International STEP Newsletter


VOL. 3, NO. 2 JUNE 1997



CONTENTS



Published by the SCOSTEP Secretariat with the assistance of WDC-A for STP

ORGANIZATION PERSONNEL
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC UNIONS (ICSU)
President: W. Arber
Secretary General: H. A. Mooney
Executive Director: Julia Marton-Lefèvre
ICSU Secretariat, icsu@lmcp.jussieu.fr

SCOSTEP SECRETARIAT
J. H. Allen, Scientific Secretary, C. M. Hanchett, Program Assistant
c/o NOAA/NGDC, 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80303
Telephone (1 303) 497-7284, Fax (1 303) 497-6513, email: jallen@ngdc.noaa.gov

SCOSTEP BUREAU
President: C.-H. Liu, T341426@twncu865.ncu.edu.tw
Vice President: H. Oya, oya@stpp.geophys.tohoku.ac.jp
Scientific Secretary: J. H. Allen, jallen@ngdc.noaa.gov
S. Grzedzielski, cospar@paris7.jussieu.fr
A. P. Mitra, apm@sirnetd.ernet.in or apmitra@doe.ernet.in
M. J. Rycroft, rycroft@isu.isunet.edu
B. Schmieder, schmieder@mesiob.obspm.fr
O. L. Vaisberg, olegv@iki.rssi.ru
R. A. Vincent, rvincent@physics.adelaide.edu.au

STEP INTERNATIONAL COORDINATOR
J. G. Roederer, jgr@geewiz.gi.alaska.edu

STEP STEERING COMMITTEE
Chairman: G. Rostoker, rostoker@space.ualberta.ca
M.-L. Chanin, marie-lise.chanin@aerov.jussieu.fr
K. D. Cole, cole@mite.gsfc.nasa.gov
M. A. Geller, mgeller@ccmail.sunysb.edu
L. L. Hood, lon@lpl.arizona.edu
S. Kato, Fax (81 775) 33 40 13
K. Labitzke, labitzke@strat01.met.fu-berlin.de
H. Matsumoto, matsumot@kurasc.kyoto-u.ac.jp
A. Nishida, nishida@gtl.isas.ac.jp
H. Oya, oya@stpp.geophys.tohoku.ac.jp
M. Pick, pick@mesiob.obspm.fr
D. Rees, walnut1@easynet.co.uk
M. A. Shea, shea@plh.af.mil
P. C. Simon, pauls@aero.oma.be
O. L. Vaisberg, olegv@iki.rssi.ru
S. T. Wu, wus@csparc.uah.edu

S-RAMP STEERING COMMITTEE
Interim Chairman: D. N. Baker, baker@orion.colorado.edu
S. Basu, sbasu@nsf.gov
B. J. Fraser, phbjf@cc.newcastle.edu.au
E. Friis-Christensen, efc@dmi.min.dk
Y. Kamide, kamide@stelab.nagoya-u.ac.jp
A. H. Manson, manson@skisas.usask.ca
H. Matsumoto, matsumot@kurasc.kyoto-u.ac.jp
G. Ya. Smolkov, smolkov@sitmis.irkutsk.su

NEWSLETTER POLICY ON PUBLISHING INFORMATION
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 main program, STEP. In general, we do not have time or opportunity to review whole works, but will rely on the involvement of contributors with STEP and related research or monitoring of STP phenomena. Probably, it will be best if contributions from STEP Working Groups are sent through the organizers of Projects or the Co-Chairs of WGs. At the least, they should receive a copy of the materials. (see file "publ9601.doc" in SCOSTEP/NEWSLETT.)


OPPORTUNITIES


URGENT: PROPOSALS DUE JULY 1 FOR
NSF POWRE PROGRAM

POWRE - Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education (NSF 97-91.)

The NSF POWRE program addresses the need to develop full use of the nation's human resources for science and engineering. The objectives of the program are as follows:

  1. To provide opportunities for further career advancement, professional growth, as well as increase prominence of women in engineering and in the disciplines of science supported by NSF.
  2. To encourage more women to pursue careers in science and engineering by providing greater visibility for women scientists and engineers in academic institutions and in industry.

