It is an open forum and contributors are welcome to send material (preferably in electronic form) to the IAG COB (newsletter@iag-aig.org). These contributions should complement information sent by IAG officials or by IAG symposia organizers (reports and announcements). The IAG Newsletter is published monthly. It is available in different formats from the IAG new internet site: http://www.iag-aig.org

Each IAG Newsletter includes several of the following topics:

I. news from the Bureau Members

II. general information

III. reports of IAG symposia

IV. reports by commissions, special commissions or study groups

V. symposia announcements

VI. book reviews

VII. fast bibliography

Books for review are the responsibility of:

C.C Tscherning

University of Copenhagen

Dept. of Geophysics

Copenhagen, Denmark

Fax: +45 35365357

E-mail: cct@gfy.ku.dk

General Announcements

Summary minutes of the first meeting of the IAG Executive Committee 2007-2011

Place: Department of Education, Main Hall, Perugia, Italy

Time: Tuesday, 10 July 2007, 17:00 – 20:05

Attendees: IAG President Michael Sideris

(voting) IAG Vice-president Chris Rizos

IAG Secretary General Hermann Drewes

Immediate Past President Gerhard Beutler

President Commission 1 Zuheir Altamimi

President Commission 2 Yoichi Fukuda

Vice-president Comm. 3 Richard Gross

President Commission 4 Sandra Verhagen

Chair of GGOS Markus Rothacher

President of the COB József Ádám

Representative of Services Steve Kenyon

Representative of Services Ruth Neilan

Representative of Services Harald Schuh

Member at Large Richard Wonnacott

Member at Large -

Attendees: Chair of ICC on Theory Nico Sneeuw

(non-voting) Vice-chair of ICCT Pavel Novák

IAG Secretary General

Hermann Drewes

Agenda: 1. Welcome

2. Status of IAG in overview

3. Structure of Commissions: Vice-Presidents, Steering Committee

4. Status of Services

5. Status of GGOS

6. Status of Communication and Outreach Branch

7. Inter-Commission Committees

8. Study Groups: Inter-Commission, Commissions-Services

9. The Geodesist's Handbook 2007/2008

10. Next IAG EC meeting

11. Any other business

1. Welcome

M. Sideris welcomed the members of the new IAG Executive Committee (14 out of 15 voting members and 2 non-voting members) and presented the agenda. It was unanimously adopted.

2. Status of IAG in overview

M. Sideris and G. Beutler gave a general operation breakdown of IAG and informed that changes of the IAG Statutes and Bylaws were adopted by the IAG Council during the General Assembly in Perugia (new Statutes and Bylaws to be found at http://iag.dgfi.badw.de).

M. Sideris explained the formal procedure in the EC which strictly follows Robert’s rules of order. Voting will be done only after a proper motion which is seconded by at least one other EC member.

3. Structure of Commissions

M. Sideris presented the names of the Commission’s Vice-presidents as proposed by the Commission Presidents:

- Commission 1: Michael Craymer

- Commission 2: Peter Visser

- Commission 3: Richard Gross

- Commission 4: Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska

There was a general discussion whether Commissions and Sub-commissions should have formal memberships (lists of names). It was agreed that they should not, but only Projects, Study Groups and Working Groups should have nominated members.

Z. Altamimi, Y. Fukuda, R. Gross, and S. Verhagen presented the draft structures of Commissions 1, 2, 3, and 4.

4. Status of Services

S. Kenyon gave an overview of the International Gravity Field Service (IGFS) with its “IGFS-Centres” BGI, IGeS, ICET, ICGEM, IDEMS (see http://www.igfs.net). He reported on main IGFS activities like global gravity field models, global vertical datum, altimetry service, GPS levelling, temporal gravity changes, gravimetry networks, etc.

R. Neilan gave the report on IGS, PSMSL and DORIS. She mentioned that five members of the IAG EC are identical with members of the IGS Governing Board, so there is a close connection. The PSMSL participated in the GOOS Workshop in Paris (GLOSS-GE-X, 6-8 June 2007). IDS published a special issue of Journal of Geodesy.

M. Rothacher reported on the IERS, ILRS and IBS. There will be two workshops related to the IERS in Paris, 17-21 September 2007, namely the Journées 2007 “Systčmes de référence spatio-temporels” followed by the “IERS Workshop on Conventions”. The ILRS had a Working Group meeting in Perugia, 9-10 July 2007 and will have its “Fall ILRS Workshop and ILRS AWG Meeting” in Grasse, France, 24-28 September 2007.

