Commission A: Electromagnetic Metrology edited by Salvatore Celozzi

Six Sub-Topics have been planned and contributed.

1. Sub-Topic: Characterization of non-linear active devices at microwaves.

"Experimental Characterization of Non Linear Microwave Active Devices"

Umberto Pisani, Andrea Ferrero, Gian Luigi Madonna, Politecnico di Torino,Turin, Italy

2. Sub-Topic: New techniques in frequency metrology

"New developments in optical frequency standards and optical frequency synthesis"

Jürgen Helmcke, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, Germany.

3. Sub-Topic: Bio-Electromagnetics

"Dosimetry in the Human Head for Portable Telephones"

Jianqing Wang and Osamu Fujiwara, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya, Japan.

4. Sub-Topic: Near-Field Coupling to Transmission Lines

"Transient response for coupling of electromagnetic fields to transmission lines and crossing transmission lines"

Yoshio Kami, W. Liu, and F. Xiao, The University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, Japan.

5. Sub-Topic: EMC Test Facilities for Radiation Measurements

"New EMC Test Facilities for Radiation Measurements"

Heyno Garbe, University of Hanover, Hanover, Germany.

6. Sub-Topic: Broadband Microstrip Antennas

"Analysis of microstrip antemmas by means of the regularization via Neumann series"

Gaetano Panariello, F. Schettino, University of Cassino, Cassino, Italy; L. Verolino,University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy;R. Araneo and S. Celozzi, University of Rome"La Sapienza", Rome, Italy.

15^th Meeting of the Consultative Committee for Time end Frequency (CCTF), 20-21 June 2001 (by Prof. S. Leschiutta and Dr. J McA Steel)

Members of the CIPM Committees are not individuals but the Laboratories that have expressed their intention to take part to the CC’s activities; these Laboratories are designating their representatives for each session. At the moment the CCTF chair is Sigfrido Leschiutta of Politecnico di Torino/Istituto Elettrotecnico Nazionale and Scientific Secretary is Felicitas Arias, chairwomen of the BIPM Time Section.

The meting was attended by thirty-eight people. Present were also some Observers and invited individuals, coming from Institutions not members of CCTF. Among the invited, the researchers of the BIPM Time Section. URSI was represented by J. Mc A. Steele.

At the outset the meeting stood in commemoration of Louis Essen who initiated the first operational caesium standard at NPL, Teddington in 1955 and the Chairman suggested that a suitable tribute to him be prepared in 2005 to mark 50 years of atomic timekeeping. [It may be appropriate also for URSI to celebrate this significant milestone which will coincide with the XXVIIIth General Assembly, given Essen’s close association with the Union, having served as chairman of (the then) Commission 1 on Radio Standards and Measurements during two successive periods].

Researches on primary frequency standards are performed in 14 laboratories, 13 of which are engaged on the construction of a caesium or a rubidium fountain with an increase of 3 with respect the previous period. Two of these fountains (NIST & PTB) were intercompared using TWSTFT ; the device at PTB can run almost for a month and steps are made in order to contribute to the TAI formation. At BNM/LPTF, three fountains are active, LPTF-F01 with a relative uncertainty of 1 10^-15, a portable fountain (2 10^-15) and a double fountain with caesium and rubidium atoms.

The actions proposed in the Recommendations S3 and S4 of the CCTF meeting in 1999, to be found in the proceedings of that Session, prompted the BIPM Time section to reconsider the way in which the data from the primary standards are used to evaluate the duration of the scale unit of TAI. Details can be found in the Circular T in My 2000.

the formation is in large part automated,

data and results will be available also via electronic means, but the Annual Report will be continued in paper form,

the uncertainty of the SI second was evaluated using data coming from nine primary frequency standards (CRL, LPTF, NIST, NRLM, PTB),

the SI second accuracy ranged from + 2 10^-15 to +7 10^-15, with an uncertainty of 2 10^-15,

three TWSTFT links (NPL/PTB- USNO/NPL-VSL/PTB) were used for the construction of TAI.

