bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Wind tunnel helping solve pollution problems
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Liquid nitrogen is helping researchers at Calspan make sufficiently steep temperature gradients to produce realistic inversions over modeled cities in their Atmospheric Simulation Facility (ASF). ASF is a 36‐meter‐long wind tunnel with a 2‐ meter‐wide turntable where a scale model of the area and buildings to be studied can be installed. The tunnel is capable of creating wind speeds from less than 1.6 to about 96 km/hour.

In recent studies for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Calspan modeled a large industrial area of about 110 km2 around Pittsburgh to study the dispersion of effluents from 49 model stacks of steel mills and power plants near the Monongahela River.
New supernova remnant sighted
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A new optical supernova remnant has been found in the constellation Cygnus where 2 others—gamma Cygni and the Cynus Loop —were already known. This new optical supernova was discovered by 3 scientists observing at Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Theodore Gull (Lockheed Electronics Company), Robert Kirshner (University of Michigan), and Robert A. R. Parker (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) discovered the new supernova, a huge egg‐shaped shell that measures about 220 light years in diameter. As it expands at a rate of more than 160,000 km/hour, the remnant is pushing a much larger shell of neutral hydrogen through the interstellar medium.
Instrumented penetrators may explore Martian subsurface
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A geology‐oriented Mars mission in 1984 may carry instrumented penetrators to explore the Martian subsurface. Drawing heavily on high‐speed earth penetration studies from nuclear weapons studies, Sandia Laboratories scientists have completed preliminary development and testing of instrumented penetrators which can be landed from orbiting spacecraft.

The original terradynamic vehicles have been fired into virtually all types of earth materials including water, ice, sand, mud, permafrost, clay, sandstone, and granite. Penetrators have been used to measure sea ice and ocean sediments and to emplace seismic and acoustic intrusion sensors. The preliminary planetary lander penetrator design was based on use of a Pioneer spacecraft; however, the penetrators could be carried by most current spacecraft.
Space Program Funding to Total $35 Billion for FY 1977–1981
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Funding of the U.S. space programs will total almost $35 billion–$25.5 billion from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and $9.4 billion in Department of Defense appropriations —for fiscal years 1977–1981, according to a new market study.

The study projects only slight growth in NASA space appropriations but substantial increases in Department of Defense spending during FY1977–1981. Research spending by the National Science Foundation, the Energy Research and Development Administration, and other agencies will be $7.3 billion for the study period, growing at an estimated rate of 4% yearly from $1.3 billion in FY 1977.
JILA Awarding Fellowships
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) will award some10 visiting fellowships for 1978–1979 to scientists with extensive research experience.

JILA's primary interests include atomic and molecular structure and collisions, the chemistry of small molecules, laser physics and precision measurements, spectroscopy and spectral line broadening, solar physics, stellar atmospheres, stellar stability, the interstellar medium, and geophysics.
Marine and atmospheric studies institute formed
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The University of Miami and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have established a Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS) at the oceanographic complex on Virginia Key in Miami, Florida.

Intended to serve as a focal point for concentrated research on specific scientific problems of the ocean and atmosphere, CIMAS will address oceanic influences on the earth's climate over periods of seasons, years, and decades as its first assignment.
The AGI minority scholarship program: A letter to the AGU membership
Authors: Bescher Earl H.
Published: October 2011

Because you are a contributor to the American Geological Institute Minority Scholarship Program, I want to take this opportunity to report to you on the activities relative to the scholarship recipients for the1977–1978 academic year. I also want to thank you again for your financial assistance toward helping qualified minority students who are striving for a degree in the geosciences.

The Advisory Committee to this program met in March to review all received scholarship applications. At this meeting I was able to certify a sum of $50,000 as available for scholarship aid. This sum was a 26%increase over the previous year. As a result, a total of 57 geoscience students were awarded assistance, which was a 35% increase over the previous year.
Report of the 1977 Spring Meeting
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The 1977 Spring Meeting was held in Washington, D.C, at the Sheraton‐Park Hotel from May 30 to June 3. Approximately 1370 papers were presented, an increase of 340 over the 1976 Spring Meeting.

Total registration was 2,334, of whom 1617 were members, 376 were students, and 341 were nonmembers. A concerted membership drive brought in 206 new members during the meeting.

