FOREWORD: ADVANCES IN SPACE ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH

ABRAHAM C.-L. CHIAN1,2 and the WISER team1World Institute for Space Environment Research, WISER/NITP, University of Adelaide,

Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia2National Institute for Space Research (INPE), P.O. Box 515,

12227-010 Sao Jose dos Campos – SP, Brazil

Space environment research is devoted to the study of physical processes of theupper atmospheres of planets, Sun-Earth connections, interplanetary medium, andinteractions of interstellar medium and galactic/extragalactic cosmic rays with theheliosphere. This field of research is multi-disciplinary encompassing space phys-ics, astrophysics, computational science, applied mathematics and engineering.

As the world enters the twenty-first century, our society is becoming increas-ingly dependent on technology which is vulnerable to the physical conditions inthe space environment. Space weather is influenced by disturbances in the spaceenvironment caused by solar flares, coronal mass ejections, magnetic storms andcosmic rays, which can affect the performance and reliability of space-borne andground-based technological systems such as satellites, precise positioning systems,telecommunications, high speed data and imaging, geologic prospecting, powerdistribution, gas and oil pipelines, aviation, climate, defense, as well as humanhealth. As society comes to rely more heavily on systems operating in space, theknowledge of space weather will become vital for the maintenance of those systemsand the industrial base that they supply. Future economic and social infrastructurewill depend upon the nations’ capability to predict the potential space storms inadvance – space weather forecasting, to provide timely, accurate, and reliablespace environment observations, specifications and forecasts to alleviate damageto systems and human life.

Motivated by the growing worldwide interest in the study of space environment,the World Institute for Space Environment Research (WISER) was establishedofficially through the collaboration with the National Institute for Theoretical Phys-ics (NITP) at the University of Adelaide in Australia in December 2001. Theaim of WISER is to coordinate an international network of research and trainingcenters of excellence dedicated to promoting cooperation in cutting-edge spaceenvironment research and training of first-rate space scientists, with emphasis onthe application of information technology to theoretical and computational studiesof space plasmas and atmospheres, space data analysis, space weather forecasting,and monitoring the impact of space weather on the Earth’s climate, environmentand technology. In contrast to other space weather programs which focus on na-

Space Science Reviews 107: 1–3, 2003.© 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

2 A.C.-L. CHIAN AND THE WISER TEAM

tional or regional interests, WISER aims to address problems of global concernthrough collaboration involving all nations, with a special emphasis on the com-plex/intelligent systems approach to study the dynamics and structures of the spaceenvironment.

Space plasmas and planetary atmospheres are complex systems whose dynam-ics depend on the interactions involving a large number of sub-systems. The Sun-Earth connections, which determine space weather, is the result of a complex chainof spatiotemporal interactions involving the solar interior-solar atmosphere-solarwind-magnetosphere-ionosphere-atmosphere coupling. A distinctive property offluid motions such as space plasmas and the Earth’s atmosphere is the inverse en-ergy cascade, whereby energy transferring into large-scale vortices, coherent struc-tures, or sheared flows gives a remarkable propensity for self-organising behaviour.Solar active regions, interplanetary medium and the Earth’s magnetosphere aredominated by waves, instabilities and turbulence, often exhibiting characteristicstypical of complex systems.

The WISER scientific program covers the following topics: (1) Waves, instabil-ities and turbulence in space plasmas, (2) Interstellar medium-heliosphere coup-ling, (3) Solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere-atmosphere coupling, (4) Solarflares and coronal mass ejections, (5) Geomagnetic storms, (6) Magnetosphericradiation belts, (7) Ionospheric irregularities, (8) Dynamics and structures of theEarth’s atmosphere, (9) Solar modulation of cosmic rays, (10) Cosmic rays-climateconnection, (11) Space weather forecasting and (12) Impact of space weather onterrestrial systems and human health. This scientific program is carried out by thefollowing 6 WISER Workgroups: (1) Sun/Heliosphere, (2) Magnetosphere/BowShock, (3) Ionosphere/Atmosphere, (4) Space Weather/Space Climate, (5) SpacePlasma Physics/Astrophysics and (6) Complex/Intelligent Systems.

Presently, the following 3 institutions are hosting the WISER Regional Cen-ters of Excellence which coordinate the research and training activities in eachregion: 1) Asia-Pacific Region: National Institute for Theoretical Physics (NITP),University of Adelaide, Australia; 2) Pan-American Region: National Institute forSpace Research (INPE), Brazil; 3) Afro-European Region: International Centre forTheoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy.

In 2002, three international conferences were organized by WISER. In collab-oration with the Institute for Chemical and Physical Processes (IPCP) of the ItalianNational Research Council (CNR), a WISER Workshop on Space EnvironmentTurbulence (ALFVEN2002) was held in Pisa, Italy on 22 June 2002. The aim ofthis workshop was to review recent advances in the theory of waves, instabilit-ies and turbulence in space plasmas and atmospheres. In collaboration with theNational Institute for Theoretical Physics (NITP) of the University of Adelaide,WISER organized the World Space Environment Forum (WSEF2002) from 22 to25 July 2002 and the WISER Workshop on High Performance Computing in SpaceEnvironment Research (HPC2002) from 29 July to 2 August 2002, respectively, inAdelaide, Australia. The aim of the WSEF2002 was to review the state-of-the-art

FOREWORD: ADVANCES IN SPACE ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH 3

of space environment research and identify the key problems in solar-terrestrialconnection to be addressed by the international space science and plasma physicscommunity in the coming years. It also provided a forum for the elaboration of in-ternational collaboration programs on research and training in space environment.The aim of the HPC2002 was to review the recent advances on high performancecomputing and computer modeling in space environment research.

About 80 leading scientists from over 20 countries/regions are taking part inthe WISER research and training activities. Other scientists and students from allnations are welcome to join forces with WISER to link nations for the peaceful useof the space environment. Sixty-one delegates from 20 countries/regions who at-tended the World Space Environment Forum (WSEF2002) approved unanimouslythe establishment of WISER and recommended strongly that WISER should seeksponsorship through United Nations organisations such as UNESCO, the UnitedNations University (UNU) and the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs. In addition,the delegates to WSEF2002 approved the organization of three (WSEF, ALFVENand HPC) series of WISER conferences/workshops and International AdvancedSchools on a regular basis.

This volume contains fifty-three papers presented at the WSEF2002 andHPC2002. All contributions have been independently refereed. The papers aregrouped in alphabetical order, under six topical areas covered by the six WISERWorkgroups.

The hospitality of and financial support from the National Institute for Theoret-ical Physics (NITP) and the ARC Special Research Centre for the Subatomic Struc-ture of Matter (CSSM) of the University of Adelaide, the Institute for Chemicaland Physical Processes (IPCP) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR),and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) are greatly appreciated.In particular, we acknowledge the strong support of Professor A. W. Thomas, Ms.R. Adorjan, Mrs. Sara Boffa and Mrs. S. Johnson of NITP and CSSM, Dr. M. Mar-tinelli of IPCP/CNR, and Drs. C. Rhoades and P. Bellaire of AFOSR, as well as thevaluable assistance in paper review by R. Clay (U. of Adelaide), P. Coddington (U.of Adelaide), E. M. de Gouveia Dal Pino (U. of Sao Paulo), V. Jatenco-Pereira (U.of Sao Paulo), V. Krishan (Indian Inst. Astrophysics), D. Moudry (U. of Alaska),R. Sekar ( Physical Res. Lab.) and G. Tanco (U. of Sao Paulo).