bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Academic research fleet faces ship shortage
Authors: Atkinson Larry , Brzezinski Mark , Hebert David , Measures Chris , Smethie Bill , Weingartner Tom , Coburn Joseph
Published: October 2006

The academic research fleet is facing an impending crisis. In the past decade, we witnessed a remarkable rebuilding of the global and expeditionary ships [Betzer, 1995]. But now, many ships in the University‐National Oceanographic Laboratory Systems (UNOLS) fleet, especially those in the intermediate/regional size class, are reaching the end of their useful lives. The Fleet Improvement Committee, with the assistance of the UNOLS staff and operating institutions, has estimated the retirement dates of all the ships in the fleet and tried to look to the future.
New views of the Moon: Improved understanding through data integration
Authors: Jolliff Bradley L. , Gaddis L. R. , Ryder G. , Neal C. R. , Shearer C. K. , Elphic R. C. , Johnson J. R. , Keller L. P. , Kerotev R. L. , Lawrence D. J. , Lucey P. G. , Papike J. J. , Pieters C. M. , Spudis P. D. , Taylor L. A.
Published: October 2006

Understanding the Moon is crucial to future exploration of the solar system. The Moon preserves a record of the first billion years of the Earth‐Moon systems history, including evidence of the Moons origin as accumulated debris from a giant impact into early Earth. Lunar rocks provide evidence of early differentiation and extraction of a crust.

Lacking an atmospheric shield, the Moon's regolith retains a record of the activity of solar wind over the past 4 billion years. It also holds a complete record of impact cratering, and analysis of samples has allowed calibration of ages, and thus dating of other planetary surfaces. And because of its proximity to Earth, it's low gravity well, and stable surface, the Moon's resources will be useful both in establishing lunar habitations and as fuel for exploration beyond the Moon.
Conferees consider next steps for ocean policy
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

A July 18 conference, “Oceans for the New Millennium: Developing and Implementing Ocean Policy,” held in Washington, D.C., highlighted four key issues: ocean biology, pollution, security and governance. However, imagination was an unspoken theme at the conference.

Imagine that the United States has an effective policy for protecting and managing oceans. Imagine that marine protected areas (MPAs), including U.S. national marine sanctuaries, are regulated in a way that preserves fisheries and biological diversity Imagine that enough is actually known about oceans to make prudent decisions concerning their management.
Symposium on climate change impacts in the European North
Authors: Lange Manfred A.
Published: October 2006

The possible consequences of anthropogenically caused global and climate changes for human society and for the natural environment are an issue of concern to scientists, political decision makers, and the general public.

Various organizations, particularly the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), have pondered this and related issues extensively over the last 10 years. However, there are still large uncertainties about the many facets of these problems. Work toward the IPCC's Third Assessment Report (TAR), that directly supports negotiations concerning the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), clearly demonstrates that there is an existing need to pay attention, not only to issues at the global, but also at the regional scale. From this, it follows that there is a need to conduct regional climate impact studies for specific parts of the globe, defined by common political, economic, or environmental characteristics.
Wolman receives 2000 Robert E. Horton Medal
Authors: Grant Gordon , Wolman M. Gordon
Published: October 2006

M. Gordon Wolman was awarded the Robert E. Horton Medal at the AGU Spring Meeting Honors Ceremony, which was held on June 2, 2000, in Washington, D.C. The medal recognizes outstanding contributions to the geophysical aspects of hydrology.
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Tectonophysics Section presented three outstanding student paper awards at the 2000 AGU Spring Meeting last June in Washington, D.C.
Laptev sea system discussed at Russian‐German Workshop
Authors: Thiede J. , Kassens H. , Timokhov L.
Published: October 2006

The Laptev Sea covers the central part of the vast Arctic shelf seas off northern Eurasia. It receives large volumes of fresh water from the Lena River and other big rivers that drain the central part of Siberia; peak runoff occurs in the early summer. Being tucked away between two groups of islands—Severnaya Zemlya in the west and the New Siberian Islands in the east—and connected to the Kara Sea in the west and the East Siberian Sea in the east only through relatively narrow straits, the Laptev Sea is an important area for sea‐ice formation in the Arctic Ocean [Rigor and Colony, 1997; Kassens et al., 1999].

Through sea ice formation, the Laptev Sea influences the ice cover of the central Arctic Ocean and its Transpolar Drift, which exports sea ice into the western Norwegian‐Greenland Sea. The Laptev Sea is also the central segment of the Northern Sea Route. For this reason, commercial interests wish to gain valuable knowledge about the extremes of its modern environment, past variability and predictability on time scales of months and years. Both in the Laptev Sea and on the adjacent land regions, large tracts of subterraneous and submarine permafrost have been observed as a consequence of the extreme paleoclimate of the latest geological past.
Kansans vote against Creationist school standards
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Results from the August 1 Republican primary election for the Kansas State Board of Education gave a clear majority to those who oppose controversial standards the board adopted on August 11, 1999, which deemphasized the teaching of evolution in public schools. Even if some primary winners lose in the November 7 general election, their rivals also oppose the standards.
NOAA hydrographic survey efforts criticized for slow rate of progress
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Peering into the future 20 years, and using recent history and current events as guideposts, one could reasonably expect continued, major scientific advances and challenges in a rapidly changing world.