Proposals to the Office of Polar Programs (OPP) for the following categories of activities will be supported:

  1. Visiting Professor (VP) - $150,000 maximum/18 month maximum
  2. Visiting Researcher (VR) - $150,000 maximum/18 month maximum
  3. Research/Educational Enhancements (REE) - $75,000 maximum/18 month maximum
Supplements to existing grants will also be considered - $50,000 maximum/12 month maximum.

Please consult the POWRE program announcement on the WWW go to the NSF Home Page (http://www.nsf.gov). Click on Crosscutting Programs and under Program Information click on the second listing which is the POWRE program announcement (NSF 97-91.)

If you have any questions about the POWRE program please speak to your disciplinary program manager or contact Julie Palais who is the OPP representative to the NSF-wide POWRE Coordinating Committee (PCC.) Julie M. Palais, Antarctic Glaciology Program, Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va. 22230 Phone: (703)-306-1033; Fax: (703)-306-0139
e-mail: jpalais@nsf.gov
Odile de la Beaujardiere
(odelabe@nsf.gov)

INVITATION FOR INCREASED COMMUNICATION WITH IGBP

Prof. P. S. Liss, Chairman, Scientific Committee IGBP, has written to Presidents and Scientific Secretaries of ICSU bodies to invite increased productive communications between IGBP scientists and those in the rest of the extended ICSU family. He expresses the desire that these interactions should minimize extra work and bureaucracy.

The three main relationships between IGBP and other ICSU bodies described by Prof. Liss are:

  1. Invitations are extended to interested persons to attend meetings of the IGBP Scientific Advisory Council (SAC) which meets about every two years. (Juan Roederer and perhaps others have attended these meetings on behalf of SCOSTEP in past years.) The next IGBP SAC will be in Nairobi during the first week in December 1997.
  2. The IUPAC has appointed an individual to have liaison status on the IGAC (International Global Atmospheric Chemistry Programme) Scientific Steering Committee (SSC.)
  3. With IAMAS (of IUGG), they have jointly identified persons already on relevant IGBP SSCs who can act as liaisons to relevant IAMAS activities.

A fourth potential mode of interaction where ICSU unions nominate an IGBP point of contact has not been very productive of results. Prof. Liss invites personal responses and future participation at SAC-V from interested representatives.

Note: Either this letter was prepared before the IGBP-DIS/Panel on WDCs Workshop in Boulder, CO during the first week of April, or it does not speak to interactions between the DIS side of IGBP and other ICSU bodies.
JHA

INVITATION TO BECOME INVOLVED IN
"WHOLE SUN MONTH" ANALYSIS

We would like to invite interested members of the solar physics and heliospheric communities to become involved with the on-going analysis of a coordinated set of observations taken during the "Whole Sun Month" (WSM) campaign, August 10 - September 8, 1996. This campaign involved many ground and space-based instruments (including most of those on board the SOHO satellite), and was coordinated with the IACG Campaign IV. The goal of the campaign was to gather and model coronal observations of the large-scale, stable solar minimum corona, and to link these observations to in situ observations of the solar wind. Details of the observations taken during the campaign are available at the WSM home page, http://serts.gsfc. nasa.gov/whole_sun. Also available at this site are the results of the first WSM workshop, held February 10 - 11, 1997, at which specific modeling efforts were proposed.

