Eos, Vol. 79, No. 52, December 29, 1998
dent of the Union appoint an independent
panel to draft the statement. In addition to
scientists who are active in the issue under
consideration, the panel also includes o n e
m e m b e r from COPA, the originator of the re­
quest, and o n e m e m b e r from the AGU Coun­
cil. Before position statements c o m e to a vote
before Council, all AGU m e m b e r s are noti­
fied, usually by an a n n o u n c e m e n t in Eos,
that AGU is working on a statement and they
are w e l c o m e to c o m m e n t . The panel drafts a
statement, taking into consideration c o m ­
ments received from other AGU members,
and forwards the draft to the Council for their
consideration and vote.
As an organization, AGU has a repre­
sentative form of governance, and e l e c t e d
m e m b e r s of the AGU Council are the repre­
sentatives for the Union. The Council con­
Permafrost Digital
Databases Now Available
PAGE 634
Two global cryospheric data products are
now available in digital form: the Circum-Arctic Map of Permafrost and Ground-ice Condi­
tions and the Circumpolar Active Layer
System (CAPS) CD-ROM.
Both products are the result of multina­
tional projects of the International Perma­
frost Association (IPA), a program supported
at the American Geophysical Union (AGU)
over the past 5 years with a National S c i e n c e
Foundation (NSF) grant. The digital data
should prove useful for global climate
c h a n g e models and polar and mountain re­
s e a r c h and contribute to the assessments of
sists of Presidents and Presidents-elect of the
ten sections, five e l e c t e d Union Officers
(President, President-elect, General Secre­
tary, International Secretary, and past-Presi­
dent) and the AGU Executive Director.
Members of the Council review and discuss
the draft statements, which are issued on be­
half of the Union, before voting to adopt or re­
ject a position statement. AGU policy makes
it more difficult to a c c e p t a new position
statement than reject o n e or to withdraw an
existing statement. A c c e p t a n c e of a position
statement requires a supermajority vote, or
2/3 of Council m e m b e r s . Statements have a
lifetime of no more than 4 years, unless the
Council c h o o s e s to reaffirm a statement. The
Council c a n withdraw a statement at any
time by a simple majority vote, or e l e c t to
shorten a statement's lifespan.
T h e revised procedures approved by the
Council at the Fall Meeting recognize the
n e e d for AGU to stay within its guidelines for
public a d v o c a c y while also allowing AGU to
participate in collaborative efforts on short
notice. When other organizations request
AGU endorsement, m e m b e r s of COPA and
Council discuss the merits of e a c h proposal
and then forward the c o m m i t t e e ' s recom­
mendation to President J o h n Knauss for a de­
cision. T h e revised procedures allow AGU to
maintain its integrity as a scientific society
but not miss opportunities to be an advocate
for s c i e n c e in a timely fashion.
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change.
For the first time, spatial variations in per­
mafrost and their relationship to ground ice,
physiography, and overburden thickness
have b e e n accurately c o m p u t e d using a digi­
tal database. T h e total area of the Northern
Hemisphere c o v e r e d by permafrost, glaciers,
and ice sheets, 25.4%, agrees with earlier esti­
mates (for e x a m p l e , by A. L. Washburn in
Geocryology, 1980): 25.5 million k m in the
map and 24.7 million k m in the b o o k . Ap­
proximately 65% of the hemisphere's perma­
frost is found in mountains, highlands, and
plateaus, characterized by relatively thin
overburden. As warming occurs, signifi­
cantly large areas of permafrost at high eleva­
tions would b e susceptible to thawing and
increased ground instability. The remaining
hemispheric permafrost o c c u p i e s lowlands,
highlands, and intermontane depressions,
characterized by thick overburdens. The dis­
tribution by map unit is shown in T a b l e 1.
T h e printed c o p y of the Circum-Arctic
Map of Permafrost and Ground Ice-Condi­
tions (1:10,000,000) c a n b e obtained from
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Informa­
tion Services, P.O. B o x 25286, Federal Center,
Denver, Colorado 80225 USA. When order­
ing, refer to the map as USGS Circum-Pacific
Map Series CP-45. Cost is $4.00 plus $3.50 post­
age. T h e digital version of the map c a n be ob­
tained from the National Snow and Ice Data
Center (NSIDC) at ftp://ftp.ngdc.noaa.
gov/Snow_ Ice/Permafrost/IPA_map/ or from
the United Nations Environment Programme
GRID in Norway by contacting grid@grida.no.
