bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Space‐age children
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

One of the more dramatic spinoff benefits from NASA research is a space suit to help children with rare diseases venture into the daylight without being harmed.

On April 19, 6‐year‐old Mikie Walker of Virginia became the first American child to receive a modified “space suit” that protects him from nearly all of the Sun's ultraviolet rays and other light sources. Mikie has porphyria, a genetic disorder that causes extreme and potentially dangerous sunlight sensitivity that can result in chronic skin inflammation, blistering, inflammation of nerves, abdominal pain, and other disturbances. For some children with light sensitivity disorders, even a 40‐watt light bulb can be dangerous.
Research Council examines roles, challenges, and opportunities for U.S. Geological Survey
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Just a few years ago, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) had a near‐death experience. In 1995, Republicans eager to balance the budget proposed to abolish the agency as part of the “Contract with America.” After surviving that onslaught, the agency now is trying to work out its own contract with America, by examining its priorities and demonstrating its value to the public through a strategic plan for 1997–2005 and other initiatives.

A key part of that examination includes an 18‐month study of the agency by an outside expert committee of scientists established by the National Research Council (NRC) and requested by USGS. The committee's initial meeting on July 20 to 21 in Washington, D.C. included presentations by the USGS acting director, key personnel within the agency, and representatives from other federal agencies that interact with the Survey.
Thomas A. Potemra (1938–1998)
Authors: Zanetti Lawrence
Published: October 2006

Thomas A. Potemra, supervisor of the Space Physics Group at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, passed away Friday, April 3, 1998, following extended hospitalization after a heart operation. Tom Potemra had been a physicist in APL's Research Center and Space Department since 1965, specializing in the science and history of the Earth's magnetic field. He led a large group of space scientists, published over 200 scientific papers, and directed many spacecraft experiments. He was deeply involved in defining and implementing major scientific missions for the nation's space program.
Principles and Applications of Geochemistry, 2nd Edition
Authors: Marcantonio Franco
Published: October 2006

Many academic geology departments do not include geochemistry in their undergraduate core curriculums. The second edition of Principles and Applications of Geochemistry demonstrates why this should change. Gunter Faure's book clearly shows the important role played by quantitative geochemical analysis in our understanding of Earth processes, both natural and anthropogenic. Intended as an introductory inorganic geochemistry text for senior undergraduates or first‐year graduate students, the book makes even the most difficult concepts readily understandable. Beyond its lucid technical explanations, it also includes engaging discussions of the history of geochemistry as a science.
Press conference bring excitement of geophysical research to the public
Authors: Leifert Harvey
Published: October 2006

“A Flare to Remember.” “Starbucks for Starfish.” “Earth's Rotation Slows for El Niño.” What do these catchy headlines have in common? They all resulted from presentations at AGU's Spring Meeting in Boston, Mass. Yes, geophysical science can be big news when presented in a way that is interesting to general audiences.

Proof? Well, the “Flare to Remember” headline (in the Dallas Morning News) reported the discovery, via the SOHO spacecraft, that a solar flare had produced, deep inside the Sun, seismic disturbances of a magnitude never experienced on Earth. Researchers Valentina Zharkova of Glasgow University and Alexander Kosovichev of Stanford gave media representatives a preview of their session, supported by visual aids, in the AGU press briefing room.
Why scientists have not been writing metadata
Authors: Vogel Ronald L.
Published: October 2006

With the advances in information technology in recent years, new capabilities for data exchange offer unprecedented opportunities for scientific research [NRC, 1997]. Research questions that involve data from many disciplines over long periods of time or large areas can now be answered more easily than ever before, yet scientists are not taking maximum advantage of the Information Age. Documenting data, archiving data, locating appropriate data sources, and transferring data among computer systems are issues of the Information Age that still require solutions and participation by the scientific community. While the publishing of research results rightfully has a high priority among scientists, making data available for interdisciplinary or future uses has not traditionally been a valued activity in the scientific community.
Rock Magnetism: Fundamentals and Frontiers
Authors: Banerjee Subir
Published: October 2006

Most observers of the geophysical scene, those involved with plate tectonics and continental drift in particular, are aware of the seminal contributions of rock magnetism and its sister discipline, paleomagnetism, which some have called “applied rock magnetism.” That was in the heady days of the 1960s. As a discipline, however esoteric, rock magnetism goes further back to the 19th century when the Swedish prospectors for iron ores and Italian and German paleomagnetists in search of the history of the geomagnetic field were using rock magnetism as an exciting new tool. The first book on rock magnetism, Der Gesteinsmagnetismus by H. Haalck, was published in 1942, more than a decade before T. Nagata's Rock Magnetism, cited by Dunlop and Ozdemir as the earliest work on the subject. There have been more recent volumes on the subject, including one that I coauthored with Frank Stacey. However, I am not exaggerating when I say that Rock Magnetism: Fundamentals and Frontiers leaves the others in the dust.
Parlange receives 1997 Robert E. Horton Award
Authors: Steenhuis Tammo , Parlange Jean‐Yves
Published: October 2006

