IUGG Annual Report 2000
Jo Ann Joselyn
Secretary General
INTRODUCTION
MEMBERSHIP
VITAL STATISTICS
Structure
Inter-Association Commissions, Committees, and Working Groups
General Assemblies of the Union
Other Scientific Meetings
Publications
ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS
ACTIVITIES IN 2000
Administration
ICSU Grants
Activities of the Associations
International Association of Geodesy (IAG)
International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS)
International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS)
International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Ocean (IAPSO)
International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior
(IASPEI)
International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior
(IAVCEI)
International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA)
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE PLANS
The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) is a
non-governmental, non-profit organization dedicated to advancing scientific
knowledge of Earth including its physical components, dynamic behaviors, and
environment in space, and to applying the knowledge gained by such studies to
the needs of society, such as mineral resources, reduction of the effects of
natural hazards and environmental preservation. Established in 1919, IUGG brings
together seven semi-autonomous International Associations that address different
disciplines of earth science. Through these Associations, IUGG promotes and
enables research in the physical, chemical and mathematical studies of the Earth
by providing a framework for collaborative research and information exchange.
The Union gives particular emphasis to the scientific needs of developing
countries, and strives to improve the capacity of all nations of the world to
observe and understand the natural physical processes that bear upon their
safety and economies.
Studies encompassed by IUGG include the shape of the Earth, its gravitational
and magnetic fields, the dynamics of the Earth as a whole and of its component
parts, the Earth's internal structure, composition and tectonics, the generation
of magmas, volcanism and rock formation, the hydrological cycle including snow
and ice, all physical aspects of the oceans, the atmosphere, ionosphere,
magnetosphere and solar-terrestrial relations, and analogous problems associated
with the Moon and other planets. Union activities embrace studies of the Earth
by artificial satellites and other techniques for deploying instruments at high
altitude.
The IUGG has initiated and vigorously supported collaborative efforts that
have led to highly productive world-wide interdisciplinary research programs,
such as the International Geophysical Year (1957-58), the Upper Mantle Project
(1964-70), the Geodynamics Project (1972-79), the Global Atmospheric Research
Programme (1970-80) and the International Lithosphere Programme (1981-). The
Union is a partner with other Unions of ICSU in Inter-Union Commissions and
co-operates with international agencies such as the World Meteorological
Organization and UNESCO to achieve common goals.
The official languages of the Union are English and French; the internet site
is www.iugg.org.
By their very nature, geodetic and geophysical studies require a high degree
of international co-operation as well as effective central co-ordination. During
2000, the Union had 70 Member Countries. However, several countries are in
serious arrears of payment and are in observer status. During the 1999 IUGG
General Assembly, a new category of membership, Associate Membership, was
approved. Associate Member countries must establish a National Committee for
IUGG but temporarily do not pay dues. Associate Members may attend all IUGG
scientific and social activities, but may not participate in Council meetings.
Two countries were accepted into Associate status in 2000. New Member Country
applications are being actively encouraged.
The Union comprises seven semi-autonomous Associations, each responsible for
a specific range of topics or themes within the overall scope of the Union's
activities and each with a sub-structure. The Associations convene their own
general assemblies and sponsor particular symposia, often in partnership with
one another, and, like the Union, are managed by a Bureau and Executive
Committee whose members are elected during their General Assemblies. Within its
own discipline each Association is responsible for determining its own program
of investigations and for supporting the activities of its own component parts.
All geo-scientists, worldwide, are eligible to participate in IUGG and
Association assemblies, workshops, and symposia.
The Union and the Associations publish information bulletins of meetings of
the Associations and of symposia sponsored by the Associations. The seven
International Associations are listed below. Additional information about each
Association and its components is given on their web sites, which can be
accessed from the IUGG web site [www.iugg.org/].
- International Association of Geodesy (IAG/AIG)
- International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA/AIGA)
- International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS/AIHS)
- International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS/AIMSA)
- International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Ocean (IAPSO/AISPO)
- International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI/AISPIT)
- International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI/AIVCIT)
Owing to the interactive nature of the subject fields managed by the Union's
Associations, a number of Inter-Association Commissions have been established
which serve the Union and the international geophysical community by promoting
the study of particular interdisciplinary problems. In the year 2000 a new
interdisciplinary Commission, the Geo-Risk Commission, was formed. The
Inter-Association Commissions are as follows:
- Committee on Mathematical Geophysics (CMG; all-Associations)
- Study of the Earth's Deep Interior (SEDI; IAGA, IASPEI, IAVCEI)
- Geophysical Risk and Sustainability (Geo-Risk; all-Associations)
- Tsunami Commission (IASPEI, IAVCEI, IAPSO)
- International Heat Flow Commission (IHFC; IASPEI, IAVCEI, IAPSO)
In addition, IUGG and the International Union of Geological Sciences
(IUGS) foster the Scientific Committee on the Lithosphere (SCL), also known as
the International Lithosphere Programme (ILP), within ICSU.
