Each proposal must have between two and four conveners, including the primary convener. We encourage a diverse set of conveners; please consider including an early career scientist in your proposal.

At least one of the conveners must be designated as a ‘primary liaison’ and be available for discussions with the Program Committee regarding the session proposal during May and August. The full name, affiliation, and email address of each convener is required. All individuals listed as a convener must have agreed to serve as a convener before submitting the proposal.

Although multiple proposals can be submitted, the AGU Fall Meeting Program Committee reserves the right to reject or merge multiple proposals submitted by the same convener(s) on related topics or across disciplines. The Program Committee may also move sessions to another or more appropriate AGU section than the one to which it was submitted, request conveners revise the session title and/or description, or merge proposals on similar topics.

Session proposals must include an informative title, a maximum of 300 characters not including spaces, and be in title case (e.g., Mark the Dates for Fall Meeting on Your Calendar).

The session description is limited to 150 words and should concisely describe the session's scientific and topical relevance. Sessions can focus on scientific results, their applications, or the impact of Earth and space science on society.

The description will be used during the review process. After the abstract deadline, proposed session descriptions will no longer be posted. Prior to acceptance, the Program Committee may request that conveners revise the session title and/or description or merge proposals on similar topics. Session descriptions will be posted during the abstract submission phase to assist submitters in identifying an appropriate session and will be published in the final program.

Sessions that are celebratory or honorary will not be considered. Sessions cannot be in tribute of a specific person or contain the name of a scientist in the session title or description. Proposals deemed to be primarily advertisements of commercial products and services or that contain the name of a specific experiment in the title or description will not be considered.

Proposals should not include potential invited authors or make special requests

Session conveners may not be the first author or presenter on an invited abstract in the session they are convening. Conveners may submit a contributed abstract to any session or a session they are convening; however, they must be scheduled as a poster presentation.

Session proposals will be publicly available throughout the submission period. Potential chairs should carefully examine the list of submitted session proposals to ensure their proposed session does not significantly overlap with other sessions.

Session conveners may propose sessions in other formats than the traditional oral or poster sessions. More information on these formats is available within the Session Formats section below.

Consult the section below, Collaborative Sessions, to determine if your session should be co-organized, cross-listed, or co-sponsored. By selecting these options, you indicate opportunities for collaboration or a connection between related sessions and across topics.

With the exception of approved Union and Centennial sessions, section sessions are able to invite up to two authors to submit abstracts to your session once abstract submissions open in June. 

AGU’s main objectives for allowing invited authors include: (1) raising the profile of a session and (2) enticing authors who would not otherwise submit an abstract to a session in an effort to, for example, enhance diversity or interdisciplinary perspectives or feature early-career scientists.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Being an invited author does not guarantee that the person will receive an oral presentation unless it is a Union or approved Centennial session.  

All invited authors may be subject to being scheduled either in an oral OR a poster session. If a session is allocated an oral session the authors in that session and the length of presentations will be determined by the conveners during the scheduling process.

AGU GO provides users with live streamed and/or on-demand presentations of sessions to expand the reach of the Fall Meeting. During the submission process, conveners may request that their proposals be considered for AGU GO. If approved, ALL contributed and invited abstract submitters must sign a release. All Union and Centennial sessions will be part of AGU GO in 2019; all of the oral presentations in these sessions are required to be available.

Index terms help authors to search for relevant sessions during the abstract submission process. They are equally helpful to attendees when the online program is published.  One to four index terms must be provided with the session proposal. View the full list of index terms within our resources for authors.

These engaging Union and section sessions celebrate the launch of AGU’s Centennial and our commitment to Transforming Science, Bridging Communities, and Inspiring the Future. They showcase past achievements in the Earth and space science, highlight broad societal benefits, and connect these to future questions and challenges.

The climate system comprises various components, including the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. Sessions highlight the scientific advancements in research dealing with climate variability, climate change and climate change impacts - from global to local scales – and from the past to the future.

Earth and space science data is critical to scientific advancement–improving our understanding of how natural systems operate and change. Whenever possible, data should be openly accessible and preserved for reuse in the future. Sessions highlight emerging technologies, new platforms that enable the collection of new data, new computational techniques (machine learning, semantic technologies) and new visualization tools.

From the Earth’s magnetosphere to its inner core, the geosphere, the biosphere, the hydrosphere, and the atmosphere interact in large-scale processes that have governed the Earth’s evolution since its formation. These sessions and named lectures highlight observations and models that shed light on and deepen our understanding of earth processes.

Selected sessions draw from diverse fields of study, providing new insights that enlarge our understanding of the physics and impacts of extreme events and hazards. They also explore monitoring trends, planned new observations, and new tools to predict extreme events and associated hazards.

This collection is composed of sessions on resources and energy challenges, as well as methods for their identification, processes taking place, management, and modeling, with a particular emphasis on water resources.

Sessions examine the physical processes within our solar system that led to the formation of Earth and other planets and the differences in their atmospheres, surfaces, and interiors. Planetary habitability, recognition of extraterrestrial biosignatures, and investigative approaches to detecting life elsewhere in the solar system are also explored.

Research in the geosciences provides numerous societal benefits, including natural resources, hazard mitigation, management of freshwater, and more. Sessions relate research advances to societal impacts, societal benefits, and ways to enhance society’s interactions with Earth systems.

Communicating the value and impact of Earth and space science to decision makers, journalists, and public audiences is critically important. Effective science communication allows us to build dialogues and develop and foster relationships of mutual respect. Sessions in this SWIRL will provide examples, guidelines, and/or insights into ways to communicate science and its value in an accessible, compelling, and reciprocal manner across a variety of media (including art, social media, and multimedia) and with a wide variety of audiences.

Soils are both responders and drivers of critical environmental changes facing the Earth. These sessions highlight the complexity of the soil system including erosion; dust production; soils in water, transport, and chemistry; isotopic analyses; pedogenic processes affected by volcanism; physical, chemical, and biological composition; fertility; greenhouse gas production; and weathering.