The IUGG Electronic JournalVolume 3 No. 4 (April 1, 2003)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. IUGG General Assembly News The Scientific Programme Committee (SPC), chaired by A. Nishida, met in Tokyo, Japan, on March 6-7 as guests of the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center. Members of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) were also present. Before this meeting, several of the Association Secretaries-General visited the Assembly site in Sapporo and found the arrangements to be excellent. IUGG President M. Kono greeted the Committees and thanked them for their hard work to prepare the scientific symposia and arrange all of the complex logistical details. K. Suyehiro, General Secretary of the LOC, reported that 5187 persons had submitted 7078 abstracts. These abstracts had been arranged into programmes by the session convenors, but it fell to the SPC to make adjustments so that the sessions all fit into the rooms and poster spaces available each day. Of special importance, the LOC announced that they had raised the sum of 50 million yen to support attendance at the General Assembly. This extraordinary effort, plus $70,000 from IUGG and additional amounts contributed by the Associations, means that more than $500,000 is available to assist persons to come to the General Assembly. The decisions about distributing the money to the 1156 applicants for support are now being made by the Secretaries-General, in consultation with their symposia conveners.The Agenda Books, including the quadrennial reports of the Union, for the IUGG Council Meetings that will be held in Sapporo were mailed on 31 March (the Agendas themselves were distributed last month). Most Adhering Bodies have now reported the names of the delegates that will represent them at the Council meetings, but a few delegates are yet missing. The names of the delegates will be posted on the IUGG web site early in April. The International Council for Science (ICSU) has named Dr. Peter Tyson (South Africa) as their representative to the General Assembly and the Council meetings. 2. IUGG Annual Report for 2002 posted on the Web The IUGG Annual Report for 2002 has been posted on the IUGG web site (www.iugg.org). The Annual Reports of the Associations and inter-Association Commissions and Committees are included in this document. Printed copies of the report will be sent to each of the IUGG Member Adhering Bodies and prospective Adhering Bodies. 3. IAG - A new structure and new officers A new IAG structure was developed following the 1999 Birmingham General Assembly by an IAG Review Committee, chaired by Gerhard Beutler. The new structure was accepted by the IAG Executive Committee and later on by the IAG Council, which held an extraordinary meeting on September 8, 2001, in Budapest, Hungary. The Structure consists of IAG Services, Commission 1 (Reference Frames), Commission 2 (Gravity Field), Commission 3 (Earth Rotation and Geodynamics), Commission 4 (Positioning and Applications), an Inter-Commission Committee on Theory, an Inter-Commission Committee on Geodetic Standards, and an Outreach Committee. In addition, there the first IAG project has been announced: the Integrated Global Geodetic Observing System (IGGOS). The officers that were elected by the IAG Correspondents of the National Committees (as provided by the new IAG Statutes and By-laws) are President G. Beutler (Switzerland), Vice President M.G. Sideris (Canada), Secretary-General C.C. Tscherning (Denmark), and the following Chairs of the Commissions: Commission 1: H. Drewes (Germany), Commission 2: C. Jekeli (U.S.A.), Commission 3: V. Dehant (Belgium), Commission 4: C. Rizos (Australia), and two members-at-large: L.P. Fortes (Brazil), and C. Merry (South Africa). The persons elected to represent the Services are R. Neilan (U.S.A.), M. Rothacher (Switzerland), and H. Schuh (Austria). 4. ICSU/IAU Call for participants for a study of Asteroid Impacts The International Astronomical Union (IAU), a sister union within the International Council for Science (ICSU), has invited IUGG to suggest persons who could participate in a study of the societal consequences of an asteroid impact. Dr. V. Gusiakov (Russia, Tsunami Commission) has already been asked to serve, but if others are interested they should contact the IUGG secretariat immediately. 5. IAHS Special Publication At the end of 2002, the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) published another volume in the IAHS Series of Special Publications: THE ECOHYDROLOGY OF SOUTH AMERICAN RIVERS AND WETLANDS, edited by Michael E. McClain. Additional information is available at the IAHS web site: www.cig.ensmp.fr/~iahs 6. IUGG-related meetings occurring during April - June 2003 A calendar of meetings of interest to IUGG disciplines (especially those organized by IUGG Associations) is posted on the IUGG Web Site [ www.IUGG.org ]. Specific information about these meetings can be found there. Individual Associations also list more meetings on their web sites appropriate to their disciplines.
End of IUGG Electronic Journal Volume 3 Number 4 (April 1, 2003) |