The CAPS CD-ROM includes a bibliog­
raphy of permafrost literature spanning 19781997, a 12-language glossary of
2
2
Author
Peter
Folger
AGU Headquarters, Washington, D.C., USA
Table 1. Permafrost Areas of Northern Hemisphere Based on Continuity (Extent) and Ground Ice Content
Lowlands/Uplands with
Thick O v e r b u r d e n
High > 2 0 %
Extent of Permafrost
Continuous (90-100%)
Discontinuous (50-90%)
Sporadic (10-50%)
Isolated (0-10%)
Relictt
Glaciers
Total areas
6
Medium 10-20%
Mountains with
Thin O v e r b u r d e n
Ice c o n t e n t by m a p unit
Low 0-10%
High > 10%
1.49 (5.9)*
0.08 (0.3)
0.11 (0.4)
0.34(1.3)
1.31
0.87
0.31
0.07
(5.1)
(3.4)
(1.2)
(0.3)
0.38(1.5)
0.38(1.5)
0.56 (2.2)
0.60 (2.4)
2.14
0.75
0.32
0.03
2.02 (7.9)
2.56 (10.0)
1.92 (7.5)
3.24 (12.7)
2
(8.4)
(2.9)
(1.3)
(0.1)
Low 0-10%
5.66
2.34
2.66
2.85
(22.2)
(9.2)
(10.4)
(11.2)
13.51 (53.0)
Total (%)
10.95
4.42
3.99
3.89
0.12
2.12
25.49
(43.1)
(17.3)
(15.5)
(15.3)
(0.5)
(8.3)
(100)
*Area, 10 k m and p e r c e n t a g e (%) includes areas underlain by glaciers; glaciers in m o u n t a i n s of Asia and Europe w e r e not included s i n c e digital information was
not a v a i l a b l e .
f A r e a of relict permafrost is for region s o u t h of permafrost b o u n d a r y in Russia; a d d i t i o n a l a r e a s of relict permafrost i n c l u d e d in o t h e r units.
Northern H e m i s p h e r e land a r e a e s t i m a t e d at 100,407 million k m ( O l e g Anisimov, p e r s o n a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n , 1998).
2
This page may b e freely c o p i e d .
Eos, Vol. 79, No. 52, December 29, 1998
frozen-ground-related terms, several digital
maps, and a bibliography and index of more
than 700 Russian permafrost maps. It features
the Global Geocryological Database (GGD)
containing 200 descriptions of permafrost-re­
lated datasets held by individuals and organi­
zations around the world. Included are 56
datasets of active layer, b o r e h o l e tempera­
ture profiles, and rock glaciers representative
of sites from many of the 23 IPA m e m b e r
countries, and the 69-site dataset of the Circ u m p o l a r Active Layer Monitoring (CALM)
network. An international soil (cryosol) data­
b a s e and a paleogeographical database of
Europe are also part of the p a c k a g e .
The CD-ROM, c o m p i l e d and produced by
the NSIDC, is organized for use with an HTML
browser such as Mosaic or Netscape. Net­
s c a p e is included for users who do not al­
ready have an HTML browser. Data files are
ASCII, and in a few c a s e s data are also pro­
vided in DBase or Arclnfo formats. Images
are in GIF format and include s c a n n e d pho­
tos of rock glaciers as well as maps of data
collection areas. The GGD descriptions of
e a c h dataset ( m e t a d a t a ) are available at
W e b site: http://www-nsidc.colorado.edu/
NSIDC/CATALOG/ENTRIES/G01175.html. For
further information on the CD-ROM, c o n t a c t
User Services, National Snow and Ice Data
Center, Campus B o x 449, University of Colo­
rado, Boulder, CO 80309-0449 USA; Tel: +1303-492-6199; Fax: +1-303-492-2468; E-mail:
nsidc@kyros.colorado.edu. Information on
IPA activities including a browse image of
the permafrost map and abstracts of the Sev­
enth International C o n f e r e n c e on Permafrost
are available on the IPA W e b site:
http://www.soton.ac.uk/ipa.