The WSM observations and preliminary results of the modeling will be presented at the Spring AGU meeting in Baltimore, MD, (May 27-30) and at the 5th SOHO workshop in Oslo, Norway (June 17-20). Abstracts for work to be presented at the AGU can be viewed from the WSM web-site. The data that have been gathered are excellent and compre-hensive, and we would like to encourage anyone who wishes to become involved with the modeling of these data to send mail to gibson@serts.gsfc.nasa.gov in order to be added to the WSM mailing list. We will be having short meetings at both the Spring AGU and the SOHO workshop to discuss and coordinate the modeling working groups. Moreover, we plan a second WSM workshop in September 1997, in order to focus the work into a coordinated publication.
Douglas Biesecker
Sarah Gibson
gibson@serts.gsfc.nasa.gov

SACRAMENTO PEAK CORONAL DATA AVAILABLE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB

The Geophysics Directorate of the USAF Phillips Laboratory and the National Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak announce the availability of GIF and PostScript files of several Sacramento Peak solar coronal data products, which are published in Solar Geophysical Data monthly, over the World Wide Web. These files may be accessed at http://www.sunspot.noao.edu/CORONA/index.html.

In addition to a description of the data, images will be found of
(i) current Carrington synoptic maps of Fe XIV 530.3 nm and Fe X 637.4 nm (and, when solar activity picks up, Ca XV 569.4 nm),
(ii) a line plot of the current daily intensities in Fe XIV, Fe X and Ca XV at 1.15 solar radii,
(iii) a "full-disk" synoptic plot of the Fe XIV (and eventually Ca XV) corona as it would appear projected against the solar disk currently and forecast two weeks into the future, and
(iv) multi-height images of the Fe XIV and Fe X corona as currently seen above the limb. The availability of each of these products on any given day, is, of course, dependent on observing conditions. Comments and/or questions are welcomed. Dick Altrock
altrock@sunspot.noao.edu.

REAL-TIME IONOSPHERIC TOTAL ELECTRON CONTENT AVAILABLE ONLINE

Real-time regional maps of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) are now available at http://sideshow.jpl.nasa.gov:80/gpsiono.

The online TEC maps are produced at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for each 5-minute interval, using dual-frequency radio observables of the Global Positioning System (GPS) collected from a number of ground-based stations. The maps provide the snapshots of TEC over the entire continental USA and adjacent regions. The maps on the Web site are updated every 15 minutes, and the latest 60 maps (5 hours) are kept online.
Xiaoqing Pi
xqp@cobra.jpl.nasa.gov

SUN-EARTH CONNECTIONS ROADMAP -- ONLY FROM NASA
(Review of a recent NASA publication.)

In March 1997 the Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Research (CSTR) and Committee on Solar & Space Physics (CSSP) met at the US National Academy of Sciences. The principal NASA liaison to these Committees was Dr. George Withbroe. His presentation about future STP satellite programs of NASA would have been excellent to share at a SCOSTEP meeting.

During his talk, copies were distributed of the new publication "SUN-EARTH CONNECTION ROADMAP: Strategic Planning for the Years 2000-2020." This impressive 100-page color document is the result of the Sun-Earth Connection Roadmap Integration Team, Chaired by J. L. Burch and R. Vondrak. Their team was assisted by the Sun-Earth Connections Advisory Subcommittee (SECAS), Chaired by G. Mason. Many people across the space physics community helped in developing materials, providing input, and critiquing the "Roadmap."

The cover of this roadmap shows a large active Sun as imaged in X-rays by YOHKOH, a smaller Earth as imaged by a geostationary meteorological satellite, and inset panels depicting major themes: The Plasma Universe; Comparative Environments (planetary); Magnetospheres; Humans in Space; Satellite Operations; Power and Communications; and Climate Change. It also displays a sub-text: "Tracing the flow of energy and matter from the Sun and determining its effects on the solar system and on society."

The introduction includes a particularly effective figure showing the Sun as imaged by YOHKOH in progression from years of highest activity to the present almost inactive Sun. The figures are arranged in a superposed "U"-shaped collage that should convey the impression of the variable solar cycle very effectively, even to non-scientific administrators. Another figure reproduces pages from the newspapers "Washington Post" and "USA Today." They describe the eruptive CME tracked from its beginning on 7 January 1997, until arrival of the plasma cloud at Earth on 10 January. It was during the geoeffective period associated with the arrival of this cloud that the AT&T communications satellite TELSTAR-401 failed in orbit. Days before, the relatively new NOAA meteorological satellite GOES-8 failed and was only restored to operation by switching to a backup power supply to operate the Automatic Onboard Pointing Control (AOPC.)