Also by about the year 2020, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) finally is expected to complete its backlogged hydrological surveying of about 34,000 square nautical miles (snm) of critical waterways around major ports and other areas in Alaska and elsewhere that are important for shipping, tourism, or other uses.
Recommendations provide direction for sea‐level rise research
Authors: Sahagian Dork , Zerbini Suzanna
Published: October 2006

The issues confronting investigations of modern sea‐level rise center around measurement, mechanisms, and impacts. Measurement of sea‐level change in the 20th century has traditionally been based on tide gauge records corrected for coastal epeirogeny in response to glacial re‐equilibration. More recently satellite radar altimeter observations of sea‐level have made it possible to record variations in the open ocean, as well as along the coastline, but these records exist only for the last decade or so. This makes extraction of secular sea‐level trends difficult.
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Volcanology, Geochemistry & Petrology Section presented three outstanding student paper awards at the 2000 AGU Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C., last June
Seismic Inversion and Deconvolution: Dual‐sensor Technology
Authors: Sen Mrinal K.
Published: October 2006

Ocean bottom cables and dual‐sensor recordings at the sea floor are becoming increasingly popular tools for marine seismic exploration. They offer several advantages for seismic data processing, including multiple attenuation, ghost reflection removal, and direct measurement of converted shear waves at the sea floor. New techniques for processing these unconventional data are actively being developed.A book that specifically addresses the dual‐sensor technology written by Enders A. Robinson—one of the pioneers of seismic data processing—is therefore a welcome addition to the geophysical literature.
Comet and Asteroid Impact Hazards on a Populated Earth
Authors: Sharpton Virgil L.
Published: October 2006

As the movies would have it, in the last couple of years, inhabitants of planet Earth have had some narrow escapes. The world pulled together temporarily to launch everything but the kitchen sink at a giant killer comet coming our way and, thankfully, Earth received only minor damage (well, I live in Alaska, so total destruction of the eastern seaboard could be considered minor). Then NASA launched a wildcat team into space to blast apart that Texas‐sized asteroid just in the nick of time.

Of course, these are only the plots of a couple of the latest Hollywood disaster flicks, but they do reflect a real cultural curiosity about impact hazards. Inquiring minds want to know: Is there a real danger that an asteroid or comet might strike our planet and if so, where is the safest place to buy retirement property? To feed this hunger, a plethora of books has been published within the last 5 years on the subject of past and present impact hazards. It has become a thriving cottage industry
SETI wide receiver pulls in big bucks
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Two captains of technology have donated $12.5 million for the down payment on a planned telescope with a 10,000‐square meter collecting area that is designed to search for radio signals from potential otherworldy intelligence.

The One Hectare Telescope—being designed jointly by astronomers and engineers at the Search for Extra‐Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute and the University of California at Berkeley—will be renamed the Allen Telescope Array following the July 24 announcement of an $11.5‐million gift from Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsoft, Inc. Along with a $1‐million gift from former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold, the funds will support the development of what is billed as the worlds most powerful instrument for seeking out potential signals from non‐Earth civilizations.
Teaching evolution, the Kansas School Board of Education, and the democratization of science
Authors: Lin Johnny Wei‐Bing
Published: October 2006

In the August 1st Republican primaries for the Kansas State Board of Education, three board members were defeated who voted for the 1999 decision to remove most references regarding evolution from state education standards. This makes it likely that the board will in some way overturn or modify the 1999 decision.
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Hydrology Section presented six outstanding student paper awards at the 2000 AGU Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C., last June.

Wade T. Crow presented a poster titled Impacts of Upscaling Soil Moisture During SGP 97. He received a B.A. in physics from Carleton College in 1995, and a M.S.E.in civil and environmental engineering from Princeton University in 1998. Wade is currently completing his Ph.D. at Princeton. His dissertation work, supervised by Eric F Wood, focuses on spatial scale issues surrounding both the retrieval of soil moisture imagery by microwave remote sensors and the eventual assimilation of this imagery into hydrologic models.
Shallow water science and ocean drilling face challenges
Authors: Quinn Terrence M. , Mountain Gregory S.
Published: October 2006

The creation of a new ocean drilling program in 2003 presents a great opportunity to fill a large void in our understanding of shallow ocean dynamics. Shallow water science can revolutionize the way geoscientists think about how the Earth system operates.

