The SCOSTEP Bureau announces the opportunity for interested persons to apply for a supplemental grant of up to $40K. Using budget reserves accumulated over the STEP period, the Bureau identified funds for two years (1995 and 1996) that were to be used to support programs or projects that would supplement regular STEP projects. Last year the application process was based on limiting grants to no more than $10K in 1995. However, the Bureau decided that a different policy should be followed for 1996 applications. Terms of the grant(s), method of application, and procedure for proposal review are given below. Applicants are asked, where possible, to use electronic means for submitting proposals. Signed original copies may follow separately by regular mail. Distribution of funds to successful applicants should take place after the Bureau meets in London, UK, during 11-14 July 1996. A report about the use of the grant will be expected for the following Bureau meeting at Uppsala, Sweden, in August 1997.

In general, supplemental STEP research projects proposed to the Bureau for 1995 were not strong on connecting efforts from different disciplines spanning a significant part of STEP. Rather, most were directed to supplementing specific desirable, but not necessarily broad, research or monitoring projects. While such projects can be very important, the Bureau wishes the Secretariat to emphasize that the idea behind the supplemental grants was to provide funding to achieve a better cross-discipline result across the separate areas represented by the STEP Working Groups. This added support could go toward the cost of a new program of observation, toward data processing and analysis, for modeling, or for holding a workshop spanning multiple disciplines.

Proposals for supplemental 1996 STEP funding should:

(1) Be interdisciplinary -- The proposed project or workshop should link or support science being done within at least two STEP Working Groups. For example, a project might involve relating conditions in the inter-planetary medium (WG 2) and neutral winds at 80 km altitude (WG 3) either through enhancing the ability to carry out the research or through organizing a workshop which facilitates such research or focuses on integrating disparate results already obtained.

(2) Involve international participation -- Proposed projects should not be limited to an observational program of one country or limited region, but should clearly involve international participation.

(3) Have a well-defined, achievable objective that can be reached within a relatively short time (e.g., within 2 years or less from receipt of the grant.)

(4) Have a budget that does not exceed $40K for the SCOSTEP-funded part. Note that in 1995 the Bureau distributed grants totaling $40K to seven of the 18 proposals received. Based on evaluation of proposals received in 1996, the Bureau may award $40K to one proposed project or distribute lesser amounts to several projects.

Proposals to the BUREAU for these grants should be submitted to the SCOSTEP Secretariat. They should be no more than 6 pages in length and must clearly state and describe the scientific objectives or the expected results from the project. Proposals should be received no later than 1 May 1996. The Secretariat will copy and send all proposals, as received, to the Vincent subcommittee which will coordinate their evaluation. Copies also will be provided to the Bureau and to members of the STEP Steering Committee for their assistance in the evaluation. A decision about award of the grant or grants will be made by the Bureau during its next meeting in July 1996.

Proposals for projects to be considered for this grant opportunity should be directed to the Secretariat at: Internet address jallen@ngdc.noaa.gov and originals may be mailed to: Mr. J. H. Allen, Scientific Secretary, SCOSTEP, c/o NOAA/NGDC, E/GC2, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303, USA. Telephone inquiries may be directed to: Phone 1-303-497-7284, or Fax 1-303-497-6513.

The deadline of 1 May 1996 for receipt of all proposals will allow as much time in 1996 as was available to proposers in 1995. Please follow the page limits (see above) even though the potential grant size for this year is larger than in 1995.

Gordon Rostoker

STEP Steering Committee Chairman

Joe Allen

SCOSTEP Scientific Secretary

POLAR/Ground-Based Coordination

The POLAR spacecraft has undergone a series of launch delays due to the Delta queue, but is now scheduled for launch February 22-28, 1996. Full operations are expected to commence approximately one month after launch. General information concerning the POLAR spacecraft and the instruments can be found at URL http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/ISTP/polar.html.

An important part of the spacecraft operations will be coordination with ground-based facilities. The purposes of this message are to identify the groups and facilities who are interested in collaborating with POLAR and to solicit comments and suggestions concerning how this coordination can be implemented. There are a number of major campaigns such as the Inter-Agency Consultative Group campaigns and the International Auroral Study which involve intense coordination between multiple space-based and ground-based facilities within fixed and brief periods of time. With this message we are endeavoring to address the potential for more routine and continuous collaborative efforts involving, in a given instance, POLAR, WIND and perhaps a small number of ground stations. We hope and expect that situations will arise in which the POLAR spacecraft will be configured to support ground-based observations in addition to the reverse process.