As regards the CCTF Working Group on TAI details were given by Mr. Azoubib of the BIPM Time section on the new algorithm implemented on January 2001, with an improvement on the stability of TAI. Prof. Pacquet is in the final year as Chairman of the Working Group on TAI and proposed the name of Dr. P.Tavella as successor.

The Sub Group on Algorithms, formed during in 1999 started his activities in 2000, 25 people of 14 Institutions are taking part to the activities, the most important being the organisation of the 4^th International Symposium on Time Scales algorithms, to be held in Paris at the BIPM in March 2002.

A special Rapporteur Group was created by ITU-R in order to study the question raised in ITU-R 236/7 , "The future of UTC time scale". A number of options are at the moment discussed inside the Scientific Unions, ITU and other bodies concerned. The option that is gaining support is to modify the rules, enlarging the tolerance between UTC and TU1 or by a complete suppression of the leap second. Leap second was introduced more than thirty years ago and it is not necessarily appropriate now, also for the widespread use of the time information coming from the satellite navigation systems.

- CCTF Working Group on TWSTFT - Two way satellite time and frequency transfer

The TWSTFT method is currently used also for the collection of data needed for the TAI construction. Some links were calibrated using one or more of the methods:

A portable earth station,

A "de Jong" satellite simulator,

Comparisons with GPS common view data.

A number of stations are active in the Pacific Rim area and a number of research program or activities are planned for the future such as:

Increase the number of stations and automate their operation,

foster a link between the Pacific Rim and the European TWSTFT networks,

calibrate participating stations,

develop an uncertainty budget for TWSTFT,

introduce additional TWSTFT links for the formation of TAI.

As pointed out in section 2.4, this is a very promising technique based on the use of interferometric measurements performed in remote laboratories on the carriers coming from Navigation satellites. A joint research group was formed between IGS ( International GPS Service) and BIPM; a report was presented by Dr. J.Ray of USNO.

The IGS/BIPM group is very active, meets frequently and presented a Recommendation.

During the meeting two planned experiments with an ensemble of atomic clocks in spaceborne conditions were presented and discussed by Drs. Thomann and Sullivan. In boot cases the host will be the international Space Station.

Along the existing satellite global navigation systems, GPS and GLONASS, and the complements to provide integrity services, such as WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) or EGNOS (European Global Navigation Overlay System), the European Community has proposed a new navigation system named GALILEO.

GALILEO will be a spherical navigation system. Based, as the previous two systems on spaceborne clocks and a network of Earth based monitoring stations.

A report was presented about the activities of a Working Group on the Galileo Timing Interface formed inside the European Space Administration, led by Dr, Laverty, who is chairman of the abovementioned Group with other several CCTF Delegates.

The objective of the MRA is to establish the degree of equivalence between the National Metrological Institutes (NMI’s). CCTF had formed a working group, with de Jong as a Chairman, with the task to examine and report on the consequences of the MRA for CCTF. A first report was received. The CCTF asked to Mr. De Jong to continue his activities for the future and the following terms of reference were agreed :

To execute all actions indicated in the MRA as being the responsibility of the CCTF,

To coordinate a required action with Regional Metrological Organisations (RMOs),

To act as the point of contact with the CCYF on matters related to MRA,

To report to the next meeting of the CCTF.

Meeting of the Consultative Committee for Length (CCL), 19-20 September 2001 (by Dr. J. Helmcke)

The CCL met for its tenth meeting on 19-20 September at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) in Sèvres, France. It was guided by the chairman, Dr. M. Chung Myung Sai, of the Korean Institute of Standards and Science.

The main topics of the agenda were the report oft the director of the BIPM, Dr. Quinn on the implementation of the MRA, the report of the working groups in Dimensional Metrology (WGDM) about the progress in key comparisons, and in the Mise en Pratique (MePWG).

Dr. Quinn informed the meeting that the MRA had been signed and that the CCL had formally approved the first set of key comparisons. He acknowledged the enormous amount of work performed by the NMIs in submitting and reviewing Calibration and Measurement Capabilities (CMCs).

