Atmospheric and Space Electricity Focus Group

This Focus Group has the responsibility for fostering a focus for atmospheric and space electricity within AGU. It is also charged with building interdisciplinary interaction, and educating AGU members about the nature and importance of problems and issues in atmospheric and space electricity. It should play a central role in attracting plasma physicists, space scientists, middle-atmosphere experts as well as traditional atmospheric electricity researchers. [AGU page for all FGs]

Focus Group Report to the AGU, 2006-2008

The Immediate Past Chair, Victor Pasko, authored this status report, covering the 2006-2008 time period on the activities, accomplishments and near term plans of the ASE FG.

Primary affiliation with the ASE Focus Group

AGU members are now able to declare primary affiliation with the ASE Focus Group, while retaining secondary affiliation with one or more other sections or focus groups. Primary affiliation helps maintain ASE's visibility and continued growth within AGU. Members "lose" no privileges by selecting primary affiliation with a Focus Group rather than a Section. Membership affiliation can be updated on the Online Membership Directory page.

Meetings

Voluntary Contributions to the ASE Fund

All AGU Sections and Focus Groups maintain separate funds to support special activities of the groups. If you would like to make a voluntary contribution to the ASE Fund (or the AGU Annual Campaign), please visit “Giving to AGU”. Gifts can also be specified as Memorials or Special Recognitions, and can be made at any time during the year. To contribute to the ASE Fund from the giving page, select “Fund Drive” from the pulldown menu, and “Atmospheric and Space Electricity” from the pulldown menu on the next page.

ASE Outstanding Student Paper Awards (chosen Fall Meeting, 2008)

Three Outstanding Student Paper Awards were given:

Bryna Hazelton, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
The spectral dependence of TGFs on source distance

Ziad Saleh, Florida Institute of Technology, USA
Properties of the x-ray emission from rocket-triggered and natural lightning as measured by the Thunderstorm Energetic Radiation Array

Robert Marshall, Stanford University, USA
Elves and associated ionospheric density perturbations due to horizontal in-cloud lightning EMP

Three student papers were chosen for honorable mention:
Joseph Howard, University of Florida, USA
High resolution mapping of the final stepped leader phase from dE/dt TOA measurements

Jeremy Riousset, The Pennsylvania State University, USA
Numerical modeling of the formation of the screening charge near the thundercloud boundaries and its impact on the initiation and early stages of development of blue and gigantic jets

Sonja Behnke, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, USA
Lightning mapping observations of the 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano, Alaska

 

Editor's Choice: Atmospheric and Space Electricity

Collection Editor: Dave Sentman, University of Alaska
Advisory Panel: Maribeth Stolzenburg (University of Mississippi) and Osmar Pinto, Jr. (Brazilian Institute of Space Research)

The ASE Focus Group has its own edition of "Editor’s Choice." Editor's Choice virtual journals contain selected new articles from across AGU journals on a specific topic. New articles are posted twice a month. An annual subscription provides cumulative access to articles selected during the calendar year (currently only $47 for AGU members!).

Richard Orville (Texas A&M University) worked with the AGU publications staff to make Editor's Choice for Atmospheric and Space Electricity a reality. The first edition was in 2002, and from 2002 - 2006 the Collection Editor was Richard Orville with Vlad Rakov (University of Florida) and Dave Sentman as the Advisory Panel. From 2006 - 2009 Vlad Rakov was the Collection Editor with Dave Sentman and Maribeth Stolzenburg on the Advisory Panel.

Officers for 2008–2010

Ad-hoc Committees

Committee Reports

White Paper on the Scientific Basis for Traditional Lightning Protection Systems (NFPA Report)

 

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