I was particularly impressed to see so current an item integrated into a timely printed report that could be distributed to US NAS committees within a few weeks after the events.

Sun-Earth Connections is one of four major themes around which the Space Science Division is organized. Each theme area has a Science Director; together, they are:

  1. Structure & Evolution of the Universe (Alan Brunner);
  2. Exploration of the Solar System (Juergen Rahe);
  3. Sun-Earth Connection (George Withbroe); and
  4. Astronomical Search for Origins & Planetary Systems (Edward Weiler) (Edward Weiler)
    A fifth theme cutting across all four thematic areas has been identified, but does not yet have a director. It is: Origin & Distribution of Life in the Universe.

Three "Quests", each having several "Science Themes", comprise the elements of the Sun-Earth Connection program area; they are:

  1. How & Why Does the Sun Vary?
  2. How Do the Earth & Planets Respond?
  3. What Are the Implications for Humanity?
Each Quest science theme is to be elucidated by seeking answers to questions explained in the "Roadmap." Future satellite missions are described in some detail. It is great reading and impressive coffee table material to have around the house or office.
JHA

SPACE WEATHER MEDIA BLITZ:
LESSONS LEARNED

On 1997 April 7 a solar flare occurred with an associated coronal mass ejection and a "coronal Moreton wave." These phenomena were seen in new and spectacular ways by instruments aboard the NASA/ESA SOHO spacecraft. NASA, ESA, and NRL scientists queried by the media were excited, and their excitement about the new observations led to media reports that a massive ejection had left the Sun (true), it would hit the Earth (highly probable), at a certain time (wrong), and cause damage and outages to technical systems (highly unlikely.) Meantime, NOAA's Space Environment Center (SEC), utilizing primarily the same types of data with which we have become familiar over the last several solar cycles, regarded the flare (C6 in soft x-rays and 3N in H-alpha) to be ordinary, the coronal mass ejection to be the expected garden variety, time of transit to Earth through slow solar wind to be long, and the terrestrial effects likely to be unremarkable.

The unprecedented media saturation and attention given to this event, and the "NASA predictions" (which NASA scientists did not make) appearing as an official government warning, caused many systems operators to be severely shaken. As one example, NOAA's Space Environment Center had a call asking if 747s scheduled to fly across the Atlantic should be kept on the ground at the predicted time of arrival of the storm.

It is perhaps useful to let the community know some of what we learned from this event:

  1. Space weather has come to people's attention with the loss of the AT&T Telstar 401 satellite in January, and this seemed a reprise of that event, but with greater media play. The public noticed space weather reports.
  2. The media did not listen to the qualifiers that NASA interviewees attempted to put into their interviews. "This is the first time we have flown a telescope capable of seeing the phenomenon" got changed to "We have never seen anything like this before", allowing the inference that this would be the biggest event of all time.
  3. ISTP, including SOHO, and NOAA will have procedures in place for the next event to coordinate information to the media. Also, media folks excited by NASA reports about solar events will be encouraged to confer with NOAA/SEC if the story involves likely terrestrial effects. If you have media interviewers, we suggest you encourage them to consult the Space Environment Center Home Page (A HREF="http://www.sec.noaa.gov">www.sec.noaa.gov) for its assessment. Incidentally this site took 142,000 hits on April 9, and includes verification statistics on how skillful are the Center's predictions. Both the NOAA and NASA public affairs officers will be engaged from the beginning of the media interest in future events.
  4. Some portions of the media have expressed embarrassment at the degree to which they inflated the story and missed the point that these were spectacular observations, because there were new sensors in orbit to see an ordinary event in new ways. There is some hope that educational efforts currently underway with the media will result in maintaining the increased sensitivity to solar-terrestrial observations and events, while ensuring more balanced and correct reporting next time.
    Ernest Hildner , Director, SEC (ehildner@sec.noaa.gov)
    Art Poland, Project Scientist, SOHO
    Nicola Fox, ISTP