Dr. Pelelsky (NRC, Canada), chairman of the WGDM described the current situation of the various key comparisons in dimensional metrology. He defined the role of the WG as an advisory committee that makes recommendations on the need and priorities for CCL key comparisons in this subject area. All documents of from the WGDM will be available on the WGDM web site at the BIPM. They had set up seven discussion groups to consider and debate the topics of future CCL key comparisons. Six key comparisons had been approved, the duration of each comparison was between 1.5 and 2 years. In some cases it was difficult to keep the time schedule and to keep the quality of the standards to be compared.

Dr. Gill (NPL, UK), chairman of the MePWG reported that since the previous CCL meeting, there had been big progress in optical frequency and wavelengths standards and optical frequency measurements for two reasons:

First, optical frequency standards based on cold ions or atoms are beginning to demonstrate experimental line-Qs approaching he theoretical limits and potential uncertainties comparable to those of the best microwave standards.

Second, absolute phase-coherent frequency measurements have been demonstrated with wide span frequency comb generators based on mode-locked femtosecond lasers. These devices allow to phase-coherently bridge the large gap between the microwave and the optical range. It is anticipated that such frequency combs will soon be available in many standards laboratory and that the MePWG have to react on this new situation.

The following recommendations were adopted:

CCL1: The CCL, considering that

• there is an increasing move towards optical frequencies for time related activities;
• there continues to be general widening of the scope of applications of the recommended radiations of the Mise en Pratique to cover not only dimensional metrology and the realization of the metre, but also high resolution spectroscopy, atomic and molecular physics, fundamental constants and telecommunications

taking note of the CCTF request for a list of radiations suitable for secondary representations of the second, proposes a more encompassing title for the Mise en Pratique, such as

CCL2: The CCL, considering that

• new femtosecond comb techniques have clear significance for relating the frequency of high stability optical frequency standards to that of the frequency standard realising the SI second;
• these techniques represent a convenient measurement technique for providing traceability to the SI;
• comb technology can also provide frequency sources as well as a measurement technique,
  

recognises these techniques as timely and appropriate, and recommends further research to fully investigate the capability of the techniques,

welcomes validations now being made by comparison with other frequency chain techniques,

urges national metrology institutes and other laboratories to pursue this technology to the highest level of accuracy achievable and also to seek simplicity so as to encourage widespread application.

CCL3: The CCL, considering that

• a number of new frequency values for radiations of high stability cold atom and ion standards already listed on the recommended radiations list are now available;
• the frequencies of radiations of several new cold ion species have also recently been measured;
• new and improved values for a number of optical frequency standards based on gas cells have been determined, including the wavelength region of interest to optical telecommunications,
  

proposes that the list of recommended radiations be revised to include the following:

• updated frequency values for cold Ca, H and the trapped Sr⁺ ion;
• frequency values for new cold ion species including trapped Hg⁺, trapped In⁺ and trapped Yb⁺;
• updated frequency values for Rb-stabilised lasers, iodine-stabilised Nd:YAG and He-Ne lasers, methane-stabilised He-Ne lasers and OsO₄-stabilised CO₂ lasers at 10 m m;
• frequency values for standards relevant to the optical communications bands, including rubidium- and acetylene-stabilised lasers.

In CCL4 which is still provisional, values for the frequencies and wavelengths are attributed to the radiations mentioned in recommendation CCL3.

In the meantime, all recommendations have bee approved by the International Committee of Weights and Mesures (CIPM). The corresponding frequency and wavelength values are presently checked and will soon be published.

Regarding the fact, that a significant number of new and high accuracy frequency values for various cold atoms and ions have been measured which should be added to the CCL list of recommended radiations, it will probably be necessary to move some less important radiations to the list of spectral lamps and other sources. This list contains radiations which are recommended as references but where the values will not be updated.

Budget 1999-2002: 9000 EURO.

In the following table the data concerned with different kinds of sponsorships are reported. Mode A sponsorship does not involve any financial commitment, mode B sponsorship involves also a financial support. For this last mode Commission A grants have been offered to Young Student Programs. Usually the meetings sponsored are International Conferences, however during this triennium there was the opportunity to support also a School on Metrology organised by SIF (Italian Physical Society), IEN (Electrical National Institute), and BIPM (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures). The next School is scheduled for 2006. Among the inernational conferences CPEM, for which URSI is a permanent sponsor, is the foremost meeting series in electromagnetic metrology.