General Assemblies have been held since 1922 and, since 1963, at 4 year
intervals. The most recent General Assembly, our 22nd, was held 19-30
July, 1999, on the campus of the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United
Kingdom. 4052 scientists from 90 countries attended the 1999 IUGG General
Assembly. The next General Assembly will be held in Sapporo, Japan in July,
2003.
The seven Associations of IUGG meet at these General Assemblies and organize
separate or inter-Association symposia. The Union itself arranges lectures of
high general interest, and interdisciplinary Symposia.
Each IUGG National Committee, which functions as a non-governmental entity in
its relations with IUGG, is represented at the General Assemblies of the Union
by delegates appointed by its adhering body. During these assemblies, policies
governing the Union are agreed on, research programs requiring international
participation are formulated and coordinated and plans are drawn for their
execution. The scientific results of programs in progress are discussed at the
numerous symposia, Commission and Working Group meetings and other gatherings of
scientists that are held during these assemblies.
Each Association organizes its own scientific assembly in between general
assemblies of the Union. These are very important venues where scientific
progress is reported and Association business is conducted. Associations may
sometimes meet jointly with the purpose of promoting interdisciplinary science.
During the 1995-1999 quadrennium, approximately 4790 scientists attended the
Association Assemblies held in Australia, Brazil, Greece, Mexico, Morocco and
Sweden.
The numerous topical and regional symposia and workshops organized on other
occasions by the Associations, together with the general assemblies, provide
opportunity for geodesists and geophysicists from the majority of the countries
of the world to discuss their respective methodologies, results and hypotheses
and to plan collaborative research projects. The symposia, often held in
non-urban locales, are intended to be particularly helpful to the younger
scientists from the developing countries of the world.
The IUGG publishes an annual Yearbook, in which the organizational structure
and officers of each body within the Union are listed. The Yearbook is printed
and mailed to all Members Countries and relevant persons and organizations, and
is readable in electronic format on the IUGG web site. The Union distributes a
short newsletter (the IUGG E-Journal) to Member Countries monthly. In 2000, a
new IUGG Brochure was designed and printed that summarizes the purpose and work
of IUGG and its Associations. Each Association manages their own publications.
Responsibility for directing the Union's affairs is vested in the IUGG
Council by the Statutes and Bylaws. The IUGG Council consists of the Council
Delegates, who are designated by the adhering body of their respective countries
as their representatives for each Council meeting. A Bureau, an Executive
Committee and a Finance Committee administer the IUGG between Council meetings.
The Executive Committee has the particular responsibility of overseeing the
scientific programmes of the Union. There is no permanent Secretariat; the
National Committee of the Secretary General is expected to provide
administrative support for Union affairs.
The Bureau of the Union is composed of the following officers, elected July,
1999, until 2003:
| President |
M. Kono |
(Japan) |
| Vice-President |
U. Shamir |
(Israel) |
| Secretary General |
J.A. Joselyn |
(U.S.A.) |
| Treasurer |
A.W. Hansen |
(Denmark) |
| Members |
J. Chen
H. Gupta
V. Shannon |
(China)
(India)
(South
Africa) |
The Executive Committee consists of the Bureau, the past President of the
Union (P. Wyllie, U.S.A.) and the Presidents of the seven Associations, namely:
| IAG |
F. Sanso' |
(Italy) |
| IASPEI |
B. Kennett |
(Australia) |
| IAVCEI |
S. Sparks |
(U.K.) |
| IAGA |
D. Kerridge |
(U.K.) |
| IAMAS |
H.C. Davies |
(Switzerland) |
| IAHS |
J.C. Rodda |
(U.K.) |
| IAPSO |
P. Rizzoli |
(U.S.A.) |
The Finance Committee is composed of:
| President |
A.F. Spilhaus |
(U.S.A.) |
| Secretary |
P. Pinet |
(France) |
| Members |
V.K. Gaur
E. Groten
M.J. Hamlin |
(India)
(Germany)
(U.K.) |
The IUGG Bureau met in Boulder, Colorado, August 7-8, 2000. The Bureau was
joined by members of the Associations for further meetings on August 9-10.
Discussions included Membership issues (countries that are unfortunately in
observer status and those that should be approached to apply for membership),
financial issues to be communicated to the Finance Committee, approval of the
Geo-Risk Commission proposed at the 1999 meeting of the Executive Committee,
procedures to distribute a new budget item for Inter-Association initiatives
that would benefit developing countries, ICSU Grants procedures, and most
especially, the process whereby IUGG might re-examine its purpose, structure,
and goals in order to meet the needs of science in the new millennium. There was
discussion regarding the format and possible theme of the next IUGG General
Assembly, to be held 30 June- 11 July, 2003, in Sapporo, Japan.
