MEETING OF THE ESC COUNCIL
Monday, April 7, 2003

Minutes of the ESC Business meeting in Nice, France 7 April 2003

Present: M Garcia-Fernandez, P Suhadolc, I Cecic, A Walker, K Makropoulous, A Ansal, I Oprsal, K Klinge, D Booth, C Browitt and M Grad

1. M Garcia-Fernandez noted that the meeting was informal and would advise on ESC's participation in the NERIES proposal and to start developing the next ESC programme for Potsdam. The next preparation session will take place at the IUGG in Sapporo.

2. He noted that international organizations are able to participate in the infrastructure (I3) call of FP6. Information on the proposed ESC input is posted on the NERIES web site.

3. A Ansal commented that this was a very good initiative and he congratulated the ESC Bureau for taking the opportunity to participate.

4. M Garcia-Fernandez noted that while NERIES was a pan-European proposal, all institutions could not be specifically involved. ESC participation brings a wider involvement and influence.

5. In response to a question from D Booth, M Garcia-Fernandez noted that funding would be made available to ESC; for example, to enhance training courses.

6. C Browitt endorsed the value of ESC participation particularly to bring in the whole of the seismological community where it was impractical for each institution to be a named participant. He also noted that the generation of the proposal, led by ORFEUS and EMSC representatives, had brought those two communities closer together and had also established the potential for smaller bids in the future under each of the NERIES modules.

7. For ESC 2004, if NERIES is funded, then there will need to be NERIES-related topics within the normal structure of the subcommissions of ESC. A number of topics were proposed which are captured in the Annex attached.

8. M Grad noted that a crustal mapping and modeling session should take place under "3D crustal structural models of Europe". He wished to get away from single project models to the broader picture, and from Moho mapping to a more refined structure.

9. K Klinge proposed a session on mantle modeling; in Germany, such a programme has started and there are other groups starting up. The work is in its infancy but a preliminary session could be convened.

10. P Suhadolc noted that the Local Organising Committee would include some local names or flavour to the draft programme that we propose to them.

11. K Klinge noted that the YSTC in Potsdam will be as previously discussed (Practical course on moment tensor inversion). He plans to host two further training courses in Erlangen in September 2003 (Calculation of theoretical seismograms; R. Kind) and Spring 2004 (Routine seismogram analysis using different software tools). A Walker agreed to advertise the courses on the ESC home page.

12. M Garcia-Fernandez announced that Peter Borman's Manual of Observatory Practice was finished and he distributed order forms. A Walker to post the order forms on the home page.

13. M Garcia-Fernandez advised that the final version of the ESC-SESAME unified hazard map for Europe and the Mediterranean, edited by D. Giardini, M.-J. Jimenez and G. Grunthal, is now in press. 5,000 copies in the initial run, flat and folded will be distributed freely within a month.

14. A Ansal noted that it was important to make progress with planning the joint meeting with the earthquake engineers in Geneva in 2006. Some discussion with D Giardini during the EGS would be helpful to establish the current position.

Alice B Walker
ESC Assistant Secretary
8 April 2003

ANNEX

ESC SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME, POTSDAM SEPTEMBER 2004
DRAFT PROGRAMME

Preliminary proposals for sessions:

· Open Poster Session for each subcommission chaired by the subcommission bureau.
· Time varying seismicity statistics and earthquake occurrence models (P. Burton)
· Strong motion data in the Euro-Mediterranean area: Acquisition and analysis (P. Suhadolc, A. Ansal)
· Methodology of collecting macroseismic data in the field (I. Cecic, R. Musson, V. Kouskouna) Joint session SC-F & SC-G
· 3-D Crustal structural models of Europe (M. Grad, D. Booth)
· Seismological investigations of Earth's mantle and core OR Structure and dynamics of Earth's mantle and core (K. Klinge)
· 3-D seismic waves propagation modelling (P. Malischewski, I. Oprsal)
· Urban earthquake risk scenarios (R. Spence, M. Erdik, D. Faeh) Joint ESC-EAEE
· Recent developments in microzonation (Marcellini, K. Makropoulos, A. Ansal)
· Seismic sources: Modelling and data interpretation (M. Mai, K. Atakan)
· Historical seismology (P. Albini, P. Labak)
· Microtremors measurement (SESAME EC-project) (P-Y Bard, D. Faeh)
· Volcano seismology? (?)
· Earthquake prediction? (?)
· CTBT? (?)
· Recent developments in seismic hazard assessment? (?)

Invited Lectures?

Last minute proposal (April 28, 2003):

· Non-linear dynamics and earthquake prediction (A. Peresan, V. Keilis-Borok/V. Kossobokov, A.M: Correig)