The meeting summary program, including abstracts of papers presented,was published in the June 1977 issue of EOS, pages 360–549. The present report includes program changes and postdeadline and revised abstracts.
President's page: Report of the treasurer
Authors: Malone Thomas F. , Abelson Philip H. , Odishaw Hugh
Published: October 2011

Geophysics is big science in the classical sense of the phrase: worldwide, expensive, long‐term, cooperative, and any combination thereof. Because of this the Geophysics Research Board of the National Research Council decided several years ago to undertake a program of topical studies. Each of these studies is to culminate in a publication that will help provide public policy makers a firmer basis for their decisions, the scientific community a better understanding of the issues, challenges, and problems facing them, or the public a better understanding of the wonder of our science and the contributions we can make to their well‐being. No matter to which audience a particular study is addressed, we are sure that the members of AGU will find it interesting, informative, and vital, and we urge you to obtain copies as they are issued, to read them, and to involve yourself with your colleagues, your congressmen, and our friends in advancing our science and using it to the benefit of society.
Climate, climatic change, and water supply
Authors: Wallis James R.
Published: October 2011

The earth's climate is changing, and associated predictions of future floods and droughts reverberate throughout the news media. Coupled with forecasts of climatic change one can often find associated predictions of social unrest, wars, and famines, but these possible derivative issues have not been addressed. We considered only the simpler problems of water shortages, which may or may not be severe enough to be classified as droughts and which may or may not have resulted from climatic change. We also assessed the probable effects of climatic variability and climatic change upon the nation's water supply needs, policy, and design.
New U.S./USSR joint research programs
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

As part of the U.S./USSR Joint Committee on Cooperation in Studies of the World Ocean, a panel on geology, geophysics, and geochemistry met in Moscow in June 1977 to discuss two proposed cooperative international programs. One is to compare properties of the lithosphere and asthenosphere beneath both continental and oceanic areas, and the other is to study the tectonics of the Northwest Pacific region. A general plan of experiments was developed with agreement that the proposed programs would be refined by a, joint meeting in February 1978. In the interim there is opportunity for input from a broad range of U.S. scientists who have an interest. The programs are described briefly as follows.
New mid‐Atlantic expedition planned
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Tjeerd H. van Andel of Stanford University will be a coleader of a deep‐diving expedition next summer to explore another section of the Mid‐ Atlantic Ridge. Working with researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Woods Hole Oceanographic institution, and the University of California at Santa Barbara, van Andel's expedition will return to the 2‐mile‐deep area off the Azores where the Famous (French‐American Mid‐Ocean Undersea Study) expeditions in 1972–1974 confirmed the theory of continental drift. ‘We will return to the area,’ van Andel said, ‘to study an adjacent valley of the ridge that we surveyed in 1974 but didn't have time to explore. It is either more complex than the valley we did explore, or it is in a different state of development.’
Federal educational funding
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A report showing the distribution of federal funding for institutions of higher education and for selected nonprofit institutions has been released by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Entitled ‘Federal Support to Universities, Colleges, and Selected Nonprofit Institutions, Fiscal Year 1975’ (NSF 77‐311), the report analyzes data on money obligated to each institution by 14 agencies of the federal government with substantial programs in support of higher education.
U.S./Soviet manned space flight cooperation extended
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the USSR Academy of Sciences have agreed on further cooperation in manned space flight. Three joint working groups will prepare recommendations for two new programs, one dealing with orbital manned flight activities and the other with a possible international space station.

The first working group will begin studies on scientific and applications programs that may be conducted in joint operations of the American Space Shuttle and the Soviet Salyut space station in the early 1980's. The joint working group, whose task is to conduct a series of phased studies 01 an international space platform, does not limit either nation from proceeding with its independent space station interests.
Water resource policy study
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Recommended reforms in water resource policy were due last month. The President directed the Water Resources Council (WRC), the Office of Management and Budget, and the Council on Environmental Quality to review existing water resources policy and recommend reforms. Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus, in his capacity as Chairman of the WRC, led the study effort in melding the Policy Committee's recommendations with public and congressional input.