The administrative records of the IUGG have been accumulating since 1919, the
year IUGG began. They have been passed to successive Secretary-Generals in turn,
but the volume of paper has become difficult to handle. A permanent repository
has been found for these records at the Center for the History of Physics Niels
Bohr Library of the American Institute of Physics in College Park, Maryland,
USA, so that they can be preserved and will be accessible for scholars of the
history of geoscience.
In 2000, IUGG received two Category II awards, totaling $11,000. These awards
were used to increase our effectiveness to promote the scientific study of the
Earth and to apply the knowledge gained to the needs of society.
INTERMAGNET:
This award of $5500 from the US National Academy of
Sciences was for a proposal from the International Association of Geomagnetism
and Aeronomy (IAGA). The funds assisted persons from Colombia, the Ukraine,
Belgium, Hungary, and the Slovak Academy of Sciences to promote collection and
dissemination of real-time magnetic data particularly from observatories in
areas that are under-represented in the global INTERMAGNET network.
3rd Meeting of the Asian Seismological Commission:
This award of $5500 from UNESCO was for a proposal from the International Association
of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI). The grant supported
attendance at a symposium held at Tehran, Iran, on October 10-12, 2000. The
grant was supplemented by other funds and ultimately supported 75 scientists
including persons from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, India, Kyrgyzstan,
Morocco, Nepal, and Slovenia.
The following reports, prepared by the Secretaries General of the
Associations (shown below), have been edited for the sake of brevity. These
reports illustrate the impressive range of activities within each Association as
well as their dedication to supporting science within developing countries. Each
Association has an internet site where much more information can be found.
www.gfy.ku.dk/~iag
Central Bureau activities:
The Bureau maintains the IAG home-page, updates a database of addresses, and publishes a bi-monthly newsletter printed
in the Journal of Geodesy. The newsletter includes a listing of all geodetic
publications (provided by the IAG Bibliographic Service). It also includes
updates to the Geodesists Handbook and meeting reports.
The Executive Committee (EC):
The EC had one meeting April 28-29
April in Nice, France. The main items were the preparation of the IAG Scientific
Assembly 2001 and the re-structuring of IAG. The present 3-level organisational
structure (EC, sections, commissions/special commissions/special study
groups/services) will be reduced to 2 levels (EC and Commissions with working
groups and services). New statutes and by-laws are being prepared in order to be
adopted at a council meeting to be held during the IAG Scientific Assembly in
Budapest, September, 2001.
Scientific Symposia and Meetings:
- International Workshop on Perspectives of Geodesy in South-East Europe,
Dubrovnic, Croatia, 2-6 May
- South American Geoid 2000 workshop, Sao Paulo, 17-19 May
- EUREF Symposium, Tromsoe, Norway, 22-24 June
- Int. Symposium. on Gravity, Geoid and Geodynamics 2000, Banff, Canada, 31
Jul - 4 Aug
- 14th International Symposium on Earth Tides Mizusawa, Japan, 28 Aug - 1 Sep.
- 10th General Assembly of the Wegener Project, San Fernando, Spain,18 - 22
Sep.
- Dynamic evolution of Active Faulting in the Mediterranean Region, Algiers,
9-11 Oct
Educational Activities:
- XIII International Course on Engineering Surveying, Munchen, Germany, 13 -
17 Mar.
- The 4.rd Geoid School, Malaysia, 21-25 Feb.
Services:
An investigation has started whether the gravity field related services
(Bureau Gravimetrique, International Geoid Service, International Center for
Earth Tides) could be merged into one service.
Coordination with organisations within surveying, cartography and remote sensing:
IAG was represented at a meeting of the so-called "sister
societies" (FIG, ISPRS, ICA, IHO etc.) in July in Amsterdam.
Developing Countries:
The possibilities for establishing a
geodetic reference system for Africa is being investigated on the initiative of
IAG Commission X. A preparatory meeting was held in Nice, April 27. The 4.rd
Geoid School was intentionally places in Malaysia in order to attract scientists
from developing countries. IAG has, using the so-called IAG Fund, sponsored the
participation of a number of scientists from developing countries in IAG
sponsored meetings. [C.C. Tscherning (Denmark), IAG Secretary General]
www.cig.ensmp.fr/~iahs
Administration:
The IAHS Bureau met in Paris on June 4. Gordon
Young, elected Secretary General at Birmingham, resigned from his position to
take up duties in UNESCO within the World Water Development Report. President
John Rodda (U.K.) appointed Dr. Pierre Hubert (France) to take the position
until the Sapporo General Assembly. The President-elect, Professor K. Takeuchi
(Japan) will assume office at the IAHS Scientific Assembly in July, 2001, and
will serve until 2005.
Two important international hydrological bodies met in 2000. The
Intergovernmental Council of the UNESCO International Hydrological Program
(Paris-France, 5-9 June 2000) and the WMO Commission for Hydrology
(Abuja-Nigeria, 618 November 2000). IAHS participated to both of them as
observers.
