[Aqualist] IGCP 500 Project

[John W Magee]

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.

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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.