The IUGG Electronic JournalVolume 7 No. 3b (March 23, 2007)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. About this issue of the IUGG Electronic Journal There is so much IUGG News that the April issue is being split into two parts – a late March edition and a mid-April edition. The Secretariat will continue to send extra Journal editions as seems appropriate. Newly-named delegates to the IUGG Council meeting in Perugia may be receiving the IUGG E-Journal for the first time. We will continue to send this monthly newsletter to you as it includes general information about the Union that you may find useful. 2. Perugia General Assembly Scientific Programme Committee (SPC) On March 26 and 27, the SPC Chair, Dr. Paola Rizzoli, will convene a meeting of the Association Secretaries General in Perugia to finalize the schedule of symposia and workshops now being planned during the General Assembly (July 2-13). Abstract submissions are now closed, and the Local Organizing Committee has posted 7156 abstracts that will now be placed into sessions so that the authors can be notified. At the same time, the Association Secretaries General will review the grant requests and allocate the money available to as many people as possible. The LOC and IUGG have contributed more than 300 000 euros, and each Association will also contribute funds to assist persons, especially students and young scientists, to attend the meetings. Notifications will be made as soon as possible after the SPC meeting. 3. Report from the Electronic Geophysical Year (eGY) A successful eGY General Meeting was held in Boulder Colorado March 13-14 at NCAR's Center Green Facility. Approximately 35 delegates representing the US, Canada, Germany, Europe, Russia, and Australia discussed activities of international bodies and programs (ICSU, IUGG, IUGS, IHY, IPY, IYPE, CODATA, WDCs, NASA, GEOSS, GEM/CEDAR, SEG, WGISS, and several virtual observatories) that relate to eGY. An action plan for the next 18 months was developed, with special attention given to plans for the eGY Kick Off activities to be held during the IUGG General Assembly on Saturday July 7th in Perugia Italy. We also had a wide-ranging discussion on the legacy of eGY and possible follow on activities. Both the idea of an IUGG Union Commission on Earth and Space Science Informatics and the formation of an eGY-interoperability CODATA Working Group were enthusiastically embraced. A meeting report and action plan will appear on www.egy.org. The International Heliophysical Year (IHY) held their Opening Ceremony on February 19, 2007 in conjunction with the United Nations Science and Technical Subcommittee meeting in Vienna, Austria. A special presentation on IHY plans and activities was made during the Subcommittee session, along with statements of support from participating IHY nations. Following the subcommittee meeting, U.N. delegates and IHY participants from around the world came together at the Opening Ceremony to formally announce the commencement of the International Heliophysical Year. Dr. Guhathakurta described IHY as "a broad international effort to develop the scientific understanding necessary to effectively address all aspects of the connected Sun-Solar system … that will provide a powerful tool for engaging the public and students in the science all over the world." There are currently 75 nations with IHY Organizing Committees, and there are activities and representation in nearly all of the 192 United Nations Member States. IHY will run for two years, 2007-2009. 5. Report about the International Lithosphere Program (ILP) The International Lithosphere Program, guided by the Scientific Committee on the Lithosphere (SCL), was established in 1980 as the Inter-union Commission on the Lithosphere (ICL) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), at the request of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG). The name was formally changed to the Scientific Committee on the Lithosphere in 1999. According to Decision 8.4 from the 2005 ICSU General Assembly, ICSU decided "to withdraw ICSU sponsorship from SCL/ILP and to recommend that responsibility would then shift to IUGG and IUGS." Since that time, IUGG and IUGS have reaffirmed the ILP mission and have collaborated to re-define ILP as an inter-Union body. New Terms of Reference have been approved by both Unions. Both IUGS and IUGG have appointed members to the ILP Bureau for the Term 2006-2010 as follows: President: Sierd Cloetingh (Netherlands) ILP cooperates with IUGS and IUGG on the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) and is leading the IYPE theme "Deep Earth." The next Bureau meeting will be arranged in Perugia, Italy, during the course of the IUGG General Assembly 2-13 July. 6. IUGG Annual Report for 2006 now posted on the IUGG web page Thanks to the input from the IUGG Associations and Union Commissions, the 2006 IUGG Annual Report is now completed and posted on the IUGG webpage: www.IUGG.org. We invite you to download this impressive summary of last year’s activities. 7. IUGG-Related Meetings Occurring during April – Jun 2007 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. April 15 - 20 April 22 - 27 May 14 – 16 End of IUGG Electronic Journal Volume 7 Number 3b (March 23, 2007) |
