COSPAR
During the last period I have participated in COSPAR Council meetings in Warsaw (2000) and Houston (2002). During these meetings the editing and production processes for Advances in Space Research has continued to be an issue of high priority and substantial progress has been reported, although there are still problems with a few volumes.
On the administrative side I have been active in nominating a prominent member of our society as a candidate for the COSPAR SARABHAI MEDAL for 2002. Our candidate was, however, not elected this time.
A major issue where the viewpoints of IUGG apparently is considered valuable concerns the planning of specific interdisciplinary symposia like for example the symposium about Space Weather and Sun-Climate relationships at the Houston meeting. In this area as well as in other areas of space research like planetary research the expertise of geophysicists is being increasingly appreciated. There is a large potential for geophysicists from our society to contribute significantly to space research and the demonstration of that expertise to the COSPAR community must be regarded as one of the prime tasks of the IUGG liaison to COSPAR.
Eigil Friis-Christensen
IUGG liaison to COSPAR
27 February 2003.
