Vol52,3,2009 209 ANNALS OF GEOPHYSICS, VOL. 52, N. 3/4, June/August 2009 Key words Ionospheric physics and propagation – COST action 1. Background and historical context Temporal and spatial changes in the upper at- mosphere act to limit and degrade the perform- ance of terrestrial and Earth-space radio systems in many different ways. Command, control and communication systems involving transionos- pheric propagation may be disrupted or strongly perturbed, global positioning networks compro- mised and surveillance (optical and radar) sys- tems affected. In addition, conditions in near- Earth space have other adverse effects on mod- ern technology, ranging from the tracking and the lifetimes of satellites to the induction of strong damaging currents in the power grids and transcontinental pipelines. The vulnerabilities of systems to changes in the upper atmosphere in- corporate many different aspects like space- weather effects on communication, navigation and surveillance systems, solar cycle phenomena and their impact on operational systems; model- ing, forecasting, and prediction services; ionos- pheric sounding methods and measurements; ap- plications of ionospheric tomography; tran- sionospheric effects including scintillation; ionospheric propagation for high frequency communication systems; long wave propagation systems and effects; very low frequency propa- gation for long-range communication with re- ceiver below sea surface; Global Positioning System (GPS) and ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) studies. The European ionos- pheric community has long been aware that co- operation research on an international basis is es- sential to deal with such complex issues. In par- COST 296 MIERS: Mitigation of Ionospheric Effects on Radio Systems Alain Bourdillon (1), Ljiljana R. Cander (2) and Bruno Zolesi (3) (1) IETR, Université de Rennes 1, France (2) STFC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, UK (3) Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Roma, Italy Abstract The COST 296 Action MIERS (Mitigation of Ionospheric Effects on Radio Systems) within the ionospheric community has the objectives, embodied in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), to develop an increased knowledge of the effects imposed by the ionosphere on practical radio systems, and the development and imple- mentation of techniques to mitigate the deleterious effects of the ionosphere on such systems. This introductory paper summarizes briefly the background and historical context of COST 296 and outlines the main objectives, working methods and structure. It also lists the participating countries and institutions, the Management Com- mittee (MC) Meetings, the Workshops, Short-term Scientific Missions. In addition, the paper discusses the dis- semination activities and the collaboration among the participating institutions and researchers, before outlining the content of the Final Report. Mailing address: Dr. Alain Bourdillon, IETR, Univer- sité de Rennes, 1 UMR CNRS 6164, 35042 Rennes, Fran- ce; e-mail: alain.bourdillon@univ-rennes1.fr Vol52,3,2009 22-09-2009 14:16 Pagina 209 210 A. Bourdillon, L.R. Cander and B. Zolesi ticular, international cooperation is required for the collection of data, in both the real-time and in retrospective modes, the development and verifi- cation of new methods to improve the perform- ance of both operational and future terrestrial and Earth-space communication systems and the exchange of expertise on space plasma effects on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). COST is a European Cooperation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research. It is a framework for scientific and technical cooper- ation, allowing the coordination of national re- search on a European level for basic and pre competitive research as well as activities of pub- lic utility. It is an intergovernmental mechanism that sponsors scientific and technical co-opera- tion and co-ordination between research team and institutional partners from the COST coun- tries and non COST institutions. COST 296 MIERS on «Mitigation of Ionospheric Effects on Radio Systems» is an Action within the ICT «Information and Communication Technolo- gies» domain. The area is managed in the COST Office, in close liaison with the 6th FP IST pro- gram. It is a four-year project