Jean‐Yves Parlange was awarded the 1997 Horton Award at the 1998 Spring Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. The Robert E. Horton Award is given by the Hydrology Section for contributions over a career with an emphasis on the past 5 years.
European Science Foundation extends major lithospheric study effort
Authors: Zeyen Hermann
Published: October 2006

EUROPROBE, the major European lithosphere initiative of the 1990s, will continue as a European Science Foundation (ESF) research program until 2001. This was decided at the last ESF General Assembly in November 1997. EUROPROBE was conceived as a Regional Coordinating Committee of the International Lithosphere Program (ILP) in 1984 and was accepted as an ESF program in 1992. Since then, EUROPROBE has grown steadily into its present role as a main vehicle of European research into the continental lithosphere, its structure, and evolution [Gee and Zeyen, 1996]. Today, nearly 1000 scientists from western, central, and eastern Europe and a few from the United States are participating actively in EUROPROBE projects.
Proclamation establishes American Heritage Rivers
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

U.S. President Bill Clinton stood by the banks of the New River in North Carolina on July 30 to sign a proclamation recognizing that waterway and 13 others as the first designated “American Heritage Rivers.”

The designations are part of the Clinton Administration's American Heritage Rivers Initiative to help communities protect rivers and their corridors in ways that integrate natural resource conservation and economic development with the preservation of historical and cultural values.
U.N. report details El Niño losses
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

A recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations indicates that while the 1997–1998 El Niño phenomenon is coming to a close, the climate anomaly still is having a considerable impact on many of the more than 60 countries that suffered heavy floods or severe droughts that have been linked to it.

According to the report, “Update on FAO's Activities in Relation to the 1997/98 El Niño,” the weather anomaly was at least partly responsible for floods in 41 countries, droughts or dry spells in 22 countries, and widespread forest fires in 2 countries. The report says that Indonesia's worst drought in 50 years, believed to have been triggered by El Niño, dried out vegetation and made conditions almost impossible to control raging fires.
Images in Weather Forecasting: A Practical Guide for Interpreting Satellite and Radar Imagery
Authors: Zaras Daphne S.
Published: October 2006

Recent advances in meteorological instrumentation coupled with the ongoing data and infrastructure explosion promise significant improvements in the accuracy of weather forecasts. These advancements, however, increase the knowledge burden on the forecaster. Even relatively simple atmospheric upper air and surface sensors require forecasters to have some basic understanding of the instrumentation if they are to properly interpret the data they provide.

With whole careers dedicated to designing and interpreting data from meteorological satellites and radars, forecasters must be proficient users of these data. The new Doppler radars were considered so vital to National Weather Service operations that a massive, organized training program was held for operational forecasters, and applied research was funded to develop quantitative applications. Though satellite data have long been considered vital, training for satellite meteorology and image interpretation has largely been neglected. The education of contemporary meteorologists must cover both technical knowledge of individual data sets as well as the application of those data sets to the science of meteorology. Ideally, courses would utilize any and all available data to illustrate concepts being discussed. Few, if any, textbooks attempt to meet this daunting challenge.
Scientific drilling continues in Long Valley Caldera, California
Authors: Hill David P. , Sorey Michael L. , Ellsworth William L. , Sass John
Published: October 2006

The Long Valley caldera region, located between the Sierra Nevada and the Basin and Range Province in eastern California, encompasses a large volcanic complex whose eruptive history began nearly 4 m.y.a. and continues to the present, with eruptions occurring, on average, every few hundred years. Eruptive activity in the area occurred as recently as 250 years ago with small eruptions from vents on Paoha Island in the middle of Mono Lake and 550–600 years ago from three vents at the southern end of the Inyo volcanic chain in the west moat of Long Valley caldera. The current unrest in the caldera began in 1980 and has included recurring earthquake swarms and uplift of the resurgent dome in the center of the caldera by over 70 cm [Bailey and Hill, 1990]. Long Valley caldera is one of several large calderas around the world that have shown similar signs of magmatic unrest in the last few decades.
Seismic experiments, nuclear dismantlement go hand in hand in Kazakhstan
Authors: Leith William , Kluchko Luke J.
Published: October 2006

Unique seismic experiments involving large chemical explosions at different depths have been conducted in Kazakhstan, thanks to nuclear dismantlement activity there. Collaborative efforts of several bodies have provided this creative, cost‐efficient extension of the dismantling work, improving technical monitoring and verification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