H. Schuh added the recent activities of the IVS. Harald Schuh was elected as the new IVS Chair at the IVS Directing Board meeting in Wettzell, February 2007. He also mentioned the IVS Analysis Workshop and the Second VLBI 2010 Working Meeting in Vienna, as well as the 4^th IVS Technical Operations Workshop at Haystack Observatory, all in April 2007.

5. Status of GGOS

M. Rothacher presented the status of the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS). With the changes of the IAG Statutes, adopted by the IAG Council on 9 July 2007, GGOS is no longer an Association Project, but an IAG component like commissions and services. The GGOS terms of reference were changed accordingly, and new elements were included in the structure. Recent activities were the IUGG Union session US003 and the IAG Symposium GS005 in Perugia. He also highlighted the activities in the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). Upcoming meetings are a GGOS workshop in conjunction with the Third Workshop of the IGOS-P Geohazard Theme (Frascati, Italy, 5-9 November 2007) and a Unified Analysis Workshop together with the IAG Services before the AGU Fall Meeting (San Francisco, CA, 5-7 December 2007).

6. Status of Communication and Outreach Branch

J. Ádám explained that the new COB Steering Committee has to be set up. According to the IAG Bylaws (§18f) there are three ex-officio members (COB President, IAG Secretary General, JoG Editor-in-Chief) and up to five other members appointed by the EC upon proposal of the COB President. C. Rizos, M. Poutanen, G. Todt, R. Neilan, and H. Hornik. were unanimously appointed.

M. Sideris mentioned the new IAG brochure in preparation and asked the commission presidents for support in the update (see IAG web-page http://www.iag-aig.org). J. Ádám asked also for assistance in the update of the IAG flyer and drew the attention to the IAG newsletters. Up to date there were 42 issues edited.

7. Inter-Commission Committees

Actually, there is only one Inter-Commission Committee, namely the ICC on Theory (ICCT). According to the IAG Bylaws (§17b) the President and Vice-president are appointed by the EC. N. Sneeuw was appointed President and P. Novak Vice-president.

8. Study Groups: Inter-commission, Commission - Services

This topic has been covered by the presentations and discussions under agenda topic 3. The final structure will be included in the outline of commissions and services for the Geodesist’s Handbook (see below).

9. The Geodesist’s Handbook 2007/2008

The Geodesist’s Handbook with the IAG structure for the period 2007-2011, the reports on the XXIVth General Assembly, and administrative issues will be edited jointly by J. Ádám and H. Drewes as the first volume of the Journal of Geodesy in 2008 (see J. of Geodesy, 77, 11-12, 2004).

10. Next IAG EC Meeting

M. Sideris proposed to have the next EC meeting during the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, CA, 8-14 December 2007. The definitive date will be given as soon as possible.

11. Other Business

M. Sideris informed that the three IUGG resolutions proposed by IAG have been approved, but some changes have been made in the text. V. Dehant will look after the severity of changes and eventually claim them back at IUGG.

End of session: 08:05 p.m. Hermann Drewes

Secretary General

Dates of the IAG Scientific Assembly 2009 in Buenos Aires , Argentina

The IAG Central Bureau with the local organizers fixed the exact dates of the IAG Scientific Assembly 2009 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is August 31 to September 4, 2009.

IAG COB

Meeting Announcements

“Scientific and Fundamental Aspects of the Galileo Programme”

2-4 October 2007, Toulouse, France.

An international colloquium on fundamental aspects and scientific applications of Galileo and GNSS will be held in Toulouse in October 2007. ANAE (Académie Nationale de l’Air et de l’Espace), Bureau des Longitudes, Académie de Marine and ESA (European Space Agency), are the main instigators of this colloquium meant to contribute to the 50th anniversary celebrations of the launch of Sputnik.

The colloquium will address three major issues:

The fundamental aspects of navigation by satellites and Galileo: geodetic and temporal reference frames, relativistic frame, on board and ground clocks, orbits, radiative environment in orbit, intersatellite links, fundamental aspects of propagation, tropospheric and ionospheric corrections, calibration and validation, relations with international organisations (BIPM, IGS).
Scientific applications in meteorology, geodesy, geophysics, space physics, oceanography, land surface and ecosystem studies, using either normal or reflected signals, differential measurements, phase measurements, occultations, in real or delayed modes, using receivers placed on the ground, in airplanes or in scientific satellites.
Scientific developments in physics and dealing with future systems, particularly in testing fundamental laws, in astronomy, in quantum communication, and in developing clocks or experiments based on GNSS.

