Transcript IHY-Africa Meeting Report - Sunanda Basu, Boston University

Sponsors: NASA, NSF, EOARD, ICTP, AFRL, AFOSR, ONR, CAWSES & COSPAR
IHY-Africa Meeting Report
Sunanda Basu, Boston University
The Ghion Hotel – meeting location & lodging
for all Participants
International Organizing Committee
Christine Amory-Mazaudier, France
David Anderson, USA
Sunanda Basu, USA (Co-chair)
David Byers, USA
Mihail Codrescu, USA
Patricia Doherty, USA
Tim Fuller-Rowell, USA (Co-chair)
Keith Groves, USA
Abebe Kebede, USA
Ian Mann, Canada
Karen Fay O’Loughlin, USA
Monique Petit-Didier, France
Babatunde Rabiu, Nigeria
Robert Robinson, USA
Endawoke Yizengaw, USA
Local Organizing Committee
Gizaw Mengistu, Ethiopia
Baylie Damtie, Ethiopia
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20 African
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63 African
Scientists
40 Scientists
From other
Countries
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Informal Sub-group of Participants – Photo by Santimay Basu
Note: Large Gap in Coverage at African Equatorial Longitudes
SCINDA – an Existing Network for Scintillation Measurements
Similar large gap at African Longitudes
IHY-UN Basic Space Sciences Initiative
• Major thrust of IHY-UNBSSI Program is deployment of
instrument arrays in developing countries
• Developed nations provide instruments
• Developing countries provide man-power & maintenance
• This has led to deployment of radio telescopes, GPS
receivers, magnetometers, etc. in many countries
• In Africa, several arrays are in deployment stage primarily at
Universities
• In Africa, another basic need is the cyber infra-structure
necessary for acquiring and real-time dissemination of the
data obtained from such instruments
Planned Enhancement of GPS Network in Sub-Saharan Africa
-UCLA
-Japan
France
Important Events Prior to and During IHY-Africa Meeting
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GIFT Workshop, Nov 10 – All Day (P. Reiff brought tent Planetarium)
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SCINDA 2007 Workshop, Nov 11, – All Day
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Nov 11 Evening – Ice Breaker
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Opening of IHY-Africa Workshop, Nov 12 by Dr. H. E. Sintayehu,
Minister of Education, Ethiopia
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African Cyber Infrastructure Discussion, Nov 12 - Early Evening
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SIDs Workshop, Nov 12 – Late Evening
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Poster Session & Buffet, Nov 13 – Evening
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Tour of Addis Ababa, Nov 14 Afternoon – Highlight: Visit to “Lucy”
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NSF-IHY Day, Nov 15 – 3 Breakout Groups on GPS/TEC,
Magnetometers/Electrodynamics/Plasmasphere and Education/Outreach
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Nov 12- 15 – At least 20 Presentations on Space and Ground Programs of
Relevance to Africa and Updates on Future Satellite Missions and Ground Arrays
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Evening of Nov 15 - Banquet and Folk Dances
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Nov 16 – Panel Discussion and Breakout Group Reports,
Recommendations
Tutorials at the IHY-Africa 2007
Ionospheric Scintillations
(by S. Basu),
Magnetic Storm Effects on Communication and Navigation
Systems in the Equatorial Region
(by Su. Basu) ,
Low Latitude Ionospheric Sensor Network (LISN)The First Distributed Observatory in South America
(by C. Valladares),
Ionospheric Model Adaptation by Means of Experimental Data
(by S. Radicella)
Ionospheric Electrodynamics at Low and Middle Latitudes
(by R. Heelis),
The Plasmasphere
(by M. Moldwin)
“The IHY-Africa Resolution on Cyber-infrastructure”
The Preamble
We, the 63 African scientists, representing 20 African countries, and 40
scientists from other nations participating in the International Heliophysical
Year Workshop in Addis Ababa, 12-16 November 2007,
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Recognizing that modern information and communications technologies
have revolutionized the conduct of research, education, and training in
science and technology, as well as elsewhere, by providing rapid and
effective means to
- communicate among people,
- discover, access, and share data and information,
- participate in international, regional, and national scientific and
educational efforts,
- transmit observational data efficiently,
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Recommend that high priority be given to improving the cyberinfrastructure for Universities and other national science and technology
institutions in Africa as a cost–effective and essential means of achieving
national Millennium Development Goals.
“The IHY-Africa Resolution on Science”
Recognizing that:
-Space science and space weather are no longer the concern only
of the developed nations of the world
-Space science and technology are critical for Africa to deliver economic
environmental, and social benefits to communities, such as wireless communications,
resource management, remote sensing, and an educated population
-Reduce dependency…
-Consistent with UN BSS Initiative objectives…
-African scientists have significant but underutilized capability in space science and
space weather research
Noting that:
-The location of Africa uniquely fills a critical gap in the observations required to
understand the global space environment
-Space science research opportunities in Africa have been limited
We strongly Recommend that vigorous efforts should be made to:
-Expand and strengthen the space science programs in universities and research
institutions
-Increase funding for experimental facilities
-Strengthen and take advantage of international collaborations
Overview
of Proposed
Instrument
Arrays
Overview
of Instrument
Arrays
Future Plans for Meetings & Schools
for African Scientists
• IHY/ WHI Campaign March 20-April 16, 2008
– Coincides with Ulysses polar pass
• SCINDA Workshop, 2008 in South Africa
• Africa Array Meeting, Johannesburg, S. Africa, June 08
(Seismic Array – can be used for Sp. Sci.)
• State Dept. involvement through Comm. for the Peaceful
Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS)
• CAWSES ISAR School in Taiwan, Fall 2008
• Training in GPS-based techniques
– Int. Partnership Between BC & ICTP, Trieste
• IHY-Africa, 2009 – Committee in the works
Proposal in Progress:
International Partnership for Sustainable Development in
Navigation Science and Technology in Africa
Purpose: Organize a series of workshops for African university professors, young
scientists and graduate students. Each workshop will be comprised of classroom and
hands-on training in GPS hardware, technological applications and scientific
exploration using GPS
Where: International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, IT
When: 3 week workshops to be held 1 or 2 times each year in 2009, 2010 and 2011
Who: Boston College and the International Centre for Theoretical Physics will design
and manage the program. Lecturers will be invited from the US, Europe and Africa.
Proposed PIs:
Patricia Doherty, Boston College
Sandro Radicella, ICTP
Prepared by P.Doherty 01/02/08
International Partnership for Sustainable Development
in Navigation Science and Technology in Africa
– To provide a knowledgeable GPS workforce in Africa
– To encourage the use of GPS for societal and economic
development and environmental protection
– To establish Space Weather studies in Africa
– To initiate international scientific collaborations
Disaster Relief
Water Navigation
Land Navigation
Air Navigation
Wildlife Conservation
Precision Farming
Scientific Exploration
Prepared by P.Doherty 01/02/08
TIMED/GUVI Image at 135.6 nm over Africa
Whole Heliosphere Interval Campaign
March 20 to April 16, 2008
Targeted Observing Campaign during Solar Carrington
Rotation # 2048 to study:
• Day-to-day variability of total electron content (TEC) and
scintillations
• Day-to-day variability of F-region vertical drifts at the
magnetic equator
• Development and decay of the Equatorial Anomaly
Measurements will be very important for determination of
longitudinal variability, the planning of regional spacebased navigation systems and as inputs to ionospheric
space weather models