Annual Report 1998
1998 was a year of scientific achievement through co-sponsorship of 8 Symposia and Workshops and the productive use of an ICSU grant to support the INTERMAGNET efforts to modernize and standardize global observations of Earth’s magnetic field. The 38th and 39th issues of IAGA news were published, and we prepared for the 1999 IUGG General Assembly and the conclusion of the 1995-99 quadrennium. A major project approved at the 1997 Executive Committee meeting was a comprehensive revision of the IAGA Statutes and By-laws. The proposed revisions have been prepared by C. Barton and are ready for distribution to the National Correspondents for study and possible adoption at the 1999 Conference of Delegates. A proposal for a 1999 ICSU grant for a new IAGA poster and brochure was successful, and President Kono appointed G. Rostoker and C. Barton to lead the effort.
In order to preserve the IAGA treasury, President Kono did not convene a meeting of the Executive Committee. We attempted to arrange a video-conference, but found that it was not cost-effective. Limited business was transacted by e-mail. In particular, the Executive Committee supported a decision of the Australian Geological Survey Organisation to expand its geomagnetic observatory program. The expanded program will improve the accuracy of both the regional and global magnetic field models as well as provide better data services to the solar-terrestrial physics community.
At the request of the Executive Committee, IAGA’s Secretary General and the Secretary General of the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior (IASPEI) traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam to visit the site of their combined Assemblies in 2001. Their visit was hosted by Deputy Director of the Institute of Geophysics, Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Thoa, Chair of the Local Organizing Committee. They found the venue to be entirely suitable, selected the dates of August 18-30, 2001, as the time of the joint Assembly, and began planning administrative details.
We mourned the death of 15 distinguished IAGA members, as reported in IAGA News 38 and IAGA News 39, and celebrated awards and honors earned by D. Gurnett (USA), D, Hunten (USA), T. Pulkkinen (Finland), D.J. Stevenson (USA), J. Lastovicka (Czech Republic), M. A. Shea (USA) and R. Sridharan (India).
IAGA Co-Sponsored Symposia and Workshops
In 1998, IAGA co-sponsored 8 meetings:
- Mathematical Methods in Electromagnetic Theory; June 2-5; Kharkov, UKRAINE
- Rock, Paleo and Environmental Magnetism; August 31 - September 5; Castle of "Hruba Skala", CZECH REPUBLIC
- International Working Meeting On the Problem of Cooling and Sinking of the Upper Atmosphere; July 6-9; Troitsk, RUSSIA
- 32nd COSPAR Scientific Assembly, Session D0.5 "Space Weather, Physics and Applications"; July 12-19; Nagoya, JAPAN
- Electromagnetic Induction Workshop; August 16-23; Sinaia, ROMANIA Fifth Latin-American Conference on Space Geophysics (COLAGE V); November 3-8; San Jose, COSTA RICA
- Geomagnetic Instrument and Data Analysis Workshop II; Sept/Oct; Vassouras, BRAZIL
- Seminar on Stratosphere-Troposphere Interactions; November 24-26; Cochin, INDIA
Publications
IAGA Bulletin n. 32v - Geomagnetic Data for 1991 was published by ICSU with the financial assistance of UNESCO through the mediation of the Federation of Astronomical and Geophysical data analysis Centers. The Bulletins are produced by the International Service of Geomagnetic Indices (ISGI) Publications Office which is hosted at the Centre d'etude des Environnements Terrestre et Plantaires (CETP, Saint-Maur, France), under the responsibility of Michel Menvielle.