This colloquium intends to bring together leading members of the European scientific community and their international partners. One of its aims is to propose to Galileo partners means of enhancing the scientific use of Galileo and to contribute to GNSS development based on scientific approaches.

Contact Points:

Organisation Committee: Martine.Segur@anae.fr

Scientific Committee: Clovis.de.Matos@esa.int

Source: http://www.congrex.nl/07a06/

37^th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research and Associated Events – COSPAR 2008

50th Anniversary Assembly

13 - 20 July 2008, Montreal, Canada.

Contact:

COSPAR Secretariat, c/o CNES, 2 place Maurice Quentin, 75039 Paris Cedex 01, France. Tel: +33 1 44 76 75 10, Fax: +33 1 44 76 74 37. E-mail: cospar@cosparhq.cnes.fr

http://www.cospar2008.org/ or http://www.cospar-assembly.org

Scientific Program Chair:

Prof. Jean-Pierre St.-Maurice, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

Abstract Deadline:

Mid-February 2008

Topics:

Approximately 85 meetings covering the fields of COSPAR Scientific Commissions (SC) and Panels:

SC A: The Earth's Surface, Meteorology and Climate
SC B: The Earth-Moon System, Planets, and Small Bodies of the Solar System
SC C: The Upper Atmospheres of the Earth and Planets Including Reference Atmospheres
SC D: Space Plasmas in the Solar System, Including Planetary Magnetospheres
SC E: Research in Astrophysics from Space
SC F: Life Sciences as Related to Space
SC G: Materials Sciences in Space
SC H: Fundamental Physics in Space
Panel on Satellite Dynamics (PSD)
Panel on Scientific Ballooning (PSB)
Panel on Potentially Environmentally Detrimental Activities in Space (PEDAS)
Panel on Radiation Belt Environment Modelling (PRBEM)
Panel on Space Weather (PSW)
Panel on Planetary Protection (PPP)
Panel on Capacity Building (PCB)
Panel on Education
Special events: 50th anniversary lectures, interdisciplinary lectures, space agency round table, session on EGY - Towards an Earth and Space Science Commons

Papers Published in Advances in Space Research, a fully refereed journal.

A. Janofsky

Associate Director

COSPAR

16th International Workshop on Laser Ranging – Initial Announcement

Poznan Poland, September 22-26, 2008.

The Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences has confirmed that the next International Workshop on Laser Ranging will be held in Poznan Poland (15 km from the Borowiec SLR station) on September 22-26, 2008. We ask you to reserve this date on your calendars and plan to attend what will surely be another exciting laser workshop.

Carey Noll

Crustal Dynamics Data Information System (CDDIS)

IAG Sponsored Meetings

“Scientific and Fundamental Aspects of the Galileo Programme”

2-4 October 2007, Toulouse, France

2007 GEO/GGOS Workshop

5-6 November 2007, ESA-ESRIN, Frascati, Italy

The GGOS Contribution to GEOSS and an Observing System for Geohazards and Disaster Prevention: a GEO Workshop organized by the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS). The Workshop is scheduled during the 2007 International Geohazards Week in ESRIN, Frascati (Italy) on 5-9 November 2007. The 2007 International Geohazards Week is a GEO event that contributes to the International Year of Planet Earth. The official Workshop Web Page is hosted by the European Space Agency. For registration, hotel reservation, and abstract submission, please, visit this official page http://earth.esa.int/workshops/2007Geohazards/. Additional information on the Workshop background and program is provided at http://cheryl.nbmg.unr.edu/ggos/ggosws_2007/.

New Challenges in Earth’s Dynamics ETS2008

September 1-5 2008, Jena, Germany

Under the sponsorship of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG), the Commision 3 (Geodynamics) & the sub-commissions on earth Tides (3.1), Crustal Deformation (3.2), Geophysical Fluids (3.3) and the Global Geodynamics Project (GGP) organise for the first time a joint meeting which will include the 16th International Symposium on earth Tides. The assembly will provide a unique opportunity to exchange new results and strategies to meet the current challenges of earth’s dynamics from different viewpoints. For details, please visit www.ets2008.de.

IAG Related Meetings

International Symposium on Strong Vrancea Earthquakes and Risk Mitigation

4-6 October 2007, Bucharest, Romania

International Symposium on Strong Vrancea Earthquakes and Risk Mitigation organized by the CRC 461 “Strong Earthquakes – A Challenge for Geosciences and Civil Engineering” (Universität Karlsruhe, Germany) and the “Romanian Group for Strong Vrancea Earth-quakes” (RGVE), Bucharest will take place between 4-6 October 2007, Bucharest, Romania. For further information and registration please visit http://www-sfb461.physik.uni-karlsruhe.de/.