For the past several years, the Defense Special Weapons Agency (DSWA) has been closing the nuclear test tunnels and bore‐holes at the former Soviet nuclear test site nearSemipalatinsk, eastern Kazakhstan, as part of the Nunn‐Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program. The existence of this program and the infrastructure that was in place to implement it made it possible to conduct the seismic experiments. As a result, benchmark data have been collected on the variations in seismic signals from explosions at different burial depths.
The Pacific Northwest Coast: Living with Shores of Oregon and Washington
Authors: Griggs Gary
Published: October 2006

The Pacific Northwest Coast is the 21st book in the “Living With the Shore” series published by Duke University Press. This series was initiated by the series′ editors, Orrin Pilkey and William Neal, who have worked over 15 years to develop a series of books covering each coastal state and the hazards of oceanfront development. The shoreline nationwide is caught between the rising waves of humanity from the rear and rising sea level, hurricanes, El Niño events, and tsunamis from the front. Coastal populations nationwide continue to increase, and present data indicate half of the nation's people now live in coastal counties.
Does the Weather Really Matter? The Social Implications of Climate Change
Authors: Glantz Michael H.
Published: October 2006

Societies around the globe have become fascinated with weather and climate. Killer tornadoes, ice storms, floods, mudslides, forest fires, and rain‐related disease outbreaks—the list is almost endless for any given year. The list grows dramatically from the perspective of a decade, and even more so when attempting to assess the impacts of weather and climate on societies for centuries. Such assessment seems like an impossible task. Then there is the recently emerging concern about global warming. Now, William Burroughs has attempted to bring weather and climate to the public in his book, Does the Weather Really Matter? The Social Implications of Climate Change.
New diffraction technique may improve understanding of mineral surfaces
Authors: Biino Giuseppe G. , Mun Bongjin , Mannella Norman , Kay Alexander , Fadley Charles S.
Published: October 2006

Measurement of the photoelectron diffraction patterns of all major constituents of mineral surfaces by means of X ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD), a new and largely undeveloped technique, may lead to a much better understanding of those surfaces, research suggests [Fadley, 1992; Chambers, 1992; Osterwald et al., 1995; Fadley et al., 1997]. The technique allows scientists to characterize clean surfaces of minerals and investigate interactions between such surfaces and gases, liquids, and solids. It also promises accurate three‐dimensional imaging of the atomic environment around each type of atom near a mineral surface. In a specific experiment, the X ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD) patterns were measured for all major chemical constituents of a clean phlogopite (001) surface prepared in ultrahigh vacuum. Such patterns have been shown to provide direct and unique information, at the atomic scale, of the location and local bonding geometry for each element in the mineral surface.
Fractal River Basins–Chance and Self‐organization
Authors: Turcotte Donald L.
Published: October 2006

The first question a reader might ask is, how could anyone write a 547‐page book on fractal river basins? Actually, the content of Fractal River Basins—Chance and Self‐Organization is considerably broader than is indicated by the title. The general problem of the erosional evolution of landforms is considered, and background material on the underlying concepts of fractals, multifractals self‐affinity, and self‐organized criticality is given. The book is generally well written and is highly recommended to anyone who has an interest in theoretical geomorphology from the modern point of view. Cambridge University Press has done its usual excellent job of production, and the price is not unreasonable for such a specialized volume.
Outstanding student paper award
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Ocean Sciences Section presented the outstanding student paper award to Ann Pearson at the 1998 AGU Spring Meeting in Boston, Mass., last May.

Ann presented a paper titled “Molecular‐level Radiocarbon Analysis as a Tracer of Organic Matter Source: Results for Lipid Biomarkers from Santa Monica Basin Surface Sediment.” Ann completed a B.A. in chemistry from Oberlin College in 1992. She served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Ecuador in 1993–1994, and began graduate study in the MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in 1994. She is currently working towards a Ph.D. with Timothy Eglinton and Ann McNichol, both of WHOI. Her interests are broadly based in light isotope biogeochemistry, and she increasingly finds herself drawn to projects investigating microbial pathways of carbon utilization and their impact on the carbon cycle. For her thesis work, Ann is conducting the first systematic investigation of the uses of molecular‐level radiocarbon analysis as both chronometer and biogeochemical tracer.
U.S. Congress Science Committee report aims to provide blueprint for “third era” in science policy
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

U.S. Rep. Verne Ehlers (R‐Mich.) often mentions that the end of the Cold War brought the United States into its third “mega‐era” of science policy. The first period stretched until World War II. The second period was defined by the Cold War, which was influenced by Vannevar Bush's 1945 study, “Science: The Endless Frontier.” That document urged the federal government to fund research in support of national security, public health, and economic strength.
Recent El Niño brought downpour of media coverage
Authors: Hare Steven R.
Published: October 2006

Media coverage of the 1997‐1998 tropical ocean warming event made the term “El Nino” a household word. So pervasive was coverage of El Nino that it became the fodder of late night talk show monologues and an oft‐invoked gremlin responsible for many of society's ailments. As a fisheries biologist studying climate impacts on marine resources, I followed the event very closely and created an El Nino Web site (http://www. iphc.washington.edu/PAGES/IPHC/Staff/ hare/html/1997ENSO/ 1997ENSO.html) in the spring of 1997 when the magnitude of the event was becoming obvious.

