bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Atmosphere in the Solar System: Comparative Aeronomy
Authors: Anonymous  
Published: October 2006

This is the second in an occasional column in which the author or editor of a book recently published by AGU will be interviewed and the book discussed.A new AGU title Atmospheres in the Solar System: Comparative Aeronomy, edited by Michael Mendillo, Andrew Nagy and J.H. Waite, is a monograph on the subject of aeronomy, the study of upper atmospheres.The authors offer an overview of the subject, providing existing theory, computational models, physical observations, future research possibilities, and the connections among planetary atmospheres. In this issue, Eos talks with Michael Mendillo, the lead editor of the monograph.
Two commissions preparing major reports on oceans
Authors: Showstack Randy 
Published: October 2006

Two high‐level commissions are preparing reports on the state of the world's oceans, more than 30 years after the Stratton Commission—the last congressionally authorized body to make recommendations on US. national ocean policy—issued its landmark 1969 report.That earlier report led to the creation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),the 1972 federal Coastal Zone Management Act, and other initiatives. The current commissions are grappling with a variety of major issues, at a time when scientists are gaining more sophisticated tools to understand the seas, when oceans face a number of threats, and when government jurisdiction of oceans is divided among a dizzying and sometimes uncoordinated array of 44 separate congressional committees, 9 federal agencies that control funds for ocean issues, and numerous local authorities.
Superhighway savings
Authors: Showstack Randy 
Published: October 2006

Most space missions take advantage of gravity assists from planets or moons. However, NASA's Genesis mission, launched in August 2001, also is saving fuel by being one of the first spacecraft designed to utilize a theory of space travel based on Lagrange points.These points, where the gravity of one solar system body balances with another's, form a kind of “inter‐planetary superhighway according to Martin Lo, an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Whither Fall Meeting?
Authors: Grove Tim , Wesson Rob 
Published: October 2006

The international nuclear test monitoring system of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, or CTBT, provides a high level of confidence to verify treaty compliance and detect nuclear explosions, according to a new report.This is with or without additional U.S. national technical means of verification, the report notes. The high level of confidence assumes the full capability of the international monitoring system, which is currently under construction and will eventually include a global network of 337 sensors and laboratories to detect seismic, infrasound, hydroacoustic, and radionuclide signals.
Test Ban Treaty provides high level of verification, explosion detection capabilities, report notes
Authors: Showstack Randy 
Published: October 2006

The international nuclear test monitoring system of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, or CTBT, provides a high level of confidence to verify treaty compliance and detect nuclear explosions, according to a new report.This is with or without additional U.S. national technical means of verification, the report notes. The high level of confidence assumes the full capability of the international monitoring system, which is currently under construction and will eventually include a global network of 337 sensors and laboratories to detect seismic, infrasound, hydroacoustic, and radionuclide signals.
AGU 2002”2003 Congressional Science Fellow
Authors: Anonymous  
Published: October 2006

Illa Amerson, a Ph.D. candidate at the Oregon Health & Science University in Beaverton, was selected as AGU's 26th Congressional Science Fellow for 2002–2003. Starting in September, Amerson will serve a one‐year assignment in the office of a senator or representative, or on a committee's staff as one of only a handful of scientists on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Once in an office, Amerson can expect to work as a regular member of the staff, serving as a legislative assistant. Her duties could include advising her boss how to vote on specific bills, writing speeches or press releases, crafting legislation, meeting with lobbyists and special interest groups, and even answering constituent mail.Amerson expects to receive her Ph.D. in environmental science and engineering this summer. Her dissertation focuses on the environmental impact of the gasoline additive methyl tert‐butyl ether (MTBE). She completed a M.S. in civil and environmental engineering at Arizona State University and a S.B. in chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Amerson has also spent three years working in environmental regulation and consulting, dealing primarily with air and water quality issues.
Geography and USGS
Authors: Showstack Randy 
Published: October 2006

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) should take a leadership role in several important areas of geography, according to a new report by the U.S. National Research Council. The report calls for the survey to expand its Geography Discipline beyond the current function of largely producing maps and images. Instead, it should be “an engine for research;” using tools such as GIS and remote sensing to produce spatial data bases and other scientific products that will improve the capacity to solve problems involving society's interactions with “the Earth's surface and near‐surface environments.”To facilitate achieving this goal, the report—titled “Research Opportunities in Geography at the U.S. Geological Survey”—also recommends that USGS geography personnel strengthen their connections to the academic and other useful communities.
Comment on “Assessing flood hazard on dynamic rivers”
Authors: Goldman David M. , Olsen J. Rolf , Nanda S. K. 
Published: October 2006