The biennial Conference on Precision Electromagnetic Measurements (CPEM), for which URSI is a permanent sponsor, is the foremost international conference series in electromagnetic metrology. CPEM 2000, the 21^st conference in the series, was held in Sydney, Australia, from 14-19 May 2000 and hosted by the National Measurement Laboratory (NML) of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia, and jointly organised with the Measurement Standards Laboratory of New Zealand. It was only the second time that the conference had been held outside North America and Europe, reflecting the growing importance of the Asia Pacific region in world metrology.

A total of 435 delegates attended from 43 countries. The CPEM tradition of supporting young metrologists was continued by providing 14 "Young Scientist" awards to assist recipients from the USA, UK, Switzerland, Mexico, Italy, Germany, France, Croatia, China, Canada and Australia to attend. There was also a special category of support for participation by representatives of developing economies, assisted by sponsorship from several of the National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) in developed economies.

CPEM 2000 recognised the ever-increasing emphasis on global trading and international trade agreements, and the need for mutual acceptance of national standards between economies and measurement traceability within economies. The global Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) between NMIs for the mutual recognition of national standards and calibration certificates issued by NMIs was established in October 1999 to address this situation. Its success depends on the development of more accurate and more stable standards accessible either directly or indirectly by all economies. This challenge for NMIs was reflected in CPEM 2000 through a special provision for ‘key comparison’ papers, and an evening discussion session on participation by NMIs in the global MRA.

The pioneering work of Mr Ian Harvey in conceiving and developing the Cryogenic Current Comparator (CCC) was recognised at the conference dinner by the award of a medal on behalf of the international electrical metrology community. The CCC is now widely used in resistance measurements, including Quantum Hall Resistance, and in development work on Single Electron Tunnelling. The medal presentation was made by Dr Norman Belecki, Chairman of the CPEM Executive Committee. In reply, Mr Harvey gave a brief history of his work.

During the conference, seven plenary speakers discussed basic advances in physics, metrology in astronomy, and developments in national standards and international comparisons. The plenary speakers were Dr Michael Pepper (University of Cambridge, UK), Professor Ron Ekers (Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO, Australia), Dr Barry Taylor, (National Institute of Standards and Technology [NIST], USA), Dr Clark Hamilton, (NIST, USA), Dr Robert Hebner (University of Texas, USA), Dr Ernst Göbel (Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt [PTB], Germany), and Dr Terry Quinn (Director of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures [BIPM], France).

CPEM 2000 coincided almost to the day with the 125^th anniversary of the signing of the Convention du Mètre, which is the foundation for the harmonisation of international metrology. To commemorate this occasion, the subject of Dr  Quinn’s plenary paper was the history and future of the Convention du Mètre and the BIPM. Members of the International Committee of Weights and Measures (CIPM) held a meeting on the anniversary day, 20 May, at Sydney Observatory and a number of CPEM 2000 delegates joined them for a luncheon to mark ‘World Metrology Day’ as it is now to be known.

329 other technical papers were presented, covering research developments in the traditional areas of electrical and electromagnetic metrology at frequencies from DC to millimetre waves, and also advances in quantum effect devices and their applications, automated instrumentation, calibration systems, electromagnetic compatibility, lasers and optoelectronics, optical metrology, time and frequency metrology, along with reports on fundamental constants and on progress in the development of an atomic-based kilogram. The distribution of papers is shown in the following table.

Approximately two-thirds of these papers were presented as posters in sessions reserved solely for that purpose, with the remainder presented orally in three parallel sessions. All sessions were well-attended, and good use was made of the opportunities for extended interaction between presenters and delegates at the poster sessions.

Technical discussions at the conference included the following.