UNEDRA International Workshop

15-16 October 2007, Abuja, Nigeria

The University Network for Disaster Risk Reduction in Africa (UNEDRA) is organizing an International Workshop on “The use of regionally owned space infrastructure for disaster management in West and North Africa – status quo and prospects” on 15-16 October 2007 in Abuja, Nigeria. Further info please contact: Dr. Norman Kerle, e-mail: kerle@itc.nl.

SSTDM 07'

28 October 2007, Omaha, NE, USA

The 2007 International Workshop on Spatial and Spatio-Temporal Data Mining (SSTDM 07’) will be held in cooperation with IEEE ICDM 2007 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. The goal of the workshop is to bring together researchers, developers and practitioners in the field of spatial and spatio-temporal data mining together in order to identify current research foci, vital areas of need, and critical points of synergy. Selected papers will appear in the GeoInformatica journal as a special issue. The workshop webpage is at http://spatial.nvc.cs.vt.edu/sstdm07.

UN-SPIDER Workshops

The following UN-SPIDER Workshops are confirmed for 2007:

Space-based Information and Solutions for Disaster Management and Emergency Response" in Bonn, Germany, 29 to 31 October 2007
Building Upon Regional Space-based Solutions for Disaster Management and Emergency Response" in Guangzhou, China, 03 to 05 December 2007
Space-based Solutions for Disaster Management and Emergency Response" in Khartoum, Sudan, 09 to 12 December 2007

For further information on the above UN-SPIDER Workshops please visit the UNOOSA website: http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/unspider/workshops.html.

2007 International Geohazards Week

5-9 November 2007, ESRIN, Frascati, Italy

The European Space Agency is hosting the 2007 International Geohazards Week in ESRIN, Frascati (Italy) on 5-9 November 2007. The 2007 International Geohazards Week is a GEO event that contributes to the International Year of Planet Earth. Registration is now open: http://earth.esa.int/workshops/2007Geohazards.

ACM GIS 2007

7-9 November 2007, Seattle, Washington, USA

The ACM International Symposium on Advances in Geographic Information Systems in 2007 (ACM GIS 2007) is the fifteenth event of a series of symposia and workshops that began in 1993 with the aim of bringing together researchers, developers, users, and practitioners carrying out research and development in novel systems based on geo-spatial data and knowledge, and fostering interdisciplinary discussions and research in all aspects of geographic information systems. The conference webpage is at http://www.cise.ufl.edu/dept/acmgis2007/.

International Symposium “Modern Technologies, Education and Professional Practice in Geodesy and Related Fields”

9-10 November 2007, Sofia, Bulgaria

This International Symposium with a special session for young specialists and students will take place in Sofia on November 09 - 10 November 2007. This symposium is the sixteenth in its turn among the annual international symposia with exhibition, organised by USLMB so far under the auspices and with the sponsorship of the three international surveying organisations: FIG, ISPRS, ICA and also EGoS and CLGE and local and international institutions. For up-to-date information please, visit the Symposium website at:http://geodesy.fnts-bg.org/.

2^nd Space for Hydrology Workshop

November 12-14 2007, Geneva, Switzerland

The second Space for Hydrology Workshop - "Surface Water Storage and Runoff: Modeling, In-Situ data and Remote Sensing", will be held in Geneva (Switzerland), 12-14 November 2007. For registration, accomodation, and further information on the Second Space for Hydrology Workshop, visit: http://earth.esa.int/hydrospace07.

26th ECGS Workshop

November 19-21 2007, Luxembourg

The 26th edition of the multi-disciplinary ECGS workshops is dedicated this year to Continental Rifting and Volcanology, with special focus on the Virunga (North Kivu, DR of Congo). For more information, please visit the Workshop webpage: http://www.ecgs.lu/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=17.

IGNSS 2007

December 4 - December 6 2007, Sydney, Australia

The IGNSS Symposium includes open forums where users can discuss the implementation and application of GNSS and other location technologies. The website of the Symposium can be found at http://www.ignss.org/.

3^rd WCRP

January 20 – February 1, 2008, Tokyo, Japan

Third World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) International Conference on Reanalysis is planned to take place in Tokyo, Japan from 28^th January to 1^st February 2008. See http://jra.kishou.go.jp/3rac_en.html for further information.

ION NTM 2008: Exploring the Future Uses of Navigation Technology

January 28 - 30 2008, San Diego, California, USA

The Institute of Navigation’s 2008 National Technical Meeting will focus on how the existing sources of navigation technology will be enhanced to provide improvements to the user community. See the ION website (www.ion.org) for details.

