Resolution No.7 (2005): Maintenance of ground-based observatories to support magnetospheric/ionospheric dynamics research

IAGA, recognising that

• continued progress in basic magnetospheric/ionospheric physics research increasingly depends on globally distributed ground-based observations of aurora, ionospheric parameters, and magnetic fields
• operating observatories is one of the most effective ways in which scientists in the developing world can contribute significantly to the progress of basic science and thereby promote international cooperation in basic geoscience research, and,

noting that

• modern technological infrastructures are adversely impacted by the space environment, particularly during geomagnetic storms

urges

• national funding agencies to continue support for ground observatories providing data to characterise the magnetosphere/ionosphere system
• scientists and national funding agencies to promote and support cooperation in sharing data from these observatories for open use by the international scientific community.