Scientific meetings:
In 2000, about 30 scientific meetings were
sponsored by IAHS. A few of them, organized by our Commissions, follow:
- Remote Sensing and Hydrology 2000, Santa Fe- USA, 2-7 April
- Tram'2000: International Conference on Tracers and Modelling in
Hydrogeology, Liège-Belgium, 23-26 May
- The Kovacs Symposium, organized together with UNESCO and devoted this year
to the HELP Program, Paris-France, 2-3 June
- International Symposium on the Role of Erosion and Sediment Transport in
Nutrient and Contaminant Transfer, Waterloo, Canada, 10-14 July
- The Extremes of the Extremes, International Symposium on Extraordinary
Floods, Reykjavik-Iceland, 17-19 July
- International Workshop on Debris-Covered Glaciers, Seattle-USA, 13-15
September
- International Workshop on Runoff Generation and Implications for River
Basin Modelling, Freiburg-Germany, 9-12 October
- International Symposium "Can Science and Society Avoid the Water Crisis in
the 21st Century" Tokyo, Japan, 24 October
IAHS Publications in 2000:
IAHS Press published six issues of the Hydrological
Science Journal, which is ranked as the best in this domain. Four issues of the
IAHS Newsletter were published and widely disseminated free of charge, both as
hardcopies and on the Web.
IAHS also published six "Red Books" in 2000:
- Interdisciplinary Perspectives On Drinking Water Risk Assessment And
Management, Edited by Eric G. Reichard, Fred S. Hauchmann & Ana Maria
Sancha., IAHS Publ. no. 260
- The Hydrology-Geomorphology Interface: Rainfall, Floods, Sedimentation,
Land Use, Edited by Marwan A. Hassan, Olav Slaymaker & Simon M.
Berkowicz, IAHS Publ. no. 261
- Tracers And Modelling In Hydrogeology, Edited by A. Dassargues,
IAHS Publ. no. 262
- The Role Of Erosion And Sediment Transport In Nutrient And Contaminant
Transfer, Edited by M. Stone, IAHS Publ. no. 263
- Debris-Covered Glaciers, Edited by M. Nakawo, C. F. Raymond &
A. Fountain, IAHS Publ. no. 264
- Calibration And Reliability In Groundwater Modelling: Coping With
Uncertainty, Edited by F. Stauffer, W. Kinzelbach, K. Kovar & E.
Hoehn, IAHS Publ. no. 265
Capacity Building:
The IAHS TFDC
(Task Force for Developing Countries) continued its action and distributed all
IAHS publications (Hydrological Science Journal and the Red Books) free of
charge to more than 60 selected Universities and Research Institutions of
Africa, Asia, South-America and Eastern Europe.
Hydrology Prize and Tison Award 2000:
The recipient of the 2000
International Hydrology Prize, in recognition of an outstanding
contribution to science and awarded jointly with UNESCO and the WMO, was Uri
Shamir, (Israel), former IAHS President and presently IUGG Vice President.
The 2000 Tison Award (made to a young scientist in recognition of an
outstanding contribution to hydrology) was made to Dr. S. Ulhenbrok (Germany).
[P. Hubert (France), IAHS Secretary General]
http://IAMAS.org]
Administration:
A major project in 2000 was the upgrading of
the IAMAS Webpage. This was facilitated by a substantial grant for a "Web
master," Dr. Bettina Bauer, through the auspices of ETHZ. IAMAS is investigating
the type of Website which would be most beneficial for interacting with the
scientists/meteorologists of the world in specific fields. The first field to be
developed, in close collaboration with WMO, will be "Cloud Physics ad Weather
Modification."
The program for the IAMAS Assembly in Innsbruck, 10 - 18 July, 2001, was
developed with the great help of the IAMAS Executive and the Secretaries of the
10 IAMAS Commissions. This Program was put on two Webpages, the one by the
organizers [Leader Professor Michael Kuhn] "http://meteo.uibk.ac.at/IAMAS2001"
the other as part of the IAMAS Webpage. The highlight will be a Symposium by the
WG 1 of IPCC. In addition to joint symposia with IAHS there will be 32 Symposia
and Workshops by IAMAS Commissions. The Innsbruck Conference Centre, with the
University, has the capacity for up to 11 parallel sessions. Four President's
Lecturers have been recruited and five younger, upcoming scientists will be
given an opportunity to give major bring-your-own-lunch plenary session
lectures. Specific procedures to obtain IAMAS grants were established, with firm
eligibility criteria. This was needed after ~500 IAMAS scientists of a total of
780 applied for financial support for IUGG99. [The explicit new rules seam to be
working very well.] The plan for 2001 is to provide grants to the amount
of $25000+ for scientists from the developing world and the former USSR, and
some additional support of young scientists, independent of origin.