Drill cores from on land and the deep sea provide a wealth of information about how the Earth operates. Unfortunately, few long cores—those that are tens to hundreds of meters—have been gathered for scientific purposes in water depths of 0–100 m along the world's carbonate platforms and continental shelves. These regions encompass the range of Pleistocene sea level variations where samples yield critical links between terrestrial and marine environments. These links cannot be determined by any other means.
Studies review options to improve U.S. climate modeling capabilities
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Two new studies—one being issued later this year, and one recently provided to an office of the White House—respond to concerns that the United States is lagging behind other countries in some aspects of climate modeling.

The first, a study by the National Research Council's (NRC) Panel on Improving the Effectiveness of U.S. Climate Modeling, is a follow‐up to a 1998 NRC report, “Capacity of U.S. Climate Modeling to Support Climate Change Assessment Activities.” A first draft of the report—requested by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)—already has been completed.
AGU Committee Update: Recent activities of NG Technical Committee
Authors: Rundle John B.
Published: October 2006

Beginning this year, the AGU has adopted a series of new policies designed to highlight the interdisciplinary aspects of the Union. As part of these new policies, members will soon be able to affiliate with the AGU Technical Committees, including the Nonlinear Geophysics (NG) Committee. In addition, the Technical Committees are now able to sponsor or co‐sponsor technical sessions at both the Spring and Fall annual meetings, as well as make awards for best research and papers, and sponsor nominations for AGU Fellows and Union‐wide awards.

A website for the NG committee, with descriptions of the committee's activities and other functions, can be found via a link from the main AGU website, which is maintained by Jon Pelletier (University of Arizona). An AGU/NG listserver is maintained by the AGU staff liaison to NG, Dan Moore (DMoore@agu.org). AGU members wishing to be apprised of NG committee activities by inclusion in the listserv should either sign up through the NG web site, or send email to Dan Moore. As described, the NG committee can nominate an AGU member for election to AGU Fellow status. Don Turcotte (Cornell University) chairs the NG subcommittee on Fellow nominations.
Outstanding student paper awards
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

The Atmospheric Sciences Section presented four outstanding student paper awards at the 2000 Western Pacific Geophysics Meeting in Tokyo last June.
Stratigraphic Systems: Origin and Application
Authors: Galloway William E.
Published: October 2006

In Stratigraphic Systems: Origin and Application, Glenn S.Visher attempts to synthesize and organize the knowledge and integrated interpretation system developed over 35 years in sedimentary analysis. The book sets forth an extremely aggressive agenda: to bring together a knowledge base that includes basin tectonics, stratigraphy, sedimentology paleogeomorphology seismic interpretation, and petroleum geoscience.

The book contains more than 700 figures. An enclosed CD‐ROM provides many additional figures, 24 color plates, and an expert system program—DE‐EXPERT—developed by Visher and colleagues. Visher's approach is inclusive and emphasizes regional synthesis of multiple data sets. The analysis of stratigraphic systems is condensed into a suite of 15 siliciclastic and 6 biochemical depositional themes that reflect deposition over extended time, geographic area, and depositional settings. The themes are built around geomorphic patterns and basin tectonic contexts. In the end, however, the book is disappointing.
Scientists outline recent findings about pollution in Chesapeake Bay
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

The Chesapeake Bay on the U.S. mid‐Atlantic coast has changed somewhat since Captain John Smith explored the region in the early 1600s, and the Powhatan Native Americans referred to the waters as Chesepiooc, the Great Shellfish Bay.

For one thing, about 15 million people now live near this estuary, the largest in the United States, which measures about 320 kilometers in length and 50 kilometers across at its widest point. In addition, while the estuary is not considered to be as dirty now as it was several decades ago, a number of problems including nonpoint source pollution still affect the waters and stress some populations of native species, such as blue crabs.
Mass Media Fellows sought for 2001
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

AGUs student members are eligible for the 2001 Mass Media Fellowship program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Mass Media Fellows are placed with a major news outlet for 10 weeks during the summer. Under the mentorship of an experienced journalist, they cover science‐related events, peruse journals, conduct interviews, and prepare articles or broadcast scripts. AGU sponsors one of the fellows each year.
Satellites monitor Los Alamos fires
Authors: Kalluri Satya , White Benjamin
Published: October 2006

A man‐made fire that was intended to be a “controlled burn” for clearing brush and wilderness at the Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico, became an inferno that devastated significant portions of Los Alamos during the first week of May 2000. Now known as the Cerro Grande fire, it was not confined to Los Alamos alone. The fire spread to 15% of the Santa Clara Indian Reservation and a substantial area of the surrounding national parks and U.S. forests.