As part of my daily routine in updating the Web page, I began tracking El Nino media coverage over the Internet. Between June 1997 and July 1998,1 accumulated links to stories about El Nino. I attempted to maintain a constant level of effort so that the number of stories accurately reflected the level of coverage given the event as it progressed. In fisheries lingo, this is known as a Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) index. Because Internet content is often removed after a period of time, a retrospective accumulation of daily stories would not yield as accurate a count as the contemporary CPUE index I maintained.
Photographs of historical figures and events in geophysics wanted
Authors: Lyons Suzanne
Published: October 2006

The AGU History of Geophysics Committee is beginning a project to depict the history of geophysics through an ongoing photographic display at AGU meetings. The photographs will feature notable events and people within the geosciences. The committee welcomes submissions of photographic prints that would complement the collection.

Candid shots are preferred, but portraits are appreciated as well. Please send a black and white copy of the print, or send the original and the committee will make a copy and return it to you. Funds are available to reproduce a limited amount of material. The photo should be accompanied by a listing of the people involved, the location, and the approximate date the photograph was taken. Please send prints to Suzanne Lyons, IGPP, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093‐0225 USA.
U.S. science study receives key endorsement
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

The U.S. House of Representatives has endorsed a new national science policy study as a framework for future policy and funding deliberations.

The report, which was prepared by the House Committee on Science under the leadership of U.S. Congressman Verne Ehlers (RMich.), was unveiled in October. It builds on, and is a fine‐tuning of, Vannevar Bush's influential 1945 study, “Science: The Endless Frontier.”
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Space Physics & Aeronomy (SPA) Section presented the following outstanding student paper awards at the 1998 AGU Spring Meeting in Boston, Mass., last May.

Mohamed J. Alothman presented a posted titled “Investigation of Cusp Energetic Particles Events Signature in the High Latitude Trapping Boundary.”
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Hydrology Section presented the following outstanding student paper awards at the 1998 AGU Spring Meeting in Boston, Mass., last May.

Robert G. Bruant, Jr. presented a poster titled “Adsorption of Hydrophobic Organic Contaminants at the Air‐Water Interface.” Robert received a B.A. in geosciences from Franklin and Marshall College in 1993. He is currently in his final year of the Hydrology Ph.D. Program at the University of Arizona, advised by Dr. Martha H. Conklin. Rob's research involves qualifying both variations in surface tension as a function of aqueous solute concentrations and adsorption thermodynamics at air‐water interfaces for volatile organic compounds. His goal is to further theoretical development of adsorption phenomena, especially in system with nonideal interactions between components. The application is to promote better understanding of the transport and fate of anthropogenic contaminants in groundwater, surface water, and atmospheric systems.
Sullivan Award recognizes Outstanding Science Journalism
Authors: Leifert Harvey
Published: October 2006

If you have ever read a science report in your daily newspaper, or heard one on radio or TV, that made you sit up and say, “That's darn good! They got this complicated story exactly right,” you probably wanted to congratulate the author. Actually, you can do better than that: you can nominate him or her for AGU's Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism.

Nominations are now open for the 1999 Sullivan Award, which will be presented at the Spring Meeting next May in Boston, Mass. Any AGU member may nominate a journalist, and journalists may also nominate themselves. The award is made for a single report in any medium that is accessible to the general public and published in 1998; it carries a prize of $2000 along with a plaque.
Arctic margin gravity highs remain puzzling
Authors: Vogt Peter R. , Jung Woo‐Yeol , Brozena John
Published: October 2006

Many passive continental margins, particularly in the Arctic (Figures 1 and 2), are festooned by chains of elongate positive gravity anomalies overlying, in part, marginal oceanic crust. To this day, no simple unifying explanation has emerged to account for these highs. Variously modeled by mantle doming, crustal thinning, dense crust, basement rises, postbreakup sediment depocenters, and topographic effects, these anomalies epitomize nonuniqueness in geophysical inversion. It seems unlikely that all the highs share a common origin, but it seems even more unlikely that many disparate processes produce gravity anomalies so similar to each other.

