AGU has established the new Near-Surface Geophysics (NS) focus group in response to rapidly growing scientific studies of the ‘critical zone,’ the near-surface environment where complex interactions exist between processes in hydrogeology geochemistry and geobiology among other disciplines.

This new focus group will concentrate on processes occurring in the top 100 meters of the critical zone, which supports human infrastructure, provides water and mineral resources, is the disposal zone for much of the population's waste, represents a key component of many hazards assessments, and is the interface between land and atmosphere for many of the biogeochemical cycles that sustain life.