    SCOSTEP DIRECTORY CHANGES


    Dr. B. N. Andersen, (new addition) Norwegian Space Centre, P.O. Box 113 Skoyen, N-0212, Oslo, Norway, Tel: 47 22 51 18 00, Fax: 47 22 51 18 01, e-mail: bo@admin.nsc.no
    Prof. S. W. H. Cowley, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Leicester University, Leicester LEl 7RH, United Kingdom, E-mail: swhcl@ion.le.ac.uk Tel: 44-116-223-1331, Fax: 44-116-252-3555.
    Claus Frohlich: cfrohlich@obsun.pmodwrc.ch.
    Dr. J. Pap: pap@astro.ucla.edu.
    Dr. A. Prigancova: Fax #(42 7) 37 52 78, geofpria@savba.sk.
    Dr. J. Sykora: sykora@ta3.savba.sk.
    Dr. M. A. Van Zele: avanzele@tango.gl.fcen.uba.ar.


    FORTHCOMING MEETINGS


    WISE TO BOOK IAGA/SCOSTEP/STEP/
    S-RAMP/UPPSALA FLIGHTS NOW

    Uppsala, Sweden, 3-15 August 1997
    For those traveling to the IAGA/SCOSTEP meetings in Uppsala in August, please be aware that newspapers have reported that this summer is going to be a heavier than usual season for trans-Atlantic travel and that popular dates are already fully booked. Members of our group have confirmed this when they tried to book their flights. Thus, it is wise to book your flight very soon and on the day of flight arrive at the airport well ahead of departure so that you are not one of those who are bumped.
    Chris Russell
    (
    ctrussell@igpp.ucla.edu)

    SUPPORT FOR TELEMATICS APPLICATIONS COOPERATION
    WITH THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES
    (STACCIS) WORKSHOP
    Moscow, Russia, 2-6 October 1997
    and
    EAST-WEST CONSENSUS WORKSHOP
    Moscow, Russia, 7-8 October 1997

    The major STACCIS demonstration of western telematic application products will take place October 2-6, 1997, in Moscow. It will be followed by an East-West Consensus Workshop on the topic, October 7-8, 1997.

    Both events will have important environmental components. Therefore, WDCs are encouraged to join the demonstration and the Workshop to present their products to potential CIS countries.

    For additional information, please contact Alexei Gvishiani atgvi@wdcb.rssi.ru.

    STACCIS aims to strengthen cooperation in telematics applications in the areas of education, scientific and technological research, and environmental decision-making between the European countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and their counterparts in the European Union. The objectives of the project are:

    1. Present key results of the Telematics Application Program to potential telematics users, developers and vendors in the European CIS countries;
    2. Form a circle of educated telematics network users from the scientific, educational and environmental communities;
    3. Assist the seven European CIS countries to establish national telematics applications information services and user training programs;
    4. Formulate a strategy for East-West cooperation in the develoopment, exchange and use of telematics applications, taking into accout market conditions and opportunities in the European CIS countries; and
    5. Provide reliable data to interested parties in both European CIS and EU countries on the opportunities and developments in the CIS countries concerning telematics applications.

    Anne Linn
    Secretary, ICSU Panel on World Data Centers

    WORKSHOP ON SPACE RADIATION ENVIRONMENT MODELING:
    NEW PHENOMENA AND APPROACHES
    Moscow, Russia, October 7-9, 1997

    (Editor's note: Detailed information on the workshop is available on WWW at http://www.npi.msu.su/workshop/. Also see International STEP Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 1, March 1997.)

    The Workshop will be hosted by the Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics of Moscow State University under the auspices of Moscow State University, Russian Academy of Sciences and Russian Space Agency.

    Congeners for the Workshop are: M. Panasyuk (Russia); J. Lemaire (Belgium); and D. Baker (USA)

    Important Dates:
    May 19, 1997: Abstract Deadline
    June 19, 1997: Notification of acceptance of paper. Third announcement. Preliminary program.
    August 1, 1997: Visa Form Deadline (for non-Russian citizens)
    September 1, 1997: Accommodation Form Deadline
    October 7-9, 1997: Workshop
    December, 1997: Refereeing of the manuscripts
    February, 1998: Proceedings: Selected papers to be published

    Local Organizing Committee Address:
    Office #302, Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics,
    Moscow State University, Moscow, 119899, Russia
    Telephone: (7-095) 939-5034; Fax: (7-095) 939-5034
    Email: colloq@srdlan.npi.msu.su
    WWW: http://www.npi.msu.su/workshop

    Scientific Program:
    -Physical Radiation Belt Modeling
    -Empirical Radiation Belt Modeling
    -Galactic and Solar Cosmic Rays Modeling
    -Radiation Environment Impact on Spacecraft
    -Magnetospheric Magnetic Field Modeling

    Registration:
    The registration fee for participants is 300 USD: for accompanying persons 80 USD. The only method of payment we can accept is cash (USD) (at the time of registration.)
    Jim Adams
    (adams@crs2.nrl.navy.mil)

    FOURTH INTERNATIONAL
    CONFERENCE ON SUBSTORMS
    Lake Hamana, Japan, March 9 - 13, 1998

    (This Conference was first announced in the December 1996 issue of International STEP Newsletter. Additional information is given below.)

    The Fourth International Conference on Substorms, ICS-4 or ICS-Japan, will be held at Lake Hamana (Hamanako), Japan, from March 9 to 13, 1998. The purpose of this conference series is to provide a forum for focused discussion of all facets of magnetospheric substorms, from reviewing outstanding problems in solar wind/magnetosphere interactions to modeling magnetospheric/ionospheric processes associated with sub-storms. The Conference will take place at the Hamanako Royal Hotel (tel. +81-53-592-2222, fax +81-53-592-5522), where most of the attendants will stay, visiting the beautiful gardens and historic sites in the region and enjoying gourmet meals (all you can eat at every meal!), swimming, and boating.

    Lake Hamana is one of the premiere resort areas of Japan, easily accessible from the Narita, Nagoya, or Kansai (Osaka) international airport. If you travel from Tokyo to Kyoto by Shinkansen (bullet train), you will see Lake Hamana on the right-hand side and the Pacific Ocean on the left-hand side six minutes after Hamamatsu and seven minutes before Toyohashi. Few people are aware that Nagoya Airport is served by a number of major airlines including BA, CP, DL, LH, and NW with direct service from the US and several European countries.

    Abstract Deadline : December 1, 1997 The abstract format will be announced at a later date.

    Registration : The registration fee for the conference is 25,000 yen, if payment is made before January 15, 1998. After that date the late registration fee is 30,000 yen. The spouse/guest fee is 10,000 yen.

    Hotel Reservation Deadline : January 15, 1998

    We will use e-mail as appropriate to keep you informed of, for example, abstract submissions, hotel accommodations, the preliminary program, paper submissions for the proceedings, schedules of fun events, and weather conditions. We are currently using the e-mail list the ICS-3 organizing committee constructed. If your name is not on that list but you are interested in receiving further information on this Conference, please send a simple message along with your e-mail account to: ics4@stelab.nagoya-u.ac.jp.

    ICS-4 relevant information is also available on the Web at: http://www.stelab.nagoya-u.ac.jp/omosaic/conf/ics4.html

    Conveners: S. Kokubun and Y. Kamide
    Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory (STEL)
    Nagoya University

    INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ELECTROMAGNETIC THEORY
    Thessaloniki, Greece, 25-29 May 1998

    The International Symposium on Electromagnetic Theory will be organized by URSI Commission B (Fields and Waves.) Online information is available through the Commission B web site at: http://www.ursicommb.eng.clemson.edu. A limited number of URSI Young Scientists awards are available.