that started in Jan- uary 2005 to work collaboratively on the topics outlined above. The core of COST 296 has been a dynamic group of researchers from 19 COST countries and 7 institutions from non COST countries and the European Space Agency (ESA) working as a technical community to- wards a common objective. COST projects are well suited to developing research co-operation in fields where finance is provided at the nation- al level. The success of this approach has been demonstrated in the telecommunications do- main in previous COST Actions concerned with the prediction of ionospheric propagation char- acteristics (Zolesi and Cander, 2008). The earlier COST Actions relating to ionos- pheric radio propagation were particularly use- ful in creating a critical mass of researchers in projects where the initial emphasis was on long-term ionospheric prediction and retrospec- tive ionospheric modeling over Europe. The COST 238 Action PRIME (Prediction and Ret- rospective Ionospheric Modeling over Europe) was a four-year research project with objectives to develop regional maps and models over the European ionosphere that are more accurate than internationally available global maps and models (Bradley, 1995). It involved the partici- pation of some 72 scientists and engineers from 17 countries. The work encompassed the pro- duction of regional monthly median maps and algorithms for generating «instantaneous» snapshot maps of the standard vertical-inci- dence ionospheric characteristics from coordi- nated sounding measurements within Europe. Additional studies involved height profiles of electron density, the vertical total electron con- tent up to an altitude of 1000 km and research leading to an improved understanding and thus potential for better modeling of ionospheric storm morphologies. Work conducted within COST 238 was continued in the follow-on proj- ect COST 251 IITS (Improved quality of serv- ice in Ionospheric Telecommunication Systems planning and Operation) on the application of PRIME results in the improved quality of serv- ice in ionospheric telecommunication systems planning and operation (Hanbaba, 1999). Both projects yielded significant results, but they also identified further areas where future development was needed. The topics for more research included: hour-to-hour and day-to-day variability prediction capabilities in the topside ionosphere, upgrading of the current models to include scintillation effects, the prediction of the ionospheric and plasmaspheric effects on navigational systems and the development of methods for calculating the reliability and com- patibility of HF radio systems using digital modulation techniques and over the horizon HF backscatter radars. The COST 271 Action «Effects of the upper atmosphere on terrestrial and Earth-space com- munications» was then established to examine a range of relevant research areas within four broad groupings: - Impact of variability of space environ- ment on communications - Assessment of space plasma effects for satellite applications - Ionospheric effects on terrestrial commu- nications - Space plasma effects on Earth-space and satellite-to-satellite communications The major achievements of COST 271 are described in Zolesi and Cander (2004). Vol52,3,2009 20-09-2009 19:05 Pagina 210 211 COST 296 MIERS: Mitigation of Ionospheric Effects on Radio Systems 2. COST 296 action objectives COST 296 is an Action for the promotion, stimulation and co-ordination of European re- search in ionospheric areas. The Memorandum of Understanding laid out the main objectives of the COST 296 Ac- tion as follows: - To support and enhance the existing Euro- pean facilities for historical and real-time ionos- pheric data collection accessible to all; - To exchange information on methods and algorithms to mitigate the effects of ionospher- ic perturbations and variations on advanced ter- restrial and space-based communication servic- es by creating an effective computing infra- structure; - To develop an integrated approach to ionospheric modeling; - To create the mechanism needed to ingest measured parameters into models, extend and develop suitable mitigation models and define the protocols needed to link models together; - To make applicable results available to the ITU-R and to promote the research as- pects to funding agencies such as ESA, ESF and the