General Assembly, Toronto, 1999
P. Wilkinson, the incoming Commission G Chair, prepared this report.
Business Meeting 1: Monday, 16 August 1999
The Business Meeting commenced with a brief moment remembering past friends of Commission G.
Lucien Bossy
Prof. Lucien Bossy died two weeks after the Lille URSI General Assembly at the age of 78. He was a mathematician and physicist who has dedicated his outstanding talents to the understanding of the earth’s environment, especially the ionosphere. For long years he represented the ionospheric research community at URSI and other international organizations and has been an inspiration and friend to many of us. Josef Lemaire has reported on his life in The Radio Science Bulletin (Dec 96).
Edward J. Weber
Dr. Ed Weber died on 1 December 1998 at the age of 50 years. He was an ionospheric research scientist at the AF Research Laboratories at Hanscom AFB in Massachusetts, USA. At the time of his death he was the Chief of the Ionospheric Interactions Branch. From his early years as a graduate student in Antarctica to his very last day he was dedicated to the exploration and understanding of the earth’s ionosphere using optical and radio techniques. With his observations from the ground and aboard the KC135 research plane he discovered and described the development and dynamics of the polar cap patches, and he gave one of the early descriptions of the ionospheric depletions associated with plumes, spread F and scintillations. In his last years he developed satellite programs for the study of ionospheric dynamics and structure.
Harvey Cummack
Dr. Harvey Cummack, who died December 1 1996, was born March 3rd, 1929 in Auckland, New Zealand. He was educated at the University of Canterbury as a mathematician and subsequently devoted his scientific life to the terrestrial ionosphere, first in the New Zealand Geophysical Observatory and then, on retirement in 1987, at the Physics and Astronomy Department of the University of Canterbury. His early work covered modelling the ionosphere at middle and low latitudes; his later work aimed at understanding the returns observed on ionograms. Harvey traveled little outside New Zealand, but for those who met him he will always be remembered as a person willing to discuss new ideas and impart the benefit of his experience to co-workers, and to people entering atmospheric and ionospheric physics. In his retirement, he was very proud of his work with several younger scientists as they set out on their careers.
In discussions, P. Cannon, J. Matthews and Sa. Basu suggested the Commission G terms of reference should be broadened to encompass topics that are currently either dealt with in the commission or could be. The new terms of reference expand Commission G interests beyond communications and emphasise both ground-based and space-based operations. These changes were adopted by the meeting and proposed to the URSI Council where they were subsequently accepted. The general terms of reference remain the same with the minor changes shown below, underlined.
Commission G: IONOSPHERIC RADIO AND PROPAGATION
- Global morphology and modelling of the ionosphere;
- Ionospheric space-time variations;
- Development of tools and networks needed to measure ionospheric properties and trends;
- Theory and practice of radio propagation via the ionosphere;
- Application of ionospheric information to radio systems.
Election of Commission G Vice- Chair for 1999-2002
Following a decision by the URSI Board, a maximum of three candidates may nominate for the Vice-Chair position per General Assembly. This Assembly the three candidates were: P. Bencze, C. Hanuise and S. Pulinets. Votes were distributed to 40 Commission G national delegates and, including votes cast during the Assembly, 27 countries voted with C. Hanuise being the successful candidate and S. Pulinets second.
Subsequently, the URSI Council endorsed C. Hanuise as the Vice Chair of Commission G for 1999-2002.
Commission G Working Groups and Joint Working Groups, 1996-99
All Working Group Triennium reports are included in the Commission Triennium Report that is available on the Commission G web site. Groups that did not supply a triennium report are indicated below. These reports are the responsibility of the lead Commission representative. In some cases these reports did not state that the working groups were to continue or not, this being settled during Working Group Business meetings held as part of the URSI General Assembly. Below the current Commission G working Groups, and Joint Working groups, are summarised together with brief reports and recommendations for future activity.
Inter-Union Working Groups, 1996-1999
There are two inter-Union Working Groups sponsored by Commission G.
Report on Contributions to Reviews of Radio Science
The Chair, B. Reinisch, on behalf of the Commission, thanked the Commission G Editor, C. Hanuise, for his excellent work preparing the Commission contributions to Reviews of Radio Science. Hanuise commented that the task had been straightforward thanks to the reminders from Ross Stone, and the good work and rapid responses received from the referees.
Proposal for Sessions in 2002
Several proposals for sessions were discussed. Some attempt was made to emphasise sessions that would include issues known to be important to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Subsequent discussions raised topics that could not be readily accommodated in the first set of sessions proposed. Using this information a set of potential sessions was prepared and discussed in the second Business Meeting.