A number of planning procedures are in place for the POLAR spacecraft and are administered by the Science Planning and Operations Facility (SPOF) at GSFC. First, a broad-based, Long-Term Science Plan is developed by the Science Working Team, which defines the planning procedures and contains basic information about spacecraft operations and collaborative operations. Within the context of this plan is a Three-Month Operations Plan that provides specific orbital information and plots for operations planning, collects Priority Science Operations Topics to be integrated into a master operations plan, and produces Weekly Science Operations Plans as the end product. (Samples of these plots will soon be available through the SPOF homepage at URL http://www-spof/orbits.) The submission of a Priority Science Operations Topic is the primary mode by which any ISTP-associated scientist can request special coordinated operations and specific instrument data acquisition modes. We would like to have the collaborative efforts with ground-based observations included in the Three-Month Operations Plan so that they can be incorporated into the Weekly Science Operations Plan.

The development of the POLAR Weekly Science Operations Plan begins approximately one month prior to an operations interval. Accurate ephemeris data will become available at T-28 days when a series of standard orbit plots and magnetospheric region occupancy reports will be generated by the SPOF for the operations period T to T+7 days. The plots will include displays of POLAR's magnetic footprint with respect to various regions of conjunction for ground stations. At T-21 days a draft despun platform pointing plan will be distributed, which will be iterated over the following week and then frozen. During the following week, instrument modes will be submitted by the instrumenters for all the POLAR instruments and iterated. While we will attempt to freeze all instrument modes at day T-7, instruments not on the despun platform will be able to modify their activities up to day T-4.

Key-Parameter data from the POLAR spacecraft, other spacecraft and certain ground-based facilities which are presently associated with the Global Geospace Science (GGS) mission (CANOPUS, SuperDARN, SESAME and Sondrestrom) are presently available through the Central Data Handling Facility (CDHF) at GSFC shortly after data acquisition. The opportunity will exist for other collaborating ground-based observers to provide data to the CDHF for on-line and CD-ROM distribution. In any event, collaborating ground-based observers will be entitled to access the data contained in the CDHF.

In order to set up and implement the collaborative programs, we would like to solicit certain information from the ground-based community for inclusion in the Long-Term Science Plan:

• Name, affiliation and present association with the ISTP/GGS program (if any);

• A brief description of the science topics which may be addressed and an identification of which POLAR instrumenters may be involved;

• A contact person for the operations of the ground-based facility together with a brief description of the schedule constraints; and

• A description of what constitutes a "conjunction" between POLAR and the ground-based facility (such conjunctions will be computed on a routine basis by the SPOF and will be available for general distribution.)

It is our intent to include the responses we receive on the above issues in the POLAR World Wide Web pages. To those responding, we will provide information regarding the submission of Priority Science Operations Topics.

This message has been sent to the POLAR Principal Investigators and a large number of ground-based observers, but we would appreciate your assistance in forwarding it to other observers who may be interested in collaborating with POLAR. Please address your responses to the above issues to Michael Teague by email: teague@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov or by telephone (1 301) 286-4232, or Fax: (1 301) 286-1771.

Bob Hoffman

POLAR Project Scientist

Michael Teague

Ground Facility Coordinator

International Space Science Institute (ISSI)

Prof. Bengt Hultqvist contributed information about ISSI from which the following account is abridged.

The International Space Science Institute (ISSI) was established in Bern, Switzerland, to further interdisciplinary studies and interpretation of the very complex experimental data which originate from multi-experiment satellites, already launched or due to be launched over the next several years, by different space agencies.

ISSI will encourage space researchers working with a variety of experiments on different satellites to pool data and results and to work closely with theorists and modelers. Scientists working in related fields and with ground-based observations and the results of laboratory investigations will be invited to participate. The result of these activities, to be carried out at home institutions and at ISSI, should help to shape the scientific requirements for future space systems.

ISSI will organize activities as projects around specific scientific themes, chosen in consultation with the scientific community. Project work will be distributed among participating scientific groups and ISSI. Tools for organizing and coordinating the work within projects will be workshops and working groups, with a Project Group consisting of experienced representatives of the community playing a leading role.

There will be a small permanent staff at ISSI and a number of Visiting Scientists. The latter will range from graduate students and post-doctoral, to senior scientists and professors. They will visit ISSI for periods lasting from one week to one year, depending on the project. As a general rule, the funding for Visiting Scientists should be obtained from outside sources.

ISSI is led by Prof. Bengt Hultqvist and Prof. J. Geiss. It has a Board of Trustees chaired by H.-P. Schneiter (Oerlikon-Contraves AG), a Science Committee chaired by Prof. D. J. Southwood, and the Association PRO-ISSI chaired by Prof. A. Ludi.

