Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 16:56:48 -0700
From: Joann C Joselyn
The IUGG Electronic Journal
Volume 4 No. 12 (December 1, 2004)
This short, informal newsletter is intended to keep IUGG Member National
Committees informed about the activities of the IUGG Associations, and
actions of the IUGG Secretariat. Past issues are posted on the IUGG Web
site. Please forward this message to those who will benefit from the
information. Your comments are welcome.
Contents
1. Meetings selected for IUGG support in 2005
2. Honors and Awards
3. IGY+50 Developments
4. Report of the ICSU First Regional Meeting for Africa
5. Report on the 5th Asian Seismological Commission (ASC) meeting and
symposium on Seismic Hazard Evaluation and Risk Reduction
6. Report on Workshop on Risk Science and Sustainability
7. IUGG-related meetings occurring during December 2004 - February 2005
1. Meetings selected for IUGG support in 2005
IUGG co-sponsors symposia and meetings appropriate to our disciplines of
study. $20,000 (USD) is allocated annually to assist meetings, and
especially to support the participation of young scientists and
scientists from developing countries. Officers of the Union,
Associations and Inter-Association Commissions and Committees propose
meetings to receive these awards. For 2005, IUGG will support the
following meetings, including one to be held in 2006. Funds are
available to support additional meetings.
Recent Geodynamics, Geophysical Risk & Sustainability in the Black Sea
to Caspian Region, July 3-6, 2005, Baku, Azerbaijan
4th Balkan Geophysical Society Conference and Technical Exposition,
October 9-12, 2005, Bucharest, Romania
4th International Symposium on Geophysics, November 22-24, 2005, Tanta,
Egypt
XII IAGA Workshop on Geomagnetic Instruments, Data Acquisition and
Processing, 30 June - 11 July 2006, Belsk, Poland
2. Honors and Awards
Prof. John Rodda received the International Hydrology Prize at the WMO
Commission for Hydrology meeting held in October in Geneva. The
International Hydrology Prize is awarded annually to a scientist who has
made an outstanding contribution to Hydrology. It is given by the
International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) with the
support of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Dr
Arthur J. Askew, President-elect of IAHS, presented the award. The full
citation including details of Prof. Rodda's illustrious career and his
service to hydrology, can be found on the IAHS web site http://iahs.info
The International Association of Geodesy (IAG) presented their 2003
Young Author Award to Michael Kern for his paper published in the
Journal of Geodesy, A Study on the Combination of Satellite, Airborne
and Terrestrial Gravity Data. Currently, Dr. Kern is an external
European Space Agency fellow and is actively involved in research
related to the calibration and validation of the GOCE satellite mission.
3. IGY+50 Developments
The Electronic Geophysical Year (eGY) initiative has begun an electronic
newsletter. To access the newsletter or to subscribe to receive a copy
automatically, please visit the EGY website: http://www.egy.org .
During the ICSU Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA)
19th International Conference held in Berlin, Germany, 7-10 November,
Charles Barton presented a talk "Preparing for eGY" and discussed
further avenues of collaboration with CODATA activities.
Regarding the International Polar Year 2007-2008, the ICSU/WMO Joint
Committee for IPY is inviting Preliminary Expressions of Intent. The
purpose of this call is to collect information needed to facilitate
projects and activities within IPY that are consistent with the themes
and observational goals outlined in IPY planning documents (see
http://www.ipy.org ). This is not a process by which proposals will be
funded. To receive a copy of the invitation, please contact the IUGG
Secretariat (secretariat@iugg.org). Expressions of intent are due by 14
January 2005.
The October 12, 2004 issue of the newsletter for the International
Heliophysical Year (IHY) is available at http://ihy.gsfc.gov . Articles
include a Science Highlight (consensus on the flow parameters of
interstellar helium through the Solar System), International efforts,
the UN BSS program, and the IHY Science Coordination Database.
4. Report of the ICSU First Regional Meeting for Africa
A meeting was held in Harare, Zimbabwe, 9-11 October 2004, to decide
upon the objectives, priorities and working plan for the newly
established ICSU Regional Office for Africa, which will be hosted by the
South African National Research Foundation (NRF) in Pretoria, South
Africa. Representatives from ICSU, the NRF, African academies of
science/research organisations and from unions affiliated to ICSU
attended the meeting. In total there were 50 participants including 16
African countries and 14 scientific unions. Charles Merry, University
of Cape Town, attended on behalf of IUGG and gave a brief presentation
on the role that IUGG could play in strengthening African science. This
focussed on the IUGG-led proposal "Geosciences in Africa", which has the
support of other geo-unions within the ICSU fold. As a concrete example
of IUGG involvement in Africa, he also described the AFREF (African
reference frame) project of the International Association of Geodesy
(IAG). The next steps to be taken are
- appointment of a regional committee from nominations submitted by ICSU
African member countries
- advertisement and filling of the post of director of the regional office
- holding the first meeting of the regional committee and opening of the
office by March 2005.
