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A Joint Scientific Assembly was held by IASPEI-IAGA at Hanoi, Vietnam, 18-30 August 2001, that was organized by the Vietnam National Center for Natural Science and Technology and sponsored by relevant Vietnamese government agencies, universities, scientific institutions and industrial organizations. The goal of the assembly was to promote discussion of scientific challenges to IASPEI and IAGA in the new millennium by presentation and dissemination of scientific papers, distribution of appropriate and developed methodologies, technologies and knowledge and by exchange of information among scientists from all over the world.
The scientific program featured a comprehensive and multidisciplinary program of oral and poster presentations organized by IASPEI, IAGA, Studies of the Earth's Deep Interior (SEDI) and the International Lithosphere Program (ILP) scientists. Special inter-association and IASPEI symposia focused on the frontiers of international research, such as the origin and evolution of Earth's natural hazards, structure and dynamics of the lithosphere, and global tectonic zones. Invited scientists delivered key. Some workshops, courses and field trips were organized before and after the assembly.
More than 1000 scientists from 64 countries registered for the assembly. The scientific program consisted of 58 scheduled symposia, 7 of which were joint with IAGA. Over 1700 abstracts were submitted, more than 500 of those being sent to IASPEI or IASPEI-led symposia. See the Meeting Report on the IASPEI web site for further details.
A Workshop on Regional Seismological Cooperation, preceding the IASPEI/IAGA Joint Scientific Assembly, was conducted 13-18 August 2001 at Hanoi, Vietnam. The main focus of the workshop was to provide training in digital data processing to the persons involved in operation of seismological networks and analysis of data in their respective countries. To achieve this goal, the participants provided data for five earthquakes recorded on their networks during January 2001. Initially, the participants worked on a common data set as part of training in SEISAN software. Later on they worked with their own data sets for the 5 selected events using an individual country&Mac185;s network and later locating one event with the data from all networks.
A workshop report (see IASPEI web site) focussed on the enhancement of the whole data set that resulted from regional cooperation and contains a short description of the status of seismology in each country or network. Participants learned how to process local and global data using a data base processing system; to experience the importance of using regional data; to present results at the scientific assembly; and to experience enhanced personal cooperation between neighboring networks. Most participants, with supplemental funding from IASPEI, also attended scientific sessions of the IASPEI-IAGA Joint Scientific Assembly the following week
Modern scientific investigations of earthquakes began in the 1880's, and the International Association of Seismology (IAS) was organized in 1901 to promote collaboration of scientists and engineers in studying earthquakes. With rapid advances in the 20th century, many branches of seismology developed and there is not an authoritative reference that summarizes our present knowledge about earthquake and engineering seismology. It is our hope that this Handbook will help to bridge the gap between seismologists and earthquake engineers and will be truly international in scope. The aims for the Handbook are: to summarize the well established facts; to review relevant theories; to survey useful methods and techniques; and to document and archive basic seismic data. It will consist of about 84 chapters grouped into 10 parts, with 4 CD-ROMs containing materials to augment the printed chapters, and including a compilation of seismic data from around the world and a global earthquake database with software for displaying seismicity maps.
It is also our desire to prepare an affordable publication. Academic Press will publish the Handbook in 2 volumes (each of about 1000 pages) with 2 CDs. There will be a total of 400 free copies with the following distributions: (1) 100 copies for editors, honorary editors (i.e., Frank Press and George Housner), associate editors, and coordinators; i.e., people that helped in the project; (2) 200 copies for authors; and (3) 100 copies for authors/editors of all national and "large" institutional reports. Publication of this Handbook is under the auspices of the IASPEI Commission on Education and Outreach.
The Working Group on the Manual of Seismological Observatory Practice (MSOP) was established in 1994. A concept for the New Manual (NMSOP) was proposed in 1995 and the work started in 1996. A web page was established in the same year under in order to make first drafts already available to a wide community and to invited feedback and comments. Also, most part of the 1979 edition of the MSOP was put on this web site for reference. Officially, the WG finished its work by 2001, although both the final and reviewed printed version and the web site of the NMSOP will be available only in 2002.
By the IASPEI meeting in Hanoi, 2001, 10 out of 13 planned chapters have been completed and reviewed (by 2 to 4 external reviewers). This finished material is readily formatted for printing, in total about 550 pages. 3 more chapters are still in preparation, two of them half ready. The introductory chapter can only be written when all other chapters are completed. The same applies to the index, the list of acronyms, list of content, list of authors, etc. In total, the manual with its annexes will comprise about 700 to 800 pages.
The web site contains at present the first drafts of only partially or not yet reviewed chapters and sections of the manual, about half of the expected total. With the reviews of most chapters now being available, it is hoped that the process of putting the final manual version now on the web could be accelerated and finished by summer 2002.
