Minutes of the USNC URSI Commission F Business Meeting

National Radio Science Meeting

University of Colorado

Boulder, CO

5 January 1999

1. Chairman Wolf Vogel called the meeting to order at 1710. It was moved and seconded that the minutes from the 6 January 1998 meeting be approved. The motion was passed unanimously.

2. Membership Committee Report.

Rich Paulus reported that the Membership Committee had received 5 nominations.

The nominees and their sponsors are

Rich Paulus reviewed each nominee's qualifications; a motion to accept the first four nominees and encourage a delayed vote on Konstanzer was put forth and seconded. These four were accepted by unanimous vote. Wolf Vogel asked all Commission F members to continue nominating high quality candidates for membership.

3. Items raised at the USNC URSI Business Meeting of 4 January 1999.

A. Financial Report

Wolf Vogel announced that USNC URSI has a current balance of $183.7K.

B. USNC URSI & IEEE AP-S Joint Meeting Committee.

Wolf Vogel reported that the USNC URSI & IEEE AP-S Joint Meeting Committee Chair, Jon Moellers, reviewed the status of future AP-S/URSI meetings (The schedule of meetings is attached).

Wolf Vogel pointed out that the URSI General Assembly is scheduled for August 1999 and that a joint AP-S/URSI meeting is scheduled for the prior month in Orlando, FL.

Geoff Hyde asked why are there no business meetings at IGARSS. Gary Brown pointed out that USNC URSI no longer formally supports IGARSS meetings and, without formal support, USNC rules are such that only an unofficial business meeting could be held at IGARSS. A motion was made and seconded to discuss options of IGARSS/Commission F linkage at the USNC Executive Meeting. The motion passed. Wolf Vogel clarified the discussion(s) by asking if the general consensus of the members in attendance is to pursue some linkage with IGARSS. The consensus was unanimous.

C. National Radio Science Meetings.

Wolf Vogel reviewed the participation of Commission F at the National Radio Science Meetings (statistics are attached). Wolf thanked the session organizers (Al Gasiewski, Rich Paulus, Dennis Trizna, Scott Chubb, and Roger Lang), Ed Westwater for attending the October Organizing Meeting, Al Gasiewski, who organized the Student Paper Competition, and Gary Brown, who organized the Booker Award.

D. WWW Status Report.

Steve Sekelsky reviewed the status of the USNC URSI web site, which is located at http://www.usnc-ursi.org. Steve pointed out that all USNC URSI Commissions share the site and that he is the focal point for the Commissions – Steve also serves as the Commission F ‘webmaster’. Wolf Vogel congratulated him on providing the leadership for such an important task.

E. Membership Database.

Wolf Vogel thanked Ross Stone and Kenn Anderson for their work on organizing the USNC URSI Membership Database.

F. International URSI report.

Wolf Vogel noted that the 26^th General Assembly will be held at Toronto (August 13-21, 1999) and that it is now time to select participants from the US. To be a participant, the person must be an "active" member of USNC URSI, which means that the person has attended at least one Commission Business Meeting in the triennium. Commission F is allocated 13 slots for participants; each participant receives a $600 travel stipend. Wolf announced that USNC needs list by 21 January 1999.

G. Nominations for USNC URSI officers.

Wolf Vogel announced that it was time for nominations for USNC URSI Recording Secretary/Chair Elect. Gary Brown, current RS/CE, will succeed Susan Avery as USNC URSI Chair this coming triennium (Jan 00 to Dec 02).

H. Recommendation for Member at Large.

Wolf Vogel asked for names of people to recommend to USNC URSI as Member at Large (There are six Members at Large, each one serves a three year term, so two positions need to be filled each year). In the following discussion, it was pointed out that Commission F has two members who are currently serving as Members at Large to USNC URSI; Amalia Barrios (serving out Bob McIntosh's term) and Ross Stone. A motion was made, seconded and passed that Commission F put no nominees forward at this time for consideration as Member at Large to USNC URSI.

I. Election of Commission officers (needed by 30 March, 1999)

Wolf Vogel requested nominations and a vote for Commission F Secretary. George Hagn nominated Roger Lang and the nomination was seconded; Bob Crane nominated Al Gasiewski and the nomination was seconded. The nominations were closed; both Roger and Al were asked to leave the room while the members present discussed their merits. Lively discussions ensued; both nominees are outstanding candidates. Finally, Geoff Hyde called the question and was seconded. A vote was taken and Al Gasiewski was elected Secretary, USNC URSI Commission F.

Ed Westwater will succeed Wolf Vogel as Chair and Kenn Anderson will succeed Ed Westwater as Vice-Chair for the next triennium.

J. USNC/URSI nomination form for membership in commissions.

Wolf Vogel announced that the membership nomination form is now available on the web site http://www.usnc-ursi.org.

K. USNC URSI Constitution.

Wolf Vogel observed that the USNC URSI Constitution is nearing acceptance by NAS. Chalmers Butler led the effort to modernize the Constitution and submitted it to NAS back in '93.

L. Topics for Boulder ’00.

Wolf Vogel asked for ideas and topics for the '00 National Radio Science Meeting. George Hagn proposed a joint meeting on propagation. Bob Crane offered to organize a session on point-to-point propagation. Dan Dockery proposed to organize a session on PE modeling and propagation. Dennis Trizna offered to organize a session on Remote Sensing of Surfaces. Dusan Zrnic suggested that Alex Ryzhkov would organize a session on Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere. Ed Westwater proposed a session on Millimeter Wave Techniques and Measurements

4. Commission F Membership.

Wolf Vogel announced that Commission F currently has five categories of membership, namely Active, Inactive, Correspondent, Retired , and Emeritus. In the past year a number of members have expressed concern about these classifications. Wolf Vogel suggested that the three categories of Active, Inactive, and Correspondent be merged into one category, Member. George Hagn made a motion echoing Wolf’s suggestion with an addition that the categories of Retired and Emeritus be merged into one category, Emeritus. George’s motion was seconded, a vote taken, and the motion was passed.

5. Other Commission F Business.

Wolf Vogel asked if there were any other Commission F business items. Ram Narayanan mentioned his meeting on Frequency Allocation. No other business items were forthcoming so Wolf asked for a motion to close the meeting. A motion was made, seconded, and passed. The meeting adjourned at 1825.

Submitted by

Kenneth D. Anderson

USNC URSI Commission F Secretary.

Commission F Representation at the

USNC URSI National Radio Science Meetings

*** Commission F Business Meeting

^^^ Sponsorship to be determined