Scientific Meetings:
- The Commission for Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Pollution, CACGP, held
a Workshop on Priorities in International Chemistry Research and the Future of
IGAC, Aspen, CO, USA, 27 April to 2 May
- International Conference on Clouds and Precipitation (ICCP), Reno, Nevada,
USA August 14-18
- 15th International Conference on Nucleation and Atmospheric Aerosols,
Rolla, Missouri USA (University of Missouri-Rolla), August 6-11
- Quadrennial Ozone Symposium, Sapporo, Japan, 3-8 July
- Radiation Commission (IRC): International Radiation Symposium 2000:
Current Problems in Atmospheric Radiation, 24-29 July 2000, St. Petersburg,
Russia
- The LASG, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Commission for
Dynamic Meteorology (ICDM) and IAMAS co-sponsored the International Conference
on Climate and Environment Variability and Predictability (CEVP), Shanghai,
China; August 7-11
Capacity Building:
The bulk of the
expenditures was travel grants to the IAMAS Commissions [$15500] for use for
scientists from needy countries attending conferences or symposia. In effect the
annual IUGG contribution to IAMAS, intended to provide office and meeting
expenses, is basically used to support scientists from developing countries. The
cost for this support is carried by direct and indirect contributions of the
universities, countries and granting agencies of the IAMAS President and IAMAS
SG.
IAMAS is considering a Joint Assembly with IAHS and IAPSO in the developing
world in 2005. This is not an easy undertaking, requiring facilities for
2000 scientists and ~20 parallel sessions but with minimal or no registration
fees. The IAMAS Executive meeting in Innsbruck in 2001 will decide what venue to
choose. [R. List (Canada), Secretary General]
www.olympus.net/IAPSO/
Administration:
During the year 2000, action was initiated to form
an IAPSO/IAHS Joint Commission on Groundwater-Seawater Interactions. Funding was
obtained to hold an initial meeting at the IAHS Assembly in 2001. Activities of
the Permanent Service on Mean Sea Level (sponsored by IAPSO), and IAPSO's
Standard Sea Water Service (operated by Ocean Scientific International)
continued in 2000.
The IAPSO President initiated contacts with the Palace in Monaco regarding
the proposed creation of a medal to be awarded for distinguished accomplishments
in the physical sciences of the oceans. Prince Rainier of Monaco has agreed to
establish the Prince Albert I medal to be awarded biannually by IAPSO for that
purpose. An invitation was extended to have a member of the Prince's family
present the first medal at the Joint Assembly in 2001.
Maintenance and updating of the IAPSO Web page continued. A page of
information for younger students was added as an outreach effort. A mirror Web
page was created as a direct portion of the IUGG Web page. Additional links were
added to university laboratory and institute Web pages. Accesses to the IAPSO Web page reached a
level of 5,000 hits per month by late summer, with a substantial percentage
accessing the 1999 symposia abstracts and a significant number accessing 1997
abstracts.
Scientific Meetings:
Plans continued for a Joint IAPSO/IABO
Assembly in Mar del Plata Argentina in October 2001. The final technical program
for that Assembly was prepared, symposia convenors and co-convenors were
established, registration information was added to the Joint Assembly Web page, and efforts were initiated to obtain funds from
various sources for travel grants. Substantial advertising has been carried out
for the Joint Assembly including e-mail distribution of notices, and
distribution of hard copies of the Call for Papers. IAPSO joined with other
Associations in providing information at an IUGG booth at the AGU Fall meeting.
IAPSO joined with IAG to hold a week-long workshop in Brazil in 2000, with a
follow-up symposium scheduled in conjunction with the 2001 Assembly in
Argentina.
Discussions were also initiated in regard to the site for an Assembly in
2005. Discussions have been carried out with a representative in India, as India
expressed an interest in 1999. Discussions/coordination have continued with
IAMAS and IAHS with regard to the possibility of a Joint Assembly. Partial
funding was obtained to allow representatives of the three Associations to
travel to India in 2001 to view a potential site and discuss possibilities with
representatives of the three Associations in India. [F.E. Camfield (USA),
Secretary General]
www.iaspei.org
Scientific Meetings:
The 3rd Meeting of the Asian
Seismological Commission (ASC) was organized by the Institute of Geophysics,
University of Teheran was held at Tehran, Iran, 10-12 October 2000. It was
co-sponsored by IASPEI, IUGG, ICSU, UNESCO, the Ministry of Culture and Higher
Education of Iran, the National Committee for Reduction of Natural Disasters in
Iran, and the Scientific Research Council of Iran. The symposium was an
opportunity for the representatives from most of the Asian countries as well as
from Africa, Europe, America and Australia to offer the results of their
scientific achievements in the field of Seismology, Earthquake Hazard Assessment
and Earth's Interior Related Topics. The technical sessions included the
following topics: earthquake processes, precursors and forecasts; recent
devastating earthquakes, strong ground motion, and seismic hazard;
seismotectonics with special reference to western Asia; induced and triggered
seismicity; heat flow, volcanology, lithosphere and structure of the Earth's
interior; and recent trends in seismic instrumentation, data processing, GPS,
public awareness and related topics. The symposium was followed by two technical
workshops, Educating the Public about Earthquake Hazard and Risk, and Seismic
Networks and Site Selection, which were held at the Institute of Geophysics,
University of Teheran on 13-14 October 2000.
