ISWI Newsletter - Vol.3 No.57
21 June 2011

One of major assumptions of ISWI is that if you want to do lots of serious space science, then you cannot exclude ground observation efforts. I am quite aware that many scientists believe only space-based observation using satellites is necessary. For them ground observation is "erratic", or "difficult", or "just not worth the trouble", or other explanations of evasion.

However, ISWI assumes that global ground observation is necessary (but not sufficient) for serious space weather investigations. Perhaps it is difficult, but it is nonetheless essential.

To make global ground observation long-term and self-sustaining, it is necessary to bring together instrument providers and instrument hosts. This is a major agenda of ISWI/IHY/IGY.

But instrument hosts want to understand what is going on. To do that, instrument providers must undertake some "Capacity Building" for the hosts. Certainly, the MAGDAS Project, here at SERC at Kyushu University in Japan, believes that strongly. The main components of Capacity Building are:

<1> Build up the ability to maintain observational instruments.

<2> Build up the ability to analyze the data generated by them.

<3> Build up the ability to publish results from such data.

As part of our Capacity Building program within the MAGDAS Project, we are training talented young people to do Items <1>, <2>, and <3> mentioned above. For example, Mr Fred Nambala (lecturer at a university in Zambia where we have MAGDAS in operation) has been with us for one month to receive a bit of Items <1>, <2>, and <3>.

I attach his seminar presentation (7 pages) and a photo of him with SERC staff and students (1 page). He wound a Helmholz coil, which took 20 hours of dedicated work.

This year August, to do more of Items <1>, <2>, and <3>, Prof. Yumoto (PI of the MAGDAS Project) is organizing MAGDAS School in Nigeria. Info on this school can be found at the Official ISWI Website www.iswi-secretariat.org (this site).

Please send to me your Capacity Building enterprises.

(1) Zambia presentation by Mr Fred Nambala at a seminar at SERC, Kyushu University, Japan, on 16 June 2011. 1.8 MB pdf, 7 pages, (click )

(2) Fred Nambala at SERC photo of Mr Fred Nambala with SERC staff, on 17 June 2011. 630 KB pdf, 1 page, (click )

If you want to read the original newsletter, click here.