The problem of practical and routine multiplication of the microwave resonance frequency of the cesium atom (which defines the second in the SI system of units) to optical frequencies is now widely regarded as having been solved by a new system based on ultra-short pulses generated by a laser. The system was developed at the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Germany, and is an essential component of the next generation of ultra-stable atomic clocks, which will be based on optical absorption resonances in atoms.

Cesium atomic fountain clocks are now in routine operation at the Laboratoire Primaire des Temps and Frequences (LPTF) in France, NIST, and the PTB. Many others are under development by other organisations. Some of these fountains have demonstrated, or are capable of, accuracies approaching 1 part in 10¹⁵, limited mainly by frequency shifts arising from collisions between the cold cesium atoms. LPTF and Yale University have recently developed rubidium fountain clocks, motivated by the much smaller susceptibility of rubidium atoms to collisional frequency shifts. For this reason, rubidium may be a more suitable atom for defining the SI second than cesium.

Several organisations are developing space-flyable cold atom clocks for a range of fundamental experiments mostly related to General Relativity.

Comparisons of voltage between laboratories often use Zener-based standards, which are readily portable, but have been found to be sensitive to temperature, relative humidity and pressure. Several NMIs have started characterising such standards for these sensitivities to improve international comparisons of voltage.

The need to keep Zener standards continuously powered during transportation can cause problems. Some investigations into the effects of transporting unpowered standards have yielded promising results.

A Finnish company reported the development of micromechanical silicon devices for standards applications, including AC to DC converters suitable for batch fabrication, and a novel DC voltage reference which may prove more stable than the currently used Zener diode voltage references.

High Voltage

The PTB has developed a shielded resistive divider for 100 kV DC that uses compressed gas insulation and has a claimed uncertainty of 1 part in 10⁷, which is thought to be a limit for this type of design.

The latest international comparisons show agreement between NMIs of around 2x10^-6 at 1 kHz and 1x 10^-5 at 1 MHz. Several NMIs are working on further reduction of measurement uncertainty by means of an absolute AC voltage standard based on the Josephson effect. Josephson arrays have been well established for many years as fundamental standards of DC voltage. The most promising techniques to extend their application to AC voltage standards involve the so-called pulse-driven arrays.

AC Quantized Hall Resistance (ACQHR) measurements made at the NPL and the PTB using the same samples achieved different results, particularly for the frequency dependence of the quantised Hall resistance, confirming the difficulties of such measurements.

The BIPM has been measuring the ACQHR in the presence of an applied back gate voltage, enabling the previously observed but unwanted current and frequency dependence to be reduced or eliminated.

Next CPEM The next CPEM will be held in Ottawa, Canada from 16-21 June 2002. The CPEM 2002 secretariat is contactable at CPEM02@nrc.ca .

Report on the 15^th International Wroclaw Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) 2000

See the Radio Science Bulletin, No 295, and at www.emc.wroc.pl.

The Course on Recent Advances in Metrology and Fundamental Constants was organized by the Italian Physical Society, the Istituto Elettrotecnico Nazionale of Italy, and the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures also as a contribution to the celebration of the 125 years of the Metre Convention.

This course was supported by the direct presence of the BIPM and of many National Metrological Institutions and it was attended by 71 well-qualified students from 18 different countries and who contributed with simulating and interacting discussions.

In the field of Metrology and Fundamental Constants many improvements took place over the past decade and these were discussed at the School; from one side the old caesium SI second definition has found a new realisation, with the "fountain" approach, replacing the classical thermal atomic beam. The use of "cold" atom techniques, in which bunches of inert atoms are collected, slowed down, and cooled, has opened a number of new and unexpected avenues for metrology and fundamental constants; one of these possibilities being the atom interferometry. Another important "quantum jump" was the demonstration of the possibility of performing a direct frequency division in the visible, using ultra short femtosecond pulses. In addition, the possibility of "counting" electrons or photons gave a fundamental support to the development of single-electron capacitance standards and to new scenarios in the absolute calibration of photo-detectors.

The success of this third Course was made possible by the close co-operation and strict dedication of many Institutions, lecturers, students and persons that are here all acknowledged.