EU; - To elaborate inputs for the preparation of the future European Space Programme (ESP); - To strengthen the existing areas of expert- ise by stimulating closer cooperation between scientists and users; - To focus the scope of all the previous COST ionospheric related studies to the mitiga- tion of ionospheric effects on specific radio sys- tems. 3. COST 296 action working method and structure The action was organized under three top- ic headings corresponding to three working groups and associated ten work packages as shown in table I as well their term of refer- ences. Members of the Management Committee of the Signatory Countries, participating institu- tions from COST and non-COST countries and MC meetings, Workshops and Short-term Sci- entific Mission are listed below. 3.1. Working Group 1 - Ionospheric monitor- ing and modelling • Near-Earth space plasma monitoring by vertical incidence and oblique sounding net- works and GNSS techniques (retrospective and real-time). • Data ingestion and assimilation into ionospheric models, including data collection and processing, and the adaptation of models to enable data ingestion and assimilation. Table I. COST 296 action structure WG1 - Ionospheric monitoring WG 2 - Advanced terrestrial WG 3 - Space-based and modelling systems systems WP 1.1 - Near Earth space WP 2.1 - Radar and WP 3.1 - Space plasma plasma monitoring radiolocation effects WP 1.2 - Data ingestion and WP 2.2 - HF/MF WP 3.2 - Mitigation techniques assimilation in ionospheric models communications WP 1.3 Near Earth space plasma WP 2.3 - Spectrum WP 3.3 - Scintillation modelling and forecasting management monitoring and modelling WP 1.4 - Climate of the upper atmosphere Vol52,3,2009 20-09-2009 19:05 Pagina 211 212 A. Bourdillon, L.R. Cander and B. Zolesi • Near Earth space plasma modelling and forecasting including mitigation of ionospheric perturbations, tomographic imaging for model validation and channel modelling techniques. • Climate of the upper atmosphere includ- ing long-term ionospheric trends, gravity and planetary wave effects on propagation and ionospheric space weather. 3.2. Working Group 2 - Advanced terrestrial systems • Radar and radiolocation, including ionospheric effects on surface-wave radar and radiolocation systems, frequency man- agement of ground-wave and sky-wave radars and Angle of arrival measurements for sky-wave signals. • HF/MF communications including digital radio systems, wideband propagation model- ling and development of a hardware simulator, increased capacity of HF links through MIMO techniques (experimental measurements and simulation) and extension of existing wideband HF simulators to the MF band. • Spectrum management, including the use of GPS to improve HF communications man- agement, adaptive waveform management and the effects of infrasound on radio propagation. 3.3. Working Group 3 - Space-based systems • Ionospheric effects on space-based remote sensing systems, gravity wave effects on GNSS, space plasma media and security implications. • Mitigation techniques with emphasis on ionospheric structures, their physical nature and impact on GNSS signals, improved accuracy of GNSS by better ionospheric correction and er- rors due to ionospheric perturbations. • Scintillation monitoring and modelling with emphasis on scintillation effects, their physical nature and impact on ionospheric radio systems (GNSS signals in particular), high-lati- tude and equatorial scintillation effects (experi- mental work and modelling). 4. COST 296 participating countries and institutions 4.1. COST 296 Management Committee 19 COST member countries signed the COST 296 MoU as shown in table II by names of their representatives. Some 34 active institutions, list- ed in table III, formed the core of the activity. In addition, institutions from seven non-COST member countries from table IV participated and one observer organization (ESTEC-ESA). Table II. Members of the COST 296 Management Committee R Leitinger, R. Warnant, I. Kutiev, Insitute for Geophysics, Observatory of Belgium, Geophysical Institute Bulgarian Astrophysics and Meteorology, Ave Circulaire 3, Academy of Sciences University of Graz, Brussels B-1180, ‘Acad G Bonchev’ Str, Block 3 Universitaetsplatz H.Nebdi 1113 Sofia A-8010 Graz BELGIUM BULGARIA W. Riedler AUSTRIA J. Lastovicka, E. Turunen, A. Bourdillon, (Chairman) Institute