Sponsors: NASA, NSF, EOARD, ICTP, AFRL, AFOSR, ONR, CAWSES & COSPAR

IHY-Africa Meeting ReportSunanda Basu, Boston University

The Ghion Hotel – meeting location & lodgingfor all Participants

International Organizing CommitteeChristine Amory-Mazaudier, FranceDavid Anderson, USASunanda Basu, USA (Co-chair)David Byers, USAMihail Codrescu, USAPatricia Doherty, USATim Fuller-Rowell, USA (Co-chair)Keith Groves, USAAbebe Kebede, USA Ian Mann, CanadaKaren Fay O’Loughlin, USAMonique Petit-Didier, FranceBabatunde Rabiu, NigeriaRobert Robinson, USAEndawoke Yizengaw, USA

Local Organizing CommitteeGizaw Mengistu, EthiopiaBaylie Damtie, Ethiopia

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20 AfricanCountries *

63 African Scientists

40 Scientists From otherCountries

CV

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Informal Sub-group of Participants – Photo by Santimay Basu

Note: Large Gap in Coverage at African Equatorial Longitudes

SCINDA – an Existing Network for Scintillation Measurements

Similar large gap at African Longitudes

IHY-UN Basic Space Sciences Initiative

• Major thrust of IHY-UNBSSI Program is deployment of instrument arrays in developing countries

• Developed nations provide instruments• Developing countries provide man-power & maintenance• This has led to deployment of radio telescopes, GPS

receivers, magnetometers, etc. in many countries• In Africa, several arrays are in deployment stage primarily at

Universities• In Africa, another basic need is the cyber infra-structure

necessary for acquiring and real-time dissemination of the data obtained from such instruments

Planned Enhancement of GPS Network in Sub-Saharan Africa

-UCLA

-Japan

France

Important Events Prior to and During IHY-Africa Meeting

• GIFT Workshop, Nov 10 – All Day (P. Reiff brought tent Planetarium)

• SCINDA 2007 Workshop, Nov 11, – All Day

• Nov 11 Evening – Ice Breaker

• Opening of IHY-Africa Workshop, Nov 12 by Dr. H. E. Sintayehu, Minister of Education, Ethiopia

• African Cyber Infrastructure Discussion, Nov 12 - Early Evening

• SIDs Workshop, Nov 12 – Late Evening

• Poster Session & Buffet, Nov 13 – Evening

• Tour of Addis Ababa, Nov 14 Afternoon – Highlight: Visit to “Lucy”

• NSF-IHY Day, Nov 15 – 3 Breakout Groups on GPS/TEC, Magnetometers/Electrodynamics/Plasmasphere and Education/Outreach

• Nov 12- 15 – At least 20 Presentations on Space and Ground Programs of Relevance to Africa and Updates on Future Satellite Missions and Ground Arrays

• Evening of Nov 15 - Banquet and Folk Dances

• Nov 16 – Panel Discussion and Breakout Group Reports, Recommendations

Tutorials at the IHY-Africa 2007

Ionospheric Scintillations (by S. Basu),

Magnetic Storm Effects on Communication and Navigation Systems in the Equatorial Region (by Su. Basu) ,

Low Latitude Ionospheric Sensor Network (LISN)-The First Distributed Observatory in South America (by C. Valladares),

Ionospheric Model Adaptation by Means of Experimental Data(by S. Radicella)

Ionospheric Electrodynamics at Low and Middle Latitudes (by R. Heelis),

The Plasmasphere (by M. Moldwin)

The Preamble

We, the 63 African scientists, representing 20 African countries, and 40 scientists from other nations participating in the International Heliophysical Year Workshop in Addis Ababa, 12-16 November 2007,

• Recognizing that modern information and communications technologies have revolutionized the conduct of research, education, and training in science and technology, as well as elsewhere, by providing rapid and effective means to

- communicate among people, - discover, access, and share data and information, - participate in international, regional, and national scientific and educational efforts, - transmit observational data efficiently,

• Recommend that high priority be given to improving the cyber-infrastructure for Universities and other national science and technology institutions in Africa as a cost–effective and essential means of achieving national Millennium Development Goals.

“The IHY-Africa Resolution on Cyber-infrastructure”

Recognizing that:-Space science and space weather are no longer the concern only

of the developed nations of the world-Space science and technology are critical for Africa to deliver economicenvironmental, and social benefits to communities, such as wireless communications, resource management, remote sensing, and an educated population-Reduce dependency…-Consistent with UN BSS Initiative objectives…-African scientists have significant but underutilized capability in space science and space weather research

Noting that:-The location of Africa uniquely fills a critical gap in the observations required to understand the global space environment-Space science research opportunities in Africa have been limited

We strongly Recommend that vigorous efforts should be made to:-Expand and strengthen the space science programs in universities and research institutions-Increase funding for experimental facilities-Strengthen and take advantage of international collaborations

“The IHY-Africa Resolution on Science”

Overview of Proposed Instrument Arrays Overview of Instrument Arrays

Future Plans for Meetings & Schoolsfor African Scientists

• IHY/ WHI Campaign March 20-April 16, 2008

– Coincides with Ulysses polar pass

• SCINDA Workshop, 2008 in South Africa

• Africa Array Meeting, Johannesburg, S. Africa, June 08 (Seismic Array – can be used for Sp. Sci.)

• State Dept. involvement through Comm. for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS)

• CAWSES ISAR School in Taiwan, Fall 2008

• Training in GPS-based techniques

– Int. Partnership Between BC & ICTP, Trieste

• IHY-Africa, 2009 – Committee in the works

Proposal in Progress:

International Partnership for Sustainable Development in Navigation Science and Technology in Africa

Purpose: Organize a series of workshops for African university professors, young scientists and graduate students. Each workshop will be comprised of classroom and hands-on training in GPS hardware, technological applications and scientific exploration using GPS

Where: International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, IT

When: 3 week workshops to be held 1 or 2 times each year in 2009, 2010 and 2011

Who: Boston College and the International Centre for Theoretical Physics will design and manage the program. Lecturers will be invited from the US, Europe and Africa.

Proposed PIs:

Patricia Doherty, Boston College

Sandro Radicella, ICTP

Prepared by P.Doherty 01/02/08

International Partnership for Sustainable Development in Navigation Science and Technology in Africa

– To provide a knowledgeable GPS workforce in Africa– To encourage the use of GPS for societal and economic

development and environmental protection– To establish Space Weather studies in Africa

– To initiate international scientific collaborations

Precision Farming

Disaster Relief

Wildlife Conservation

Land Navigation

Water Navigation

Air Navigation Scientific Exploration

Prepared by P.Doherty 01/02/08

TIMED/GUVI Image at 135.6 nm over Africa

Whole Heliosphere Interval Campaign

March 20 to April 16, 2008

Targeted Observing Campaign during Solar Carrington Rotation # 2048 to study:

• Day-to-day variability of total electron content (TEC) and scintillations

• Day-to-day variability of F-region vertical drifts at the magnetic equator

• Development and decay of the Equatorial Anomaly

Measurements will be very important for determination of longitudinal variability, the planning of regional space-based navigation systems and as inputs to ionospheric space weather models