The National Weather Service estimates that more than 100,000 fires occur in the natural environment each year within the United States alone, of which about 90% are manmade. Remote sensing images from satellites could be used to detect and monitor these active fires and biomass burning. Forest fires have a significant environmental and economic impact, and timely information about their location and magnitude is essential to contain them.
John A. Simpson (1916–2000)
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

John A. Simpson, recipient of the 2000 William Bowie Medal, died August 31 in Chicago at the age of 83. Dr. Simpson, who became an AGU member in 1957 and a Fellow in 1962, spent most of his professional career with the Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies of the University of Chicago, and at that university's department of physics. He was a member of the Solar and Heliospheric Physics subsection of SPA.
U.S. National Academy presidents publicly protest Wen Ho Lee treatment
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

The first letter went out on March 10, three months after former Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist Wen Ho Lee was jailed on 59 counts that he copied US. nuclear weapons secrets. When that note and two subsequent ones to US. Attorney General Janet Reno only managed to solicit a form letter response from the acting chief of the Justice Department's Internal Security Section, the three presidents of the US. National Academies on August 31 issued an open letter to Reno calling for fair treatment for Lee.
Postdoctoral conditions need improvement, report indicates
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

About 52,000 science and engineering postdoctoral students work in the public and private sectors throughout the United States, a doubling in number since 1980.

While these postdocs to a large extent represent the future for science research, a new report by the U.S. National Academies says employment conditions often are less than adequate, and the postdoctoral experience needs broad improvements.
UNESCO embarks on major fresh water initiative
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

As the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) makes a new bid for U.S. re‐entry into the organization from which it withdrew in 1984, the agency also is about to embark on a major initiative concerning global fresh water resources.

The World Freshwater Assessment Program is the organizations top priority in Earth sciences and the environment, according to UNESCO Director‐General Koichiro Matsuura. It is scheduled to be officially launched in Bangkok during an October 18–20 meeting of a U.N. administration‐wide subcommittee on water resources.
Soil Resources and the Environment
Authors: Martens Dean A.
Published: October 2006

Soil the Earth's skin serves many functions. In recent years, scientists and concerned individuals have come to understand that our management of soil resources can have either positive or negative effects on our quality of life. Soil Resources and the Environment provides a very broad‐spectrum contextual approach to the many functions of soils, with an emphasis on low external‐input sustainable agricultural techniques. Aswathanarayana emphasizes the dynamics of soil processes, provides an overview of how knowledge of soil processes can be put to practical use, and gives a broad overview of the many functions that soil is capable of performing.
Reply [to “Comment on ‘Sea level rise shown to drive coastal erosion’”]
Authors: Leatherman S. P. , Zhang K. , Douglas B. C.
Published: October 2006

We pointed out in our paper that the two‐dimensional Bruun model of beach erosion is controversial; the intensity of the controversy is amply illustrated by the responses printed in this Forum section of Eos. For example, at one end of the spectrum, Cyril Galvin derides beach erosion caused by sea‐level rise as an article of faith, if not fact, while Pilkey et al. state that it is intuitive that sea‐level rise is the primary factor causing shoreline retreat.

Pilkey et al. assert that we erred in confining our attention to the active beach profile rather than to the much flatter coastal plain. They claim that …we should expect rates of shoreline recession 10,000 times the rate of sea‐level rise through simple innundation of the shoreline. We merely point out the obvious; such dramatic beach retreat has not occurred in the last 100 years, during which relative sea level has risen 20–40 cm along the U.S. east coast. In contrast to the Pilkey et al. assertions, we know of no U.S. barrier beaches that have retreated 2,000–4,000 m in the past century; we have the historical maps, and even crude comparisons show nothing approaching this magnitude of change! Many barrier beaches (for example, Nauset Spit, Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Ocean City, Maryland) are only a thousand meters wide or less and would have long eroded away or been sitting on the mainland shore if this were even close to being true.
Chapman Conference accents success of space weather program
Authors: Siscoe George , Song Paul
Published: October 2006

Over 160 scientists and students from more than a dozen countries attended the Chapman Conference on Space Weather: Progress and Challenges in Research and Applications to hear 70 talks and peruse 150 posters documenting achievements made during the first 5 years of the National Space Weather Program (NSWP).

Since the advent of the NSWR, space weather research has expanded from a semi‐private activity, pursued mostly to address operational concerns of industries and military branches affected by space weather, to a broad subject pursued in part for its capacity to integrate research across the divisions of the SPA community.
A call for foreign aid to focus more on science and technology
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

U.S. foreign aid should place more emphasis on science and technology that can help developing countries, according to Jeffrey Sachs, director of Harvard University s Institute of International Development.

He said science and technology which he labeled the most fundamental drivers of longterm economic growth need to be mobilized on behalf of poor countries. Sachs, who spoke at a September 14 meeting of the Presidents Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) in Washington, D.C., added that this mobilization is particularly needed in tropical countries.
Report calls for improvements in appointing U.S. Government Science Advisors
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Bureaucratic obstacles, including ethics requirements that may be inappropriate, are preventing top scientists from serving as U.S. government advisors and needlessly slowing down the appointment process during both Democratic and Republican administrations, concludes a new report from the U.S. National Academies.