of Atmospheric Physics Geophysical Observatory University of Rennes 1, Academy of Sciences of Sodankyla 35042 Rennes, Czech Republic J.P. Luntama Y. Beniguel Bocni II cp 1401 FINLAND FRANCE 14131 Praha 4 J. Boska CZECH REPUBLIC Vol52,3,2009 22-09-2009 14:17 Pagina 212 213 COST 296 MIERS: Mitigation of Ionospheric Effects on Radio Systems Table II. (continued). N. Jakowski S. S. Kouris P. Bencze DLR/DFD Fernerkundungsstation Department of Telecommunications Geodetic & Geophysical Neustrelitz Aristotelian University Research Institute Postfach 5123 of Thessaloniki Hungarian Academy of Sciences D-17235 Neustrelitz Thessaloniki H-9401 Sopron POB 5 J. Bremer A. Belehaki G. Satori GERMANY GREECE HUNGARY B. Zolesi (ViceChairman) I. Stanislawska A. M. Casimiro Istituto Nazionale di Space Research Centre Polish FCT Geofisica e Vulcanologia Academy of Sciences Universidade do Algarve Via di Vigna Murata, 605 Bartycka 18A Campus de Gambelas Roma 00143 00-716 Warsaw 8000 117 Faro P.Spalla H. Rothkaehl A. de Azevedo ITALY POLAND PORTUGAL ROMANIA B. A. De La Morena B. Forte INTA, Atmospheric Centre for Atmospheric Research Sounding Station University of Nova Gorica ‘El Arenosillo’ Nova Gorica Space Science Division SLOVENIA Mazagon (Moguer) 21130 Huelva D.Altadill SPAIN Y. Tulunay M.Warrington Lj. R. Cander Department of Aerospace Engineer, Department of Engineering (Chairperson for the first year) Middle East Technical University, University of Leicester Rutherford Appleton Laboratory 06531, Ankara University Road Chilton, Didcot E.Tulunay Leicester LE1 7RH Oxon OX11 0QX TURKEY H. Strangeways UNITED KINGDOM UNITED KINGDOM A. Vernon (Secretary) H. Haralambous T. Kos Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Frederick University Faculty of Electrical Engineering Chilton, Didcot PO Box 24729 and Computing, University OX11 0QX 1303 Nicosia of Zagreb, Unska 3 10000 Zagreb, UNITED KINGDOM L. Economou CROATIA CYPRUS Table III. Participating institutions from COST countries Institute for Geophysics, Astrophysics and Meteorology University of Graz Geophysical Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria Royal Observatory of Belgium, Belgium University of Liege, Belgium Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic, Czech Republic 4.2. Participating Institutions Vol52,3,2009 20-09-2009 19:05 Pagina 213 214 A. Bourdillon, L.R. Cander and B. Zolesi Table III. (continued). Geophysical Observatory, Sodankyla, Finland University of Ouly, Finland Finish Metheorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland DLR/DFD Fernerkundungsstation, Germany Leibniz-Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Germany University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, Croatia IETR, Université de Rennes 1, France CNRS, Grenoble, France IEEA, France Istanbul Technical University (TÜ) Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Turkey Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey INTA, Atmospheric Sounding Station, ‘El Arenosillo, Spain Observatorio del Ebro, Spain Universidad Complutense Madrid, Madrid, Spain CEFAT-UCEH, Universidade do Algarve, Portugal University of Madeira, Portugal Institut of Geodesy, Warnia and Masuria, Univ. Olsztyn Space Research Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Italy Istituto di Fisica Applicata, CNR, Italy International Center for Theoretical Physics «Abdus Salam», Italy Department of Telecommunications, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece National Observatory of Athens, Greece Geodetic & Geophysical Research Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, United Kingdom QinetiQ, United Kingdom University of Bath, United Kingdom University of Wales, United Kingdom University of Leeds, United Kingdom University of Leicester, United Kingdom University of Nottingham, United Kingdom Sheffield University, United Kingdom Geomagnetic Institute, Serbia and Montenegro Frederick University, Nicosia, Cyprus Intercollege, Limassol, Cyprus Vol52,3,2009 20-09-2009 19:05 Pagina 214 215 COST 296 MIERS: Mitigation of Ionospheric Effects on Radio Systems 5. MC meetings, workshops, short-term scientific missions Table IV. Participating institutions from non- COST countries Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radiowave Propagation, Russia St Petersburg State University, St Petersburg, Russia