AGU Fall Meeting: Three Additional Press Conferences Added

6 December 2013


Moscone Convention Center

San Francisco, California
9–13 December 2013

Contact:
Thomas Sumner
+1 (202) 777-7516
[email protected]

Please visit the 2013 AGU Fall Meeting Media Center for additional information including previous media advisories.

The AGU Public Information Office has scheduled three additional press conferences to highlight newsworthy presentations at the 2013 Fall Meeting. Details for the newly added press conferences are below. Please click on the “Press Conference” tab in the online Media Center for a full list of press conferences and more information, including participants and associated scientific sessions. The new press conferences are tagged with “[NEW]” in the schedule.

The schedule of press conferences is subject to change, before or during Fall Meeting. Press conferences may be added or dropped, their titles and emphases may change and participants may change. Updates, changes and additions to the press conference schedule will also be posted in the Press Conference tab in the Media Center.

Press conferences take place in the Press Conference Room (Room 3000, Moscone West, Level 3), diagonally across the hall from the Press Room. Times for press conferences are Pacific Standard Time. All press conferences will be webstreamed. Click on the “Webstreaming” tab in the Media Center for further information.

ZAP! The Weird Green Lightning From Chaiten Volcano
Monday, 9 December
3:30 p.m. (Please note delayed start of this press conference. It will last only 30 minutes.)

In May 2008 the Chilean volcano Chaiten erupted spectacularly and exhibited remarkable lightning activity. Photographer Carlos Gutierrez captured a few images showing unusual kelly-green lightning channels. In this briefing, lightning researcher Arthur Few explains the probable cause of the verdant lightning and what it has in common with other dramatic high-energy atmospheric phenomena.

Participant:
Arthur A. Few, Professor Emeritus, Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA

Session: AE13B

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The Weak Solar Cycle and Its Consequences
Wednesday, 11 December
9 a.m.

The current solar cycle is on track to be the weakest in 100 years, providing an unprecedented opportunity for scientists studying the sun. In this panel, scientists will examine the current solar cycle in relation to past cycles and discuss the consequences of the weak solar cycle on the various layers regions between the sun and Earth, including implications for space weather, atmosphere and climate.

Participants:
Nat Gopalswamy, astrophysicist, Solar Physics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA;
Leif Svalgaard, senior research scientist, W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA;
Marty Mlynczak, senior research scientist, Climate Science Branch, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, USA;
Joe Giacalone, professor and associate director, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA.

Sessions: SH23D, SH24A, SH33C, SH33E, SA51A-2032

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Nuclear Weapons Testers Beware: New Technologies for Nuclear Testing Treaty Verification
Thursday, 12 December
10:30 a.m.

New systems and technologies developed for the verification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) will be used in the largest-ever simulation of an on-site inspection in the Dead Sea area in Jordan. At the same time, the CTBTO’s global alarm system that could trigger such an inspection has seen many enhancements. Besides its role in ensuring that no nuclear explosion escapes detection, the system generates a wealth of scientific data that can be applied, for example, to tsunami warnings, probing the Earth’s structure, tracking emissions from nuclear accidents, analyzing meteor blasts and volcano eruptions, listening to whales or environmental monitoring of the atmosphere and oceans.

Participants:
Patrick Grenard, Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Preparatory Commission, Vienna, Austria;
Gordon MacLeod, Chief Policy Planning and Operations Section, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Preparatory Commission, Vienna, Austria;
Monika Krysta, Atmospheric Sciences Officer, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Preparatory Commission, Vienna, Austria;
Pierrick Mialle, Acoustic Officer, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Preparatory Commission, Vienna, Austria.

Sessions: NH21D-02, NH21D-06, S21B-2403, S21B-2391, NH23D-1550, S23B-2508, S23D-01, S23D-04, S24B-06, S31E-01, S53C-04

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AGU Contact:

Thomas Sumner
+1 (202) 777-7516
[email protected]