Issued just weeks before the upcoming U.S. presidential election on November 7, the report calls for significant steps in improving the appointment process—including streamlining and speeding up the process—without undermining ethics standards. The report, “Science and Technology in the National Interest: The Presidential Appointment Process,” was prepared by the Academies' panel on Ensuring the Best Science and Technology Presidential Appointments.
2000 Fellows Citations
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

AGU congratulates the thirty‐seven distinguished scientists who were selected by a committee of their peers to be AGU Fellows for 2000. This selection was based on the individuals' attainment of acknowledged eminence in a branch of geophysics.

The number of Fellows selected annually is limited to no more than 0.1% of the AGU membership. The names of the new Fellows are listed below, along with citations recognizing their specific achievements.
Introduction to Geomorphology
Authors: Merritts Dorothy
Published: October 2006

Geomorphologists have an insiders' joke that I'll share here, as Eos garners a particularly appropriate audience: “There are as many geomorphologists who think that they're doing geophysics as there are geophysicists who think that they're doing geomorphology, but neither group is doing it very well.”The allegation misrepresents the truth, of course, but it does reflect upon a trend that grew throughout the 20th century. For several decades, scientists with diverse training have investigated the interactions between endogenic (crustal movements and volcanism) and exogenic (weathering, denudation, and sediment transport) processes. Despite the claim of the preceding allegation, their work has led to a better understanding of landform development.
U.S. State Department weathers Kyoto Protocol criticisms
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

On future occasions, Frank Loy, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs, may want to cite his September 28 U.S. Senate testimony as one more sign of global warming.

In the hot seat for nearly two hours, Loy was grilled by several Republican senators suspicious of the Clinton Administration's continued efforts to promote and negotiate the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change—despite the Senate's expressed overwhelming concern about what they have called the treaty's shortcomings.
Workshop on seafloor methane fluxes
Authors: Woodside John
Published: October 2006

A broad, multidisciplinary selection of scientists from across Europe and Russia met at a workshop, “Seafloor Carbon Fluxes via Methane,” in Strasbourg, France, to discuss a potentially important contribution to the global carbon budget.

The quasi‐steady state fluxes of seafloor methane are not currently considered to be significant contributors. However, this fact needs to be properly established by studying the sources and sinks of methane in seafloor sediments and the water column, and the related processes. Of perhaps greater significance is the potential for large episodic releases of methane; for example, from dissociation of gas hydrates, one of the seafloor methane sinks. Current global estimates of methane volume in marine gas hydrates vary by up to two orders of magnitude. Major new initiatives are under way around the world to study gas hydrates and seafloor methane fluxes and climatic fluctuations that may be related to massive conversion of methane from hydrate to gaseous form.
New Congressional Science Fellow on Capitol Hill
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2006

Kirsten Banks Cutler, AGU's newest Congressional Science Fellow, joined nearly 40 other scientists and engineers who began year‐long science and engineering fellowships on September 6 in Washington, D.C. The fellowship program, which is organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), brings together scientists and engineers from a wide variety of fields to spend a year in the personal office of a Senator or Representative, or on the staff of a congressional committee.

Earth and space scientists, chemists, physicists, biologists, psychologists, veterinarians, civil engineers, agronomists, and scientists and engineers representing other disciplines are selected by their sponsoring societies as part of a long‐time effort to bridge the gap between scientists and policy‐makers. Cutler is AGU's 24th Congressional Science Fellow.
New interdisciplinary initiative combines water, earth and biota
Authors: Gupta V.
Published: October 2006

Hydrologic science was defined as a distinct interdisciplinary geoscience in 1991 through a report of the National Research Council, “Opportunities in Hydrologic Sciences.” As a result of this publications new funding program in hydrologic sciences was established at the National Science Foundation within the Division of Earth Sciences. This program nurtures a research community focused on building the science of hydrology Advances in science and technology are now laying the foundation for a more holistic intellectual framework supported by systematic measurement and data compilation at multiple time and space scales, particularly larger scales.
Endorsement of Global Ocean Mapping Project
Authors: Vogt Peter R.
Published: October 2006

Now that the surfaces of the Moon, Mars, Venus, the moons of the outer solar system, and the subaerial Earth have been mapped systematically at high spatial resolution, why not our own Earth's ocean floors?

Some 370 million km2 of our planet, almost equal in area to two moons and two Mars‐sized planets, are water‐covered, and seafloor mapping efforts (for practical reasons, acoustic, sonar images, and topographic contours) have yielded only an irregular patchwork of disparate data, with large areas of remote seafloor remaining almost entirely unmapped.
Albarede to lead JGR‐Solid Earth
Authors: Grant Shermonta L.
Published: October 2006

The Solid Earth section of the Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR) has expanded its horizon with the recent appointment of Francis Albarède as Editor. Albarède, professor at the Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon in France, began handling manuscripts for review on October 1,2000, and will assume full responsibility on January 1,2001.

