American Geophysical Union: Fall 2003 Conference
| Published date | 01 February 2004 |
| Date | 01 February 2004 |
| Pages | 11-12 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07419050410533323 |
| Author | April M. Love |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
American Geophysical Union:
Fall 2003 Conference
April M. Love
LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 2 2004, pp. 11-12, #Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419050410533323 11
The Annual Fall Meeting of the
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
was held December 8-12, 2003 in San
Francisco, California. The AGU's
activities are focused on the
organization and dissemination of
scientific information in the
interdisciplinary and international
field of geophysics. The geophysical
sciences involve four fundamental
areas: atmospheric, environmental and
ocean sciences; solid-earth sciences;
hydrologic sciences; and space
sciences. As an earth science
librarian, I was most interested in the
research activities of the University of
California, Irvine faculty and graduate
students sharing their research, as
well as the research trends and
discoveries in the geophysical and
environmental sciences. The AGU has
also premiered a different publications
model for electronic content and
keeping abreast of this is critical for
the nature of my work. For more
information on the AGU and its
activities, please refer to their Web
page at: www.agu.org/
One of the most striking observations
I made during this conference is the
rapidity of analysis of the fires in
Southern California during October
24-31, 2003. Satellite photos of the
smoke plumes and spectrometer
analyses of air-borne compounds and
particulates were already in evidence at
this conference, and it was less than six
weeks after the fact. Photos from the
Goddard Space Flight Center (www.gsfc.
nasa.gov/topstory/2003/1024cafires.html)
document the progress of the fires and
directions of smoke plumes off shore in
a southwest direction, over highly
populated areas of Southern California
and then over the ocean. NASA's Earth
Observatory Web site has satellite
photos taken throughout the progress of
the fires (http://earthobservatory.nasa.
gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_
v2.php3?img_id=11799). More
information about atmospheric
conditions can be gathered from the
Envirocast Media Update page (www.
stormcenter.com/media/031028/) which
features photos from MODIS (the
Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer on board NASA's
Terra Satellite). Levels of carbon
monoxide can be viewed from the
NASA Earth Observatory Web site (http://
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/
NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16351)
from measurements taken by the
Measurements of Pollution in the
Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument
aboard NASA's Terra satellite for the
period October 26-31, 2003.
Technology is making it easier for
scientists to observe ``real time''
information and more rapidly predict
climate change from the global
perspective.
Update on the Total Mapping Ozone
Spectrometer (TOMS)
(http://jwocky.gsfc.nasa.gov/)
Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry, F.
Sherwood Rowland from the University
of California, Irvine shared background
information on the use of the TOMS
technology to show what was
happening in the Antarctic and that the
destruction of the ozone layer was a
global problem. Paul Newman, from
the NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center spoke on the ``Season of the
ozone hole.'' Using illustrations that
showed the progression of the ozone
hole over Antarctica (http://jwocky.
gsfc.nasa.gov/news/press_release_
2003.html), Newman pointed out the
visible changes in the ozone layer from
winter through the summer. Sunlight
provides the energy for the
stratospheric destruction of ozone at
66,000 feet in the stratosphere. The
ozone hole reached its peak on
September 24, 2003. Usually the ozone
hole remains through December, but in
2003, it broke up in November. P.K.
Bhartia, Goddard Space Flight Center,
whose research group has collected
over 25 years of ozone data, reported on
the smoke and dust aerosols and
particulates from the 2003 Southern
California fires. Using MODIS to
determine the chemical composition of
urban smog, the NASA group was able
to monitor movement of nitric acid,
sulfuric acid and other compounds
contained in the smoke and soot that
moved across the continent to Maine
after the change in the prevailing winds
from off shore to on shore (west to
east). Soot and dust are important
factors in climate change processes as
well as smaller aerosol particulates that
can be measured by TOMS.
I prepared a poster session: Libraries
and Information Science: The
Profession Alternative Career
Opportunities for Atmospheric, Earth
and Geo-Scientists (ED31D 1188) for
this year's conference. I compiled a
selection of library related web pages
on Power Point and pamphlets supplied
by the American Library Association,
and shared options for alternate careers
for geoscientists. One of my first
visitors was a teacher from a liberal arts
college who rushed over to me and was
relieved to locate my poster. She said
that she had received many questions
from the undergraduates she taught
about what to do with a science degree
besides going into research or teaching.
She said that my information was just
what she was looking for. I received
many such comments from researchers
and teachers alike during my session.
Bench science and science education
come together in a service-based arena
such as librarianship with its emphasis
on using a variety technology and
applications to search, retrieve, archive
and incorporate information in many
different settings.
Another observation I made about
this conference is that 75 percent of the
To continue reading
Request your trial