N. Pinter, R. Thomas, and J. H. Wlosinski (Eos, 31 July 2001) propose an alternative to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' methodology for estimating stage‐frequency curves in the Upper Mississippi River System Flow Frequency Study (UMRSFFS). They suggest that the stage‐frequency relationship can be obtained through direct analysis of the period of record stages adjusted for trends and present a stage‐frequency curve for St. Louis (Fig. 5, p.339). However, the direct analysis of stages proposed by these authors produces erroneous results, and their results will undoubtedly differ significantly from the stage‐frequency curves that will be produced by the UMRSFFS.Their methodology is not acceptable as an alternative for flood risk estimation because it: (1) uses an at‐site regression estimator of the flood distribution, which is subject to significant sampling error and cannot easily be used to infer the underlying flood population; (2) does not account for the effect of reservoir regulation and other human activities on the flood flow record; (3) assumes that the stage‐discharge data have been uniformly recorded; (4) assumes the stage non‐stationarity can be represented by a simple linear trend model that assumes that channel changes have occurred uniformly over time; and (5) ignores many factors that cause a large natural variability in the stage‐discharge relationship.
Foley to steer new course for Earth Interactions
Authors: Lifland Jonathan 
Published: October 2006

Jon Foley, director of the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment at the University of Wisconsin, recently began his 3‐year term as editor of Earth Interactions and plans to steer the interdisciplinary journal in a new editorial direction.The electronic‐only journal, published jointly by AGU and the American Meteorological Society (AMS) was initially launched in 1997. The new focus of Earth Interactions (EI) aims for the e‐journal to become a comprehensive source of information for Earth system science researchers focused on human interactions with the natural world, Foley said. His objective for the journal is to help revitalize it as the first and foremost publication for such multidisciplinary science, recognizing the discoveries being made at the interfaces of the physical, biological, and social sciences.
“Drought Conference“ heightens awareness, rallies action across North Carolina
Authors: Ramey Sally 
Published: October 2006

When it comes to public awareness and media coverage, short‐term severe weather is an easy sell. However, sustained severe weather and hydrological events, like extended drought, do not inspire the immediacy that grips the public's interest. In these cases, scientists need effective communications strategies to achieve appropriate public response.Scientists in North Carolina succeeded with such efforts in July when a record‐setting, 4‐year drought tightened its grip on the state. About 80% of monitored streams in the state were at less than 10' normal capacity. Salt water was leaching into coastal groundwater. Many reservoirs had less than 4 months' supply, and wells across the state were going dry One town's only water source was a fire truck connected to a neighboring community's fire hydrant.
Improvements urged in national hazard warning system, risk communication
Authors: Showstack Randy 
Published: October 2006

The United States needs an adequate national warning system to alert people about natural and human‐made hazards, several scientists told a forum on disasters at the U.S. National Academies of Science in Washington, D.C. on 31 October.They also urged other improvements in risk communication and understanding risk perception. While natural and human‐made hazards can cause significant damages, so can improper risk communication, they said.
Research combines with public outreach on a cruise ship
Authors: Williams Elizabeth , Prager Ellen , Wilson Doug 
Published: October 2006

An innovative partnership among academia, government, and private industry has created a unique opportunity for oceanographic and meteorological research on a cruise ship. The University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Royal Caribbean International, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Office of Naval Research have collaborated to establish two modern laboratories for oceanic and atmospheric research on the 142,000‐ton Royal Caribbean ship Explorer of the Seas.The Explorer of the Seas combines extensive research capabilities with public outreach. Hundreds of passengers experience the planet's atmosphere‐ocean systems through laboratory tours and presentations given by experienced guest scientists and graduate students. In addition to weekly public lectures, guided tours of the ocean and atmospheric laboratories are available, and ocean‐related films are shown during selected afternoons. Two interactive eco‐learning areas onboard are equipped with a series of interactive displays and large informational touch screens that illustrate marine and atmospheric concepts as well as the onboard research program.
Soft Plate and Impact Tectonics
Authors: Tikoff Basil 
Published: October 2006

In the field of tectonics, most of our ideas are published in journals. This is not true of other fields, such as history, in which ideas are primarily published in books. Within my own field of structural geology, I can recall only one book, Strain Fades by E. Hansen (Springer‐Verlag, 1971), which presents a new idea in book form. However, even this book is more useful for its philosophical approach and particular methodology of determining directions of folding, than for its overarching idea.Enter Soft Plate and Impact Tectonics, a new book with an interesting hypothesis that has been informally discussed in the geoscience community: A fundamental tenet of plate tectonics is incorrect—namely, that the plates are rigid. This assertion is evident when looking at any mountain range, and is perhaps most clearly stated in Molnar [1988].
Lars Block (1925–2002)
Authors: Fälthammar Carl‐Gunne 
Published: October 2006

