientific development of wind profilers
- Development in other upper-air observing systems
- User requirements
- Studies and demonstration on usefulness of wind profilers
The Call for Papers has been issued by email. If you are interested in participating at the Workshop, please contact the Organizers, giving your mailing address and they will send you the detailed 1st Circular with the Preregistration Form.
Your response as well as any correspondence in connection with the PWS-97 should be addressed
to: pws@atmos.umnw.ethz.ch
The Organizing Committee,
John Nash, UK Met Office
(Chairman of the Program Committee)
Wim Monna, KNMI, Holland (Chairman COST-76)
Jochen Dibbern, DWD, Germany
(Vice-Chairman COST-76)
Jo'l Van Baelen, CNRS-Meteo France
Hans Richner, Atmospheric Science ETH, Switzerland
(Local Organization)
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EIGHTH WORKSHOP ON TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OF MST RADAR (MST8)
The Eighth Workshop on Technical and Scientific Aspects of MST Radar (MST8) will be held in December 1997 at Bangalore, India. Detailed infromation will be published in the next Interim Intrnational STEP Newsletter.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
1996
June 14-15, SHINE Workshop, Boulder, CO. Contact: V. J. Pizzo (vpizzo@sel.noaa.gov)
June 18-21, The Monitoring of Environment and Sun-Earth Physics Problems, SPTI, Tomsk, Russia, Contact: root@eccpti.tomsk.su
July 11 and 14: SCOSTEP Bureau, London, UK. Contact for this and the following SCOSTEP meetings in the UK: J. H. Allen, SCOSTEP Secretariat (jallen@ngdc.noaa.gov) see STEP NL, November 1995
July 12 and 13 (half-day): STEP Steering Committee, London, UK
July 13 (half-day): S-RAMP Steering Committee, London, UK
July 23-27: Solar Sessions at Western Pacific Geophysics Meetings, Brisbane, Australia. Contact: C. T. Russell (ctrussell @igpp.ucla.edu)
August 1-3: AGONET Workshop, Cambridge, UK. Contact: M. J. Jarvis (m.jarvis@bas.ac.uk)
October 14-18: SOLTIP III Symposium on Solar Transient and Interplanetary Phenomena. Contact: F.-S. Wei (weifs@lnshp.cssar.ac.cn)
December 2-6: First SPARC General Assembly, Melbourne, Australia. Contact: D. Karoly (sparc96@vortex.shm.monash.edu.au)
1997
May 12-16, Profiler Workshop, Engelberg, Switzerland. Contact: (pws@atmos.umnw.ethz.ch)
August 4-15: IAGA Assembly, Uppsala, Sweden. Contact: IAGA Secretariat (iaga@irfu.se)
August 3 (tentative) SCOSTEP Bureau. Contact for this and the following SCOSTEP meetings in Uppsala: J. H. Allen, SCOSTEP Secretariat (jallen@ngdc.noaa.gov)
August 4-8: 9th STP Symposium, Uppsala, Sweden
August 4-8: IAMAS Middle Atmosphere Symposium, Uppsala, Sweden
August 9: SCOSTEP General Council, Uppsala, Sweden
S-RAMP, EATVIP, and PSMOS steering committees possibly will meet in Uppsala some time during the August 4-15 period.
August 4-14: Conference on Global Change and History of Geomagnetism, Geophysics and Aeronomy, during IAGA Scientific Assembly, Uppsala, Sweden. Contact: Dr. Wilfried Schroder, Geophysical Station, Hechelstrasse 8, D-2877 Bremen-Roennebeck, Germany.
December: Eighth Workshop on Technical and Scientific Aspects of MST Radar (MST8), Bangalore, India.