University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai, China China Research Institute of Radio Wave Propagation, Beijing, China Geomagnetic Laboratory, Ottawa, Canada University Kebangsaan (UKM), Malaysia Table V. Management Committee meetings 4 February 2005, Brussels, Belgium, (Inaugural meeting) 30 May-1 June 2005, Trieste, Italy 13 and 16 November 2005, Noordwijk, Netherlands 27-29 April 2006, Neustrelitz, Germany 3-7 October 2006, Rennes, France 15-17 March 2007, Rome, Italy 10-14 July 2007, Prague, Czech Republic 13-15 March 2008, Limassol, Cyprus 7-11 October 2008, Rome, Italy 20-21 March 2009, Warsaw, Poland (Final meeting) Table VI. COST 296 Workshops 1st COST 296 Workshop during ESWW2 (2nd European Space Weather Week), Noordwijk, Netherlands, 14- 18 November 2005, ESTEC. 2nd COST 296 Workshop on «Radio Systems and Ionospheric Effects», Rennes, France, 3-7 October 2006. Pa- pers published on a CD-Rom. 3rd COST 296 Workshop on «Ionosphere, Modelling, Forcing and Telecommunications», 10-14 July 2007, Prague, Czech Republic 4th COST 296 Workshop on «General Review of COST 296 activities and results» 7-11 October 2008, Rome, Italy Vol52,3,2009 20-09-2009 19:05 Pagina 215 216 A. Bourdillon, L.R. Cander and B. Zolesi Table VIII. COST 296 Short-term Scientific Missions Sari M.O. (Middle East Technical University) to E.M. Warrington (University of Leicester), 16-20 January 2006. Kouba D. (IAP, Prague, CZ) to A. Belehaki (NOA, Athens, Greece) 19-26 March 2006. Romano V. (INGV Rome, Italy) to A. Bourdillon (University of Rennes, France) 9-16 May 2006. Krankowski A. (University of Warmia and Mazury, Krakow, Poland) to Manuel Hernandez-Pajares (Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain) 25 June-3 July 2006. Tsagouri I. (NOA, Athens, Greece) to J. Lastovicka (IAP, Prague, CZ) 26 February-3 March 2007. Gunashekar S. (University of Leicester) to L. Bertel (University of Rennes), 2-6 April 2007. Kocabas Z. (Middle East Technical University) to L. Bertel (University of Rennes), 2-7 April 2007. Nechutny Z. (IAP, Prague, CZ) to E. Turunen (Sodankyla Geophysical Observatory, Sondakyla, Finland) 12-23 March 2007. Hoque M.M. (DLR, Neustrelitz, Germany) to H. Starngeways (University of Leeds, Leeds, UK) 26-30 March 2007. Fotiadis D. (University of Thessaloiki, Thessaloniki, Greece) to J. Lastovicka (IAP, Prague, CZ) 21-28 April 2007. Iñigo Blanco Alegre (El Arenosillo, INTA) carried out a Short-Term mission (STM) at the INGV, Instituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia in Rome in September 10-17, 2007. Bidaine B. (FNRS Belgium) to S. Radicella (ICTP, Trieste, Italy) 10-21 December 2007. Tsagouri I. (NOA, Athens, Greece) to B. Zolesi (INGV, Instituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia in Rome) May 26-30, 2008. Kouris S. (University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece) to I. Stanilawska (SRC, Warsaw, Poland) 25-30 May 2008. Rothkhael H. (SRC Warsaw, Poland) to E.M. Warrington (University of Leicester, Leicester, UK) 19-24 May 2008. Mielich J. (IAP, University of Rostock, Juliusruh, Germany) to Lj. Cander (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, UK) 19-24 May 2008. Yapici T. and Tulunay E. (Middle East Technical University) to S. Radicella (ITCP, Trieste, Italy) 22-27 June 2008. Table VII. COST 296 Meetings of the Working Groups 27 April 2005 Vienna, Austria W.G. Leaders meeting during the EGU General Assembly 4 -5 July 2005, Graz, Austria Seminar on ITU-R SG3L issues 27 April 2006, Vienna, Austria W.G. Leaders meeting during the EGU General Assembly 27 April 2007, Vienna, Austria W.G. Leaders meeting during the EGU General Assembly 20-22 February 2008, Nottingham, UK Ionospheric Scintillation: Scientific aspects, space weather applica- tion and services 27 April 2008 Vienna, Austria W.G. Leaders meeting during the EGU General Assembly 4 May 2008 W.G. Leaders meeting during the IES, Washington, USA 18 November 2008 W.G. Leaders meeting during ESWW5, Brussels, Belgium 20 April 2009 Vienna, Austria W.G. Leaders meeting during the EGU General Assembly Vol52,3,2009 20-09-2009 19:05 Pagina 216 217 COST 296 MIERS: Mitigation of Ionospheric Effects on Radio Systems 6. Dissemination of results The target audiences for the dissemination of the COST 296 Action results include other scientists, researches and engineers working in the field; other research frameworks and inter- national organization; institutes and academia; standards bodies; industry; European level pol- icy makers; government policy makers, region- al planners and policy makers; general public. The dissemination methods used in the course of the COST 296 Action have been: (1) posting of general information and working documents on the COST 296 website including set up of an electronic communication network; (2) Workshops, seminars, events, schools for young scientist and conferences organised by the MC including contributions to other nation- al and international conferences and symposia; (3) Online Proceedings, CD Proceedings and papers in peer-reviewed related scientific and technical Journals. Dissemination of results took into consideration the progress of the COST 296 Action as well the results of its eval- uation in updating the dissemination plan dur- ing the course of this Action. 6.1. COST 296 Action Website The Website of the COST 296 Action has been active since the beginning of the action on the following address: http://www.cost271.rl.ac.uk/. It is maintained at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK and contains the COST 296 Action main info documents as the manage- ment structure, the Minutes of the Manage- ment Committee meetings, the Call for papers and other relevant documents for the action in addition to the related web links. 6.2. Major Events organized/co-organized by MC 1. The 2nd General Assembly of the EGU 2005 Session related to COST 296 Action on «Ionospheric monitoring and modelling for ad- vanced terrestrial and space-based systems», 24-29 April 2005, Vienna, Austria. 2. The 2nd European Space Weather Week (joint Workshop COST 296, COST 724, ESA and E-STAR); 14-18th November 2005, ESA- ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands. 3. The 3rd General Assembly of the EGU 2006 Session related to COST 296 Action on «Measurements of ionospheric parameters in- fluencing radio systems», 2-April 2006, Vien- na, Austria. 4. International Advanced School on Space Weather at ICTP (joint activity with COST 724), 2-19 May 2006, ICTP, Trieste, Italy. 5. 2nd COST 296 Workshop «Radio Sys- tems and Ionospheric Effects», University of Rennes 1, 3-7 October 2006, Rennes, France. 6. The 4th General Assembly of the EGU 2007 Session related to COST 296 Action on «Modelling and measurements of ionospheric parameters influencing radio systems» and Working Group leaders meeting, 15-20 April 2007, Vienna, Austria. 7. Joint COST 296 and International Refer- ence Ionosphere Workshop on «Ionosphere – Modelling, Forcing, and Telecommunications», 10-14 July 2007, Prague, Czech Republic. 8. COST 296 Workshop on «Ionospheric Scintillation: Scientific aspects, Space Weather application and Services ‘Workshop on Ionos- pheric Scintillations, Measurements and Mod- elling’», 20-22 February 2008, Nottingham University, Nottingham, UK. 9. International School of Space Science, Geomagnetism and Ionosphere School, 7-12 April 2008, L’Aquila, Italy. 10. The General Assembly of the EGU 2008 Session related to COST 296 Action on «Studies of ionospheric parameters influencing radio systems» and Working Group leaders meeting, 13-18 April 2008, Vienna, Austria. Vol52,3,2009 20-09-2009 19:05 Pagina 217 218 A. Bourdillon, L.R. Cander and B. Zolesi 11. The International Ionospheric Effects Symposium Session related to Results derived from COST-ACTION programs «Mitigation of Ionospheric and Space Weather Effects on Telecommunication and Navigation», 13-15 May 2008, City of Alexandria, USA. 12. The 4th Workshop of the COST 296 Action Mitigation of Ionospheric Effects on Radio Systems (MIERS), 7-11 October 2008, INGV, Rome, Italy. 13. The 5th European Space Weather Week (jointly organised by the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB), ESA, the SWWT, the COST 724 and COST 296 communities); 16-21 No- vember 2008, Brussels, Belgium. 14. COST 296 Action Final Meeting, War- saw, 20-21 March 2009. 15. The General Assembly of the EGU 2009 Session ST11 related to COST 296 Action on «Ionosphere and radio systems» and Work- ing Group leaders meeting, 19-24 April 2009, Vienna, Austria. 6.3. Major Publications Most of the results reporting activities of the COST 296 Action have been published as fol- lows: 1. Online Proceeding and Space Weather Book from the 2nd European Space Weather Week, 14-18th November 2005, ESA-ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherland. 