Upon consideration of several hypotheses, a phase change explanation seems the most plausible for Arctic margin gravity highs (AMGHs). The better studied highs are spatially correlated with sediment depocenters (Figure 2), which however by themselves account for only a fraction of the gravity anomalies (for example, Figure 3). Thus, a reason has to be found as to why dense or thinned oceanic crust (or dense mantle) is found underneath sediment loads. Essentially, the phase change explanation relies on the added lithostatic pressure under sediment piles to “densify” some of the buried oceanic crust, for example, by conversion to garnet granulite or even eclogite [Neugebauer and Spohn, 1981 ]. More well‐designed seismic experiments are needed, however, to delineate the velocity (and hence density) structure of the underlying crust to verify the depocentermascon association and test the phase change hypothesis and others discussed below.
Marine Biodiversity: Patterns and Processes
Authors: Smith Craig R.
Published: October 2006

The biodiversity of the oceans is a hot topic, as witnessed by the announcements I received for three international symposia/workshops on marine biodiversity in the fall of 1998. It is also a broad topic encompassing the description of global diversity patterns, molecular studies of gene flow on single shores, and application of “integrated coastal zone management” to species preservation in multiple‐use ecosystems.

A book capturing the timeliness and breadth of this topic, while highlighting research needs and conservation concerns, would indeed be useful for enlightening the public, educating students, and focusing researchers in this important, if amorphous, field. Marine Biodiversity: Pattern and Process is designed to fill this niche. The premise of the volume, as eloquently argued by Sir Crispin Tickell, is that marine ecosystems are suffering the onslaught of humanity at a time when we have but a glimmering of the extent and vulnerability of their biodiversity. The editors thus bring together key studies evaluating the patterns and processes underlying biodiversity in coastal zones to the abyss, from equatorial waters to polar seas.
Maps could provide space weather forecasts for the inner magnetosphere
Authors: Reeves Geoffrey , Friedel Reiner , Hayes Robin
Published: October 2006

If you are like many people, you scan the newspaper, television, or Internet every morning and check out the latest weather map and forecast to see how it may affect what you plan to do that day. If you depend on satellites to do your business and you want to know how the “weather” in space might affect those satellites, you are not so lucky—at least not yet.

“Space weather” is a relatively new phrase in space physics. It refers broadly to the conditions in space that may affect human activities. Those conditions are changing all the time. Differing types and intensities of solar activity produce different conditions in the solar wind, which in turn impact the conditions in the magnetosphere, ionosphere, and upper atmosphere. Adverse space weather conditions include increased ionospheric scintillation, which disrupts communications and navigation signals, electrical charging of spacecraft surfaces that can produce arcing, and radiation damage from energetic protons and electrons that can damage spacecraft components.
Ecological Geography of the Sea
Authors: Steele John H
Published: October 2006

The programs of the first wave of global ocean programs, particularly the World Ocean Circulation Experiment and the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study, are coming to an end and the second wave is taking shape. Foci for the new programs include the variability at seasonal to decadal scales and the consequences of physical changes for biogeochemical and ecological processes. Will it be enough to describe the changes in these processes by relatively simple models of carbon and nutrient flux? Or do we need to know how the biology is coupled to the physics in different ocean regions, how species differ between these regions, and what data are available and at what spatial scales?
Coordination needed between International Oceanic and Continental Scientific Drilling Programs
Authors: Le Pichon Xavier , Burke Kevin
Published: October 2006

The Mohole project, embodying the idea of drilling through the crust of the ocean floor to penetrate the Earth's mantle, was launched 40 years ago in 1957. Since that time drilling for scientific purposes has yielded otherwise unobtainable information about the solid Earth and how the Earth has evolved. Drilling has also revealed how the rocks of the Earth record diverse and changing interactions with the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. Since 1967, scientific drilling at sea has been concentrated in the International Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) and two predecessor programs. Scientific drilling on the continents, in contrast, generally has been carried out through national programs.
Candidate models sought for International Geomagnetic Reference Field 2000
Authors: Barton C. E.
Published: October 2006

The International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) is due to be updated from the beginning of the year 2000. IAGA Working Group V‐8, for analysis of the global and regional geomagnetic field and its secular variation, is seeking the following candidate spherical harmonic models: a main field model for the year 2000 (IGRF 2000) with the expected maximum degree and order m=n=10 a secular variation model for the interval 2000–2005 with the expected maximum degree and order m=n=8
North Pacific interdecadal oscillation seen as factor in ENSO‐related North American climate anomalies
Authors: Gershunov Alexander , Barnett Tim P. , Cayan Daniel R.
Published: October 2006

The North Pacific Oscillation (NPO) may be a significant factor in how El Niño and La Niña affect North American weather. A cold NPO phase indeed may have been partially responsible for the uncommon strength and stability of the El Niño‐induced North American climate anomalies of early 1998. On the other hand, the latest La Niña excursion, if NPO persists in its cold phase, would likely produce weaker, less stable, and less predictable climate anomalies.