The nine points considered in the six‐month study were (1) revision of WRC principles and standards, (2) deauthorization of old water projects, (3) increased cost sharing by nonfederal entities, (4) reforms of law, regulations, and practices governing water allocation, (5) wise use of water, (6) quantification of Indian and federal reserved water rights, (7) evaluation of water quality with conventional water resources allocation and development, (8) improved dam safety, and (9) increased water conservation.
Engineering research equipment grants program
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Need some specialized equipment for engineering research? The National Science Foundation is accepting ‘engineering equipment grant requests’ until February 1, 1978. Individual research workers, research groups, engineering college deans, or engineering department chairmen may submit separate proposals which are exclusively for research equipment.
Worldwide network of spectrophotometers calibrated at NOAA
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Dobson ozone spectrophotometer network took a vital step toward worldwide calibration with a recent intercomparison test in the United States. Scientists from Denmark, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Soviet Union, Japan, Australia, Egypt, and the German Democratic Republic brought their instruments to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Air Resources Laboratories in Boulder, Colorado, for calibration. NOAA's spectrophotometer was recommended by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as the primary reference standard for total ozone observations.
National chemistry computer facility established
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The National Resource for Computation in Chemistry (NRCC) is operating at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) in California. This major facility provides advanced computer hardware and specialized software to solve research problems for chemists. Using LBL's existing computer center, NRCC staff can document, test, and improve software, develop new computational methods, design specialized hardware and software particularly suited to solving problems of interest to chemists, and conduct chemical and computational research.

NRCC is available to chemists from academic institutions as well as industrial and governmental laboratories for basic research in chemical kinetics, crystallography, macromolecular science, nonnumerical methods, physical organic chemistry, quantum chemistry, statistical mechanics, and energy systems.
Sponsors of 1977 new members
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Eight hundred two new members have been elected in 1977. The following AGU members have sponsored one or more new members this year.
Reply [to Comment on “Prediction of the Haicheng Earthquake”]
Authors: Kisslinger Carl
Published: October 2011

Mr. Huebsch misjudges the perspicacity and sophistication of the American Haicheng Earthquake Study Delegation. The members of the group were carefully selected for their ability to gather and critically evaluate all information that might be provided by their hosts about the successful prediction of the Haicheng earthquake. As one who played a small part in nominating the members, I know that several of the scientists were chosen not only for their knowledge of the subject involved, but also for their highly critical, often skeptical approaches to judging observations and research results, including their own. In the selection process, full recognition was given to the importance of including a good scientist ‘able to converse in the language of the country.’ Francis Wu, a seismologist of established high reputation, was included for this specific reason. U.S. scientists hoped for, and I believe received, the results of the most penetrating examination of the Chinese data, analyses, and prediction methods possible within the constraints imposed by the hosts.
President's Page: Why AGU?
Authors: Maxwell A. E.
Published: October 2011

The first article of the AGU statutes defines the objects of the Union clearly. Although few members may be familiar with these statutes, most have definite ideas of what they expect from the Union. In general, the members look to AGU for the dissemination of knowledge in the field of geophysics through publications and scientific meetings. To a lesser extent, members expect the Union to promote, initiate, and coordinate internationally the study of the earth and its environment in space. Broadly speaking, all of these are objects of the Union as defined by its statutes.
U.S.‐Japanese scientists plan meteorite search in Antarctica
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

This year's Antarctic research program includes a joint U.S.‐Japanese search for meteorites that may yield information about radiation in space during past geologic ages. Besides revealing more about cosmic ray intensity in the distant past, the metorites will help scientists determine the rate of ice movement in Antarctica and the age of the continental ice cap. Carbonaceous meteorites found in Antarctica would be especially valuable because they could provide a glimpse into extraterrestrial organic chemistry never before possible.

The group of American and Japanese meteoriticists includes William A. Cassidy from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh and Brian H. Mason from the Division of Meteorites of the Smithsonian Institution. The Japanese group is headed by Keizo Yanai, meteorite curator of the National Institute of Polar Research in Tokyo. Dr. Cassidy was a member of the U.S.‐Japanese team which discovered the largest meteorite ever found in Antarctica; the meteorite weighed in at 407 kg.
Drought raising nitrate level in crops
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Dry weather, which has cut crop production in many areas, also raises the potential for nitrate poisoning of livestock, according to veterinary authorities at Colorado State University. Nitrates can accumulate in plants during hot dry weather. The plants that survive a drought may suddenly accumulate high nitrate levels after a rain. CSU's William Brown noted that a survey in the Colorado area, for example, revealed nitrate levels as high as 3.4%, a toxic level, in stocks of drought‐affected corn.

Brown concluded that pastures suspected of being high in nitrates should be tested before grazing and that, even if the analysis is negative, a few animals should be allowed to graze as a test before turning out the remainder of the herd.
Multichannel CDP seismic reflection data acquired
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The National Geophysical and Solar‐Terrestrial Data Center has recently acquired more than 3400 nautical miles of multichannel common depth point (CDP) seismic reflection data in Alaskan offshore waters.