Lars Block, a pioneer in space plasma physics, died on 25 July 2002 at age 77.He will be remembered for important scientific contributions in areas ranging from plasma experiments in both the laboratory and in space, to theoretical research on fundamental plasma physics problems. His laboratory experiments were aimed at cosmic plasma physics problems such as modeling solar wind interaction with celestial bodies and anomalous interaction between plasma and neutral gas. His experiments in space were focused on electric fields above the aurora, and he played a key role in the Swedish space program, especially in the Viking project.
Sea level and coastal erosion require large‐scale monitoring
Authors: Leatherman Stephen P. , Douglas Bruce C. , LaBrecque John L. 
Published: October 2006

There is a coastward migration of the world's population, which is occurring at the same time as rising sea level and shoreline recession; this is the definition of a collision course. Rates of beach erosion along the U.S. east coast average slightly less than a meter per year, putting expensive beachfront development at risk to storm impact. Global sea levels have risen about 20 cm in the last century; relative rates of rise have more than doubled this amount in some areas due to land subsidence. Future sea levels are projected to rise significantly faster than occurred in the 20th century, resulting in acceleration of the present rate of shore recession.There is much debate about future rates of sea level rise, and even some disagreement about the historical rate based on analysis of tide gauge records [IPCC, 2001; Douglas etal, 2001]. An array of satellites are providing the requisite measurements to determine global sea level changes in concert with tide gauges and terrestrial references. At the same time, new technologies such as airborne and spaceborne laser mapping are beginning to provide the data sets necessary for three‐dimensional monitoring of shoreline changes.
Funding for Everglades Restoration Research Program “Inadequate” says Academy Report
Authors: Showstack Randy , Jacobs Judith 
Published: October 2006

Inadequate funding is hampering the efforts of a science research component of the ambitious, multi‐year, federal‐state‐private sector effort to restore the Greater Everglades ecosystem, according to a recent report by the U.S. National Research Council.Investment in the U.S. Interior Department's Critical Ecosystem Studies Initiative (CESI), established in the mid‐1990s, “has measurably eroded,” the NRC report noted, and as a result, “high‐priority scientific research needs” of the restoration effort “have gone unmet.”
2002—A quick review
Authors: Spilhaus Fred 
Published: October 2006

The past 12 months were hectic and rewarding. On 1 January 2002, the transition to electronic publishing culminated with all journal articles from that date published electronically and nonprintable material archived as an integral part of the journal. Before 2002, only the electronic‐only journals, G‐Cubed an Earth Interactions, incorporated dynamic material as part of the record of science.Once again, as in almost every year since 1969, the Fall Meeting surpassed previous highs for attendance and abstract submissions. There were three other major AGU meetings: Ocean Sciences (Hawaii), Spring (Washington, D.C.), and Western Pacific (Wellington, N.Z.).
Supercomputing moves to universities and makes possible new ways to organize computational research
Authors: Bunge Peter , Tromp Jeroen 
Published: October 2006

Too cheap to meter? Surely not. But microprocessors have come a long way in delivering inexpensive computing power.The development is eroding the distinction between computers made from low‐cost microprocessors, and more conventional supercomputers operated—for example—at the U.S. National Science Foundation's Supercomputer Centers. It is also shifting the balance in high‐performance computing (HPC) away from the NSF's Supercomputer Centers, to powerful, local computer facilities run by academic departments and universities.
Learning more about Antarctic geoscience
Authors: Johnstone Glenn 
Published: October 2006

Windy, cold, remote, hostile, barren, extreme. These are just some of the words that come to mind when describing Antarctica.Antarctica is the highest, coldest, and windiest continent on Earth. Less than 3% of Antarctica is free of ice, and the continent contains some of the most spectacular mountain ranges in the world. The most extensive are in the Antarctic Peninsula, 1700 km in length, and the Transantarctic Mountains, which are more than 3000 km long. The highest mountain, Vinson Massif in the Ellsworth Mountains, peaks at 4897 m.
Observation of the Earth and Its Environment—Survey of Missions and Sensors
Authors: Lakshmi Venkat 
Published: October 2006