The International Commission for Earth Sciences in Africa (ICESA) was formed as a Coordinating Committee of the International Lithosphere Program (ILP). It has the overall objective of promoting and coordinating geo-scientific work in Africa by facilitating the exchange of scientific personnel, information and collaboration among African countries and similar organizations working in the field of earth sciences. ICESA is also devoted to the initiation of training programs for African scientists and technicians as well as to the organization of meetings/seminars for the exchange of ideas among earth scientists.
The council of ICESA has been concentrating the commission efforts to the publication of a book on African geology and to stimulate publication of papers in. international journals. The central objective of ICESA is the preparation of the book, which will integrate the knowledge accumulated in the last two decades. In order to realise it's objective, ICESA has in the year 2001 involved itself with the organisation of several business meetings, paper presentations, and crosscutting discussions by potential contributors to a series of thematic Special Issues of the Journal of African Earth Sciences that will comprise the book.
Several working groups for various chapters of the book have been set up. These are:
In 2001 ICESA began the task of setting up the list of authors within the working groups and of coordinating the write up and publication of thematic papers in special issues of the Journal of African Earth Sciences.
The idea for a CDC Newsletter first came up in a meeting of IASPEI Committee for Developing Countries (CDC) held in Prague during the 23rd ESC General Assembly in September 1992. It was decided that the Newsletter would have two issues in a year usually in the months of June and December. The first issue came out in June 1993.The contents of the Newsletter include IASPEI related information of particular relevance to the scientists in developing countries. It was planned that the Newsletter should give information about symposia, meetings, training courses, network development, reports of important geological events, software and instrumental development, etc.
With the active cooperation of fellow scientists, the Newsletter has fulfilled most of the expectations. One of the main achievements has been dissemination of information to scientists in developing countries regularly. It has provided a forum for various scientific activities of IASPEI and some other scientific bodies. Most importantly, IASPEI events like Regional and General Assemblies have been adequately covered. Every effort has been made in this Newsletter to increase participation from developing countries in internationalsymposia/seminars by excerpt/ reproducing the announcements well in advance and also advising about the sources of financial support.
The Newsletter is circulated globally, primarily to the scientists of the developing countries. It is also sent to some scientists in developed countries who are especially interested in the development of seismology in third world countries.
As part of IASPEI's outreach effort, the Publications Transfer Program of the Committee for Developing Countries (CDC) makes available basic texts and publications on seismology and related earth sciences to institutions in need. The IASPEI Secretariat currently serves as a clearing house for all publications requests and offers. There have been many requests for the materials available through the publications transfer project. In the year 2001 the project has provided the following publications to the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory, Ingeominas, Manizales, Colombia, South America: (1) Journal of Geophysical Research (solid earth only) vol. 74, no.2 (1969) to vol. 94, no.12 (1989); and (2) Geophysical Journal of the RAS/Geophysical Journal/Geophysical Journal International vol. 48, no.1 (1977) to vol. 99, no.3 (1989).
IASPEI uses this system to broadcast announcements about forthcoming meetings and other information of interest to IASPEI members.
IASPEI continues development of its Home Page on the WorldWideWeb which contains organizational information, a publications list, meeting announcements and Internet connections and other information of interest to IASPEI scientists. The current address for this web site is: http://www.iaspei.org/
The IASPEI Secretariat with the assistance of Carl Kisslinger (Editor) has published a 26 page Brochure entitled "The International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior: Cooperation for Better Understanding of the Earth". Copies can be obtained from the IASPEI Secretariat.
The IASPEI Committee for Developing Countries (CDC) circulates biannually from Hyderabad a Newsletter intended to provide a forum for exchanging news and views of geophysical importance among geoscientists, particularly from developing countries.
Haslinger, F., Husen, S. (Editors). Special Issue. Tomographic Imaging of 3-D Velocity Structure and Accurate Earthquake Location, Proceedings of the PAPHOS'99 Workshop, Cyprus, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, v. 123, 2001.
Gupta,H., Chadha, R.K., Srinagash, D. (Editors). Special Issue. The Nature of Seismic Sources and the Prediction of Earthquakes, Proceedings of the IASPEI Symposium held during the 22nd IUGG General Assembly in Birmingham, UK, Tectonophysics, v. 338, 2001.
Kukkonen, I.T., Cermak, V., Kennett, B.L.N. (Editors). Special Issue. Thermal Structure of the Earth's Structure and Geodynamics, Proceedings of the IASPEI Symposium held during the 22nd IUGG General Assembly in Birmingham, UK, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, v. 126, 2001.
Each software volume of the IASPEI Software Library includes the executable code, examples on floppy diskettes, and printed documentation.
Under the auspices of the Working Group on Personal Computers, a PC shareware library is being published on diskette, including files with short-form manuals of the programs. The Library provides for fast and wide distribution of geophysical programs and utilities, reduced or demonstration versions of geophysical software, and beta-versions of new programs to be included in future volumes of the SSL
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Last modified:
November 20, 2007
Maintained by: Alice Walker abw@bgs.ac.uk at the British Geological Survey