[U-06] Science Council of Japan in one hour: How it supports international organizations

[U06-12] Activities and Roles of International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG): Standardization of Earth Observation and Models

*Kenji Satake¹, Kumiko Goto-Azuma², Masato Furuya³, Takuji Nakamura², Toshio Koike⁴, Maki Tsujimura⁵, Hisashi Nakamura⁶, Toshiyuki Hibiya⁷, Keiko Kuge⁸, Setsuya Nakada⁹ (1.Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 2.National Institute of Polar Research & SOKENDAI, 3.Earth and Planetary Science, Hokkaido University, 4.ICHARM, Public Works Research Institute, 5.Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 6.RCAST, University of Tokyo, 7.Earth and Planetary Science, The University of Tokyo , 8.Dept. of Geophysics, Kyoto University, 9.National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience)

Keywords:IUGG, SCJ, International Coordination

IUGG (International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics) is one of the 40 scientific unions that belong to International Science Council. Currently, IUGG has 73 member countries. IUGG consists of eight International Associations. They are

International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS)

International Association of Geodesy (IAG)

International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA)

International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS)

International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS)

International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO)

International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI)

International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI)



IUGG was established in 1919 as one of the four scientific unions under International Research Council, together with Astronomical Union, Mathematical Union, and Chemical Union. The first nine member countries of IUGG were Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The most famous and productive scientific program that IUGG led may be the International Geophysical Year (1957-8). During the cold war period, international collaborations were made under IGY, including launching Soviet Union's Sputnik 1 and USA’s Explorer 1. Japan established Showa station and started scientific measurements in Antarctica.

IUGG leads international collaboration in studies of snow and ice, geodesy, geomagnetism and aeronomy, hydrology, meteorology, physical oceanography, seismology and volcanology, through the above eight International associations. These associations proposed standard models for earth’s shape, geomagnetic field, or global climate. They are essential for everyday life such as location by using GPS signal, or weather forecast. The international collaborations are also made for global issues such as climate change, global warming or water issues, or natural hazards such as earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.

In Japan, the Science Council of Japan (SCJ) is the adhering organization for IUGG, and the IUGG committee and eight subcommittees for each association of SCJ serve as national committees for the IUGG and each International Association, and work as liaison with national scientific societies. Japan also sends many officers of IUGG and International Associations and contributes their managements.