Details about ISSI are available in an attractive booklet which may be requested by writing to: International Space Science Institute, Hallerstrasse 6, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland. Bengt has an e-mail address: Hultqv@irf.se

J. H. Allen

SCOSTEP Scientific Secretary

Launch Site: Williams Field, Antarctica

Launch Date/Time: 7 January 1996/ 0714Z

Balloon: Winzen 29.47-2X-13

Balloon Weight: 3705 lbs

Experiment Weight: 3170 lbs

Suspended Weight: 4763 lbs

Gross Inflation: 9383 lbs

Free Lift: 12%

Float Altitude: 125.5 kft

Terminate Date/Time: 26 January/0317Z (69.2 S,140.5 E)

Impact Date/Time: 26 January/0404 Z

Location of Impact: 69.05 S, 141.5 E

Total Flight Time: 19 days, 4 hrs, 50 minutes

The Flare Genesis Experiment was the first Antarctic balloon flight to describe a gradual outward spiral during a circumnavigation of the South Pole. Shortly after the Experiment drifted back over land from a hair-raising northward excursion over the Antarctic Ocean (see the trajectory on the Flare Genesis Web page: http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/FlareGenesis), an LC-130 took off from McMurdo to cut the payload down. Termination and impact went without incident. The parachute was successfully separated at impact and the payload is probably in excellent condition. The solar panels are said to be in good shape, but the NSBF support package beneath the payload was smashed. The gondola apparently settled into the snow on its back, as intended. It impacted near a recently used path made by a French ground party between Dumont d'Urville and Charcot Camp, both French sites on the northern Antarctic Plateau. Just after cutdown, an immediate recovery was attempted by the LC-130 crew, but after several landing attempts, they concluded that the sastrugi (one-meter-high waves frozen into the snow, similar to the washboard effect on a dirt road) made landing too dangerous. They damaged a nose ski in the process.

A backup recovery plan was quickly put together by the NSBF campaign leader, Steven Peterzen. It called for leaving a team at one of the French sites for recovery by land traverse or with a French helicopter. Despite French willingness to help, two days of inexplicable inaction ensued, during which the McMurdo authorities apparently could have given Peterzen the resources he needed to start the recovery effort. By January 29, the winds at the landing site were 50 knots, making recovery impossible. Finally, on February 1, Twin Otter pilot Henry Perk landed in 40-knot winds and recovered the vessels containing the Flare Genesis data tapes and the NSBF hard disk. He was able to confirm that the 80-cm mirror survived intact, but he had to leave everything else behind. There are already one-meter drifts of snow as hard as concrete surrounding the payload. Perk also damaged a ski, but returned safely to Williams Field. No further recovery attempt will be made now, because it is very late in the season, the Twin Otters are due in the Northern Hemisphere, and the French camp is closing down in two weeks.

We are making plans for recovery and shipment of the gondola to the US early in the 1996-7 season, so that Flare Genesis can be refurbished in time for a flight in the 1997-8 season.

Flare Genesis performed well during its circum-navigation of the globe. It remained fully powered and stably pointed at the Sun for eighteen days. No balloon-borne telescope has ever achieved such sustained tracking precision. Based on our limited over-the-horizon data, the telescope maintained 3 - 4 arc second pointing for 99.8% of the time, even when the Sun dropped to only 1.2 deg above the horizon. The thermal engineering was an outstanding success. Most parts of the telescope stabilized close to room temperature, including the primary and secondary mirrors, as intended.

During an under-flight with an LC-130 on January 10, the telescope pointing, filter profiles, tape inventory and most engineering parameters on the telescope were checked. Focusing was difficult due to the lack of real-time images. Unfortunately, the high-data-rate antenna fell off at launch, and no solar images from the electronic camera were received in real time. However, an estimated ten thousand images were probably stored by the on-board tape recorders. Because the tapes were recovered and the long-duration ballooning equipment performed well, the flight was an operational success. Official determination of whether it was a science success will come after examination of the tapes. The analysis of the data recorded on tape will provide important engineering information and hopefully some scientifically useful material. We may be able to see the tapes in one or two weeks.

David Rust

McMurdo Base, Antarctica

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)

The following is abstracted from material on the WWW. Brigitte Schmieder suggested that it be included in this Newsletter.

The joint ESA/NASA SOHO mission tests are progressing favorably. Details about the mission and new images are available on-line through WWW. The address is: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/ and the pages accessed there contain many details and extensive cross references to other sites and sources of additional and ancillary information. A variety of new images and colorful posters are available. The following abstracts a press release prepared in late January by ESA.

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) -- SOHO is an "international mission led by the European Space Agency." SOHO is the most comprehensive space observatory, that has been flown to date, to study the Sun. It will launch scientific investigations earlier than planned and will be able to operate much longer than originally planned (20 instead of 6 years.)

The satellite carries a payload of 12 experiments which are now being tested. First images are being studied and instruments calibrated. On 14 March 1996, SOHO is expected to arrive at the first Lagrangian point, where gravitational attractions of Sun and Earth are balanced. Enough fuel remains on board to keep the satellite on-station for 20 years. Energetic particle detectors "have been operational for some time and SOHO's first image of the Sun was taken on 19 December 1995."

Instruments and PIs are:

1. SUMER: Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation, K. Wihelm

2. CDS: Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer, R. A. Harrison

3. EIT: Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope, J. P. DelasboudiniSre

4. UVCS: Ultraviolet Chronograph Spectrometer, J. L. Kohl

5. LASCO: Large-Angle Spectroscopy Chronograph, G. E. Brueckner

6. SWAN: Solar Wind Anisotropics, J. L. Bertaux

7. CELIAS: Charge, Element and Isotope Analysis System, D. Hovestadt

8. COSTEP: Comprehensive Supra-Thermal and Energetic Particle Analyzer, H. Kunow

9. EPNE: Energetic and Polativistic Nuclei and Electron Experiment, J. Tosti

10. GOLF: Global Oscillations at Low Frequency, A. Gabriel

11. VIRGO: Variability of Solar Irradiance and Gravity Oscillations, C. Frohlich

12. SOI/MDI: Solar Oscillations Investigation/Michelson Doppler Image, P. H. Sherrer

One month of "early science" will begin around the end of March and there is hope the initial findings will be publicly released by early May.

ESA has led and coordinated the SOHO mission. NASA provided the launch and operates the satellite. European and US scientists who built the instruments are at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center where, jointly, they plan optimum scientific use of the satellite.

SOHO is part of the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics program (ISTP). The next member, CLUSTER, is a flotilla of four satellites scheduled for launch in May 1996 on the first Ariane 5 rocket.

Those interested in more detail are asked to use the WWW homepages or to contact SOHO project scientists directly.

J. H. Allen

SCOSTEP Scientific Secretary

The following is a summary of a discussion on interplanetary aspects of space weather held on December 10, 1995, at the AGU meeting in San Francisco. A group of researchers gathered to discuss how the solar/interplanetary community might best organize itself to facilitate progress in the area of space weather. The main topics of the discussion included:

1) Motivation for assembling a formal, recognizable group:

• To foster/promote the specific interests of the solar/interplanetary community. These interests overlap with -- but are yet distinct from -- those of other space weather groups.

• To provide an organizational identity for researchers in this area.

2) The role the group should assume, and what form it should take:

• To promote space weather research and applications in the areas: photosphere, corona, interplanetary space, L1, bow shock.

• To provide a forum for interaction among members of the group -- through meetings, workshops, and via specialized communications links (email, WWW, etc.)

• To establish a visible channel to outside groups.
  • facilitate collaboration with GEM, CEDAR, national laboratories, and universities,

  • provide organizational cover for joint projects, meetings, etc.,

  • provide topical/specialty resources for related space weather work,

  • become a source for advisories to agencies, public state-of-the-art assessments, need for specific observations/analyses, identification of specific areas need-ing more effort, and

  • facilitate interaction with user community.

• To undertake specific activities, including:
  • development, testing/assessing, dissemination of models and results,

  • event studies,

  • analysis of existing and immediately upcoming data streams, especially in ways neglected by other communities (e.g, long-term global, synoptic studies of corona, heliosphere),

  • definition, justification, agitation for new observations,

  • education, public relation, communication, and

  • community interface with agencies (e.g., community response to initiatives.)

• a) It was decided to adopt the following name for the group: SHINE - Solar, Heliospheric, and INterplanetary Environment.

• b) Preliminary steps toward setting up a workshop later in the year:

  See "Forthcoming Meetings" section.

• c) Establishment of a communications network.

  Although email provides a convenient link among SHINE researchers, it was recognized that the establishment of a WWW page for the group would materially enhance interactions. This need will become particularly acute when event studies get underway and data exchange becomes an issue.

Vic Pizzo will therefore look into the establishment of a Web page. (Some arrangement will have to be made for those without Web browsers, probably an ftp link to the Web directories.) It is anticipated that this will be in place (at least in rough form) some time early in 1996. In the meantime, we will continue to communicate via email.

V. J. Pizzo

for the Interplanetary Space Weather Steering Committee

Committee to Review the Space Physics Section of JGR and Search for New Editor(s)

Marcia Neugebauer has appointed a Committee to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the Space Physics section of JGR and to suggest strategies for improving the journal. The committee is also tasked with recommending candidate(s) for the next editor(s) of the journal.

The members of the review committee are:

C. T. Russell (chair)

A. J. Dessler (Pub. Comm. Liaison)

J. M. Forbes, S. R. Habbal, M. K. Hudson, M. A. Lee, D. J. McComas, and B. Sonnerup.

If you have advice to give the Committee, even if it is to maintain the status quo, or if you have editor candidates to recommend, please feel free to discuss them with any member of the Committee or to send an email message to the Chair (ctrussell@igpp.ucla.edu) or to the entire Committee (search-jgr-space@agu.org). We expect to finish our "directions" report by March 31 and to interview editor candidates at the Spring meeting of AGU.

C. T. Russell

Solar Coronal Physical Processes (SCPP)

Formerly COPP, Solar Coronal Physical Processes (SCPP) has as its main objectives to better understand:

1) The various energy deposit processes leading to coronal heating, solar wind and particle acceleration.

2) The dynamics of the corona, in particular the origin and evolution of CMEs, their propagation, their link with interplanetary disturbances and their influence on the Earth environment.

This project is related in particular to the SOHO mission, the YOHKOH satellite and ground-based instruments (both radar and optical) which will operate in a coordinated manner. SOHO will provide a complementary data set and will perform remote sensing observations and in-situ measurements.

Monique Pick

SCOSTEP members and STEP participants derive data and "information" (products derived from data, e.g., magnetic activity indices or sunspot numbers) as well as information about the significance of data or events, from many sources, including the World Data Centers A, B, C and D. At the 1994 SCOSTEP meeting in Sendai, Japan, there was an evening session in which the programs of various STP Data Centers were reviewed and compared to the needs of STEP participants. The following is a summary of the recent "ALL WDC MEETING" held in Wageningen, Holland, from a talk prepared by the Chairman of the Panel on WDCs, Prof. Ferris Webster. This version was intended for presentation to a meeting of the Data and Information System (DIS) for the International Geosphere and Biosphere Program (IGBP) and did not stress STP disciplines, but the information may be useful to STEP participants. The World Data Center sites are illustrated in the map on the back cover of this newsletter. - JHA

The International Council of Scientific Unions Panel on World Data Centers recently convened a conference in the Netherlands to which all World Data Center directors were invited. The conference was followed by a meeting of the ICSU Panel on WDCs. The objectives of both meetings were to address the present condition and future outlook for the World Data Center System: Where is the WDC system today? What are its major problems? What is the outlook for the future? The results of these meetings are summarized below.

The WDC Conference had three principal themes: impediments to data exchange, requirements for a WDC system, and the impact of changing technology.

In addition, each of the Data Center directors (there were nearly 40 present!) gave a short presentation on his or her Center, focusing on the theme of the Center, its service activities, its research activities, and its use of new technologies. The face-to-face exchanges between Center directors, many of whom had never met before, proved to be fruitful. The participants enthusiastically agreed that conferences such as this should be held regularly in the future.

The following is based on the conclusions of the Conference and Panel meetings. In many, but not all cases, the Panel decided on the next steps to be taken. As can be seen, the results call for an active program.

A. The WDC System should evolve: Pursue a more global environmental system.

• Include additional environmental disciplines to serve the needs of ICSU programs.

• Establish Centers in new countries.

• Encourage use by schools and the general public.

Take advantage of new technology.

• Use the Internet for rapid delivery of information and data.

• Create a central WDC directory of datasets.

• Replicate information among sites: mirror systems on different continents.

Establish new procedures for system coordination and direction.

• Make the ICSU Panel more active.

• Hold regular international meetings of Center directors.

• Establish a system bulletin board or list server.

Emphasize quality.

• With new technology, data dissemination becomes easier: WDCs should assure that what is disseminated is of the highest quality.

• Quality criteria should be set by the scientific community.

• Use local scientific expertise to assist in interpretation and use of data products.

• Identify data originators: work to assure that they receive credit for their contributions.

B. However, don't change the following feature of the System: Uphold the system's adherence to ICSU principles.

• Assure open, unrestricted access.

• Maintain a policy of no discrimination based on national origin.

Keep the System's foundation in scientific research.

• Maintain the principle of serving ICSU environmental scientific programs.

Retain the connections between the WDC and the IODE.

• The International Oceanographic Data Exchange provides links to oceanographers.

• Use these links as a model for other disciplines.

C. The WDC system must work to solve problems that remain: Work to overcome restraints on data access, commercialization.

• Promote data access for scientific purposes through ICSU.

• Assure that scientists contributing data get full credit.

• Respect constraints on the re-export of commercial data: work to obtain open use for research.

Seek to improve data management planning.

• Work to make data management a part of science program planning.

Look for additional financial support for the system.

• Many Centers are struggling with inadequate support.

• The ICSU Panel has insufficient means even for regular meetings.

• Seek support from international and regional agencies.

Establish more equal capabilities among the Centers.

• Foster capacity-building and technology transfer.

The World Data Center system is embarking on a period of significant change. A working relationship between the IGBP-DIS and the WDC could have positive benefits to both parties. The WDC system will work to create and maintain such a relationship. The WDC Panel and the Centers welcome input, advice, and assistance from the IGBP-DIS.

Many of the WDC discipline Centers have email addresses, as do members of the Panel, which are available from the SCOSTEP Secretariat.

The updated version of the "Constitution and Directory" for SCOSTEP is available from the Secretariat. Copies have been mailed to everyone listed in the Directory. It includes a listing of the names of SCOSTEP Bureau Members, Scientific Discipline Representatives, STEP and S-RAMP Steering Committees, other organizational positions, and the Adherents, their Representatives and Secretaries. Leaders of the STEP Working Groups, Panels, and Projects are given for the most recent configuration known at the time of publication. Members of the new S-RAMP SC are listed. Names, addresses and email addresses are given for everyone whose name appears in the Directory.

As described under "ONLINE PUBLICATIONS", all contents of the Constitution and Directory may be accessed through the SCOSTEP homepage on WWW:

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/SCOSTEP/scostep.html

Everyone receiving a printed copy of the Constitution and Directory is asked to please check his/her entry and send corrections to the Secretariat. We already know of some email addresses, telephone numbers, and fax numbers that need correcting (see following article).

Also, the list of SCOSTEP Scientific Discipline Representatives (SDRs) includes some (marked by an asterisk) who have not yet confirmed to the Secretariat their acceptance of this responsibility, although invitations were sent to everyone listed there. We hope that these individuals will see this note and respond, or perhaps their colleagues will remind them.

SCOSTEP Constitution and Directory, 1996 Updates and Corrections

Page 6, Delete J. M. Forbes as co-chair of Project 3.5 (Additions to Project 3.5, below)

Page 24, J. L. Green, Code 630

Page 29, J. Marton-Lef�vre, email: icsu@lmcp.jussieu.fr (or her assistant: tish.icsu@lmcp.jussieu.fr)

Page 32, S. M. Radicella, email: rsandro@ictp.trieste.it

Page 32, G. C. Reid, email: reid@al.noaa.gov

Page 32, A. D. Richmond, Fax (1 303) 497-1589

Page 33, A. Roux, email: alain.roux@cetp.ispl.fr

Page 33, Th. Saemundsson, Tel. (354 1) 525-4809; Fax (354 1) 552-8801

Page 33, B. Sanahuja, Dept. d'Astronomia i Meteorologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona, Spain, Tel. (34 3) 402-1131; Fax (34 3) 402-1133; blai@fabsp0.am.ub.es

Additions to WG 3 (Project 3.5):

Dr. C. Fesen, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755 USA, cfesen@oak.dartmouth.edu

Dr. R. Johnson, Space Physics Laboratory, University of Michigan, 2455 Hayward St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2143 USA, rjohnson@sprla.span.nasa.gov

A Science Strategy for Space Physics, 1995

The Space Studies Board of the US National Research Council has just circulated this report prepared by members of the NAS/NRC Committee on Solar and Space Physics (CSSP) and the Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Research (CSTR.) Members of these committees were assisted by many scientists and administrators during the time they worked on this report.

Copies are available from the Space Studies Board, National Research Council, 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20418, USA. I have not read and digested this report as of this writing, but I encourage all in our community to get a copy and respond to its contents.

The following is a brief summary from the report. Five key scientific topics are identified and the report gives the scientific background for each and discusses why the topic is important. Current research programs on the topics are discussed, priority recommendations are made for future research activities.

The 5 key topics are:

• Mechanisms of solar variability.

• The physics of the solar wind and the heliosphere.

• The structure and dynamics of magnetospheres and their coupling to adjacent regions.

• The middle and upper atmospheres and their coupling to regions above and below.

• Plasma processes that accelerate very energetic particles and control their propagation.

Participants in STEP and SCOSTEP programs will recognize these familiar topics and should be especially interested in their Box 3 (pages 74-75) which lists in priority order recommended research activities in the five areas for US scientists during the next decade. These rankings were based on consideration of the following:

1. Importance of research activity to answering questions posed for the major topic.

2. Timeliness (ripeness) of technology, knowledge, and interest in the area.

3. Breadth of applicability of the results of the research to increasing fundamental understanding and its applicability to other aspects of space physics and other branches of science.

4. Practical relevance of the research (e.g., utility of understanding the effects of solar variability on the Earth.)

5. Balance, to redress current imbalance, between "big" and "little" science and between planning, development and pure science activities in space physics.

Four common elements of all research program areas recommended for the next decade include:

• Complete currently approved programs successfully.

• Exploit existing technologies and opportunities to get new results cost-effectively.

• Develop new technology as needed to advance frontiers of space physics.

• Strongly support theory and modeling activities vital to space physics.

The above description of this new report was abstracted from the publication by Joe Allen and does not claim any "official" status. Please get the report, read it for yourself, and then comment on it to the responsible people. We expect copies will be taken to the next SCOSTEP Bureau and Steering Committees meetings in July.

New Books

The editor/author of two new books on solar-terrestrial topics sent announcements to the SCOSTEP Secretariat. The following is not a review of either publication, only an abbreviated announcement and information to permit anyone to seek more information, or to order.

1. Wilfried Schroder, Hechelstrasse 8, D-28777 Bremen-Roennebeck, Germany, is the author of a new book "Sunspot Cycles and Auroral Activity" (1995, 120 pages, tables, illustrations, ISSN: 0179-5658.) Among contents are materials on: research on sunspot cycles and auroral activity, problems of solar minima, auroral frequency in the 17th and 18th centuries, aurorae during the Maunder Minimum, influence and fluctuation of total solar irradiance, estimating solar radiation output during the Maunder Minimum, comments on solar variability papers (including one by Lassen and Friis-Christensen), behavior of aurora during the Sporer Minimum, aurora appearance and Kp, frequency of ssc in relation to Kp, aurora in Germany, 1880-1964, catalogue of German auroral observations 1882-1956, auroras in middle latitudes and the outer radiation belt, auroral morphology, and illustrations of auroras from 16th-18th century sources. Price of the book is 25 DM or $20 US.

2. Wilfried Schroder (see address above) is Scientific Editor of "Proceedings of the International Conference on Global Change and the History of Geophysics, Evaluations and Implications, IUGG/IAGA General Assembly, July 1995, Boulder (USA)". ISSN: 0179-5658, 240 pages, illustrations, color tables, price 30 DM ($25 US.) The proceedings are edited by W. Schroder and M. Colacino. Contents include papers on: climate change, environmental problems and geophysical studies, spectra of solar-terrestrial proxies and a proposed astrochronology of the last 15,000 years, history of geomagnetic studies and applications, Krakatoa and atmospheric-optical phenomena after 1883, prime mover of volcanoes - history of a concept, archaeoastronomy, etc.

SCOSTEP now has a "homepage" on the World Wide Web. It has the address:

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/SCOSTEP/scostep.html

and we encourage everyone who is able to gain access to check it out.

This online "publication" is a work in progress. It will not be finished, but will evolve with input from users and the ability of Secretariat staff to accept input about the information and make your good suggestions into working changes.

There are six (6) separate areas users may access directly:

1. SCOSTEP Introduction.

2. SCOSTEP Meetings and Related Events Calendar. This essentially duplicates material published in the "Interim STEP Newsletter."

3. SCOSTEP Membership Directory and Other Publications. We provide an online directory corresponding to information published in the Constitution and Directory booklet described above. It is, in effect, an electronic "rolodex." We want to know if it is difficult to use, because the effort to create and maintain it won't be justified unless it is useful to our community.

4. SCOSTEP Program Announcements: Working Groups, STEP, S-RAMP, PSMOS, EATVIP, etc. This is an area to which we expect the various programs to provide direct input.

5. Related Homepages. Suggestions here will be especially welcome so that we can guide online users directly to homepages maintained by other organizations and facilitate direct user access to these useful pages without further complexity.

6. Picture Gallery. It is hoped that this section will emulate the fine example provided by NASA components, such as the spectacular imagery made available from telescopes on the Hubble satellite. We will depend on participants in SCOSTEP, STEP, the post-STEP programs, and anyone having common interests to provide colorful and educational imagery that would be suitable to illustrate the range of interests spanned by SCOSTEP-organized research programs.

Mike Teague, Jim Green, Joe King, Dan Baker, the Rice University Space Physics group, and others known to the Secretariat by direct contacts in the last year, have made earlier and important use of WWW homepages to convey useful information and images. The IUGG General Assembly held last year in Boulder was greatly facilitated for some of us by their WWW information. Probably no future program of substance will be without this type of online information shared with participants and public alike.

[The hard copy version featured pictures illustrating the opening of the SCOSTEP Homepage. -- N. Alkire]

It seems that the great challenge will be to avoid duplication of effort, to maintain currency of large and complicated information bases that are often volatile, and to provide user access that is not so labyrinthine as to discourage inexperienced users who want limited information quickly. We depend greatly on the infra-structure here in Boulder provided by the elements of NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), its Solar-Terrestrial Physics Division (STPD), and World Data Center-A for STP. They have provided much more than just office space, equipment, and computer connections to support the Secretariat's operation.

Joe H. Allen

Space Weather: Real-Time Data from the Space Environment Center

April 15-18, 1996, Marlboro, Massachusetts

As a result of the recent interest in a mission to the Sun, we are hosting a 3.5 day Workshop. The main focus of the Workshop will be to review and discuss current data and models of the near-Sun environment, namely, the physics of the source regions of the solar wind, as a basis for informed scientific planning for new space missions close to the Sun.

Soft X-ray images of the solar corona from YOHKOH, and in situ measurements in interplanetary space by ULYSSES and other spacecraft, coupled with coordinated ground-based observations, are rapidly providing new information about the solar corona and the origin of the solar wind. More will come from SOHO.

Scientists in several countries are studying "Solar Probe" missions from a new vantage point, namely, in situ observations coupled with imaging very close to the Sun, in both polar and equatorial regions, as close as 3 solar radii from the solar surface. It is therefore extremely timely to assemble in this Workshop the scientific basis drawn from our current knowledge for an exploration close to the Sun.

