FIRST CALL INFORMATION

International  Science and Application Conference – Polar 2013 -
“Polar Geophysics of Yamal: Observations, instruments, data bases
and information systems related to the Oil and Gas industry”.
Nadym,  October 21-25, 2013, RUSSIA

          The Yamal peninsula of Western Siberia is a treasure trove of natural resources. For example, deposits in the Yamal region feed the “Nord Stream” - a gas pipeline from Russia to Northern Germany that crosses the Baltic Sea.  Because the future development of Russia depends on the availability of natural resources, Russia pays special attention to scientific research with practical applications in Yamal region.
From 1971-1991, Russian geophysicists conducted a major scientific project entitled “Geomagnetic Meridian Project 145” on the Yamal peninsula.  Intensive work is now underway to restore of this observational network, which included/will include all types of instruments – magnetometers, ionosonds, riometers, optical instruments, GPS and VLF monitors, etc. 
          Nadym (50 000 population) is one of the key cities in the Yamal region.  It plays an important role as the home base for geophysical and resource industry companies such as GAZPROM.   Several scientific organizations also operate in Nadym.  With this notice, we announce plans for “The  Polar Geophysics of Yamal Conference (POLAR-2013)”, which will integrate the activities of both polar explorers and industrialists.  The conference will build on the success of a previous conference on similar topics held at IZMIRAN (http://www.izmiran.ru/POLAR2012/), but expand participation to the international level and real Arctic.  Local authorities and academic institutions from Moscow, St.Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Tomsk and other scientific centers of Russia have agreed to support the conference.

    The program of the POLAR-2013 conference in Nadym will be devoted to following topics:

- the fundamental physics of polar substorms and its geophysical applications
- the observations from geophysical polygons and observatories in the Arctic and SuperMAG projects
- the new real-time data collection systems and open data bases for geophysical research
- the space weather and auroral forecasts for the vicinity of the Yamal region
- the influence of space weather on technological systems
- the accuracy of navigational systems in the Arctic and severe space disturbances
- the achievements in electromagnetic sounding and its application to Yamal region
- the accuracy of horizontal drilling in the Arctic during periods of magnetic disturbance
- the precision microgal gravity survey of gas and oil fields in the Yamal region
- the public outreach and education projects in polar geophysics

Organising Institutions. The International Conference “Polar Geophysics of Yamal” is jointly organized by the Government of Yamal Region,  The IZMIRAN (Troitsk), The Geophysical Center of RAS (Moscow), The Institute of Applied Geophysics (Moscow), The Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (St.Petersburg). We plan to invite our foreign colleagues to take part
in the POLAR-2013 conference with partial support from local sources. If you are interested in to meet your Russian colleagues and search in details the polar geophysics research prospects on Yamal region - please sent a call  to Dr. Alexander N. Zaitsev, IZMIRAN via e-mail:   polar2013@izmiran.ru.  We will put you on the exclusive e-mail list immediately.

Hope to meet you in the Russian Arctic during 2013 !