Commission G Resolutions Committee
At the previous Assembly Commission G received a flood of resolutions diluting the tenuous value of Commission resolutions. Consequently, to act as a filter for the Commission a Committee to handle resolutions was formed. The committee comprised the past Chair, current Chair, current Vice-Chair and Vice-Chair elect. This Committee would have greater responsibilities than the Resolution Committees from precious Assemblies. B. Reinisch stressed that resolutions must be directed to somebody so it is apparent what action ought to occur.
Session Review Forms
A review form was proposed by URSI to be filled out by Convenors, continuing the session assessments made at previous Assemblies. In addition, Commission G decided to introduce a further level of assessment by distributing assessment forms to a few members of the audience for each session Commission G headed. This information would be held by the Commission Chair and used to assist Convenors prepare sessions.
Joint Business Meeting with Commission H
No joint meeting was held with Commission H as the main tasks for the meeting were identified and dealt with by the Commission Chairs. While this was suitable at the time, Commission H has now requested that a Joint Meeting be scheduled for future Assemblies. This will be done.
Business Meeting 2: Friday, 20 August 1999
The meeting opened with a brief summary of the results of the Council Elections that took place on the previous evening. The meeting congratulated K. Schlegel and A. Wernik on being elected as Vice-Presidents of URSI.
Publications
- Ionospheric effects on HF propagation – P. Cannon
- Space weather effects on the ionosphere.
- To be decided
Commission G Web Site
During the next triennium this Website will be moved to the URSI Web site and updated there. Future Commission Newsletters and Reports will be found on the Commission Web site.
There were four resolutions, below, proposed by Commission G and endorsed by the meeting.
The meeting endorsed the first resolution, noting that it ought to be a URSI resolution, rather than a Commission resolution but the new rules for URSI resolutions prevent this. URSI Resolutions must now be proposed well in advance of the Assembly so that the National Delegates have time to consider them prior to the Assembly.
The second resolution discussion noted there are many models of the ionosphere, but the meeting accepted it was important to acknowledge one model as a baseline.
The third resolution acknowledged recent work on the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) has shown there are significant defects in our synoptic knowledge of the topside ionosphere that cannot be redressed globally without a topside ionosonde program. Some felt the resolution should be framed in stronger words.
The fourth resolution acknowledged that a good start has been made to protect Jicamarca Observatory, but this resolution will reinforce the efforts already made and confirm the International value of the work carried out there.
All resolutions were passed by the meeting and later accepted by the URSI Council.
Recognizing that the years 2007-2008 will be exactly 50 years after the highly successful International Geophysical Year, and
Whereas the science agencies of the various adherent nations are engaged in, or have planned, aggressive science programs, and
Whereas these science programs are directed toward understanding the solid bodies, the oceans, the atmospheres, and the plasma environments of the Earth, the planets, the minor bodies, and the sun itself along with their physical and biological interaction, and
Whereas the science programs hold great promise for the education of the younger citizens of the whole world and the enthusiastic engagement of people everywhere, and
Whereas the further comprehensive understanding of the sun, the Earth system, and indeed all the planetary systems, will give us a practical ability to protect human technological systems, and
Whereas radio science contributed and will continue to contribute crucially in all aspects of the above-mentioned science programs,
URSI Commission G resolves
To support the SCOSTEP initiative to declare the period 2007 to 2008 "The IGY plus 50 years: New Perspective for the next Millenium" and urges all URSI Commissions to join the opportunity to share in the exploration, the excitement, and the adventure as humankind pushes forward in the next Millenium to a consolidated view of our entire solar system, just as humans did in the Earth’s case in the decades following the IGY.
Recognizing the need for an international standard for the specification of the ionospheric environment, and
Recognizing that the Presidents of URSI and COSPAR have written to international organizations in support of the International Reference Ionosphere as an ionospheric standard,
URSI Commission G resolves
That the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI), as developed by the URSI / COSPAR Inter-Union IRI Working Group, be internationally recognized as the standard for the ionosphere.
Considering the large uncertainties in the specification of the F layer peak densities and heights over large parts of the globe, specifically the oceans and the southern hemisphere, and
Considering the large uncertainties in the specification of the topside ionospheric and plasmaspheric densities, and
Considering the need for the real-time specification of the ionosphere for operational use,
URSI Commission G resolves
That National Space Agencies be encouraged to launch a series of topside sounders that can specify the topside ionosphere in real time up to an altitude of about 1000 km.
Over the last triennium there has been much effort in URSI to increase ITU/URSI interactions. This effort commenced in Prague (1990) with the creation of the Scientific Committee on Telecommunications (SCT), lead by L. Barclay. While the SCT did some good work, there was also a good deal of impatience and criticism of its output. Consequently, the SCT was dissolved in Lille and replaced by an ad hoc group chaired by J. Shapira. Commsphere was formed, but the link to the URSI Commissions was not evident. Nor did the Commission Chairs support an expansion of Commsphere into the General Assembly, proposed at this Assembly. The Commissions are therefore encouraged to increase their connections with ITU. In particular, while Commissions B, C and F have close relationships, Commission G used to be very active through the initiative of L. Barclay and P. Bradley. The meeting noted this information.
The past Commission G Chair, B. Reinisch, has proposed P. Bradley becomes the Commission G member on the reconstituted SCT.
Working Groups 1999-2002
The meeting approved the following Working Groups and Joint Working Groups for the next triennium.
Inter-Union Working Groups, 1999-2002
The meeting approved the following two inter-Union Working Groups for the next triennium.
Commission G Sessions Proposed for the URSI General Assembly, 2002
Several sessions were suggested for the 2002 General Assembly. The sessions and convenors will be confirmed in the lead up to commencing preparations for the next Assembly. The final format for the next Assembly is not yet defined, but the Scientific Organizer, M. Hall, has suggested there should be fewer sessions than was the case this Assembly. Suggestions and problems with the present Assembly format identified by the meeting will be brought to the attention of the URSI Council in the final Commission report.
The sessions suggested are shown below.
Close of Business
At the conclusion of the meeting the outgoing Chair, B. Reinisch, thanked the Commission for the support they had given him during his tenure. Dr Wilkinson then acknowledged the work put in by Prof. Reinisch and thanked him for his efforts as well as and expressing his pleasure at being the incoming Chair.
Sessions held this Assembly
Sessions Commission G held | P / O** | Convenors | |
| G1 | Recent Radar Systems and Scientific Highlights In Polar Ionosphere and Atmosphere Research | 17 / 11 | J. Röttger (Germany) and W. Hocking (Canada) |
| G2 | Ionospheric Storms And Substorms : Radio Observations And Modeling | 14 / 8 | A. Shirochkov (Russia) and J. Hargreaves (UK) |
| G3 | Low Latitude Ionosphere Effects On Systems And Radio Propagation | 9 / 15 | S. Basu (USA), Su. Basu (USA) and B. M. Reddy (India) |
| G4 | Open Session And Latest Results | 55 / 14 | K. Schlegel (Germany) |
| G5 | Internet Session : Ionospheric Data And Models On The WWW | 11 / 11 | D. Bilitza (USA) and T. Araki (Japan) |
| General Lecture | Engineering Issues in Space Weather | L. J. Lanzerotti, D. J. Thompson and C. G. Maclennan (USA) | |
G Tutorial | Radar Systems For Ionospheric Research
| J. Roettger (Germany) | |
| Sessions Commission G lead in co-operation with other Commissions | |||
| *GC | Digital Techniques In Ionospheric Radio Propagation, Control And Communication. | 4 / 11 | D. M. Haines (USA) and P. Cannon (UK) |
| GF | Ionosphere And Troposphere Parameters Retrieved From GPS/GLONASS Measurements. | 8 / 11 | P. Hoeg (Denmark) and J. P. V. Poiares-Baptista (Netherlands) |
| GH1 | Electromagnetic Coupling Including Seismic Activity Between The Ground And The Upper Ionosphere & Magnetosphere | 11 / 16 | S. Pulinets (Russia), M. Parrot (France), S. Uyeda & M. Hayakama (Japan) |
| GH2 | Lightning Ionosphere Interaction | 5 / 10 | U. Inan (USA) and D. Nunn (UK) |
| Sessions Commission G participated in. | |||
| HG1 | Theory & Simulation Of Nonlinear Kinetic Processes In Space Plasmas | 7 / 11 | Y. Omura, (Japan), M. Ashour-Abdalla, (USA) and S. Ossakow (USA) |
| HG2 | Radio-Frequency Sounders In Space, New And Old | 13 / 11 | G. James (Canada), R. Benson, (USA) and B. Reinisch (USA) |
| HG3 | Wave Propagation : Observation And Data Analysis | 13 / 18 | F. Lefeuvre (France) and Y. Hashimoto (Japan) and K. Mahajan (India) |
| HG4 | Comparative Studies Of Space & Laboratory Plasmas | - / 10 | W. Gekelman (USA) and C. Hanuise (France) |
| HG5 | Ionospheric Modification With High Power Radio Waves: Coupling Of Plasma Processes | 22 / 15 | T. B. Leyser (Sweden) and S. Basu (USA) |
| *JCEG | Interference Protection Measures | 3 / 7 | R. Fisher (USA) |
* Contribution to the spectrum congestion theme
** Number of (P) poster and (O) oral papers presented for each session.