Education/Training Activities:
The European Seismological
Commission (ESC), with the financial support of IASPEI, has sponsored three
training courses for Young Seismologists in order to expose them to data
acquisition, processing techniques and empirical evaluation of site effects
under the tutorship of many established seismologists throughout Europe and the
world. The recent training course in Lisbon, following the now established
format, took place in the two days (8-9 September 2000) before the General
Assembly and focused on earthquake locations and their uncertainties. Eleven
students from four countries attended the course. Lecture notes were distributed
to the students together with CD's containing the test data used in the course
for students to use on their return.
As an implement of IASPEI's training and education program, the local
organizing committee of the Asian Seismological Commission (ASC) organized the
International Regional Training Course on Seismology and Mitigation of Seismic
Disasters prior to the third ASC Assembly. The Training Course was co-sponsored
by the Institute of Geophysics, Teheran University. New understanding of
seismotectonic features, prediction studies, physics of the source, inversion
methods, ground strong motion and the use of internet facilities were among the
topics that were included in the course.
Publications:
IASPEI Bulk E-Mail System - IASPEI uses this system to broadcast
announcements about forthcoming meetings and other information of interest to
IASPEI members.
IASPEI Home Page - IASPEI continues development of its Home Page on the
WorldWideWeb which contains organizational information, a publications list,
meeting announcements and Internet connections and other information of interest
to IASPEI scientists.
IASPEI Brochure - The IASPEI Secretariat with the assistance of Carl
Kisslinger (Editor) has published a 26 page Brochure entitled "The International
Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior: Cooperation for
Better Understanding of the Earth". Copies can be obtained from the IASPEI
Secretariat.
Oni, E. A. (Editor). Advances in Geodesy and Geophysics Research in Africa,
International Commission for Earth Sciences in Africa, Dept. of Physics,
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, 498 p., 2000.
Igel, H., Geller, R.J. (Editors). Special Issue. Numerical Modeling of Global
Seismic Wave Propagation: Algorithms-Accuracy-Verification, Proceedings of the
IASPEI Symposium held during the 29th General Assembly in Thessaloniki, Greece,
Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, v. 119, 2000.
Zhao, D., Hasegawa, A. (Editors). Special Issue. Seismic Structure and Stress
Regime of Subduction Zones, Proceedings of the IASPEI Symposium held during the
29th General Assembly in Thessaloniki, Greece, Tectonophysics, v. 319, 2000.
Wu, Ru-Shan (Editor). Special Issue. Waves in Complex Media, Proceedings of
the IASPEI Symposium held during the 29th General Assembly in Thessaloniki,
Greece, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, v. 120, 2000.
International Handbook of Earthquake and Seismology:
Modern scientific investigations of earthquakes began in the 1880's. With rapid
advances in the 20th century, many branches of seismology developed and there is
not an authoritative reference that summarizes our present knowledge about
earthquake and engineering seismology. This Handbook will help to bridge the gap
between seismologists and earthquake engineers and will be truly international
in scope. It will consist of about 84 chapters grouped into 10 parts, with 4
CD-ROMs containing materials to augment the printed chapters, and including a
compilation of seismic data from around the world and a global earthquake
database with software for displaying seismicity maps. It will be published in
2001 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of IAS (the predecessor of
IASPEI). Publication of this Handbook is under the auspices of the IASPEI
Committee on Education.
New Manual of Seismological Observatory Practice:
While there exist good text books and many university curricula on more general or theoretical,
research- oriented aspects of seismology there is a lack of job-related
education, training and instruction material in the field of observational
seismology. Although the last (1979) edition of the Manual of Seismological
Observatory Practice (MSOP) is now available on the web (www.seismo.com),
it covers analogue techniques only. Computer and communication technologies, as
well as the availability of modern broadband sensors, have revolutionized
seismological practice during the last two decades of the 20th century. This
necessitates the elaboration of a new MSOP (NMSOP), currently under development
as a web site. The web-based NMSOP is maintained as continuously up-graded,
up-dated and complemented reference source with integrated training modules.
First contributions are already available via
www.seism.com/msop/nmsop/nmsop.php. A hard copy version of the NMSOP is
planned, complemented by an easy to update loose-leaf collection of job-related
worksheets. Instructions, relevant formulae, programs, references data and
sources needed for proper execution of the most important observatory tasks such
as site selection, instrument installation and calibration, seismogram analysis,
earthquake location, parameter determination, etc. will be provided. Manual
chapters and worksheets may be used as training modules for observatory
practice.
Activities Involving Developing Countries
Africa:
The International Commission for Earth Sciences in Africa
(ICESA) was formed jointly with IASPEI as a Coordinating Committee of the
International Lithosphere Program (ILP). Its overall objectives include
promoting and coordinating geo-scientific work in Africa by facilitating the
exchange of scientific personnel, information and collaboration among African
countries and similar organizations working in the field of earth sciences.
