GROUP ON EARTH OBSERVATIONS

GEO-XIII Plenary

Announcement

St. Petersburg, Russian Federation 7–10 November 2016

earthobservations.org roscosmos.ru meteorf.ru

THE VENUE

The GEO-XIII Plenary and Exhibition will take place at the Park Inn by Radisson Pribaltiyskaya hotel in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. The venue lies near the scenic Gulf of close to transport hubs and the city center. The hotel is just 25 kilometers from the Pulkovo Airport (LED).

Address: , 14 Korablestroiteley st., (Primoskaya metro station)

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OTHER HOTELS NEARBY

Name Web-site Distance from the venue Solo Sokos Hotel Vasilievsky sokoshotels.fi 10 minutes by car **** Courtyard St. Petersburg Vasilievsky marriott.com 10 minutes by car ****

NasHOTEL en.nashotel.ru 10 minutes by car ****

5 IMPORTANT DEADLINES AND DATES

TBD Exhibition area registration

Hotel block booking reservation 30 September (at the special rates) Delegation lists to be sent 31 July to the GEO Secretariat

30 September Visa application support request

GEO WEEK AT A GLANCE

MON 2016 NOVEMBER Side Events 7 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 1 2 3 4 5 TUE GEO Executive Committee Meeting 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 8 GEO-XIII Exhibition Side Events 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 WED GEO-XIII Plenary Session 9 GEO-XIII Exhibition 27 28 29 30 Welcome Reception

THU GEO-XIII Plenary Session 10 GEO-XIII Exhibition

6 TRANSPORTATION St. Petersburg is served by facilities of the Pulkovo Airport, about 17 km (11 miles) south of central St. Petersburg. The Pulkovo Airport serves domestic and foreign airlines. Transfer from the Airport to the Hotel: A. Airport Taxi: Traveling by taxi is the most comfortable way of getting to the GEO-XIII venue. You can pay for your taxi by credit card/cash at the Taxi Pulkovo Airport counter or by cash to the driver at the end of a ride. The approximate price will be 1000–1500 RUB (~16–23 USD; 14–21 €). B. Public Transport: City buses number 39, 39Ex and Minivan Taxi number K39 run between the Pulkovo Airport and the nearest Moskovskaya (Line 2) metro station. Bus tickets cost 30–40 RUB (~0,6 USD; 0,5 €) depending on a rout number. Most metro stations are opened from 5.30 till 24.00. Operational time may slightly vary depending on the station and line. Ticket price is 35 RUB (~0,5 USD/€).

VISA REQUIREMENTS To travel to Russia, most foreign nationals are required to have an Entry Visa. Russian visas can be obtained at the local Russian Embassy or Consulate. To have a visa issued, an official invitation processed by the Russian Government or officially authorized companies is required. Delegates requiring a visa support should submit Visa support form (Appendix A) and scanned copy of a passport (the inside pages with photo and dates of validity, passport must be valid for at least 6 months after the date of departure from Russia) to the Local Organizers [email protected]( ) no later than 30 September 2016. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE VISA APPLICATION PROCESS TAKES ABOUT TWO WEEKS, SO PLEASE STRICTLY FOLLOW THE DEADLINES

CREDIT CARDS Credit cards are widely accepted at hotels, restaurants and shopping malls. The most popular are Visa and MasterCard. ELECTRICITY In Russia the standard voltage is 220 V. The standard frequency is 50 Hz. The power sockets that are used are of type C / F. Wall outlets take continental-style plugs with two round prongs.

7 TIME ZONE Local time in St. Petersburg is GMT + 3 hours.

WEATHER November is usually cold and rainy in St. Petersburg.

Daytime Temperature °C (°F) 2.0 (35,6) Nighttime Temperature °C (°F) 1.0 (33,8)

Average precipitation mm (inches) 55 (2.17) Average rainy days 16 Average snowy days 9

For daily weather forecast please visit: http://wmc.meteoinfo.ru/forecasts5000/russia/leningrad-region

CONTACTS

GEO SECRETARIAT: [email protected]

LOCAL ORGANIZERS: ROSHYDROMET ROSCOSMOS State Research Center on Space Joint-Stock Company Hydrometeorology “Planeta” “Russian Space Systems” (JSC “RSS”) (SRC ”Planeta”) General Director: Dr. Andrey Tyulin Director: Prof. Vasily Asmus 111250, , Aviamotornaya st., 53 123242, Moscow, Point of Contact: Bol. Predtechensky per., 7 Ms. Tamara Ganina, Point of Contact: deputy head of department; Dr. Zoya Andreeva, Mr. Aleksander Chunosov, expert head of laboratory [email protected] [email protected] Phone: +7(495) 600-33-21 Phone/Fax: +7(499) 252-03-56 Fax: +7(499) 204-77-45

8 APPENDIX-A PERSONAL DATA FORM FOR VISA SUPPORT

Name (Surname)

First name (Name)

Nationality

Sex

Country of residence

Date and place of birth

Passport number, Date of issue/Date of expiry

Organization, work address, tel., fax

Position

Date of arrival to Russia

Date of departure from Russia

Cities to be visited

Country and city of visa application

A scanned copy of the relevant pages of a passport (the inside pages with photo and dates of validity, passport must be valid for at least 6 months after the date of departure from Russia)