Workshop Update: A new feature of this workshop is introducing data bases and relevant software tools that can promote space science activities. There have been enormous number of space missions that have been accumulating large data bases of scientific data. Similarly, long-term data bases are available from groundbased observations. These data can be utilized in ways different from originally intended for understanding the heliophysical processes. One of the goals of the second workshop is to identify such data bases and make them available to the world community with necessary software tools so that scientists from developing countries can benefit from them without having to deploy instruments.

The United Nations, in cooperation with national and international space-related agencies and organizations, organized annually since 1990 workshops on basic space science, particularly for the benefit of scientists and engineers from developing nations. Drawing on nearly 15 years of workshops on basic space science and preparations for the International Heliophysical Year 2007, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, through the IHY Secretariat and the United Nations Basic Space Science Initiative (UNBSSI) will assist scientists and engineers from all over the world in participating in the International Heliophysical Year 2007. Information on the International Heliophysical Year 2007 is available at http://ihy2007.org and IHY India homepage at http://www.prl.res.in/~ihyindia/

The objectives of IHY are to discover the physical mechanisms that drive the coupling of Earth’s atmosphere to solar and heliospheric phenomena. The systematic global study of this interaction is to be the central theme of IHY. In view of these aims, the objectives for IHY are:

• provide benchmark measurements of the response of the magnetosphere, the ionosphere, the lower atmosphere and Earth surface to identify global processes and drivers which affect the terrestrial environment and climate;

• global study of the Sun-heliosphere system outward to the heliopause to understand the external, and historic drivers of geophysical change;

• foster international scientific cooperation in the study of heliophysical phenomena now and in the future; and

• communicate the unique scientific results of IHY to the interested scientific community and to the general public.

UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT VIENNA OFFICE DES NATIONS UNIES A VIENNE

SPONSORS: