162 2Nd Issue 2013
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ISSN 0019–1043 Ice News Bulletin of the International Glaciological Society Number 162 2nd Issue 2013 Contents 2 From the Editor 38 New Honorary Member – 4 The Russian contribution to snow science Professor Yang Zhenniang Sergey Sokratov 38 Staff changes 10 International Glaciological Society 39 Obituary: Sigfús Johnsen, 1940–2013 10 Journal of Glaciology 41 First Circular: International Symposium 11 Annals of Glaciology 55(66) on Glaciology in High-Mountain Asia, 12 Romance of the Three Poles – Report Kathmandu, Nepal, March 2015 from the IGS Beijing Symposium 46 Forthcoming events 25 Annual General Meeting 2013 46 International Summer School in 32 British Branch Meeting, Loughborough, Glaciology, McCarthy, Alaska, USA, 3–5 September 2013 August 2014 35 News 47 Glaciological diary 35 Richardson Medal for John W. Glen 50 New members Cover picture: The glaciers and ice core drilling expedition in Naimona’nyi, southwestern Tibetan Plateau. Photography by Lide Tian, ITP-CAS, Beijing, China. EXCLUSION CLAUSE. While care is taken to provide accurate accounts and information in this Newsletter, neither the editor nor the International Glaciological Society undertakes any liability for omissions or errors. 1 From the Editor Dear IGS member The festive season is fast approaching and it If we look at these things individually I is time to get this ICE issue out. Once again will try and share with you the thoughts of open access and its potential impact on the the IGS Council and the steps that have been operation of the Society is the main topic of taken so far. this editorial. Publication. We are now being more The IGS Council discussed the imple- assertive with authors of Journal and Annals mentation and likely effects of open access papers in our efforts to recover full page on the running of the Society at its meeting charges. Those of you submitting papers will held in Beijing in July. have noticed that you are now required to In the past, institutional and library tick a box saying you are aware of the page subscriptions to the Journal and Annals of charges and realize these have to be paid. Glaciology have subsidized the various In the past, participation in an IGS activities of the IGS (e.g. to provide scholar- symposia has entitled a participant ships, travel grants, student exchanges and submitting a paper to a thematic Annals grants for students to attend symposia and issue with a similar theme to the symposium workshops). This is a common business s/he is attending to four page-charge-free model of the various independent learned pages in that issue. However, starting with societies in the UK and so ours is not the the thematic issue on ‘Sea Ice in a Changing only organization that has to deal with Environment’ (paper deadline 20 December these issues. 2013), all authors will now be required to The Society has three main operations: the pay full page charges. At present, the Society membership, the publication of the Journal, is charged a processing fee of US$30 for each Annals and ICE, and the IGS symposia. With submission to our online submission system. the anticipated changes resulting from going Another thing the IGS Council is considering open access, we will have to ensure that is passing some or all of this cost on to each of these activities is self-sustaining. submitting authors (regardless of whether the Page charges will have to cover the cost of paper in question is accepted or not). publication, registration fees will have to Having laid out this ‘tougher’ policy cover the cost of attending a symposium on page charges, Council has however and membership fees will have to cover reaffirmed its commitment to continue to the cost of supporting our members and the provide waivers and discounts in cases of distribution of our publications to them. financial hardship. 2 As there is no page-charge income for Membership. Although production of the IGS newsletter, Council has decided to Journal of Glaciology papers (i.e. copy-editing, stop printing ICE and only publish it online, style-setting, typesetting, proof-checking, etc.) starting with ICE 164. The next issue of ICE is shared by all, it does not seem fair that the (163) will be the last to be mass-printed on limited society membership fees should go paper. However, we will continue to print towards subsidizing printing and shipping, a few copies of ICE to send to some of our particularly since more and more members esteemed members who do not have access are opting for ‘online-only’ membership. to the Internet. Increasingly, we are moving towards a system Symposia. As I have already mentioned, in which those of us who wish to receive a we will no longer grant participants four hard copy of the Journal bear the cost of page-charge-free pages. In addition, printing and shipping. Council have decided participants in the respective symposium not to make this transition in one fell swoop will no longer receive a hard copy of the but to spread it over 3 years. This means that Annals in question, although they will have we will have to increase the ‘combined’ full access to it online. Of course, members membership fees considerably in stages over will be able to purchase the issue at a the next 3 years. However, the ‘online-only’ ‘members rate’. Unfortunately, this does not membership will remain unchanged next mean that the registration fee will reduce; in year, for the third year in a row. fact the fees may have to increase (although We have now set the online membership we are attempting to get some commercial page up in such a way that you no longer have sponsors and grants to help keep the price to log in separately to access recent papers on down). IGS symposia are very elaborate and Ingenta. In order to have full access to all IGS generous events and delegates get a lot for publications (irrespective of where they are their money, with icebreakers, banquets, hosted), it should now be sufficient just to log mid-week excursions, refreshments during in as a member on our website. breaks all week, sometimes lunch and At the time of writing, members have additional events such as BBQs all included started renewing their membership. I would (all good value, particularly when one like to ask all members who are opting for considers that at some big conferences one the ‘combined’ membership (i.e. those of you does not even get a free cup of coffee!). With wanting to continue to receive hard copies of the help of the local organizers, the Society the Journal) to renew promptly. The first issue will continue to solicit grants that will enable of 2014, issue 219, will be finished very early us to support students and young scientists in the new year. And it is most economical if wanting to attend. For our next two symposia we can ship all hard copies out at the time it is clear that we have some funding to do of publication. It is very expensive to send just that. IGS symposia will continue to be an copies out individually. enjoyable and useful experience and a great So far almost 350 members have place to meet your peers, strengthen existing renewed. The total tally for 2013 was 930 collaborations and forge new ones. members, 20 down from last year. I trust that we will reach the 1000 mark in 2014. Magnús Már Magnússon Secretary General 3 The Russian contribution to snow science Perhaps the most exhaustive list of Russian (Soviet) ‘summer’s heat’. He defined the ‘freeze layer’ achievements in cryospheric research published in the atmosphere and mentioned a number of in English contains almost no purely snow-related thermophysical phenomena related to ice and publications (Kotlyakov, 1997). However, this does snow. However, the beginning of snow research not mean that snow research was not a focus of in Russia is usually linked with the name of A.I. Russian scientists. Russian-language reviews exist Voeikov (1842–1916). Voeikov (Hooson, 1968) (e.g. Sokratov and Troshkina, 2009, although this considered climatology and meteorology to be does not focus solely on Russian developments) among the main fields of his scientific interests. and show that, in Russia, snow cover was always Because of the climatic conditions of the Russian considered one of the most important components Empire, snow cover was an inevitable part of of the environment. The often specific nature of the practically any scientific research in the field. The approach taken was mainly due to the large scale stated aim of snow cover studies was expressed by of the country and the variety of environmental Voeikov in terms of the effect of snow cover on soil conditions found within it. This often makes the ideas conditions, with reference to German studies of the involved and the results obtained rather difficult for influence of snow cover on crops (Wollny, 1877). the international scientific community to interpret. Particular interest was expressed in the converse Modern Russian cryospheric literature effect of snow cover on climate and on weather. originates from the early works of M.V. Lomonosov. This took the form of a book published by the His seminal works (Shiltsev, 2012) include ideas Imperial Academy of Sciences (Voeikov, 1889). on latitudinal and altitudinal climatic belting in Probably more important was Voeikov’s interaction between the ‘winter’s cold’ and the active participation in the establishment of a Fig. 1. Photograph: ‘Snowflakes; micro-photographic images from nature: A. Sigson: Rybinsk’. End of the 19th century. 61.2 × 90.7 cm.