CDP seismic sections are available for a number of survey lines in the Gulf of Alaska, Cook Inlet, and the southeast Bering Sea. In general, the following formats are available: sections and location maps, in sepia or black line; velocity profiles and observer logs, on 35‐mm microfilm; and technical report, shot‐point locations, on microfiche.
New still on the market
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A new low‐cost multipurpose still useful for water, waste water, or sludge sample preparation or other general laboratory applications has been introduced by Hach Chemical Company. Hach's Universal Still pretreats samples for any of the following tests: fluoride, cyanide, arsenic, selenium, phenols, volatile acids, and nitrogen (both albuminoid and ammonia).

The instrument combines a temperature‐ controlled fast‐acting heating mantle and interchangeable glassware assemblies with a simple set‐up. The glassware is fastened to illustrated back panels that slide into the fiberglass base. There are three back panel/glassware assemblies to choose from: general purpose, arsenic, and cyanide.
New standard reference material for drinking water
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Assuring the purity of drinking water in the nation's 250,000 public water systems will be easier with a new standard reference material (SRM) developed at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS).

SRM 1643, Trace Elements in Water, was prepared by using highpurity water and 23 elements to simulate the elemental composition of natural freshwater. Seventeen elements have been certified in concentrations at the nanogram per gram (part per billion) level. They are silver, aluminum, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, molybdenum, manganese, nickel, lead, selenium, strontium, vanadium, and zinc. The concentrations of two others, barium and mercury, are not certified, but are listed for information only.
First light expected at multiple‐mirror telescope
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

This spring the multiple‐mirror telescope (MMT) at the University of Arizona (UA) will receive ‘first light.’ This $8 million experiment in ground‐based astronomy combines light gathered by six identical 72‐inch mirrors to provide the light‐gathering capacity of a single 175‐inch mirror at about half the cost.

If the MMT is successful, others could be built that would exceed the 236‐inch telescope, the largest single reflector that has yet been built.
Earthquake research
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The National Science Foundation announces that some additional funds for the 1978 fiscal year have been allocated to the Geophysics Program to augment its program of fundamental research on the nature of earthquakes. This increased support is in response to Option B of the September 1976 Newmark‐Stever report to the President's science adviser, entitled ‘Earthquake Prediction and Hazard Mitigation—Options for USGS and NSF Programs.’ The report is available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. 20402 (price $1.90, stock no. 038‐000‐ 00332‐1) and outlines an NSF‐USGS initiative in earthquake hazard reduction.
More on new journals
Authors: Lister Clive
Published: October 2011

I read your paean of complaint about publishing trends (July 1977 EOS) with limited sympathy. Several years ago I pointed out the most economical and efficient means of publishing Journal of Geophysical Research, namely, a monthly abstract journal covering all fields of geophysics, with number‐coded abstracts. At the back of the journal would be a postage‐paid reply ‘bingo’ card that would bring individual microfiche copies of desired papers ready for compact filing. The key feature of the system is the individual reprint on microfiche: it is useless to distribute a whole journal on a stack of microfiche, as no one can then develop a satisfactory filing system.
President's Page: AGU, 1978
Authors: Ragan Robert M. , Holoviak Judy C.
Published: October 2011

January 1, 1978, the long‐awaited, much‐debated revision of the U.S. copyright law became effective. The new law is strongly proauthor in all aspects. Authors' rights that previously were recognized only by common law now have statutory protection; specifically, the author's copyright is protected by statute from the moment of creation of the work and is not dependent on publication. Furthermore, the law requires specific and formal transfer of rights from the author to anyone desiring to reproduce the work in any form.

This requirement for formal transfer simply underscores the proprietary rights of the author and is a fair and just provision of the law where an author's livelihood is at stake. However, the provision could cripple the wide dissemination of scientific information. There are many questions about how strictly some clauses of the law will be interpreted by the courts. But some of the practices that have become a necessary part of the science information system that could be hampered by provisions in the new law are indexing and abstracting services, cover‐to‐cover and single‐article translations, republishing in different media, and photocopying beyond that allowed by the strict limits of the law. In short, the law seems to say that specific rights from the author will be required for any reproduction other than the onetime use implied by the author's original submission of his work for consideration by a publisher.
Dams avert mudflows in Soviet Union
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Soviet experiments have shown that disasters brought on by massive slides of mud after heavy mountain rains or rapid snowmelt may be averted. A constant watch on water levels in mountain rivers provides early warning of sharp water level rises. Morainal lakes, often the source of mudflows, are also watched carefully.