A business plan, work plan and web page are to be created within six
months of the opening of the office.
[This article was extracted from the report by Charles Merry]
5. Report on the 5th Asian Seismological Commission (ASC) meeting and
symposium on Seismic Hazard Evaluation and Risk Reduction
The symposium and the Commission meetings, hosted by the Armenian
Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth (AASPE), were held
during 18 - 20 October 2004 at Yerevan, Armenia under the overall
guidance of Prof. Serguei Balassanian. There were about 200
participants from outside Armenia and about 60 from Armenia - the
largest meeting ever held by the ASC. About 140 oral presentations and
50 posters were presented. The 3-day symposium was preceded by a 15-day
course on "Recent Trends in Seismic Networks, Data Processing and
Exchange, Hazard and Risk Assessment, and Disaster Mitigation" which was
attended by about 30 participants. The symposium was followed by a
1-day visit to the Spitak area where a devastating earthquake in 1998
had claimed about 25,000 human lives.
On a suggestion from the ASC Bureau, Founder President Awards for good
organizational efforts were instituted during ASC meeting at Tehran in
2000. For III ASC, Tehran, Iran 2000, awards were presented to A.
Javaherian and Mohammad Reza Gheitanchi. For IV ASC, Nepal 2002, awards
were presented to Amol Dixit and Shiva Pradhanang. For V ASC, Yerevan,
Armenia 2005, awards were presented to Hripsime Vardanyan and Ashot
Meliksetyan.
A new Bureau was elected for the period 2004-2008 with the following
Members:
Prof. Zhu Chuanzen President
Prof. Academician Sergei Goldin First Vice President
Dr. Cao Dinh Trieu Second Vice President
Dr. R.K. Chadha Secretary General
The 2006 ASC meeting will be held in Bangkok, Thailand.
[This article was extracted from a report by Harsh Gupta]
6. Report on Workshop on Risk Science and Sustainability
On August 26-27, the IUGG Union Commission on Geophysical Risk and
Sustainability (GeoRisk) and the EuroScience Working Group "Science and
Urgent Problems of Society" convened a NATO Advanced Workshop in
Stockholm Sweden on Risk Science, Society and Sustainable Development.
The Workshop was held in the framework of the EuroScience Open Forum. A
short report on the Workshop by Alik Ismail-Zadeh and Tom Beer, was
recently published in the 2 November 2004 issue of EOS (Vol. 85, No. 44,
page 453). The workshop focused on the question, "Can sustainable
development be successful without taking into account the risks of
hazards and their impacts?" To this end, the workshop brought together
experts from the field of geophysics and mathematics with experts in
social science and law specifically to deal with problems of risk and
sustainability. A copy of the report can be obtained from the authors
or by request from the office of the IUGG Secretariat.
7. IUGG-related meetings occurring during December 2004 - February 2005
A calendar of meetings of interest to IUGG disciplines (especially those
organized or sponsored by IUGG Associations) is posted on the IUGG Web
Site [www.IUGG.org]. Specific information about these meetings,
including web links, can be found there. Individual Associations also
list more meetings on their web sites appropriate to their disciplines.
November 27 - December 2 ICSU, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Workshop on
Comet/Asteroid Impacts And Human Society
December 2 - 4 IUGG GeoRisk Commission, Hyderabad, India, Conference on
Geophysical Risk and Sustainability
December 6 - 8 IAG, Sydney, Australia, The 2004 International Symposium on
GPS/GNSS (GNSS 2004)
December 6 - 9 Japan Water Forum, Tokyo, Japan, International Conference on
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)
December 6 - 10 WMO/IAMAS, Montreal, Canada, The 1st International Science
Symposium for THORPEX: A Global Atmospheric Research Programme
December 13 - 17 AGU, San Francisco, California, USA, Fall Meeting of the
American Geophysical Union
December 15 -18 IAHS, Hong Kong, China, 4th International Symposium on
Environmental Hydraulics -and- 14th Congress of Asia and Pacific
Division International Association of Hydraulic Engineering Research
January 13- 15 UNESCO, Paris, France, Physics for Tomorrow, the Launch
Conference of the UN International Year of Physics 2005
January 17 - 23 IAG/IASPEI, Trieste, Italy, Joint Capacity Building
Workshop on Deformation Measurements and Understanding Natural Hazards
in Developing Countries
January 18 - 22 UN-ISDR, Kobe, Japan, World Conference on Disaster Reduction
January 31 - February 5 IAG, Budapest, Hungary, International IGeS Geoid School
February 7 - 11 SCOPE, New Delhi, India, SCOPE XIIth General Assembly
February 23 - 25 IAHS, Bonn, Germany, International Conference on
Integrated Assessment of Water Resources and Global Change: A
North-South Analysis
End of IUGG Electronic Journal Volume 4 Number 12 (December 2004)
J. A. Joselyn, Secretary General [http://www.IUGG.org]
secretariat@iugg.org fax: 1 303 497 3645