ICESA is also devoted to the initiation of training programs for African
scientists and technicians as well as to the organization of meetings/seminars
for the exchange of ideas among earth scientists. The new council of ICESA
decided on activities over the next six years that will result in the
publication of a book on African geology and the stimulation of publications by
African scientists in international journals. At this stage of the project eight
Special Issues of the Journal of African Earth Sciences (JAES) are being planned
as a joint venture between ICESA and JAES. Provisional titles for the Special
Issues and a list of Guest Editors have been compiled. The Guest Editors, in
consultation with ICESA Council, will produce the final list of review papers
for each Special Issue.
Committee on Developing Countries (CDC) Newsletter:
Distributed twice a year from Hyderabad, India, the Newsletter provides a forum for various
scientific activities of IASPEI and other scientific bodies. It disseminates
information about symposia, meetings, travel grant opportunities, training
courses, network development, reports of important geological events, software
and instrumental development, etc.. Realising the fact that many
research/educational institutes in developing countries suffer from inadequate
scientific literature, very often a good number of popular scientific articles
on earth and natural sciences from various international journals are
reproduced. The Newsletter is circulated globally, primarily to the scientists
in developing countries, but also to some scientists in developed countries who
are especially interested in the development of seismology in third world
countries. The present circulation figure is more than 300.
As part of IASPEI's outreach effort, the Publications Transfer Program of the
Committee for Developing Countries (CDC) makes available basic texts and
publications on seismology and related earth sciences to institutions in need.
The IASPEI Secretariat currently serves as a clearing house for all publications
requests and offers. There have been many requests for the materials available
through the publications transfer project. In the year 2000 the project has
provided publications to the following institutions:
- Instituto Geofisico del Peru (Lima, Peru) - on May 22nd the library was
totally destroyed. Hence, in addition to sending them the journals on their
list, we also sent them 4 boxes of assorted texts.
- Centre for Earth Science Studies (Akkulam, India) - This institution does
not have any of the publication transfer journals dated after 1987.
- Guru Jambeshwar University (Hisar, India) - Their applied mathematics
department has requested access to geophysical journals on behalf of 3 members
of their staff conducting research in theoretical seismology.
- Gadjah Madah University (Yogyakarta, Indonesia) - Journals were requested
on behalf of the departmental library of the Department of Geodetic
Engineering. They will primarily be used by students.
- Univ. Nac La Plata (Argentina) - They are trying to fill gaps in their
BSSA collection.
Special Projects:
IASPEI Seismological
Software Library (SSL) - Each software volume of the IASPEI Software Library
includes the executable code, examples on floppy diskettes, and printed
documentation.
IASPEI PC Shareware Library - Under the auspices of the Working Group on
Personal Computers, a PC shareware library is being published on diskette,
including files with short-form manuals of the programs. The Library provides
for fast and wide distribution of geophysical programs and utilities, reduced or
demonstration versions of geophysical software, and beta-versions of new
programs to be included in future volumes of the SSL. [E.R. Engdahl (USA)
Secretary General]
www.iavcei.org/
Administration:
IAVCEI ended the year with 609 paid individual
members, the most ever. The web page was redesigned and updated. The volcano
listserver administered by Arizona State University is now the official IAVCEI
listserver. It has 2200 people listed, which far exceeds the IAVCEI membership.
Thus we hope to further boost the membership in IAVCEI.
Scientific Meetings:
The highlight of the last year was the highly
successful IAVCEI General Assembly. Approximately 500 volcanologists attended
the meeting from July 18-22, 2000 in Bali, Indonesia. The five-day meeting
brought together volcanologists from around the globe to discuss all aspects of
volcanology as well as to visit some of the world's most famous and destructive
volcanoes. The meeting was well organized by the Volcanological Society of
Indonesia (VSI), assisted by the Directorate General Geology & Mineral
Resources (DGGMR), the Idonesian Geologists's Association (IGA), the Institute
of Technology of Bandung (ITB), and the Department of Mining and Energy (DME).
Midway through the five-day meeting, the participants traveled to Batur caldera
and one of VSI's volcano observatories. There were also two workshops and six
field trips held in association with the meeting.
The next General Assembly is tentatively scheduled for November-December 2004
in Chile. Over the next few years, IAVCEI will focus its efforts on several
smaller meetings, including Cities on Volcanoes 2 (Feb. 2001, New Zealand), a
Penrose conference (June 2001, California), and the IAVCEI 1902 Centennial
Workshop (May 2002, Martinique). We expect a strong showing for volcanology at
the July 2003 IUGG meeting in Sapporo, Japan, as well as excellent field trips.
The full IAVCEI Executive Committee met in Bali and conducted two meetings
covering all aspects of IAVCEI business.