It is well known that the effects of interannual tropical forcing, or El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influences, penetrate into middle latitudes to produce particular forms of climate anomalies, such as the relatively well‐predicted temperature and precipitation patterns over North America during the great El Niño of 1997–1998. Evidence is now mounting that this ENSO effect accentuates certain types of synoptic scale events, so that the likelihood of extreme events is biased above or below its climatological normal over broad regions. Observations show that these ENSO effects over the United States are also affected by the phases of decadal‐scale climate states such as the North Pacific Oscillation (NPO).The NPO influence can be seen in both the seasonal aggregate of various ENSO patterns and the distribution of extreme daily events.
Press conference held to announce position statement
Authors: Folger Peter
Published: October 2006

AGU held a press conference on Thursday January 28, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to announce that the AGU Council had adopted a position statement on the subject of climate change and greenhouse gases. AGU members Tamara Ledley, senior scientist with TERC in Cambridge, Mass., Eric Sundquist, research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Woods Hole, Mass., and Tim Killeen, professor of atmospheric, oceanic, and space sciences at the University of Michigan were on hand to discuss the statement and answer questions from members of the press. The three scientists drafted the statement and submitted it for Council approval with Dorothy Hall of the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., Stephen Schwartz of Brookhaven National Lab in Upton, N.Y., and Jack Fellows of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. The AGU Council approved the statement in December during the 1998 AGU Fall Meeting.
Year‐round research gets boost at summit of Greenland Ice Sheet
Authors: Bales Roger C. , Dibb Jack E.
Published: October 2006

A successful pilot project has added support for locating a year‐round interdisciplinary environmental observatory at the 3200‐m summit of the Greenland ice sheet (Figure 1). Such a facility will enable numbers of European and U.S. scientists to make continuous measurements at a unique, high elevation, Northern Hemisphere location (Figure 2). From August 1997 through April 1998 a pilot winter‐over program of atmospheric and snow measurements was carried out, in part to test the feasibility of a longer‐term year‐round facility Year‐round measurements are expected to resume in the summer of 2000.
Adam receives Fred Whipple Award
Authors: McCord Thomas B. , Adams John B.
Published: October 2006

John B. Adams was presented with the Fred Whipple Award at the AGU Fall Meeting in December in San Francisco, California. The award, established in 1989 by the Planetary Sciences Section, is presented to an individual who makes an outstanding contribution to the field of planetary science.

In the beginning, scientists including Galileo studied the solar system by staring through a tube with glass elements called a telescope. This panchromatic instrument demonstrated existence and motion of objects and revealed features such as craters and clouds. However, it required approximately another 400 years to develop the physics and technology necessary to determine remotely the composition of these objects.
Seismic‐volcanic workshop strengthens international cooperation
Authors: Dehn Jonathan , Faust Jessica , Eichelberger John C.
Published: October 2006

The convergent boundary between the North American and Pacific plates begins at the Yakutat “corner” and sweeps westward across Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to the Kamchatka “corner.” There it abruptly turns south and continues through the Kurile Islands to Hokkaido and Northern Honshu (Figure 1).

This region holds much scientific promise and mystery, and the first International Seismic‐Volcanic Workshop on Kamchatkan‐Aleutian Subduction Processes, held last summer, directed attention to it. The region contains nearly 20% of the world's active subaerial volcanoes and is one of the world's most seismically active areas. Yet surprisingly it is one of the least monitored and understood areas on Earth.
AGU welcomes comment on comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

AGU President John Knauss has authorized a panel to work on a position statement regarding the seismic verifiability of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The panel welcomes comments on the subject from the membership.
New land surface digital elevation model covers the Earth
Authors: Gesch Dean B. , Verdin Kristine L. , Greenlee Susan K.
Published: October 2006

Land surface elevation around the world is reaching new heights—as far as its description and measurement goes. A new global digital elevation model (DEM) is being cited as a significant improvement in the quality of topographic data available for Earth science studies.

Land surface elevation is one of the Earth's most fundamental geophysical properties, but the accuracy and detail with which it has been measured and described globally have been insufficient for many large‐area studies. The new model, developed at the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) EROS Data Center (EDC), has changed all that.
Comment sought on new law affecting federally funded data
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Senator Richard Shelby (R‐Ala.) inserted a provision into the FY 1999 Omnibus Appropriations Bill (Public Law 105‐277) last fall “to require Federal awarding agencies to ensure that all data produced under an award will be made available to the public through the procedures established under the Freedom of Information Act.” Under the new law, most non‐profit organizations in cooperative agreements or receiving federal grants may be compelled to “provide the public with access to federally funded research data” that is “used by the Federal Government in developing policy and rules” according to bill proponents. Current rules only allow the granting agency to request raw data from researchers.

