IAGA News 2011 - IUGG

at the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad during
1972-73, before moving to the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism
(IIG) where he spent the rest of his career.
He was the Director of IIG from 1991 until his retirement
in 1997.
Bhisham Singh was instrumental in starting ‘Solid Earth
Geomagnetism’ as a distinct division at IIG. The geomagnetic
depth sounding studies he initiated in India in the
1970sincollaborationwithDr. F.E.M.LilleyofAustralian
National University and Dr. B. J. Srivastava of the National
Geophysical Research Institute in India led to the
generation of a sub-surface electrical conductivity map for
India. Magnetotelluric and Ocean Bottom Magnetometer
researchatIIGwerealsointroducedbyhim. Heplayedthe
leading role in the development at IIG of research using
MAGSAT data.
He will be remembered for his valuable contributions to
the growth of IIG. He published more than 125 papers in
internationalandnationaljournals, andprovidedguidance
to several students in their Ph.D. degree work. During his
tenure as Director, IIG had extensive scientific collaboration
with IZMIRAN. He was elected a Fellow of the
National Academy of Sciences, India; Indian Geophysical
Union, Association of Exploration Geophysicists, and Geological
Society of India.
He also played an active role in the National and International
scientific community. He was the National
correspondent of India for IAGA. He was elected Vice-
Chairman, Division I (Internal fields) of IAGA for the
period 1987-1991, and during this period he was also a
member of Working Group (I-3) of IAGA on Electromagnetic
Induction in Earth and Moon. He served as a member
of the Executive Council, Indian Geophysical Union;
Member-Secretary, National committee of the Indian National
Science Academy for IUGG; and Member, Mining
Geological and Metallurgical Institute of India, Mumbai.
He was also a member of the sub-committee on Marine
Geology for the Geological Survey of India, and a member
of the National coordination committee for Antarctic
programs of the Department of Ocean Development, of
the Government of India.
Bhisham Singh was always a helpful colleague and mentor.
He encouraged students and younger faculty members
to strive for excellence in their research. He expired
on February 19, 2011 after a prolonged illness. His passing
is a great loss to the geosciences community in India,
and in particular for those scientists who work in the area
of geo-electromagnetism.
G. Gupta and A. Bhattacharyya
Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, Navi Mumbai, India
Ingrid Sandahl (1950 - 2011)
Ingrid Sandahl passed away on 5 May 2011. She was 61
years old. This is a great loss not only for her family and
friends but also for our field of research. Ingrid was an
active scientist at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics,
IRF, until just a few days before cancer ended her life.
Ingrid became the first female scientist at IRF in 1975 after
having spent one and a half years working with Arctic
research in Canada. She was an enthusiastic person in
our field of science and had a large network of international
friends. Ingrid was heavily involved in collaborative
projects and was a visiting scientist at the Geophysical
Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, in 1989, at the
Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan, in
1996/1997 and a visiting professor at the National Institute
of Polar Research, Japan, in 2007. She was made
a member of several societies, e.g., the Royal Swedish
Academy of Science in 1998, and acted as IAGA National
Correspondent. She became Professor of Space Physics
at IRF and Ume˚a University in 1999.
Auroral physics was always a major field of interest for
Ingrid. She started working at IRF with sounding rocket
experiments and charged particle instrument development
and testing. She also spent several years working with
magnetospheric physics and satellite instruments. Auroral
phenomena using ground-based observations were her
major research interest in recent years. She was head
of one of the research programmes at IRF and had been
responsible for its observatory programme since 2010. Ingrid
had a deep engagement in coordinating the Nordic
optical network. Her scientific contributions consisted not
only of academic papers about auroral particle acceleration,
auroral morphology and solar-terrestrial relationships
– she also had a great interest in auroral science history,
andmademanyappreciatedpresentationstostudentsand
the general public as well as to the press and other media.
Ingrid was an excellent host, taking good care of visitors
in Kiruna. Many friends and colleagues will remember the
pleasant evenings spent in her home, planning for future
projects or just having a good time.
Lars Eliasson
Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Kiruna, Sweden
5 General information about IAGA
5.1 IAGA books series published by
Springer
One of the most important achievements of IAGA during
the last two years was to publish, with Springer, a
series of five books, representing results obtained by the
IAGA five divisions over recent years. As well as providing
useful reference texts, the income to IAGA from
Springer for this venture was used to support scientists
to attend the last SA in Sopron, Hungary. The previous
Secretary-General devoted considerable time and effort to
seeing this project through to completiong, and the current
Secretary-General would like to thank warmly everyone
who showed support during the preparation of these
manuscripts, and is grateful for the time taken by colleagues
and friends to provide valuable information and
data, comments and encouragement, as authors, editors
or referees.
IAGA News 2011 – Page 12