“Becoming a JGR editor: Editor is as formidable a challenge as it is a special honor. It is like being given the keys to the safe. JGR‐Red is clearly the flagship journal of both AGU and the deep Earth sciences,” Albarede said.
What on Earth is D”?
Authors: Garnero Ed , Wysession Michael
Published: October 2006

Studied in earnest for 50 years time Is Earth's deep layer called Dee Double Prime. Exotic hypotheses new papers chime, But evasive big pictures halt reason or rhyme.

Even before the first nuclear bomb, People like Gutenberg, Bullen, and Dahm And probably others: Dick, Harry, and Tom Proposed this new layer to address a qualm.
Melting the Earth: The History of Ideas on Volcanic Eruptions
Authors: Baker Daniel S.
Published: October 2006

The last words in the subtitle of this excellent book are somewhat misleading, as this is a history of concepts of magma generation rather than eruption. Haraldur Sigurdsson traces the evolution of ideas on the generation of heat within the Earth, from the ancient view that air in subterranean voids was compressed by ocean waves and tides, through combustion of fossil fuels, remnant heat from a primeval hot Earth, and exothermic reactions, to radioactive decay.

In addition to sources of heat, its mechanism of transfer, the process of melting, the identity of the material being melted, and the depths at which magmas were generated were subjects of early inquiry by D'Arezzo, Michell, and Spallanzani, among others. Most 19th century geologists, however, followed Charles Lyell in his reluctance to speculate on causes. This left the field to William Hopkins, Gustav Bischof,and others whose names are not well known to 21st century penologists. The large cast of players in this book also includes the ever‐popular Desmarest, Hamilton, Holmes, Hutton, and Scrope, and an occasional scoundrel. The last chapter, on the source of magmas, makes no mention of contributions from trace element and isotope geochemistry and none concerning high‐pressure minerals that indicate localized deep burial of continental crust and ascent of material from the lower mantle.
High‐resolution, digital photogrammetric mapping: A tool for Earth science
Authors: Gwinner Klaus , Hauber Ernst , Jaumann Ralf , Neukum Gerhard
Published: October 2006

When photogrammetric techniques are used to map surface topography both high‐resolution digital elevation models (DEM) and ortho‐images can be produced simultaneously (Figure 1). In ortho‐images, displacements resulting from the interplay between the surface relief, imaging geometry, and the exterior orientation of the imaging system have been eliminated by differential rectification, making use of the relief information of the DEM. Ortho‐images thus provide the metric properties of a map and complement the continuous description of surface topography represented in the DEM.

Airborne photogrammetry is a powerful tool for monitoring mountain areas characterized by topography‐related natural hazards such as landslides, avalanches, and lava flows on volcanoes. However, its use has been limited in the past due to the intensive data acquisition and processing needed to achieve high accuracy. This situation has been considerably improved by applying (1) a digital, high‐resolution sensor system for photogrammetric data acquisition in combination with (2) direct sensor orientation techniques, replacing the use of abundant ground control points (GCP) with direct measurements of the sensor's position and attitude. Knowledge of the sensor orientation for the time of exposure is a prerequisite for point determination, since stereophotogrammetry derives the position of visible surface points in a three‐dimensional reference system by using the metric properties of overlapping images acquired from different viewpoints.
TRMM precipitation radar helps address problems of ground‐based weather radar systems
Authors: Anagnostou Emmanouil N. , Morales Carlos A.
Published: October 2006

The launch of the first spaceborne precipitation radar (PR) aboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite provides a unique opportunity to address the ground‐based weather radar system's calibration problem. The PR measures the same variable as ground‐based systems—radar reflectivity— and is proven to be consistent with respect to calibration accuracy. PR calibration tests, conducted by the Space Agency of Japan (NASDA) using an active radar calibration system [Kumagai et al, 1995] located in Japan, have shown calibration stability within ±0.8 dBZ [Kozu et al, in press, 2000].

A fundamental error source in the measurement of precipitation by radar is the inaccurate definition of the radar calibration constant, which obviously affects the interpretation of radar measurements. This has become an emerging issue, as weather radar is used worldwide for applications ranging from hydrological to climatic. Typically radar systems use internally generated test signals to monitor variations of the radar system's parameters associated with temperature changes in the radar electronics. However, calibration drifts may occur due to gradual degradation of the system's performance. During these times, external calibration using either metal spheres or active sources of radiation required.
Experts look at future of volcanology
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Volcanologists do not need a crystal ball to forecast the future direction of their discipline. They only need to hear the rumblings of Pocopatépetl near Mexico City or see the flames and flows of other volcanoes to remind them of the need to better understand and forecast the behavior of these natural phenomena that are also often natural hazards.