2. 2nd COST 296 Workshop CD Proceed- ings on «Radio Systems and Ionospheric Ef- fects», University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France, 3-7 October 2006. 3. Special volume of Acta Geophysica de- voted to the selected papers from the 3rd Gen- eral Assembly of the EGU 2006 Session relat- ed to COST 296 Action on «Measurements of ionospheric parameters influencing radio sys- tems», Vol. 55, No. 3, 2007. 4. Special volume of Journal of Atmos- pheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics devoted to the selected papers from the 3rd General Assembly of the EGU 2006 Session related to COST 296 Action on «Measurements of ionospheric parameters influencing radio systems», Vol. 70, Issue 6, April 2008, doi: 10.1016/j.jastp.2007.02.016. 5. Online Proceedings of the COST 296 Workshop on «Ionospheric Scintillation: Sci- entific aspects, Space Weather application and Services ‘Workshop on Ionospheric Scintilla- tions, Measurements and Modelling’», 20-22 February 2008, Nottingham University, Not- tingham, UK. 6. Special volume of Journal of Atmos- pheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics devoted to the selected papers from the 4th General Assembly of the EGU 2007 Session related to COST 296 Action on «Modelling and meas- urements of ionospheric parameters influenc- ing radio systems», Vol. 70, Issue 15, Decem- ber 2008, doi:10.1016/j.jastp.2008.01.016. 7. Special volume of Advances in Space Research devoted to the selected papers from the joint COST 296 and International Reference Ionosphere Workshop on «Ionosphere – Model- ling, Forcing, and Telecommunications», in press 2008. 8. COST 296 Final Report; Supplement to Annals of Geophysics, 2009, this issue. 7. Scientific and technical cooperation The close scientific collaborations established as part of previous COST 238, 251 and 271 ac- tions have led to a number of bilateral and multi- lateral collaborations successfully continued in the COST 296 Action. In addition, participants of this action have been active in different European projects. There is a significant participation of Action members from all Working Groups in ESA Space Weather Program, in particular in its Space Weather Work- ing Team (SWWT), the SWENET (Space Weath- Vol52,3,2009 22-09-2009 14:17 Pagina 218 219 COST 296 MIERS: Mitigation of Ionospheric Effects on Radio Systems er European Network) scheme (http://www.esa- spaceweather.net/swenet) and SWEETS (the main space weather festival during the European Science Week 19-24 November 2007) at the Schwerin castle/House of Parliament in Ger- many). Particularly important has been the collabo- ration between two COST actions: COST 724 devoted to space weather and COST 296 devot- ed to the study of the ionosphere and its impact on communication and positioning. Several col- leagues work in the two actions. This resulted is an important input provided by the COST 296 action to COST 724 based on the ionospheric models developed during the last COST actions (COST 238, 251, 271 and 296) for space weath- er applications (see Lilensten et al., 2007 for details). The URSI Beacon Satellite Group closely linked to the work of the Working Group 3 of this action, provides important links between ionosphere, plasmasphere and upper atmos- phere scientists, engineers and users of satellite beacon applications. Several COST 296 Group members are advisers and observers in the In- ternational Geodynamics Service (IGS) and some of its offspring organisations like the GPS-IONO group. Designed to meet the needs of Europe, this action also made an impact to the international work of ITU-R Study Group 3L through contri- butions to Recommendations, provision of data for validation of prediction models for Europe and by a leading role in Working Party SG3L (Ionospheric Propagation). Further steps will be taken to make the most applicable results of the COST 296 results available to ITU-R. Moreover participants in this action have made a considerable contribution to the Interna- tional Heliophysical Year (2007-2009) initia- tives with the following activities: (a) Develop- ment and maintenance of COST 296/IHY web site to exchange general information, expertise, know-how, links to the data archive and