The law upset some non‐profit research organizations, universities, and scientific and engineering societies about possible consequences, unintended or otherwise, to researchers and their data. To its backers, the new law simply lets the public examine data underlying Federal policy. Others worry that draft regulations, proposed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) may compromise the scientific integrity of preliminary studies, fail to protect personal privacy, and affect intellectual property. Specifically, OMB must amend Circular A‐110, “Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals, and other Non‐Profit Organizations.” A bipartisan group of representatives already wrote a letter to OMB director Jack Lew urging him to solicit input from grant‐awarding agencies, non‐profits, hospitals, and the grant‐recipient community before finalizing changes to Circular A‐110.
Resource development issues simmer in Congress
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

“The eyes of Appalachia are upon you,” U.S. Congressman Nick Rahall (D‐W.Va.) told Kathy Karpan, director of the Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM),at a February 26 hearing of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources of the House of Representatives' Resources Committee. The hearing—which involved the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Minerals Management Service (MMS), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS),and OSM—was one of several held over the past few weeks that laid out some of the 106th Congress' agenda and looming battles concerning resource development.
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Atmospheric Sciences Section presented six outstanding student paper awards at the 1998 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California, last December.
Debate heats up over potential Interim Nuclear Waste Repository, as studies of Yucca Mountain continue
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

With spent nuclear fuel piling up at power plants around the United States, and with a potential permanent nuclear waste repository at Nevada's Yucca Mountain not scheduled to accept waste until 11 years from now in the year 2010, the nuclear energy industry and many members of Congress have renewed their push to establish an interim repository at the adjacent Nevada Test Site of nuclear bombs.

At a sometimes contentious March 12 hearing to consider the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1999 (House Resolution 45) that would require an interim facility to begin accepting waste in 2003, bill cosponsor Rep. Jim Barton (R‐Tex.) told Energy Secretary Bill Richardson that he preferred that Congress and the Clinton Administration negotiate rather than fight over the measure.
Ocean science education looks to the future
Authors: Austin James A.
Published: October 2006

Ocean scientists must present societally “important” issues neutrally, as they did in connection with El Nino without resorting to advocacy At the same time, however, ocean scientists miss vital opportunities to inform the public if they take no political positions at all, as occurred in connection with a recent swordfish boycott by consumers in the northeastern United States.

These were some of the comments of William Spitzer, Director of Education at the Boston Aquarium, at a symposium titled “Ocean Science and Engineering Education, Meeting the Challenge.” The meeting was part of last falls 30th anniversary celebration of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology‐Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography and Applied Ocean Science and Engineering.
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Seismology Section presented six outstanding student paper awards at the AGU 1998 Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California, last December.
Cuban, Mexican, U.S. Researchers probing mysteries of Yucatan Current
Authors: Pérez Roberto , Muller‐Karger Frank E. , Victoria Iván , Melo Nelson , Cerdeira Sergio
Published: October 2006

The Yucatan Current has received very little biological or oceanographic attention in the past, but oceanographers from Cuba, Mexico, and the United States are changing that. They have assembled a multidisciplinary, multinational dataset and are beginning a detailed examination of the current, which has a large impact on all three countries. A series of theoretical and applied studies are using historical infrared and ocean color satellite data and some ship data.

In general, western boundaries of large ocean gyres have intense currents along continental margins, and important physical and biological processes take place in such regions. In the northwest Caribbean Sea, such an intense flow is funneled through a constriction known as the Yucatan Strait, between Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba (see Figure 1, inset).
Aerobot measurements successfully obtained during Solo Spirit Balloon Mission
Authors: Avidson Raymond E. , Bowman Judd D. , Guinness Edward A. , Johnson Sarah S. , Slavney S. H. , Stein Thomas C. , Bachelder Aaron D. , Cameron Jonathan M. , Cutts James A. , Ivlev Robert V. , Kahn Ralph A.
Published: October 2006

Robotic balloons, also known as aerobots, have become candidates for collecting atmospheric data and detailed surface observations of Venus, Mars, and Titan. A mission to Venus over a decade ago used two of them. Their inclusion last year in attempts by a balloonist to circumnavigate the Earth aptly demonstrated their utility for remote sensing and in situ observations of planetary atmospheres.

