The International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS) needs your assistance in putting together a high-quality scientific programme for the 26th IUGG General Assembly, to be held in Prague in 2015 http://www.iugg2015prague.com
IACS (http://www.cryosphericsciences.org) is one of 8 IUGG scientific associations that are responsible for developing the programme for this forthcoming meeting. Perhaps you attended our recent DACA-13 symposium in Davos (http://www.daca-13.org), Switzerland? IUGG Prague 2015 promises to offer similar opportunities in a larger setting and with more interdisciplinary links.
The scientific programme committee for IUGG Prague 2015 will meet in less than one month's time (24th September, 2013) to discuss the programme. We have been asked to suggest three different kinds of symposia, UNION (of interest to the entire geophysical community), JOINT (IACS and one or more other IUGG organisations) and IACS-only. At this stage we are interested in receiving suggestions from you in the first two categories.
UNION symposia provide an opportunity to highlight the most pressing geophysical issues facing humanity. Suggestions so far include -
• Detection and attribution of changes in the cryosphere.
• Mechanisms of polar amplification of climate.
• Sea level change and the cryosphere.
• Regional impacts of climate change (which might for example include the mountain cryosphere and hazards).
• Limits to predictability (or perhaps 'communicating uncertainty').
Note that there were 12 Union symposia in total (all fields) at the last IUGG General Assembly.
JOINT-symposia provide an opportunity to highlight important interdisciplinary science, by collaborating with one or more IUGG associations.
Examples suggested so far include -
• Joint IACS- International Association of Geodesy (IAG) symposium on GRACE measurements and the cryosphere.
• Joint IACS- International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO) symposium on "Ice sheet-ocean interactions".
• Joint IACS- International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) symposium on "Tropical mountain glaciers and water resources".
• Joint IACS- International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) symposium on "Volcano-Ice hazards".
• Joint IACS- International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS)- International Commission on Snow and Ice Hydrology (ICSIH) symposium on "Snow and ice data assimilation."
Note that we had around 20 joint IACS symposia at the last IUGG General Assembly and that we could do with many more suggestions here.
To assist you, here are links to the other IUGG associations:
1. International Association of Geodesy http://www.iag-aig.org
2. International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy http://www.iugg.org/IAGA/
3. International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) http://iahs.info
4. International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS), our recent partner at DACA13 http://www.iamas.org
5. International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI)
http://www.iaspei.org
6. The International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO)
http://iapso.iugg.org
7. International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI)
http://www.iavcei.org
If you would like to see what has been done previously, the scientific programme from the 25th IUGG General Assembly (Melbourne) is available here http://www.iugg2011.com/pdf/IUGG2011_FinalEntireProgram.6June.pdf
Please let us know if you have suggestions for Union or Joint symposia for Prague 2015, preferably by Wednesday 11th September (2 weeks from now).
Many thanks,
Andrew
Andrew Mackintosh
Associate Professor
School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences and Antarctic Research Centre
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
+64 27 563 6193
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/antarctic/about/staff/andrew-mackintosh
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/sgees/about/staff/andrew-mackintosh
Secretary General, International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS)
http://www.cryosphericsciences.org