    Papers on all aspects of electromagnetics are within the purview of the Symposium. Synopses are due by no later than 26 September 1997. Submit synopses electronically or on paper to the Chairman of the Symposium, Prof. C. M. Butler, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, 102 Riggs Hall, Box 340915, Clemson University, Clemson, SC. Telephone: 864-656-5922; Fax: 864-656-7220; email: cbutler@eng.clemson.edu.

    Local arrangement and venue questions should be directed to: Prof. E. E. Kriezis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR-54006, Thessaloniki, GREECE. Telephone: +3031)996311; FAX: +3031)996312; e-mail: kriezis@eng.auth.gr.

    Anyone wishing details about preparation and submission of synopses is invited to contact Prof. Butler.

    SPECIAL SESSION ON SPACE WEATHER:
    1998 WESTERN PACIFIC GEOPHYSICAL MEETING
    Taipei, Taiwan, July 21-24, 1998

    This special session provides an international forum on scientific research and program development associated with space weather, and its modeling and forecasting.

    Space weather and its impact on space and ground technology systems and humans in space has drawn increasing attention in recent years. Countries and regions in the Western Pacific have started developing their own space weather programs. The scientific exploration and knowledge accumulated in the past decades have laid the foundation for such programs and provided them with building blocks. A new generation of space and ground-based monitoring systems is increasing our capability to provide real-time descriptions of the conditions on the sun, in the interplanetary space, magnetosphere and ionosphere, and on the ground. Rapidly advancing computing and communication technologies are reducing the time for data collection and model calculation, leading to timely meaningful nowcasting and forecasting.

    With the strong support and involvement of our scientific community, several proto-type space weather nowcasting and forecasting models have emerged or are being constructed. The scientific soundness and validity and further physical understanding of these models are of great interest to our scientific community. This special session will provide an opportunity for us to share our knowledge, experience, excitement and frustration, to debate the issues that concern us, and to assess the progress we have made. The session will feature a suite of invited talks as well as contributions on the Space Weather Programs of each Country/region, User and Forecaster's Perspectives, Backbone Global Models, Upstream Modeling and Forecasts, Boundary Layer and Cusp Modeling and Forecasts, Ring Current and Energetic Particle Modeling and Forecasts, Storm and Substorm Modeling and Forecasts, and Ionosphere and Upper Atmosphere Modeling and Forecasts.

    Deadline for Abstracts is April 1, 1998. Information about the 1998 Western Pacific Geophysical Meeting and Taiwan can be found on the WWW (http://www.agu.org.)

    Convener:
    Paul Song, Space Physics Research Laboratory
    The University of Michigan, 2455 Hayward Street
    Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2143
    psong@engin.umich.edu
    313-764-8327(o) 313-647-3083(f)

    Co-Conveners:
    Robert Carovillano (NASA Headquarters, USA) email:rcarovil@hq.nasa.gov
    Jerry Chao (National Central U., Taiwan) email:jkchao@jupiter.ss.ncu.edu.tw
    Ron Lepping (Goddard Space Flight Center, USA) email:u5rpl@lepvax.span.nasa.gov
    Janet Luhmann (UC Berkeley, USA) email:jgluhman@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu
    Hiro Nishida (ISAS, Japan) email:nishida@newslan.isas.ac.jp


