[STSP] STSP Meeting Report - February 2005

[Phil Wilkinson]

Solar Terrestrial and Space Physics (STSP) Group
of the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP).
________________________________________________

What: Report of the STSP Business Meeting at the 2005 AIP Congress
Date: Meeting on 3 February 2005 (Report 10 March 2005)
Author: Iver Cairns

Outline:
  1. Chair's 2004 Report for the Group
  2. Election of a new Committee
  3. First Decadal Plan for Space Science 
     National Committee for Space Science (NCSS)
  4. WARS06 (Workshop on Radio Science 2006)
  5. Rockets from U. Queensland - Phillip Teakle
  6. IPY / IHY / IGY / eGY etc.
  7. Discussion: this meeting & sessions for next.
  8. Other business?

(1) Chair's 2004 Report for the Group
-------------------------------------

This Report is available as a separate file STSP-report-2005.doc.
It is attached and will be available from the revised STSP website.
The STSP website and mail list convenor is Phil Wilkinson.

The only new items, from the AIP Council Meeting on 31
January, are the following:

i) The AIP agreed to write a Letter of Support for the Mileura
Widefield Array (MWA) when requested. [Item 5]

ii) The AIP agreed to co-sponsor the Asia Oceania Geosciences
Society meetings, to be held this year 20-24 June in
Singapore, on a no exchange of funds basis. [Item 6]

iii) The next AIP Congress is to be in Brisbane in 2006. Exact
Dates are not known.

iv) A new Public Relations poster for STSP in Australia has
been developed. It is available in PDF and PPT formats. It will be
sent separately.


2) Election of a new Committee
------------------------------

Desire: balance of research areas, institutions, location &
	links (domestic & international).
Main Tasks: Program for AIP Congress, link STSP community, strategic &
	political actions below level of NCSS (National Committee for 
	Space Science)

A call was made for representatives from DSTO and postgraduate/honours
students and then an election held. The following Committee 
was elected:

Iver Cairns (Chair, U. Sydney -  NCSS, IAGA, AOGS;
i.cairns at physics.usyd.edu.au)

Brian Fraser (Deputy Chair, U.  Newcastle -  NCSS, IAGA, NCRS;
brian.fraser at newcastle.edu.au)

Bob Dewar (ANU -  ICPP, Japan-Australia Plasma Meetings;
robert.dewar at anu,edu.au)

Marc Duldig (AAD;  marc.duldig at aad.gov.au)

Trevor Harris (DSTO; trevor.harris at dsto.defence.gov.au)

Murray Parkinson (La Trobe; m.parkinson at latrobe.edu.au),

Phil Wilkinson (IPS - NCRS, URSI; phil at ips.gov.au),

Bob Vincent (U. Adelaide - NCSS, CAWSES; robert.vincent at adelaide.edu.au .

The meeting gave the Committee authority to seek and appoint a
student member to the Committee.

3) First Decadal Plan for Space Science  
   National Committee for Space Science (NCSS)
----------------------------------------------

The Chair spoke on his proposal that the Australian STSP Community
strongly supports & works on the first Australian Decadal
Plan for Space Science, to be developed under the aegis of the NCSS.

He pointed out that the National Committees for (1) Astronomy and
(2) Space Science are going to develop Decadal Plans. The
perceived benefits include:
 * Imprimatur of the Australian Academy of Sciences ==> improved
   political & funding visibility with Government, ARC, and peers.
 * Logical planning with a view of the field and widely-agreed goals.
 * Community has one voice on major funding projects.
 * Constructive linking and discussion of related fields.

The goal is to optimise the outcomes for Australia, science, and
scientists of Australia's funding & work in space science.

The meeting strongly supported the concept of a decadal plan for space
science, with a number of constructive comments.

4) WARS06 (Workshop on the Applications of Radio Science 2006)
--------------------------------------------------------------

Phil Wilkinson gave a short report on the WARS2004 meeting
(http://www.ips.gov.au/IPSHosted/NCRS/wars/wars2004/index.htm),
also given in the STSP Report for 2004 (item 1 above).

Options for WARS2006 are being pursued. It will probably be held
in early 2006 at a location to be determined.

5) Phillip Teakle and UQ's Wagtail Rocket Project
-------------------------------------------------

Phillip Teakle, of the University of Queensland's Centre for Hypersonics,
gave a quick report on the "Wagtail" Scientific Rocket Project. In
June 2004 the Queensland State Government gave $2.2 million towards a
Hypersonic Test Facility, including a scientific rocket manufacturing
facility at UQ. The aim is to develop inexpensive means to launch
experiments to very high speeds and/or altitudes to support research
into hypersonics, the upper atmosphere, avionics, and microgravity.
Examples included a 2-stage rocket able to reach 100 km altitude.

He can be reached at philip.teakle at csiro.au.

6) IPY / IHY / IGY / eGY etc.
-----------------------------

Charlie Barton discussed several of the I*Y programs, several
of which are focused on the 50-yr anniversary of IGY: 2007-2008

IYPE -  International Year of Planet Earth (IUGS)
IPY -  International Polar Year (ICSU ⦠4th IPY)
IHY - Int. Heliophysical Year (NASA & SCOSTEP)
eGY - Electronic Geophysical Year (IUGG/IAGA)
CAWSES - Climate & Weather of Sun-Earth System (SCOSTEP)
IGY2007 - US Congressional resolution for IGY+50 initiative.

What should we do together versus individually?

Ian Allison at the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) is involved at high
levels. He can be reached at ian.allison at aad.gov.au

Royal Society of Victoria wants to be involved in publicising
and supporting IPY2007-2008 projects. Contact David Dodd at
kelpie101 at optusnet.com.au .

These programs are a major focus of international STSP research and
we can make a large and valuable contribution given our unique
location and resources.

7) Discussion: this meeting & sessions for next.
------------------------------------------------

People thought the meeting very successful and useful, especially
given the structures imposed by the AIP Congress committees.
The Committee emphasized pedagogy in choice of speakers, giving
most non-invited oral talks to postgraduate students and young
postdocs.

Ideally people would like more oral talks with a wider representation
from non-University sources (e.g., DSTO). This is desirable.  However,
it is unclear whether a fully oral program is achievable at future
AIP Congresses, despite this being standard practice at and before the
1998 Perth AIP Congress. STSP needs to maximise the number of
submitted abstracts to have a larger oral program.

Many people would like a dedicated STSP meeting in the odd-years
between AIP Congresses. This could be an enhanced WARS meeting
or another. These options need to be carefully evaluated since
WARS would be unsustainable without the many STSP people who have
attended previous WARS meetings.

The STSP Committee will start planning the STSP sessions for the
2006 AIP Congress once the dates are known.

The impending start of a scientific session in the meeting room
required the STSP Business Meeting to be stopped at this point.
Please contact the Committee to volunteer your services. Yours

sincerely,
Iver Cairns
(Chair, STSP Committee).

_______________________________________________________

Report posted by Phil Wilkinson

Note: the new STSP Website is currently under construction.
      It's completion will be announced through this mail list.

best wishes,

Dr Phil Wilkinson, 
Deputy Director
IPS Radio and Space Services 

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