Education/outreach:
In 2000, IAVCEI sold over 90 videos on 1)
understanding volcanic hazards and 2) reducing volcanic risk. These videos were
produced professionally under contract with IAVCEI. Also, a volcano calendar was
produced by IAVCEI members and was printed and marketed by a professional
calendar company. Over 7,300 calendars were sold and an additional 800 were
distributed by IAVCEI to various scientific, educational, and governmental
organizations. IAVCEI received a small royalty payment for the calendars. [S.
McNutt (USA) Secretary General]
www.ngdc.noaa.gov/IAGA
Administration:
The IAGA Executive Committee met in Edinburgh,
Scotland on September 8-9, 2000. The committee approved the record of the
previous meeting held in Birmingham and the planning budgets for 2001 and 2002.
Applications for support for local symposia in Brazil, India and the Czech
Republic in 2001 were approved. It was agreed that IAGA would lead in
co-ordinating a response, together with IASPEI and IAVCEI, to a proposal to
establish a committee on electromagnetic studies of earthquakes and volcanoes.
Much of the meeting was taken up with planning for the joint IAGA-IASPEI
Scientific Assembly to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam on August 19-31, 2001. This
will be the first time IAGA has held an Assembly in Southeast Asia. Local,
national, and regional scientists will have the opportunity to participate in a
wide range of symposia with topics ranging from the workings of the Earth's
internal dynamo to the solar wind. At the Assembly, IAGA will sponsor 58
symposia and co-sponsor 11 symposia with IASPEI, SEDI and ILP. In addition to
the symposia, Inter-Association lectures will be given.
To improve communication of IAGA activities a brochure, developed with
support from ICSU, was produced and will be published in 2001. The IAGA
homepage, hosted by the US National Geophysical Data Center (NOAA), was
redesigned to be more efficient and to make it easier to find information on
IAGA activities.
Scientific meetings:
In 2000, the following meetings were sponsored or cosponsored by IAGA.
- Space Weather: Progress and Challenges in Research and Applications, March
20-24, 2000, Clearwater, Florida, USA
- Fifth International Conference on Substorms, in May, 2000, St. Petersburg,
Russia
- IX IAGA Workshop on Geomagnetic Observatory Instrument, Data Acquisition
and Processing, (In Honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Observatory), June
12-18, 2000, Hubanovo, Slovakia
- The 7th Biennial Castle Meeting on New Trends in Geomagnetism, June 19-25,
2000, Castle Moravany, Slovakia
- Space Storms and Space Weather Hazards, June 19-29, 2000, Heraklion,
Crete, Greece
- 33rd COSPAR Assembly, July 16-23, 2000, Warsaw, Poland
- Lower Atmosphere Effects on the Ionosphere and Upper Atmosphere, July
25-28, 2000, Prague, Czech Republic
- 15th Electromagnetic (EM) Workshop, August 19-26, 2000, Cabo Frio, Brazil
- The First S-RAMP Conference, October 2-6, 2000, Sapporo, Japan
- SPARC Second General Assembly, November 6-10, 2000, Mar del Plata,
Argentina
Publications:
IAGA Bulletins 32w, Geomagnetic
Data for 1993 and IAGA Bulletin 32y, Geomagnetic Data for 1994, were published.
The International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) is a global model of the
geomagnetic field and its secular variation produced by a group of geomagnetic
field modellers working under the auspices of IAGA. The year 2000 revision of
the IGRF was agreed in November 1999 and the model coefficients were published
in Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors (vol 120 , pp 39-42), and in
Geophysical Journal International (vol 141, pp259-262) in 2000.
AGA Award:
Mr Emil Pisara was given an IAGA Long Service award in
recognition of his many years of dedicated service at Hurbanovo Observatory,
Slovakia. The IAGA President presented Mr Pisara with his medal at the Opening
Ceremony of the IX IAGA Workshop on Geomagnetic Observatory Instrument, Data
Acquisition and Processing, held at Hurbanovo Observatory.
Other Activities:
IAGA was successful in an application for ICSU
support for the INTERMAGNET programme. INTERMAGNET has succeeded in accelerating
the modernisation of instrumentation, and practices for data collection and
dissemination in the global magnetic observatory network. In 2000 participation
in INTERMAGNET grew to 75 observatories from 32 countries. [Herbert Kroehl (USA)
Secretary General]
The IUGG Bureau and Executive Committee will meet 30- July - 2 August, 2001,
in Sapporo, Japan. There will be a concurrent meeting of the 2003 General
Assembly Scientific Programme Committee.
Dates and places of the Scientific Assemblies of the Associations
- IASPEI/IAGA: August 18-30, 2001, Hanoi (Vietnam)
- IAVCEI: July 18-22, 2000, Bali (Indonesia)
- IAMAS: July 10-18, 2001, Innsbruck (Austria)
- IAHS: July 18-27, 2001, Maastricht (Netherlands)
- IAPSO: October 21-28, 2001, Mar del Plata (Argentina) - jointly with IABO
Date and place of the 23rd Union General Assembly
June 30 - July 11, 2003, Sapporo (Japan)
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