Carlton W Thorn
In Memoriam
iei.fu,.8J
H 1 1
been a m e m b e r (Planetology) since 1962.
PAGE 636
Carl V. Anderson died. He h a d b e e n a
Recent Ph.D.s
6 3 . He h a d b e e n a m e m b e r ( V o l c a n o l o g y ,
Geochemistry, and Petrology) since 1971.
Ross R. Heinrich died o n D e c e m b e r 14,
1997, at a g e 8 2 . H e h a d b e e n a m e m b e r
(Atmospheric S c i e n c e s ) since 1939.
Klaus L. Huber died o n J u n e 4, 1998, at a g e
3 6 . He h a d b e e n a m e m b e r
since 1992.
(Tectonophysics)
Rafael Katzman died at a g e 3 5 . H e h a d
b e e n a student m e m b e r (Seismology) since 1993.
Vadim Lyatsky died at a g e 7 1 . He h a d
b e e n a m e m b e r (Planetology) since 1988.
Joseph D. Martinez died o n February 1 1 ,
1 9 9 8 , at a g e 8 3 . H e h a d b e e n a m e m b e r
(Tectonophysics) since 1952.
Hydrology
Conflict analysis u n d e r c l i m a t i c u n c e r t a i n ­
ties: T h e u p p e r Rio G r a n d e b a s i n , A. Bella, Uni­
versity o f Arizona, L u c i e n D u c k s t e i n , F e r e n c
Szidarovszky, May 1996.
M u l t i o b j e c t i v e fuzzy r e g r e s s i o n a p p l i e d to
t h e c a l i b r a t i o n o f fuzzy c o n c e p t u a l rainfall-run­
off m o d e l s , E. C. Ozelkan, University o f Ari­
zona, Lucien Duckstein, D e c e m b e r 1997.
Downscaling precipitation and temperature
u n d e r c l i m a t e c h a n g e o v e r semi-arid r e g i o n s o f
s o u t h w e s t e r n U.S., B. P. Shreatha, University o f
Arizona, L u c i e n D u c k s t e i n , J a n u a r y 1 9 9 6 .
Honors
Harry R. Munkelwitz died in J u n e 1998, at
a g e 6 5 . He h a d b e e n a m e m b e r ( A t m o s p h e r i c
S c i e n c e s ) since 1972.
Lewis L. Smith died at a g e 6 0 . H e h a d
been a member (Atmospheric Sciences) since
1986.
J o h n R. Apel, a former e d i t o r a n d m e m b e r
of AGU s i n c e 1 9 7 1 , w i n s t h e 1 9 9 8 P e c o r a Award
from NASA a n d USGS for his o u t s t a n d i n g contri­
b u t i o n s t o w a r d t h e u n d e r s t a n d i n g of Earth b y
m e a n s of r e m o t e s e n s i n g . Apel is c i t e d for his
B O O K REVIEW
Aquifer Hydraulics: A Comprehensive Guide
to Hydrogeologic Data Analysis
PAGE 6 3 5
Vedat Batu, J o h n Wiley, New York, 7 2 7 pp.,
ISBN 0-471-18502-7, 1 9 9 8 , $ 9 5 .
The past several d e c a d e s have produced
a surge in numerical methods of aquifer
analysis, including more c o m p l e x and sophis­
ticated analytical approaches. For e x a m p l e ,
Authors
Jerry Brown, International
Permafrost
Associa­
tion, Woods Hole, Mass., USA, and Chris Haggerty, National Snow and Ice Data Center,
University of Colorado,
Boulder, USA.
s u s t a i n e d p i o n e e r i n g w o r k in t h e u s e o f s a t e l l i t e
a n d aircraft d a t a in t h e study of t h e o c e a n . H e
h a s b e e n a w o r l d l e a d e r in t h e a d v a n c e m e n t of
r a d a r r e m o t e m e a s u r e m e n t of t h e s e a , a n d is
k n o w n a s t h e "Father" of t h e S e a s a t s p a c e c r a f t ,
w h i c h w a s l a u n c h e d in 1 9 7 6 . Apel is c u r r e n t l y a
physicist/oceanographer and president of Global
O c e a n A s s o c i a t e s in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Raymond Hide, a n AGU Fellow, B o w i e
m e m b e r (Hydrology) since 1993.