To simulate aspects of an aerobot mission, a small payload to measure local atmospheric conditions and balloon position and velocity was included on Solo Spirit “Round the World” flights during January and August of last year. These missions, flown in Roziere balloons, were attempts by Steve Fossett to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon without stopping. Neither attempt was successful, but the aerobot came through with flying colors.
Scientists urge action on polluted runoff
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Several marine scientists in March urged the U.S. Congress to strengthen the federal Clean Water Act by including strong controls on polluted runoff that can carry excess nutrients into waterways.

Nancy Rabelais, president of the Estuarine Research Foundation, and Tom Malone, president of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, represented more than 300 scientists who have endorsed a statement that recommends strengthening the act.
Conferees exploring the next millennium of space exploration focus on education and imagination
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Actor Robert Picardo's daughter once innocently asked why he drove to work. “Why doesn't a spaceship beam you up?”

Picardo, who portrays a 24th century holographic doctor in the Paramount Pictures television series Star Trek: Voyager, readily acknowledges that the show is far from a documentary. But he said the main role of science fiction is to teach viewers and reader.
The Magnetic Field of the Earth's Lithosphere: The Satellite Perspective
Authors: Cain Joseph , Blakely Richard
Published: October 2006

During the planning stages of the World Magnetic Survey in the early 1960s, geologists and geophysicists had no inkling that crustal magnetic anomalies might one day be observed from space. The appearance of The Magnetic Field of the Earth's Lithosphere: The Satellite Perspective is a welcome testimony to how far that science has advanced. However, although much progress has been made in understanding features discovered by the several spacecraft that have measured geomagnetic fields in low‐Earth orbit, the contents of this book make it clear that many mysteries are yet to be solved.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Meredith F. Burrill died in 1997, at age 95. He was a retired life member (Ocean Sciences) who joined in 1942.

Noel J . Cochrane died at age 79. He was a retired life member (SPA‐Magnetospheric Physics) who joined in 1956.
Evidence may indicate recent warming of shallow slope bottom water off New Jersey shore
Authors: Fisher A.T. , Von Herzen R.P. , Blum P. , Hoppie B. , Wang K.
Published: October 2006

Thermal data from boreholes on land have been used to infer recent changes in land‐surface temperatures, since these surface temperature changes propagate downward into the Earth and leave a measurable record [e.g., Pollack and Chapman, 1993].The temperature history of bottom water offshore New Jersey has been estimated using thermal data from the upper 150 m of sediment below the seafloor, and the results are surprising.The data appear to indicate a large temperature rise, on the order of 6–10°C, followed by a temperature decrease, all during the last 50–150 years and within a restricted area.

Data were collected during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 150 (Figure 1) [Mountain et al., 1994], with the idea that shelf and slope waters might vary in temperature on decadal to centennial timescales, and that such variations should be recorded in subseafloor sediments. Like Earth's surface on land, the seafloor acts as a low‐pass filter. High‐frequency temperature variations are filtered out in the shallowest sediments and longer‐period variations penetrate to greater depths. Given typical oceanic sediment properties, seasonal signals penetrate to depths of a few meters below the seafloor (mbsf), while centennial signals may penetrate several tens to over a hundred meters.
Measurements show the need for a rapid response to space weather disturbances
Authors: Ruohoniemi J. M. , Greenwald R. A.
Published: October 2006

“Storms” in space may significantly damage power grids and other sensitive technological systems.The onset of storm effects is related to the spread of disturbances in the near‐Earth space environment. Studies are showing that disturbances spread more rapidly than previously thought. Knowing just how rapidly will help determine how fast steps must be taken to protect such systems when a storm appears imminent.

The source of energy for space weather disturbances is the continuous stream of plasma directed outward from the Sun called the solar wind.The magnetosphere is the region of space that is shielded from the solar wind by the Earth's magnetic field.The portion of the magnetosphere lying at altitudes of 100–600 km is the ionosphere. Space weather effects are more readily observed there by groundbased instruments than in the outer reaches of the magnetosphere. An important manifestation of the coupling between the solar wind and magnetosphere is the circulation, or convection, of ionospheric plasma at high latitudes.
Got milk?
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

While celebrities wear white “milk moustaches” in a popular U.S. advertising campaign to promote the drinking of milk, they should also be concerned about the decreased amount of calcium available to many trees.

Calcium levels in forest soils have decreased at locations in 10 states in the eastern United States, according to a new report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released in time for National Arbor Day on April 30.
Landsat 7 launch will extend long‐term Earth remote sensing mission
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

The first pictures of the Earth from deep space that the Apollo 8 spacecraft beamed down in 1968 changed people's perspective of the planet. So, too, have the images relayed from Landsat satellites.

This series of U.S. satellites, the first of which was launched 27 years ago in 1972, has provided the longest continual remote sensing record of the Earth's continental surfaces and near coastal regions available for civilian usage.