[STSP] FW: IUGG E-Journal for 23 March 2007

[Phil Wilkinson]

Subject: FW: IUGG E-Journal for 23 March 2007


The IUGG Electronic Journal
Volume 7 No. 3b (23 March 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
2. Perugia General Assembly Scientific Programme Committee
3. Report from eGY
4. Report from IHY
5. Report about the International Lithosphere Program (ILP)
6. IUGG Annual Report for 2006 now posted on the IUGG web page
7. IUGG-related meetings occurring during April - June 2007


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.


4. Report from IHY
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)
Secretary General: J=F8rg F.W. Ngendank (Germany) until mid 2007
Bureau Members: IUGG: E. Robert Engdahl (USA)
IUGG: K.C. Sain (India)
IUGS: Yoshiyuki Tatsumi (Japan)
IUGS: Jean Paul Cadet (France)
IUGS and IUGG: Alan Green (Switzerland)
Past President (ex officio):Asahiko Taira (Japan)
Chair of Nat'l Members: S=F8ren Gregersen (Denmark)

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 - June 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 EGU, Vienna, Austria, European Geosciences Union General
Assembly 2007

April 22 - 27 IAVCEI, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Evolution, Transfer, and
Release of Magmas and Volcanic Gases

May 14-16 IASPEI, Tehran, Iran, 5th International Conference on
Seismology and Earthquake Prediction, Geotechnical Earthquake
Engineering (SEE5)


End of IUGG Electronic Journal Volume 7 Number 3b (23 March 2007)
J. A. Joselyn, Secretary General [http://www.IUGG.org]
secretariat at iugg.org fax: 1 303 497 3645