    CALENDAR OF EVENTS
    1997


    1997

    June 23-27: Eighth EISCAT International Workshop, Leicester, UK. Contact: K. Bowers (kathleen@ion.le.ac.uk)
    July 13-18: North American URSI Meeting, Session G2: Modeling of Thermospheric-Ionospheric Feedbacks, Montreal, Canada. Contact: C. G. Fesen (fesen@tides.utdallas.edu)
    July 31 & August 2, SCOSTEP Bureau. Contact for this and the following SCOSTEP meetings and STP Symposium in Uppsala: J. H. Allen, SCOSTEP Secretariat (jallen@ngdc.noaa.gov)
    August 3: S-RAMP Steering Committee, Uppsala, Sweden August 4-5: IAGA Session 2.12/3.11/4.06/5.06: Space Weather Models, near Real-Time Monitoring and Pre-dictions, Uppsala, Sweden. Contact: T. Pulkkinen (tuija@kitron.colorado.edu)
    August 4-8: Ninth STP Symposium, Uppsala, Sweden
    August 4-8: IAMAS Middle Atmosphere Symposium, Uppsala, Sweden
    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.
    August 4-15: IAGA Assembly, Uppsala, Sweden. Contact: IAGA Secretariat (iaga@irfu.se)
    August 9: SCOSTEP Bureau Meeting.
    August 9: IAGA Symposium 4.05: Foreshock, Bow Shock and Magnetosheath: The Multi-Spacecraft Perspective, Uppsala, Sweden. Contact: S. J. Schwartz (s.j.schwartz@qmw.ac.uk)
    August 9: IAGA Session 3.07: Generation and Propagation of ULF Waves, Uppsala, Sweden. Contact: A. A. Chan (anthony-chan@rice.edu)
    August 10: SCOSTEP General Council, Uppsala, Sweden.
    August 11: IAGA Division IV Working Group IV.2 Meeting Turbulence and Shock Waves in the Heliosphere., Uppsala, Sweden. Contact: I. S. Veselovsky (veselov@dec1.npi.msu.su)
    August 11-15: ICMA, Uppsala, Sweden
    August 12: IAGA Session 3.10 Physics and Microphysics of the Discrete Aurora, Uppsala, Sweden. Contact: S. Derr (sarah@space.ualberta.ca)
    August 14-15: IAGA Symposium 2.10/3.01/411 Planetary Magnetospheres, Ionospheres, and Atmospheres, Uppsala, Sweden. Contact: A. F. Nagy (anagy@umich.edu)
    August 14-15: IAGA Session 7.02 Geomagnetism and Aeronomy in Developing Countries, Uppsala, Sweden. Contact: L. M. Barreto (barreto@obsn.on.br)
    August 15: IAGA Session 4.03: From Pick-up Ions to Energetic Particles: The Acceleration of Anomalous Cosmic Rays, Uppsala, Sweden. Contact: A. C. Cummings (ace@citsrl.srl.caltech.edu)
    August 18-22: IAGA/ICMA Workshop on Solar Activity Effects on the Middle Atmosphere, Prague, Czech Republic. Contact: J. Lastovicka (jla@ufa.cas.cz)
    October 2-6: Support for Telematics Applications Cooperation with the Commonwealth of Independent States (STACCIS) Workshop, Moscow, Russia. Contact: Alexei Gvishiani (atgvi@wdcb.rssi.ru)
    October 7-8: East-West Consensus Workshop, Moscow, Russia. Contact: Alexei Gvishiani (atgvi@wdcb.rssi.ru)
    October 7-9: Workshop on Space Radiation Environment Modeling: New Phenomena and Approaches. Contact: M. Panasyuk (panasyuk@srdlan.npi.msu.su)
    December 10-13: School on Atmospheric Radar (SAR), Bangalore, India. Contact: S. C. Chakravarty (scc@isro.ernet.in)
    December 15-20: Eighth Workshop on Technical and Scientific Aspects of MST Radar (MST8), Bangalore, India. Contact: S. C. Chakravarty (scc@isro.ernet.in)

    1998

    March 9-13: Fourth International Conference on Substorms, Lake Hamana, Japan. Contact: S. Kokubun (kokubun@stelab.nagoya-u.ac.jp)
    May 25-29: International Symposium on Electromagnetic Theory, Thessaloniki, Greece. Contact: C. M. Butler cbutler@eng.clemson.edu.
    July 21-24: Special Session on Space Weather: 1998 Western Pacific Geophysical Meeting, Taipei, Taiwan. Contact: psong@engin.umich.edu.