The Atmosphere and Ionosphere: Dynamics, Processes and Monitoring (Physics of Earth and Space Environments)

From July 7 to 12, 2008 in Zelenogradsk, a cosy resort on the bank of the Baltic Sea near Kaliningrad in Russia, the 1st International Conference “Atmosphere, Ionosphere, Safety (AIS-2008)” has been carried out. The State Russian University of I. Kant, Semenov Institute of chemical physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushkov Institute of terrestrial magnetism and radio-waves propagation of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Russian Committee on Ball Lightning (BL) have acted as organizers of the conference. Financial support was made by Russian Fund of Fundamental Research Project N. 08-03-06041 and European Of?ce of Aerospace Research and Development Grant award FA8655-08-1-5052. The International conference “Atmosphere, Ionosphere, Safety” (AIS-2008) was devoted to (i) the analysis of the atmosphere–ionosphere response on natural and man-made processes, the reasons of occurrence of the various accompanying geophysical phenomena, and an estimation of possible consequences of their in?uence on the person and technological systems; (ii) the study of the monitoring possibility and search of the ways for the risk level decrease. Discussion of the physical and chemical processes accompanying the observable geophysical p- nomena was undertaken. One can see from a list of the Conference sections that questions of safety took only rather modest place, so main topics of the Conference became discussion of processes taking place in the atmosphere, ionosphere and methods of monitoring these processes.

Vladimir L. Bychkov is a leading researcher at the Department of Physics at the Lomonosov Moscow State University. He has 35 years of experience in plasma physics studies, namely, the physics of elementary processes, gas discharges, plasma chemistry and ball lightning. He is Head of the Russian Committee on Ball Lightning and Vice-President of the International Committee on Ball Lightning.

Gennady V. Golubkov is a leading scientist at the Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He has 40 years of experience in quantum scattering theory, the theory of atom-molecular processes, chemical physics of atmosphere and of low temperature plasma. He is a member of the Moscow Physical Society, the New York Academy of Sciences and the International Committee on Theoretical Chemistry.

Anatoly I. Nikitin is a principle researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for Energy Problems of Chemical Physics in Moscow. He has 45 years of experience in quantum electronics research, chemical physics, plasma physics, plasma chemistry and ball lightning. He is Secretary of the International Committee on Ball Lightning and a member of the Moscow Physical Society.