International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

1959 (Genest 2009) or the 1963 symposium ‘Results of
the IGY-IGC’ in Los Angeles (Beynon, 1970). No major
IGY summary conference was organized.
Wary of the failure of the IPY-2 team to publish
the results of their venture, IGY planners designed
an impressive publication program. The plans for a
special IGY series, a full IGY bibliography and a final
‘Coordinated Report’ by CSAGI were first discussed at
CSAGI-1 in 1953 and had been systematically reviewed
at later meetings (Nicolet, 1958). The IGY publication
series, the Annals of the International Geophysical
Year, was started in 1957 under supervision by the
IGY Editorial Committee of 19 members, with D.C.
Martin as Chairman. 32 Altogether, 48 volumes of
the Annals were printed between 1957 and 1970,
many in several parts or issues that brought the total
number of volumes to more than 70. The Annals also
published extensive minutes of the CSAGI meetings
and regional conferences (Nicolet, 1958, 1959), as well
as reports from the national committees. The plans
for a final summary report on IGY envisioned in 1953
never materialized, though several individual and
national overviews and popular accounts of IGY were
produced (Berkner, 1959; Chapman, 1959; Fraser, 1957;
Odinshaw, 1958,1959; Silkin et al., 1962; Sullivan, 1961;
Wilson, 1961). The full Bibliography of IGY publications
eventually grew to more than 6,000 entries; it was
published as the concluding volume of the Annals
series with a ‘cut-off’ date of 1963 (Beynon 1970). 33
Daily information on the IGY activities was
disseminated via the IUGG Newsletter, WMO Bulletin, the
internal IGY News Letter (published from 1956 to 1959
for the CSAGI members and national committees, and
via monthly IGY Bulletin produced by the U.S. National
Committee for IGY. 34 Updates on IGY were regularly
printed in major scientific journals and the first popular
overview of IGY for lay audience was released already
in 1957, the year the IGY was started (Fraser, 1957).
Unlike in IPY-1 and IPY-2, the IGY organizers developed
a special outreach and educational program that
included popular articles, booklets, posters (Fig. 1.1-
10), films, classroom and other instructional materials
(Korsmo, 2004, 2009). Also, a special IGY logo, with
an explicit link to the most advanced technology
of the era, the Earth-orbiting satellite (Fig. 1.1-11)
was designed and adopted in 1955 for the use in all
IGY publications, instruments and public materials
(Odinshaw, 1956).
Perhaps the most lasting innovation of IGY was the
system of the World Data Centers. Over the course of
the IGY planning, it became obvious that no single
depository for all IGY materials would be feasible.
At CSAGI-4 in 1956, it was decided to establish three
‘World Data Centers’ to host the originals or copies
of the IGY records, observations and tabulations. The
Centers were geographically and politically dispersed:
one in the U.S.A., one in the Soviet Union and one
subdivided between Europe and the Western Pacific.
By 1964, 64 Centers were active at 33 locations; many
were still in operation when IPY 2007–2008 began
(Korsmo, 2010).
Extended documentary collections related to IGY
have been preserved at several archives, the richest
collections being held at the U.S. National Academies
in Washington, D.C. (U.S. National IGY Committee) and
University of Alaska Fairbanks (Sydney Chapman’s
personal collection). 35 Others are scattered around
the world in the archives of the participating nations,
scientific and international organizations, and research
institutions.
Overall, IGY 1957–1958 was a remarkable
success in globally coordinated research planning,
implementation, data processing and publication.
IGY clearly marked a new era: it encompassed more
disciplines, nations and research sites than any
of its predecessors. Its activities spanned two full
Fig. 1.1-11 IGY
1957–1958 logo.
(Courtesy: National Air and
Space Museum, Smithsonian
Institution).
P l a n n I n g a n d I m P l e m e n t I n g I P Y 2 0 0 7–2 0 0 8 19