C4 IN THE NEWS


A semi-official and informal news brief from the NSF Center for
Clouds, Chemistry and Climate (C4).
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This is your Newsletter.   Contributions are needed and always welcome!
Please send yours to H. Nguyen at .
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October 4, 1996
PROF. RAMANATHAN TESTIFIED AT SENATE HEARING

Prof. V. Ramanathan, Director of C4, presented testimony, "Anthropogenic
Climate Change:  Areas of Uncertainty," on September 17th before the U.S.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on U.S. Climate Change
Policy.  Specifically, he responded to Chairman Frank H. Murkowski' request
to comment on "whether or not there is sufficient scientific certainty about
the question of anthropogenic climate change to justify urgent actions to
limit greenhouse gas emissions, and where there are areas of uncertainty
that merit further emphasis and scientific study."  Also at the Senator's
request, Prof. Ramanathan considered the following statement (paraphrased
from the Senator's invitation letter) by the Under Secretary of State,
Honorable Timothy E. Wirth:  "continued buildup of [greenhouse] gases will
enhance the natural greenhouse effect and cause the global climate to
change," and that "science calls upon us to take urgent action."  For a
complete transcript of the hearings, please visit www.senate.gov/~energy/.

TWO NEW ADDITIONS TO C4

Dr. Vitaly Galinsky, a graduate of the Moscow Institute of Physics and
Technology, Moscow, Russia and a former software developer with Hammond
Inc. in New Jersey, recently joined C4 as a postdoctoral researcher.  He is
working with Dr. Guang Zhang and Prof. Ramanathan on modeling clouds in
order to study their effect on radiation.

Dr. Igor Podgorny, a graduate of the Institute of Physics, University of
St. Petersburg, Russia, and a former postdoctoral researcher with the
Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington, is
working with Dr. Dan Lubin and Prof. Ramanathan to develop a
three-dimensional and multispectral radiative transfer model for
applications to the cloud excess absorption problem and to satellite and
ground-based remote sensing techniques.

SUMMARY OF INDOEX WORKSHOP IN PARIS, FRANCE

Scientists from seven countries, including England, France, Germany, India,
the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States, met in Paris from September
9-11 for a workshop on INDOEX.  Participants reviewed the status of
programs in different countries, and discussed ozone and aerosol chemistry,
aerosols, clouds and radiation, and results of pre-INDOEX cruises.
Discussions also focused on developing further plans for the INDOEX
program.  (A summary of the proceedings has been sent out to the INDOEX
community.)

Two notable items came out of the plenary session:

1.  INDOEX will have two components:  a pre-intensive field phase (1996-Dec
1998) and the intensive field phase (Jan-Apr 1999).

The next pre-intensive field phase is a cruise in the Indian Ocean on board
the Indian research vessel Sagar Kanya, scheduled to start on Dec. 15,
1996.

2.  THe next INDOEX meeting will be held at the National Physical
Laboratory in New Delhi, Jan 4-6, and will be organized by Dr. A.P. Mitra.