Man‐made springboards can help mudflows actually jump over roads until they can be stopped further down stream by other protective devices or dams such as the one built in the pastures of Medeo to protect Alma Ata, the capital of Kazakhstan, a Soviet Asian republic.
Geosciences Career Planning Program for women available
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Women Geoscientists Committee (WGC) of the American Geological Institute (AGI) has a valuable new recruiting resource available for upper‐level undergraduate and graduate women.

The Career Planning Program consists of a 30‐minute color slide show with accompanying script on career opportunities in academic institutions, government, and industry. It includes a summary of AGI‐WGC employment statistics and comments and suggestions from women geoscientists on a variety of career paths.
Environmental laws increasing rapidly
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The Environment Information Center (EIC) reports that environmentally related state laws and regulations have increased nearly 30%, since 1975. Land use joined air and water pollution as a primary environmental concem. While states continued to update other environmental requirements, they concentrated on surface mine redamation, power plant siting, and preservation of open space. agricultural lands. and shorelines.
Do rapid uplifts precede large earthquakes?
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Researchers at the Cooperativp Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences (CIRES) report that three large earthquakes were preceded by substantial rapid uplifts that could be measured by tide gages reporting an apparent change in sea level. These uplifts all occurred at least 3 years before the devastating earthquakes and could thus have provided some waming of the coming disaster. Max Wyss. at CIRES, a joint institute of the University of Colorado and the National Oceanic and Atmospherie Administration, demonstrated that such measurable sea level changes occured before the quake that leveled Long Beaeh, California, in 1933, the 1970 Peru quake that killedd more than 70,000 people, and the two earthquake's that shattered Hyuganada, Japan. in 1961 and 1968, In all these cases. he notes, ‘it appears that the reported episodes of rapid uplift were preeursors to crustal earthquakes.’
Iceland's fire and ice may hold Martian clues
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The interactions of volcanoes and glaciers in Iceland may provide due to some of the features on Mars that indicate flowing water years ago and other unusual surface conditions described as chaotic, ground broken up in unusual patterns. In a paper delivered to the American Astronomical Society, Carlton C. Allen, a University of Arizona graduate student in planetary sciences, drew the parallel between Mars and Iceland, where, he explained, there are more than 200 volcanoes, some of which are still active. One eighth of the island is covered by glaciers, and during the last Ice Age the entire surface was covered by ice. Thus volcanoes have erupted beneath Iceland's glaciers many times in the past, and some still do so today.
Norman D. Watkins Memorial Fund
Authors: Sexton Robert K.
Published: October 2011

Shortly after Norman Watkins's untimely death last November the Norman D. Watkins Memorial Fund was established within the University of Rhode Island Foundation for the purpose of perpetuating his memory on this campus and within the larger community of earth scientists. Whether this is done by establishing a scholarship, by providing for a lecture series, or in some other appropriate way is dependent upon the amount of money we are able to raise. Many of Norman's friends and associates are being informed of the existence of this fund.
Scientists and government
Authors: Ray Dixy Lee
Published: October 2011

I am here to extend you a warm welcome to our state and our community. I can think of no other circumstances in which an old marine biologist would be invited to address such a distinguished meeting of physical scientists. However, my real pleasure is in being able to represent all the citizens of our state and to say to you that we are delighted that when, for the first time in 14 years, you scheduled a major assembly in the United States, you chose the state of Washington, the city of Seattle, and the University of Washington as your meeting place.

I believe that your choice of Washington was especially appropriate for two associations that deal with studies of the earth and the atmosphere, because within the boundaries of our state we have a land of great interest and diversity. A volcanic mountain chain, a beautiful inland sea, a forest of the temperate zone unique on this continent, ice‐carved valleys, and large rivers all contribute to a unique natural setting.
Antarctic research proposals due June 1
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Unsolicited proposals for research in the Antarctic during the 1979–1980 austral summer (and extending through the following winter, if appropriate) are due by June 1, 1978. Similar proposals for research or data analysis in the United States beginning about January 1, 1979, are due at the same time.
Mount Baker update: Washington volcano still steaming
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Mount Baker, the 10,800‐ft volcano in northwest Washington State which showed signs of renewed life in 1975, now seems less likely to erupt, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, although the volcano continues to emit steam. David Frank, geologist with the USGS Tacoma, Washington, office, said that some fumaroles in Sherman Crater near the crest increased their activity slightly after 1975, but emissions from other fumaroles have decreased in quantity or temperature.

