Search

The Advanced Study Institute Ice Physics in the Natural and Endangered Environ­ ment was held at Acquafredda di Maratea, Italy, from September 7 to 19, 1997. The ASI was designed to study the broad range of ice science and technology, and it brought together an appropriately interdisciplinary group of lecturers and students to study the many facets of the subject. The talks and poster presentations explored how basic molecular physics of ice have important environmental consequences, and, con­ versely, how natural phenomena present new questions for fundamental study. The of lectures discusses these linkages, in order that overall unity of following sunimary the subject and this volume can be perceived. Not all of the lecturers and participants were able to contribute a written piece, but their active involvement was crucial to the success of the Institute and thereby influenced the content of the volume. We began the Institute by retracing the history of the search for a microscopic un­ derstanding of melting. Our motivation was straightforward. Nearly every phenome­ non involving ice in the environment is influenced by the change of phase from solid to liquid or vice-versa. Hence, a sufficiently deep physical picture of the melting tran­ sition enriches our appreciation of a vast array of geophysical and technical problems.

This unique volume summarizes and integrates more than a decade of atmospheric chemistry research, carried out under the auspices of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). It is part of a series being written by each of the IGBP core projects. During the period under consideration, great progress has been made in the science, computing, modelling and observational techniques; methods have also improved. Suggestions for the highest priority research for the next decade are made. The volume was written by leaders in the field of atmospheric chemistry research, and includes important information regarding impacts on the environment reinforced by solid scientific results.