A December 15 briefing at the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco took on the not‐too‐distant topic of “Volcanology in 2010.”
Estuarine Science: A Synthetic Approach to Research and Practice
Authors: Nuttle William
Published: October 2006

Estuarine Science arrives at a time when our views about estuaries and how human activities interact with them is changing. The growing understanding of estuaries feeds a movement toward an active approach to their management. This movement, in turn, has spawned a number of monitoring and management programs, each of which is focused on a different coastal region.

The Estuaries and Clean Waters Act of 2000, signed into law on November 7, authorizes $225 million over 5 years just to coordinate the numerous federal and nonfederal estuarine restoration programs now underway in the United States.The stakes are high. For example, failure to reverse decades of wetland loss in coastal Louisiana promises inevitable disaster for the one million residents of New Orleans. At an average elevation of 2.4 meters below sea level and sinking, New Orleans relies on the shrinking ∼50 km expanse of wetlands that lie between it and the Gulf of Mexico to absorb the storm surge from hurricanes that frequent this part of the coast.
Predictability and limits to prediction in hydrologic systems
Authors: Entekhabi Dara
Published: October 2006

The National Research Council's (NRC's) Committee on Hydrologic Science (COHS) is engaged in studying the priorities and future strategies for hydrologic science. In order to involve a broad community representation, COHS is organizing three workshops on priority topics in hydrologic science: 1) predictability and limits‐to‐prediction in hydrologic systems, 2) integration of hydrological and ecological sciences, and 3) groundwater fluxes across interfaces [Entekhabi, 2000].

These efforts will culminate in reports from the NRC on the individual workshops, as well as a synthesis report on strategic directions in hydrologic science. The first workshop, entitled Predictability and Limits to Prediction in Hydrologic Systems, was held at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, on September 21 and 22, 2000. Thirteen technical presentations covered basic research and understanding, model formulations and behavior, observing strategies, and transition to operational predictions.
Satellite data used to locate site of 1998 Indian nuclear test
Authors: Canty M. J. , Schlittenhardt J.
Published: October 2006

Together with traditional seismic methods, commercially available satellite imagery is becoming increasingly recognized as an attractive, open source of additional information for monitoring nuclear activities. Unlike seismic arrays, observations from space can be used to detect preparations, clandestine or otherwise, for weapons testing. Before‐and‐after‐comparisons (so‐called change detection methods) can be used to locate precisely where an underground nuclear explosion has occurred within an extensive site area. This article describes the use of commercial satellite imagery, in particular change detection, to locate the site of nuclear tests carried out in India in 1998.
Natural disasters linked to collapse of some indigenous populations
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2006

Rodolfo Acuna‐Soto, an assistant professor of microbiology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, was stunned by tree ring data he saw last March at a scientific meeting in Cuernavaca.

Borehole research conducted by the University of Arkansas' Tree Ring Laboratory on 200 Douglas firs from the central Mexican highlands told the chronology of ring growth during a mega‐drought that withered the region from the mid‐1540s to the 1580s.
Revised position on natural hazards
Authors: Folger Peter
Published: October 2006

At the 2000 Fall Meeting in December, the AGU Council reaffirmed a revised version of AGU's position statement, “Meeting the Challenges of Natural Hazards.” This position was first adopted in 1996. The revised version (see accompanying text box) contains the same message as the original, but in concise language more easily understood by policy‐makers and other non‐scientists.

The statement calls for more research in the geophysical processes to help understand the nature of natural hazards. However, it also clearly indicates that research alone will not improve the ability of society to withstand a natural disaster. Multidisciplinary approaches involving groups as disparate as builders, insurers, and relief organizations are required to improve mitigation efforts worldwide. The policy statement also emphasizes the need to communicate the results of scientific research to the public, especially those communities situated in areas particularly susceptible to extreme natural hazards.
Environmental Change in Mountains and Uplands
Authors: Baron Jill
Published: October 2006

The influence of humankind on the natural resources of Earth over the past 300 years has been simply astonishing. Thirty to 50 percent of the land surface has been transformed by human action; more than half of all accessible fresh waters are used for human activities; SO2 and fixed nitrogen production from human activities are greater than from all natural sources combined; and emissions of important greenhouse gases have increased to the point at which global climate is affected. No place on Earth has been untouched, though some regions have been more permanently altered than others.
Mississippi Basin/Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan sent to Congress
Authors: Pryor Donald , Scavia Donald
Published: October 2006