‘Overall,’ Frank said, ‘thermal activity at the volcano seems to be remaining at about the level developed so dramatically in 1975, but as far as we can tell, the activity has not shown any signs of increasing.’
Wintertime seesaw reported
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The atmospheric ‘seesaw’ between Greenland and northern Europe was more responsible for last winter's record cold in the eastern United States than any possible anthropogenic causes, according to a report at the 1977 AGU Fall Meeting.

Jeffery Rogers of the University of Colorado's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and Harry VanLoon of the National Center for Atmospheric Research reported that the wintertime climate of the entire northern hemisphere responds when the atmospheric seesaw modes are occurring as a result of fluctuations in the Icelandic low or Icelandic cyclone, a major atmospheric surface pressure system often noted on monthly average pressure maps. On the average this cyclone alternates between deep and shallow states in a period of just over 2 years. The pressure distribution over the entire hemisphere, particularly near the position of the North Pacific or Aleutian low, responds at the same time.
Environmental impact of Antarctic research to be assessed
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

To determine how the U.S. research program is affecting the antarctic environment, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has commissioned Dames & Moore, engineering and environmental consultants, to prepare a draft environmental impact statement on the U.S. Antarctic Research Program. Dames & Moore will analyze the impact of scientific research activities at the United States’ four year‐round stations: McMurdo, Amundsen‐Scott South Pole, Siple, and Palmer. Activities at associated temporary field camps—which, with modern aircraft, can be placed virtually anywhere on the continent—will also be assessed.
Changes to AGU Statutes and Bylaws
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

In its May 29, 1977, meeting the AGU Council approved changes in election policies and procedures to provide that elections for all AGU offices, Union and Section, be contested. The council also agreed that the responsibilities of the General Secretary were such that the term of office should be four years instead of two, with eligibility for contested reelection once.
Sixth World Conference on Earthquake Engineering
Authors: Acharya H. K.
Published: October 2011

There has been an increasing awareness of seismic hazards over the years, in part due to the increasing complexity of modern society and the recent occurrence of several destructive earthquakes. About 20% of the papers presented at the Sixth World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, which was held in New Delhi, India, from January 10 to 14, 1977, dealt with seismicity, ground motion, recent destructive earthquakes, instrumentation, and seismic zoning.

The principal focus of these deliberations was the study of ground motion due to an earthquake. The design and construction of major engineering facilities sucjh as dams, pipelines, stnd nuclear power plants require a specification of ground motion. Consequently, seismologists are called upon to predict ground motion at a particular site of interest. Prediction for engineering purposes implies prediction of amplitude, frequency content, and duration of ground motion. Consequently, in the last few years, various parameters which can affect the severity of ground motion have been studied. The severity of ground motion at a place will be clearly influenced by the nature and degree of seismic activity in the area, transmission path, and local geology. Thus the central theme of this conference was to identify parameters which affect ground motion and, if possible, establish mathematical and statistical models for its prediction.
Space science without rockets: Measurement of ionospheric properties at the Arecibo Observatory
Authors: Walker James C. G.
Published: October 2011

The nature of research in the atmospheric sciences is changing rapidly in what may be thought of as three distinct revolutions, each involving a different level of the atmosphere and each in a different stage of development. The first revolution, in meteorology and climatology, has been brought about by weather satellites, giant computing facilities, and carefully coordinated international research programs; it is already well advanced. Public concern over the future of the ozone layer has spawned the second revolution, which involves the middle atmosphere (the region between about 15 and 100 km in height); this revolution has just begun. The nature of the third revolution is only now becoming apparent. It concerns the study of the atmosphere above about 100 km, a study that I shall call ionospheric physics.
NBS detects new molecule important in smog formation
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Dioxirane, the simplest member of an entirely new class of organic compounds, was recently detected in air pollution studies by scientists of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). Dioxirane is a three‐membered ring compound, but the two hydrogens are bonded to the outside of the ring.

NBS physicists Richard D. Suenram and Frank J. Lovas detected dioxirane using low‐temperature microwave spectroscopy while they were studying the mechanism of a key reaction between ozone and ethylene in the chemistry of photochemical smog formation. They discovered that dioxirane is formed as an intermediate in the ozone‐ethylene reaction. The most likely reason for its never having been observed before is that it has an extremely short lifetime at normal temperatures and quickly collapses to its nonring form, the dioxymethane radical (H2COO). The low temperatures of the NBS experiment stabilized the compound long enough for it to be detected.
Pioneer 11 will fly outside rings of Saturn
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

NASA's Pioneer 11 will fly just outside the rings of Saturn during the first encounter with that planet in 1979. This decision was announced recently by Noel Hinners, NASA Associate Administrator, and A. Thomas Young, Director of Planetary Programs.