databas- es produced by this Action among the IHY com- munity (see http://ionos.ingv.it/IHY/ihy_in- dex.html.); (b) Coordination of multi-instru- ments observation campaigns in synergy with the IHY community. The data archive created during the observa- tion periods and/or severe heliogeophysical conditions will also form a baseline collection against which later forecasting efforts may be compared; (c) Joint investigations on intercon- nection between low, middle and high latitude ionosphere and plasmasphere, e.g. PGHM cam- paign (see http://www.bu.edu/cawses). Finally, it should be mentioned other inter- national activities of the Ionospheric COST community by the organization of the session «Mitigation of Ionospheric and Space Weather Effects on Telecommunication and Navigation» during the International Ionospheric Effects Symposium, in Alexandria, USA, May 2008 and a long-lasting collaboration with the Inter- national Reference Ionosphere (IRI) by organ- izing the combined IRI/COST 296 workshop strongly oriented towards application of ionos- pheric models and specifically on their effects on radio systems. 8. Outline of the final report The COST 296 Final Report is published here as a supplement of the international jour- nal Annals of Geophysics. It comprises this Introduction that contains the COST 296 Action background and histori- cal context, the general objectives and priori- ties agreed in the Memorandum of Under- standing, the working methods and structure, the participating countries and institutions, in- formation about the MC meetings, workshops and short-term scientific missions, dissemina- tion of results and finally the scientific and technical cooperation. Ten scientific papers concerning the main activities and results achieved in the three Working Groups of COST 296 follow. Each paper is in the form of an independent review of one of the activities of the Action with an introduction, discussion of the results and references. Two scientific papers, in which group of authors review the main achievements obtained in ionospheric COST related actions, make up the final part of this report. The Conclusions summarises the main achievements of COST 296 as a whole in the Vol52,3,2009 20-09-2009 19:05 Pagina 219 220 A. Bourdillon, L.R. Cander and B. Zolesi context of the MoU requirements and looks to the way ahead. Significant achievements have been made, developing our understanding of the issues and relevance of field and offering new knowledge that will serve to increase eco- nomic and social development. In addition, new challenges have been identified and a concrete proposal is outlined for follow-on from COST 296. The COST 296 Final Report is addressed mainly to those in the MoU signatory countries involved in frequency planning, spectrum man- agement and system design; to those who spon- sored the work undertaken; to industrial part- ners concerned with the technology who will learn from the results and to those in national radio regulatory administrations and interna- tional planning. In addition, the report is of in- terest to students of radiowave communication and navigation and others in the propagation re- search community. REFERENCES BRADLEY, P.A. (1995): PRIME (Prediction Regional Ionos- pheric Modelling over Europe), COST Action 238 Fi- nal Report, (Commission of the European Communi- ties, Brussels). HANBABA, R. (1999): Improved Quality of Service in Ionos- pheric Telecommunication Systems Planning and Op- eration, COST Action 251 Final Report, (Space Re- search Centre, Warsaw). LILENSTEN, J., B. ZOLESI, A. BELEHAKI, I. STANISLAWSKA, and L. PERRONE (2007): Collaboration among COST actions. Ionosphere and space weather, COST 724 Fi- nal Report. ZOLESI, B., and LJ. R. CANDER (2004): COST 271 Action «Effects of the upper atmosphere on terrestrial and Earth-space communications» Final Report, Annals of Geophysics, supp. 47 (2/3). ZOLESI, B. and LJ. R. CANDER (2008): «From COST 238 to COST 296: Four European COST. Actions on Ionospheric Physics and Radio Propagation», Radio Sounding and Plasma Physics: 2007 Radio Plasma Imager Science Team Meeting, April 27, 2007, Radio Sounding and Plasma Physics Symposium, April 29, 2007, XI International Digisonde Forum, April 30 May 3, 2007, AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 974, pp. 39-46. Vol52,3,2009 20-09-2009 19:05 Pagina 220