Resolution No.1 (1997): International Decade for Geopotential Field Research (Division V)

IAGA, noting the ability of satellites to provide unparalleled spatial and temporal coverage of observations of the Earth's magnetic and gravity fields, and recognising the revolutionary contribution that an extended time-series of such observations would make to a wide spectrum of geoscientific and space science studies, and welcoming the present plans by several nations to launch potential-field satellites within the next 5 years, considers that now is a favourable time for an international effort to promote and coordinate satellite surveys to achieve, for the first time, continuous monitoring of geopotential field variability in the near-Earth environment, and recommends that an International Decade for Geopotential-Field Research be declared to provide an international focus for such efforts.