The Pioneer spacecraft will pass 30,000 km from the edge of the outer ring and will swing in, under the ring plane, to a distance of 25,000 km from the surface of Saturn. The chances of surviving this outside pass are estimated to be much greater than those of surviving an inside pass, which would have brought Pioneer as close as 6000 km to the planet.
U.S. earthquake research efforts will double
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Earthquake research by the U.S. Geological Survey will more than double during the current budget year. According to Robert M. Hamilton, chief of the Office of Earthquake Studies at the USGS National Center in Reston, Virginia, ‘The large increase in the Nation's earthquake research budget reflects heightened concern over the potentially disastrous consequences of future major earthquakes in the United States.’

The concern is shared widely, as is evidenced by the recent passage and enactment of the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977. The act, which recognizes the major roles to be undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Science Foundation, directs the establishment of a National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program and authorizes direct appropriation to the two agencies.
Geomagnetic field‐climate relationship studied
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Is there a relationship between regional geomagnetic field changes and climate during the twentieth century? Many researchers have pursued this line of questioning since Paul Damon of the University of Arizona reported finding a relationship between radiocarbon in the atmosphere and the global geomagnetic field intensity.

He showed that as the geomagnetic field increased, the amount of carbon 14 in the atmosphere decreased. As somewhat of a side issue, Damon presented a curve showing how temperature has changed in the past 8000 years but concluded that the temperature change had only a minor effect on the carbon 14 concentration in the atmosphere.
NBS pressure measurements available
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Scientific and industrial users of pressure can take advantage of a broad range of calibration and measurement services provided by the National Bureau of Standards Pressure and Vacuum Section. Section Chief Peter L. Heydemann calls the services ‘a vast improvement over what was available a few years ago.’
June Bacon‐Bercey Scholarship in atmospheric sciences for women
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

AGU is pleased to announce the creation of a scholarship program for women pursuing a degree in the atmospheric sciences. The $400 annual award is provided through a gift from June Bacon‐Bercey. Bacon‐Bercey, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has held positions in television weather forecasting and with the National Weather Service as a forecaster, an analyst, a radar meteorologist, and an aviation meteorologist. She has also served as a consultant to the former Atomic Energy Commission and as an oceanographer.
President's Page: On advocacy
Authors: Maxwell A. E.
Published: October 2011

On increasingly frequent occasions, AGU is asked by various of its members to advocate a particular position before legislators or administration officials or the general public. Most of these positions are scientific in character, but some are political or social. We have tried to be responsive to these requests and as effective as possible without treading too hard on any of the multivariate interests of our 13,000 individual members. The mere selection of issues on which it is appropriate to take an advocacy position is difficult, and the hard part is often arriving at a consensus on what position to take.
Gate data show feedback effects of latent heat
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Richard J. Reed of the University of Washington recently reported finding a close relationship between disturbances in large‐scale easterly air currents and smaller‐scale lines of showers and thundershowers over the tropical Atlantic. This may verify the belief that the heat released in clouds as water vapor condenses produces a feedback effect that intensifies the bigger weather pattern that controlled the development of the clouds in the first place.

‘This interactive or cooperative process between the large‐ and small‐scale systems over the tropical oceans must be represented properly in computerized weather forecasts if progress is to be made on a number of important problems, including the prediction of hurricane development,’ Reed said.
Sea‐air observations in Anita reveal ocean cooling by storm
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Understanding the role of the ocean in spawning hurricanes may have taken a giant step forward with observations in tropical storm Anita last August.

Reporting on measurements made in the storm, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded that the storm may have drawn part of its power from a pool of warm water in the Gulf of Mexico. This 225‐km‐wide eddy had been discovered a month before Anita by a NOAA oceanographic ship. It appears to have started with a break‐off of the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current. Coordinated sea and air measurements during the tropical storm showed that ‘the disturbance intensified steadily to tropical storm strength as it moved toward the center of the warm eddy,’ according to NOAA oceanographer John Proni. ‘Then, about 18 hours later, a deepening trend in central pressure began as the storm passed the western boundary of the eddy. Anita reached hurricane force a short time later.’
Oceanic Society develops clearinghouse
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Progress in marine biology and oceanography has always depended upon the availability of vessels. To help collect information about the world's oceans and to lower the cost of such research, the Oceanic Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to protection of the marine environment, has developed a clearinghouse. Its purpose is to bring together information on scientists and their requirements for the collection of marine data and yachtsmen willing to make their vessels available as research platforms. Examples of clearinghouse projects already accomplished or currently in progress include marine mammal observations, marine pollution monitoring, fish‐invertebrate‐shell collecting, fish tagging, temperature and salinity sampling, meteorological observations, and underwater communications research.
NSF funds ORNL Facility to study structure of materials
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