The objective of the Workshop is to produce a written report on the current scientific consensus and/or disagreements about the origin of the solar wind and other physics close to the Sun which connect the Sun to the heliosphere. The report should include examples and discussions of existing data from various types of observations, methods of analysis and modeling, and supporting scientific arguments. Participants should point out diagnostics of the solar wind origin and mechanisms which might be observable by a small spacecraft close to the Sun. The report will consist of refereed individual contributions and topical summaries by scientific rapporteurs. The report will be widely available.

If you are interested in attending and/or wish to receive additional information, please send as soon as possible, preferably by email, your name, affiliation, email address, telephone and fax numbers to:

Ruth Esser, resser@cfa.harvard.edu,

Tel. (1 617) 496-7566

or other members of the Local Organizing Committee:

Shadia Rifai Habbal (Chair), shabbal@cfa.harvard.edu

Tel. (1 617) 495-7348

Leonard Strachan, lstrachan@cfa.harvard.edu

Tel.(1 617) 496 7569

The fax number for the Committee is: (1 617) 495-7049 and the mailing address is:

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Scientific Organizing Committee:

S. Habbal (Chair), W. Coles, R. Esser, W. Feldman, M. Forman, M. Guhathakurta, S. Koutchmy, L. Strachan, K. Strong, B. Tsurutani, J.-C. Vial, R. Woo; and to be confirmed: A. Galeev, E. Marsch, and V. Oraevsky.

Shadia Habbal

(habbal@cfassp29.harvard.edu)

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Third International Conference on Substorms (ICS-3)

May 12-17, 1996, Versailles, France

Alain Roux has sent a reminder that the deadline for receipt of preregistration forms is March 15, 1996. The Conference will be held at Palais des Congres, 10 Rue de la Chancellerie, 78000 Versailles, France, and will commence on May 13, but participants are expected to arrive and register on Sunday, May 12. For additional information contact Alain Roux at C.E.T.P. 10-12 Avenue de l'Europe, 78140 Velizy, France, Tel. (33 1) 39 25 48 90, Fax (33 1) 39 25 48 87, or by email alain.roux@cetp.ipsl.fr

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SHINE Workshop

June 14-15, 1996, Boulder, Colorado

The Workshop will be held in the Space Environment Center, NOAA, Boulder, CO.

Tentatively, the main topics for the workshop would include:

- Response to the NSF implementation plan for space weather.

- Definition of the key elements and tools, both observational and theoretical, that need to be developed in order to make significant progress in space weather monitoring and prediction.

- Identification of those areas most likely to produce significant results in the near future.

- Selection of specific study event(s) optimized from the solar and interplanetary data point-of-view.

- Further definition of the organizational structure of SHINE.

Comments on, or additions to, the above agenda would be welcome. Contact V. J. Pizzo (vpizzo@sel.noaa.gov) for specific information.

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SOLERS22 Workshop

June 17-21, 1996, Sac Peak, NM, USA

The Workshop will be held at the National Solar Observatory (NOAO), Sac Peak, New Mexico under the auspices of STEP Working Group 1: "The Sun as a Source of Energy and Disturbances."

Questions for SOLERS 22:

- What are the daily flux values of the solar spectral irradiance in the X-ray, EUV, UV, visible and infrared wavelength ranges, and the total solar irradiance for solar cycle 22?

- What evolving solar spatial structures cause the temporal variations of these solar fluxes?

- What are the underlying physical processes?

The Workshop will be organized around 5 working groups divided according to wavelength ranges.

For more information contact:

Judith Pap, jpap@jplsp2.jpl.nasa.gov

Claus Frohlich, cfrohlich@obsun.pmodwrc.ch

Rex Hunter, rhunter@sunspot.noao.edu

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Solar Sessions at Western Pacific Geophysics Meeting

July 23 - 27, 1996, Brisbane, Australia

There are three solar sessions scheduled for the Western Pacific Geophysics Meeting: Helioseismology, Solar Corona and Transition Region, and The SOHO Mission.

Contributions to these sessions are most welcome. Abstracts are due at AGU Headquarters on March 15, 1996. These sessions will cover the latest solar observations and their interpretation. Included will be the latest GONG, YOHKOH and SOHO results and much, much more. For more information about the meeting, see EOS, 76, September 19, 1995 or URLs at

April 9-11: STEP Working Group 1, Huntsville, AL. Contact: S. T. Wu (wus@csparc.uah.edu), see STEP NL, November 1995

April 15-18: Workshop on Scientific Basis of Robotic Exploration Close to the Sun, Marlboro, MA. Contact: Shadia Habbal (habbal@cfassp29.harvard.edu)

April 22-26: Fourth Latin American Conference on Space Geophysics, Tucuman, Argentina. Contact: (colage@liifut.edu.ar), see STEP NL, November 1995

May 13-17: Third International Conference on Substorms, Versailles, France. Contact: Alain Roux (alain.roux@cetp.ipsl.fr), see STEP NL, November 1995

June 14-15, SHINE Workshop, Boulder, CO. Contact: V. J. Pizzo (vpizzo@sel.noaa.gov)

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

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.