Observing Earth's surface and atmospheric processes has always posed a challenge to scientists. Ground‐based observations are point‐based and do not quantify the spatial variability Such measurements are also expensive and difficult to maintain. Space‐based observation solves this problem by affording spatial coverage with a specific temporal repeat. Satellite remote sensing in the Earth sciences has come of age in the last 10–20 years with the launch of numerous satellites with Earth‐observing sensors.Observations of the Earth and Its Environment is a carefully constructed book with sections emphasizing different aspects of remote sensing in the Earth sciences. It begins with history of Earth observations; this important section helps to put missions and sensors in their proper chronological and scientific perspective. Rather than presenting missions as stand‐alone, the book confers an understanding of the scientific and sometimes technological purpose associated with sensors and missions. The interconnections between missions and the physical variables/processes observed in these missions are expressed clearly.
President's page: Who speaks for science?
Authors: Showstack Randy 
Published: October 2006

The National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration look like winners in the Bush administration's proposed U.S. federal budget for fiscal year 2004. However, NASA and several other science agencies fare more modestly. The overall $2.23‐trillion budget proposal now goes to Congress.The proposed FY04 budget, which relies on deficit spending, includes $122.7 billion for research and development, 6.7% increase over the administration's FY03 request. (As this issue of Eos went to press, Congress was still trying to reach agreement on the federal budget for FY03. This work had not been completed at the time Congress recessed for the Christmas holiday last year.)
USGS proposed budget gains offset by concerns about minerals and hazards programs
Authors: Showstack Randy 
Published: October 2006

Among the surprises in the Bush administration's proposed U.S. federal science budget for fiscal year 2004 is a decision to not slash funding for the U.S. Geological Survey.During the past several budget cycles, the administration has targeted the agency for major cuts below previous budgets, and the President's proposed FY03 budget calls for the transfer of several major USGS water programs. Congress has rebuffed these proposed reductions.
National earthquake hazards program at a crossroads
Authors: Showstack Randy 
Published: October 2006

The US. National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, which turns 25 years old on 1 October 2003, is passing through two major transitions, which experts said either could weaken or strengthen the program.On 1 March, a federal government reorganization placed NEHRP's lead agency the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), within the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A number of earthquake scientists and engineers expressed concern that NEHRFP, which already faces budgetary and organizational challenges, and lacks visibility could end up being marginalized in the bureaucratic shuffle. Some experts, though, as well as agency officials, said they hope DHS will recognize synergies between dealing with earthquakes and terrorist attacks.
Reply [to “Numerical modeling strategies revisited”]
Authors: Murray A. Brad 
Published: October 2006

I thank D. Harry for bringing further attention to the questions of numerical modeling goals, strategies, and approaches, and for clarifying that simulation models—those designed to reproduce the behavior of specific natural systems as accurately as possible—can serve valuable scientific purposes. I agree with this point and allude to it in Murray [2003], a fuller version of the earlier discussion in Eos.In the situations Harry describes, we believe we know the main physical and/or chemical interactions that are important in a system. In such cases, simulation models can be useful for addressing more detailed questions, as Harry outlines, to help improve our understanding of particular natural examples in various ways.
African drought detected
Authors: Showstack Randy 
Published: October 2006

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on 13 March that it has detected harsh drought conditions in parts of the horn of Africa for the fourth year in a row, through examining data from its polar‐orbiting environmental satellites (POES).The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer on the satellite provides visible, near‐infrared, and infrared measurements of reflected energy, or radiance, which are used to calculate moisture, thermal conditions, and vegetation health.
Comment on review of exploring Space, exploring Earth
Authors: Lowman Paul D. 
Published: October 2006

The review of Exploring Space, Exploring Earth in Eos (7 January 2003, p. 6–7 ) included a number of factual errors that should be corrected.l. The reviewer states that the remote sensing chapter “never discusses the type or resolution of orbital sensors or how they can be used, beyond their application to lineament analysis.”
Call to restore Mesopotamian marshlands
Authors: Showstack Randy 
Published: October 2006

When the current military conflict in Iraq has concluded, a rehabilitation of that country should include a full assessment and action plan for restoring the marshlands of Mesopotamia, the United Nations Environment Programme said on 22 March.The marshlands, also known as the Fertile Crescent, could disappear within three to five years, according to UNEP.UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said the loss of the marshlands “is an environmental catastrophe for this region and underscores the huge pressures facing wetlands and freshwater ecosystems across the world.”
Report calls for improved transition of satellite data from research to operations
Authors: Showstack Randy 
Published: October 2006

A 27 March report recommends measures to improve the transition of satellite‐derived research and technologies from NASA into operational services provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Defense.The report, by the U.S. National Research Council, said that this transition “is often less efficient and slower than it could be, resulting in a loss of return on the research investment.” The report said that “while clear examples of successful transitions currently exist, the transition process in general is largely ad hoc.”