Culminating an intense 5‐year effort, President Clinton sent to Congress on January 18 a consensus‐based action plan to deal with the summertime hypoxic “dead zone” that appears each spring and summer in the northern Gulf of Mexico (see Eos, July 18, 2000, p.321). The plan aims to reduce the hypoxic area to less than 5,000 square kilometers by 2015, about two‐thirds less than the running average over the past 5 years. The plan states that “the best current science” indicates that the aim should be for a 30% reduction in nitrate and other forms of nitrogen discharge from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. This represents a compromise that stops short of declaring a nutrient reduction goal.
Activities in San Francisco and beyond
Authors: McKnight Diane
Published: October 2006

The 2000 AGU Fall Meeting was the first for Biogeosciences as a full‐fledged section of AGU. Thanks to the efforts of the many members who organized and participated in sessions, this meeting was a successful event. There were 25 sessions sponsored by Biogeosciences, including over 580 abstracts, and another 17 sessions were co‐sponsored by the Section. Highlights of the meeting included a plenary session entitled “Biogeosciences: Expanding Horizons in Understanding Earth and Planetary Systems.” This was a series of overview talks covering a spectrum of topics within the biogeosciences, ranging from new modeling results on past snowball Earth events, to evidence that the magnetite in the Mars meteorite was biogenic, to magnetic sensory systems in fish, to land‐atmosphere coupling and climate change.
The Two‐Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change and Our Future
Authors: van der Veen C. J.
Published: October 2006

Enhanced greenhouse warming attributable to our profligate consumption of fossil fuels has established itself as perhaps the most contentious environmental issue currently being debated in the international political arena. To a large extent, the debate over whether societies should undertake actions to mitigate potentially adverse effects of climate change focuses on uncertainties in climate predictions and societal impacts. In an effort to reduce some of the uncertainty the climate community has expended considerable efforts to obtain detailed records of past climates, recognizing that the past may hold the key to our future.

The Two‐Mile Time Machine by Richard Alley tells the captivating story of how one such record reconstructed from the GISP2 core, drilled through the more than 3‐km thick Greenland Ice Sheet, has revealed startling clues about past climates and shattering many of our ideas on how climate operates.
AGU Panel to write statement on Earth and space science education in K‐12
Authors: Folger Peter
Published: October 2006

AGU has convened a panel to write a policy statement that can be used by AGU members and others to argue for effective Earth and space science education at the K‐12 level. The panel welcomes comments from AGU members to help them craft a relevant and effective statement.

AGU's Committee on Education and Human Resources (CEHR) first proposed the idea for the position statement in 1999. The Committee's reasoning was that the Earth and space sciences should be included at all levels of education, because increased public understanding of those sciences is needed to ensure their appropriate application to societal needs and challenges.
The old ways worked
Authors: Beck Myrl E. , Burmester Russell F. , Kondopoulou Despina P.
Published: October 2006

Most people working in paleomagnetism today have access to a high‐speed computer, a fast and sensitive magnetometer, and sophisticated data‐reduction programs. Until very recently this was not true.

This increased efficiency should have made our lives simpler, but, of course, it hasn't. Work expands to fill the time available to do it, as everyone knows; hence, our enhanced paleomagnetic efficiency has propelled a substantial increase in the number of steps used in routine demagnetization, in order to make use of principal component analysis [PCA; Kirschvink, 1980]. In most cases, one hopes, all this extra work is rewarded by “better” results. But, as this note will demonstrate, sometimes it isn't.
John A. O'Keefe (1916–2000)
Authors: Lowman Paul D. , Rubincam David P.
Published: October 2006

John A. O'Keefe, a pioneer of the Space Age and the man whom Eugene Shoemaker called “the godfather of astrogeology” died September 8 of complications due to liver cancer. He was a Fellow of the AGU.

O'Keefe's best‐known scientific achievement was the 1959 discovery of the third harmonic of the Earth's gravitational field, derived from tracking the Vanguard 1 satellite. O'Keefe, together with coauthors Ann Eckels (now Bailey) and Ken Squires (now deceased), analyzed the data at the newly formed NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and concluded that “The third zonal harmonic modifies the geoid toward the shape of a pear,” with an amplitude of 15 meters. This careful statement was headlined as “the pear‐shaped earth.” The first discoveries from satellite tracking had already been made by British scientists, who found a new value for the flattening of the Earth from Sputnik 2. However, the third harmonic was the first geodetic result from an American satellite, and its discovery attracted worldwide attention.
Landslides and Tsunamis, Pageoph Topical Volumes
Authors: Tappin Dave
Published: October 2006

Although tsunamis only threaten coastal zones, they are one of the most frightening and potent naturally destructive forces. An apparently benign withdrawal of the sea that entices the curious to wander offshore in exploration is followed with terrifying rapidity by a wave onslaught that cannot be avoided. Other natural hazards such as cyclones, floods, and earthquakes may be more common and potentially more destructive. However, while cyclones and floods may be predicted, the occurrence of a tsunami is often a surprise.