ISU's 12th Annual Symposium ‘Space Solutions to Earth’s Global Challenges’

February 20-22 2008, Strasbourg, France

The 12^th Annual International Symposium: “Space Solutions to Earth’s Global Challenges” organized by the International Space University (ISU) will be held in Strasbourg, France from 20-22 February 2008. Abstract Deadline is 5^th October 2007. See http://www.isunet.edu/.

PLANS 2008: Position Location and Navigation Symposium

May 6 - 8 2008, Monterey, California, USA

PLANS 2008 is the second biennial conference co-sponsored by the IEEE and the ION. Please visit the website www.plansconference.org for details.

Measuring the changes

May 12-15 2008, Lisbon, Portugal

This conference is the second joint meeting of the two groups under the theme “Measuring the Changes”, combining the 13^th FIG Symposium on Deformation Measurements and Analysis with the 4^th IAG Symposium on Geodesy for Geotechnical and Structural Engineering.. The recent catastrophic disasters have dramatically increased the importance, and demand, for fully automated, continuous, and reliable deformation monitoring in the civil engineering, mining, and energy sectors. The Conference webpage is http://measuringchanges.lnec.pt/.

International Symposium on the Effect of Climate Change on the World’s Oceans

May 19-23 2008, Gijón, Spain

Climate change is the most important threat to the Earth. Even if we stabilize CO₂ emissions, the 2007 IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Assessment confirms that warming will continue for decades and sea level will continue to rise for centuries. The Symposium will bring together results from observations, analyses and model simulations, at a global scale, and will include discussion of the climate change scenarios and the possibilities for mitigating and protecting the marine environment and living marine resources. For details, please visit http://www.pices.int/meetings/international_symposia/2008_symposia/Climate_change/

37th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research and Associated Events – COSPAR 2008

50th Anniversary Assembly

13 - 20 July 2008, Montreal, Canada.

The 50^th Anniversary Assembly COSPAR 2008 will be held in Montreal, Canada. For more information about this particular event please visit the Assembly website at http://www.cospar2008.org/.

16th International Workshop on Laser Ranging

22-26 September 2008, Poznan, Poland

The next International Workshop on Laser Ranging will be held in Poznan Poland (15 km from the Borowiec SLR station) on September 22-26, 2008.

HydroChange 2008

October 1-3, 2008, Kyoto, Japan

The HydroChange 2008 Symposium “Hydrological changes and management from headwater to the ocean” will be held at Kyoto Garden Palace, Kyoto, Japan. Please visit the official web site of the Symposium at http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/HC_2008.

XXXVI IAH Congress

October 26-31, 2008, Toyama, Japan

“Integrating Groundwater Science and Human Well-being” congress is planned to be held in Toyama, Japan. Please visit http://www.envr.tsukuba.ac.jp/~IAH2008.

IAG Sister Societies’ General Assemblies

Associations’ Scientific Assemblies of the IUGG

IUGG/IAGA, August 23-30, 2009, Sopron, Hungary
IUGG/IAHS, September 7-12, 2009, Hyderabad, India
IUGG/IASPEI, January 10-16, 2009, Cape Town, South Africa
IUGG/IAG, August 31-September 4, 2009, Buenos Aires , Argentina
IUGG/IACS-IAMAS-IAPSO, July 19-29, 2009, Montreal, Canada
IUGG/IAVCEI, August 12-15, 2008, Reykjavik, Iceland

XXI ISPRS Congress

July 3-11, 2008, Beijing, China

The quadrennial ISPRS Congress will be hosted by the Chinese Society of Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography, with the theme 'Silk Road for Information from Imagery'. It is worth mentioning that ISPRS 2008 Beijing will be held just one month before 2008 Beijing Olympic Games when the city will become the focus of world attention. Detailed information is available from the Congress website: http://www.isprs2008-beijing.org/.

33^rd International Geological Congress IGC

August 6-14, Oslo, 2008, Norway

The 2008 Congress will be held in collaboration with the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and many other international and national organisations, the National IUGS Committees in the five Nordic Countries (Norden): Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden. Please visit http://www.33igc.org/ for more information about the IGC 2008.

IAVCEI 2008 General Assembly

August 18-24, 2008, Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik is an excellent place to host the IAVCEI General Assembly in 2008. The main theme of the meeting will be "Understanding Volcanoes". The meeting is devoted to volcanism and volcano-tectonics of all environments and the impact of volcanic eruptions on the surface environment and human activities. The website of the Assembly is http://www.iavcei2008.hi.is/.