Keith Frye d i e d o n August 4, 1998, at a g e
The CAPS CD-ROM was produced at
NSIDC with funding from NOAA's Environ­
mental Service Data and Information
program. Additional support for the develop­
ment of CAPS and the GGD was provided by
IPA, NSF, the Geodata Institute at the Univer­
sity of Southampton, England, and the
Cooperative Institute for R e s e a r c h in Environ­
mental S c i e n c e s , University of Colorado,
Boulder, Colorado. T h e NSF grant to the AGU
for the support of the IPA facilitated many of
data compilation activities over the past 5
years.
many consulting firms and universities have
released graphic-intensive software p a c k a g e s
for aquifer test data analysis, including auto­
mated optimization, data filtering, and pre­
processing. It is not u n c o m m o n to find users
of these products who are not versed in b a s i c
theory of aquifer hydraulics. Vedat Batu's
Aquifer Hydraulics: A Comprehensive
Guide
This page may b e freely c o p i e d .
Medalist, a n d m e m b e r s i n c e 1 9 9 1 , r e c e i v e d t h e
1999 Lewis Fry R i c h a r d s o n Medal in r e c o g n i t i o n
of his " p i o n e e r i n g e x p e r i m e n t a l a n d t h e o r e t i c a l
s t u d i e s of t h e n o n l i n e a r d y n a m i c s o f rotating flu­
ids, a n d their a p p l i c a t i o n to u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e
d y n a m i c s of p l a n e t a r y a t m o s p h e r e s a n d inte­
riors." H e is c u r r e n t l y a n E m e r i t u s Professor of
Physics a n d Honorary Fellow of Jesus College.
Mark H. Thiemens, a m e m b e r of AGU s i n c e
1 9 8 1 , r e c e i v e d t h e Ernest 0 . L a w r e n c e A w a r d in
the c a t e g o r y of e n v i r o n m e n t a l s c i e n c e a n d t e c h ­
n o l o g y from t h e U.S. D e p a r t m e n t of Energy.
T h i e m e n s h a s c o n t r i b u t e d to c u r r e n t thinking
o n e n v i r o n m e n t a l s c i e n c e , t h e s o l a r system, a n d
the E a r t h ' s f o r m a t i o n a n d e v o l u t i o n . In 1 9 9 1 , h e
d i s c o v e r e d that c a r b o n d i o x i d e in t h e strato­
s p h e r e p o s s e s s e s a large a n d v a r i a b l e mass-inde­
p e n d e n t i s o t o p i c c o m p o s i t i o n , w h i c h later
p r o v i d e d c r u c i a l insight into t h e study of a t m o s ­
p h e r i c m o l e c u l e s a n d p r o c e s s e s . T h i e m e n s is
c u r r e n t l y a c h e m i s t at t h e University of California,
S a n Diego.
to Hydrogeologic
Data Analysis provides a
valuable service—it t e a c h e s readers the most
fundamental theory with a c o m p r e h e n s i v e
overview of b a s i c methods.
T h e quality of a t e x t b o o k depends on the
content from which it is drawn. As such,
Batu's b o o k is a very effective textbook. It is a
c o m p r e h e n s i v e primer of classical aquifer hy­
draulics, summarizing seminal works includ­
ing, but not limited to, those of (in n o
specific order) Theis, Hantush, J a c o b , Coo­
per, Papadopulos, Neuman, Witherspoon,
Boulton, Bredehoeft, and Lohman.
With a few e x c e p t i o n s , all of the funda­
mental theory c o v e r e d in the text is several
d e c a d e s old. For e x a m p l e , m u c h of the the­
ory is also found in books by Walton, De Wiest,
Kruseman and De Ridder, Lohman, and