In particular, the Italian Physical Society, the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, the "Istituto Elettrotecnico Nazionale", the "Istituto di Metrologia G. Colonnetti" of CNR, the European Community, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the International Union of Radio Science, and the UNESCO provided financial support for the attendance of several students.

Evolution on the last decade of the International System;

Quantum based electrical standards: quantum Hall devices, new applications of Josephson junctions, single electron devices;

New horizons: Bose-Einsten condensation, atomic interferometry, chaos;

The participating Students and Observers were 71 from 18 Countries, subdivided as follows:

1 Australia, 1 Brazil, 1 Czech Rep., 1 Denmark, 1 Estonia, 3 BIPM, 4 France, 7 Germany, 3 Mexico, 1 Nepal, 1 Netherlands, 2 Romania, 4 Russia, 1 South Africa, 4 Switzerland, 1 Taiwan, 2 UK, 4 USA, 29 Italy

The 20 lecturers giving on the whole 51 hours of lessons were:

Wolf (BIPM), Davis (BIPM), Esteve (CEA, France),

Vanier (Canada), Phillips (NIST), Sergienko (Boston, USA),

Jeckelmann (Ofmet, CH), Mills (UK), Fox (NPL), Petley (NPL),

Wilkening (PTB), Helmcke (PTB), Haensch (MPI),

Andreone (IEN), Bich (IMGC), Mana (IMGC), Bittanti (Poli MI),

Inguscio (LENS), Arecchi (INO), Nobili (Uni PI).

and additional seminars were given by: Gavioso (IEN), Martinis and Keller (NIST)

The school directors where T.J.Quinn (BIPM) and S.Leschiutta (IEN), while Patrizia Tavella (IEN) was scientific secretary.

The 14th International Zurich Symposium and Technical Exhibition on Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC Zurich ’01) was held from February 20 through 22, 2001 at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich), Switzerland. The meeting was attended by 846 participants from 40 countries and has included 48 exhibitor booths.

As in the preceding years, the Symposium which is sponsored by the Swiss Electrotechnical Association (SEV), has been organized by the Communication Technology Laboratory of the ETH Zurich under the auspices of Mr. F.Rosenberg, Swisscom. Prof. Dr. P. Leuthold and Dr. G. Meyer acted again as symposium president and symposium chairman, respectively. The technical program committee was chaired by Dr. F. Tesche (Fairview, USA). A number of international and national professional organizations were cooperating, e.g. IEEE, ITU and URSI. As in the past URSI Commissions A and E have sponsored the participation of young scientists.

A total of 131 carefully selected technical papers were presented in 19 sessions devoted to: EMC protection, adverse effects of high power EM, medical and biological issues, EMC in networks, sensors and probes, EMC in power systems, transients, transmission lines, modelling large chips and packages, lightning, measurement techniques, computer codes and validation, high frequency methods and analysis, test chambers and cells, PCBs in the GHz range, EMC innovation, EMC in communication systems, reverberation chambers and chip-level EMC. The sessions covered virtually all EMC "hot" topics and reviewed the current status as well as future trends of EMC technology. The full text of the presentations has been made available in the symposium proceedings and on a CD-ROM.

As in previous symposia the program did not exclusively address experts. An introduction to EMC technology for new comers was offered by two tutorial lectures and three workshops. In the IEEE EMC Society workshop the latest standardization for measurements above 1 GHz including the uncertainties associated with these measurements have been presented. A new platform for the symposium exhibitors has been introduced, the so-called Industrial Forums, with the objective of providing the attendees some practical and industrial aspects of EMC.

An insight into the work of URSI Commission E was offered by open meetings dealing with the progress in the different working groups and identifying outstanding topics and new lines of future research. Once again, a number of national and international organizations used the opportunity of the symposium to held open and closed meetings in coordination with EMC Zurich. The IEEE EMC Society Board of Directors held the first meeting of the year as an open meeting. The research cooperation on Sustainable Mobile Communication has been introduced in a meeting. Their mission is to support innovative research on EMF risks attributed to cellular-phone technology. A further open meeting was organized by the IARU (International Amateur Radio Union) on EMC problems experienced and caused by radio amateurs. The contributions of these joint events have been made available in a supplement to the symposium proceedings.

