VERSIM
IAGA/URSI Joint Working Group on:
VLF/ELF Remote Sensing of the Ionosphere and Magnetosphere
Report to IAGA on VERSIM activities 2001-2003
The working group serves as a forum for researchers studying the behaviour of the magnetosphere and ionosphere by means of ELF and VLF radio waves, both naturally and artificially generated. It is a joint working group constituted under the auspices of IAGA - International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (Divisions II and III) and URSI - International Union of Radio Science (Commissions G and H). Originally the emphasis was on probing of the magnetosphere by whistlers, but recently the scope has become somewhat broader. The group aims to promote research in this field by facilitating the exchange of ideas, information and experience between active research workers and other interested scientists. This is done through regular meetings at IAGA and URSI Assemblies, via the circulation of a newsletter, and through the World-Wide-Web. The group has also been active in sponsoring scientific symposia at IAGA and URSI Assemblies, in areas relevant to its field of interest, and in coordinating observational campaigns. At present the main areas of interest are Plasma structures and boundaries - morphology and dynamics, Wave-particle and wave-wave interactions, Wave-induced precipitation, Wave propagation in magnetospheres and ionospheres, and Sprites and the effects of lightning on the ionosphere.
Meetings of the VERSIM group at the Hanoi IAGA General Assembly in 2001, and at the Maastricht URSI General Assembly 2002, recommended that the working group continue in existence.
A successful VERSIM half-day session (Session G2.07) on Whistlers, Particle Precipitation and Low-latitude VLF Phenomena was convened by A.J. Smith and A.R.W. Hughes, and held on 28 August 2001 during the IAGA Assembly at Hanoi. A meeting of the VERSIM working group also took place on the same day. For reports of both these meetings see VERSIM Newsletter No. 16, and the VERSIM Web site.
Several sessions relevant to VERSIM took place during the URSI Maastricht meeting. A meeting of the working group was held on 19 August 2002, and was reported in VERSIM Newsletter No. 17 available from the VERSIM Web site. M. Parrot (France) was re-elected as URSI co-chairman of the working group for the next triennium, 2002-2005.
A VERSIM business meeting is scheduled during the forthcoming 23rd IUGG General Assembly in Sapporo (in Pearl Hall A of the Royton Hotel) on the evening of Monday 7 July 2003, at 1900.
The VERSIM bibliography has been completed to 2002 by M Parrot and is available on the VERSIM Web site.
The VERSIM electronic mailing list is open for anyone who is interested to subscribe to it and to post relevant announcements. For details, see:
http://www.nerc-bas.ac.uk/uasd/versim/vrsmeml.html
The list currently has 96 scientists from 23 different countries: Australia (1), Austria (1), Belgium (2), Brazil (1), Canada (2), China (1), Czech Republic(3), Finland (3), France (5), Germany (2), Hungary (2), India (1), Israel (1), Japan (8), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (6),
Norway (1), Russia (7), South Africa (5), Ukraine (4), UK (16), USA (22), and Yugoslavia (1). There is an email directory on the VERSIM Web site.
The mailing list was used to notify experimenters about the schedule of VLF transmissions from the IMAGE satellite in November-December 2001, and about the Polar Patrol Balloon campaign in January 2003.
Two newsletters (Nos. 16-17) have been circulated since the 2001 IAGA Assembly in Hanoi, in May 2002 and May 2003 respectively.
The World-Wide-Web site has continued to be at: http://www.nerc-bas.ac.uk/uasd/versim.html
A J Smith
(IAGA Co-chairman of the VERSIM JWG), 18 June 2003
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British Antarctic Survey, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK.
Phone: +44-1223-221544; Fax: +44-1223-221226; Email: a.j.smith@bas.ac.uk.