The National Research Facility for Small‐Angle Neutron Scattering is being established at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory by the National Science Foundation. The facility, designed to be accessible to researchers in a wide variety of disciplines, should be in operation by mid‐1979.
Volcanic energy studied at Mount Hood
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Geochemical and geophysical measurements at Mount Hood are being made by a team of scientists from various institutions for the Department of Energy. Norman Goldstein of the University of California's Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory explains that locating sources and track pathways of hot water circulating within the volcano may help engineers use the geothermal potential of Mount Hood. Hot geothermal waters could help heat nearby ski lodges in the Mount Hood resort area, and if higher temperatures are available, they could operate steam‐driven turbines to generate electricity for the nearby city of Portland.
Earthwatch seeking volunteers for field work
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Earthwatch is once again recruiting people to help with field research expeditions in earth and marine sciences, archaeology, anthropology, the life sciences, and the humanities. Sponsored by Earthwatch, a nonprofit organization, the projects are funded by laypeople who participate as actual working members of the expedition team under the supervision of the professional researcher.

Beginning with 39 people in 1971, nearly 2600 Earthwatch volunteers have joined research teams in support of over 300 scientists conducting research in 20 states and 45 countries. This season, volunteers are needed to survey the Boston Harbor Islands, measure the effects of off‐road vehicles on the beach and sand dunes of Fire Island, explore the coral reefs of Jamaica in the West Indies, and examine the possibilities of astronomical alignment of Bronze Age stone circles on Scotland's Machrie Moor.
Slow dispersion of tall stack plume unexpected
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A recent Science and Engineering News summary from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggests that tall stacks may not disperse pollutants as effectively as is commonly assumed. Meteorological data from two instrumented towers, 1600 m apart and each more than 300 m tall, were analyzed, and the results compared. G. A. DeMarrais analyzed meteorological data from different levels of an instrumented tower in Oklahoma for wind direction variations and thermal stability changes. Working at Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, on assignment to the Environmental Protection Agency from NOAA's Air Resources Laboratory, DeMarrais compared this analysis with that of a tall tower in South Carolina and found that they corroborate one another; there is markedly increased stability, and thus slower dispersion, above 100 m.
Detectors may help prevent mine disasters
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Small cheap electric field detectors could provide emergency warning of an about‐to‐collapse mine, according to Stuart Hoenig at the University of Arizona. Working under a National Science Foundation grant, the electrical engineering professor is working to develop detectors that could be placed throughout mines to signal when the wall or roof was about to give way.

Transient lunar events, flashes of light seen around the moon, gave him the first idea that the electrical charge of a rock under stress could be used to detect dangerous weakness in mine walls. Under stress, moisture‐bearing rock generates a charge. This happens as moisture is forced from an area of compression toward an area of tension— the area where the rock is about to fall. The water carries with it metal ions, atoms with some electrons missing. The ions make the area under tension positively charged.
New anemometer can measure low flows
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

With a starting speed of less than 25 cm/s, this propeller anemometer can make precise air velocity measurements in the low ranges where a conventional pitot‐static probe is not sufficiently accurate. The instrument uses a very lightweight four‐blade helicoid propeller molded of polystyrene foam. It responds only to the component of the air stream parallel to its axis. The propeller anemometer is manufactured by R. M. Young Company of Traverse City, Michigan.
Sandia develops high‐temperature well‐logging tool
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Electronic components that can operate reliably above 300°C are the key to a new electronic geothermal well‐logging tool that can simultaneously read temperature, pressure, and flow rate. Tests at Sandia Laboratories, where the tool was developed, indicate that it will operate for hundreds of hours. It may also be useful in very deep—more than 7500 m—natural gas wells, where high temperatures also occur.
Seismic signal delays documented in 1975 earthquake
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

A major (magnitude 7.2) earthquake which struck Kalapana, Hawaii, in 1975 was preceded by a seismic velocity decrease, according to Arch C Johnston of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. In comparing the arrival times of seismic waves from the active Fiji and Tonga island chains, Johnston found that beginning about 3½ years before the Kalapana earthquake, a given signal from one of the Fiji quakes took about a fifth of a second longer to reach the station nearest the Kalapana epicenter than had previous signals. The travel time returned to normal a few months before the quake occurred.