Centres of gravity of this symposium have been the field of EMC analysis and prediction with six sessions and a workshop devoted to this area. These sessions focused on the continuous developments of numerical methods for modelling, analysis, prediction and mitigation of EMC effects. The basic strategies rely on a step-by-step treatment of well-structured EMC scenarios at different topological levels. Better defined and simpler test methods, with reduced measurement uncertainty, could significantly reduce the cost of design and testing of the final product. Four sessions and a workshop have dealt with this area. Testing gives the final answer to EMC, and sophisticated sensors and probes are prerequisites for efficient testing. It is difficult to point out general trends in the field of EMC but with the growing interest in theoretical models and numerical methods, the role of computers is becoming more and more important. Also with the trends to higher integration and to nanotechnology, EMC models and tools for MMCs, microsensors and nanomachines are gaining attention and new effects will have to be taken into account.

As usual, the Technical Exhibition has significantly contributed to the success of EMC Zurich’01 by demonstrating the fast conversion of theoretical knowledge into state-of-the-art hard- and software. The traditional inquiry returned some very interesting suggestions for the next EMC Zurich Symposium which is planned for February 18 through 20, 2003.

The call for papers of the 15th International Zurich Symposium and Technical Exhibition on EMC is scheduled for November 2001.

Organisers:

Conference Chairperson: Y. Furuhama

International Advisory Board (Chairperson: H. Matsumoto)

International Steering Committee (Chairperson: Y. Furuhama)

Organizing Committee (Chairperson: S. Okamura)

Sponsors and co-sponsors:

Sponsored by

-Japan National Committee of URSI

-The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE)

Co-sponsored by

-International Union of Radio Science (URSI)

Number of participants (young scientists, students, countries represented)

704 participants from 34 countries/regions, with 48 young scientists from 17 countries/regions, whose travelling expenses were partly granted by the Conference Organizing Committee.

Scientific results

The AP-RASC’01 was the first Asia-Pacific regional URSI conference to be held between URSI General Assemblies. The objective of this conference was to stimulate and to coordinate the research activities of radio science in the Asia-Pacific area. The main theme of this conference was "Radio Science - Communications, Environment, and Energy".

A total of 599 regular papers was presented (oral: 404, poster 195). A total of 86 sessions was organized; one was union session entitled "Solar power satellite and wireless power transmission", and other 85 sessions were organized corresponding to each commissions of URSI. Nine joint-commission sessions were also included. In addition to these sessions, one large unified poster session was held on Friday afternoon, August 3, 2002.

Two General Lectures were presented; one was "Mobile Communications Technology – Most Brilliant Application of Radio Science" by Prof. Yasuhiko Yasuda (Waseda University, Japan), and the other was "Challenges at the Frontiers of Science and Engineering in Radio Astronomy" by Prof. Govind Swarup (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India).

The conference began on the afternoon of 1 August, and was followed by Welcome Reception, both at Chuo University. A Banquet was also held on the evening of 4 August at Tokyo Dome Hotel and all participants were cordially invited. Although Accompanying Person’s Program and Scientific Visits were not prepared, a demonstration of the wireless power transmission simulator (SPRITZ) was held during the conference.

Although AP-RASC’01 was its first meeting, the conference was very successful. The Joint Meeting of the International Advisory Board and the International Steering Committee for AP-RASC’01 was held on 2 August and it was agreed unanimously that AP-RASC be held triennially between two consecutive URSI GAs. After this meeting, negotiation for the next meeting was made among related nations and it was decided that the next AP-RASC would be held in China in 2004. This decision was announced by the Conference Chairperson, Dr. Furuhama, at the Banquet on the evening of 4 August. The detail of the next AP-RASC will be decided and announced soon.

• Dr. Louis Essen served as Chair of Commission 1, obtained important results in the measurements of the speed of light, realized highly stable quartz oscillators and the first operational Cs standard (1955);
• Dr. Kennet Evenson whose highly accurate optical frequency measurements improved the determination of the speed of light and led to the actual definition of the metre.