[Aqualist] IGCP 500 project

[Tim Barrows]

From: John W Magee <jwmagee at ems.anu.edu.au>

IGCP Project No. 500

Westerlies and Monsoons: Impacts of Climate Change and Variability on 
Dryland Environmetns, Hydrogeology and People

This project follows and builds on previous IGCP Projects 349 (Desert 
Margins and Palaeomonsoons) and 413 Understanding Future Dryland Changes 
from Past Dynamics, 1998-2003, http://www.shef.ac.uk/~igcp413)

IGCP 500 Details:

Project Leader: D.Thomas (United Kingdom)
Countries involved: Australia, Botswana, Canada, Chile, China, Finland, 
Germany, India, Iran, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States
Duration: 2004-2008

The project has three main aims:

Aim 1: To enhance the welfare of dryland societies by contributing to a 
better understanding of what drives climate change and variability, 
environmental change and key resource availability over timescales ranging 
from millennia to subdecadal.

Aim 2: To investigate the dynamics of key dryland landscape and resource 
elements, especially hydrological dynamics and aeolian system dynamics, and 
their impacts on and interactions with the human use of drylands.

Aim 3: Through the above scientific goals, enhance capacity in cutting edge 
dryland science and to provide a significant dryland input to the co-IGCP 
CHANGES initiative.

Initial Management meeting:

The IGCP 500 Management Group, met at the 32nd IGC, Firenze on Wednesday 25 
August 2004  to 1) discuss the launch and operation of the project and 
establish a work programme for the programme, both for the immediate year 
and for the total project duration until 2008.

1) Launch and operation of the project

 A website will be set up via Oxford University as soon as possible to 
publicise the project and its goals and to reach out to membership.

 Regular good annual reports (in September/October ) are the key to 
securing recognition from the IGCP scientific board. National link persons 
and the managers need to automatically contribute to the annual report that 
has top be sent to UNESCO.

 Given the timing of IGCP fund distributions, it would be better, where 
possible, for major meetings to be held in the June-September period. It 
was recognised that this ideal should not compromise logistical and 
scientific reasons for meetings to be held at other times of the year.

Special issues of leading international journals or conference proceedings 
should be produced from the major project meetings.


2)      Scientific programme
The scientific programme attempts to capture to overall project goals by 
laying specific emphasis on the roles of people, hydrology, aeolian 
dynamics and environmental change in dryland dynamics.

For 2005, a meeting is proposed for Chile in October.  Calogero Santoro 
made a presentation detailing the planned Chile meeting, which has the 
theme of climate and culture in arid lands, and a special southern 
hemisphere focus. It was agreed that the meeting fits well with IGCP 500 
aims, would be multidisciplinary, and would deal with the core project 
goals of drylands past, present and future.

It was agreed following discussion that the following overall meeting 
programme would be scheduled for IGCP 500's main activities up to 2008.

2005, October 10-14 with pre and post conference field excursions: Climate 
and Culture in southern Deserts. To be held at Arica, Chile, organised by 
Calogero Santoro with organising committee. Maximum 80 people.

2006, March 5-13 Loess meeting in Lanzarote organised by Ludwig Zoeller. 
This is a low-cost meeting to be held at a prestigious research centre. 
Maximum 60-70 people.

2006 July: A sponsored session could be proposed at the 6th International 
Conference for Aeolian Research to be held at Geulph, Canada.  A lead 
person required for this.

2006 September: Lake Eyre, Australia, with excursion; emphasis on 
aeolian-hydrology interactions, organised by John Magee and Paul 
Hesse.  This would be the main IGCP 500 funded meeting of 2006.

2007 September: China/Mongolia conference and fieldtrip, organised by 
Xiaoping Yang. Possible alternative: an Indian meeting.

2008 March:  European meeting to be held in Heidelberg proposed by Bernhard 
Eitel.

2008 September: main international meeting in southern Africa, organised by 
David Thomas.

................................................................................................................................................................. 


Australian contributors:

All Australian researchers who would like to participate in this IGCP 
project should contact John Magee to be included in email lists for project 
news.  If you are a potential contributor please also send information 
which can be collated and sent on the Dave Thomas for the annual 
report.  Please send summary of relevant research projects; publications 
lists, new activities, national level meetings, conference presentations at 
home and abroad to <jwmagee at ems.anu.edu.au>.




Dr John W. Magee
ARC QE II Research Fellow
Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, The Faculties
The Australian National University
Canberra, ACT, 0200, AUSTRALIA

Ph:    61 2 6125 2761
Fax:   61 2 6125 5544
Email: jwmagee at ems.anu.edu.au

"Wish I didn't know now, what I didn't know then"

Bob Seeger, 1980.