The International Union of Radio Science (
abbreviated ''URSI'', after its French name, french: link=no, Union radio-scientifique internationale) is one of 26 international
scientific unions affiliated to the
International Council for Science
The International Council for Science (ICSU, after its former name, International Council of Scientific Unions) was an international non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the advancement of science. Its members ...
(ICSU).
History and objectives
URSI was officially created in 1919, during the Constitutive Assembly of the International Research Council (now ICSU), based on the earlier french: link=no, Commission Internationale de Telegraphie sans Fil (1913–1914) when the only radio communication system was
radiotelegraphy
Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimental technologies for ...
. It has held a general assembly every three years from 1922. Fifty years ago URSI was one of the most important promoters of the
International Geophysical Year
The International Geophysical Year (IGY; french: Année géophysique internationale) was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War when scientific ...
. It co-sponsors the ''
Radio Science'' journal (co-sponsored by the
American Geophysical Union) as well as the ''
Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics''.
URSI's original objective (to encourage "scientific studies of radiotelegraphy, especially those which require international cooperation") has been broadened to include all
radio science, from
telecommunications to
radio astronomy, acquisition of
radar information about distant passive objects, studies of the radiation stimulated or spontaneously emitted by these objects, biological effects of electromagnetic radiation and active modification of objects by
radio wave
Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with the longest wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum, typically with frequencies of 300 gigahertz (GHz) and below. At 300 GHz, the corresponding wavelength is 1 mm (short ...
s, within the spectrum from
extremely low frequency to the
optical domain.
Commissions
* Commission A: Electromagnetic Metrology
* Commission B: Fields and Waves
* Commission C: Radiocommunication Systems and Signal Processing
* Commission D: Electronics and Photonics
* Commission E: Electromagnetic Environment and Interference
* Commission F: Wave Propagation and Remote Sensing
* Commission G: Ionospheric Radio and Propagation
* Commission H: Waves in Plasmas
* Commission J: Radio Astronomy
* Commission K: Electromagnetics in Biology and Medicine
A few Commissions are engaged with international projects in cooperation with other international bodies, for example with the
Committee on Space Research in the project
International Reference Ionosphere
International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) is a common permanent scientific project of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) and the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) started 1968/69. It is the international standard empirical model f ...
.
Individual Membership
The URSI includes different individual membership grades:
*Corresponding member (CURSI)
*Senior member, awarded to members who have a PhD, 10+ publications, and a history of involvement with the URSI
*Fellow, by invitation or by winning a URSI senior prize
See also
*
Radio science#URSI
References
External links
*
United States National Committee of the International Union of Radio Science
Ghent University
Members of the International Council for Science
Organisations based in East Flanders
Radio organizations
Scientific organizations
Scientific organisations based in Belgium
Scientific organizations established in 1919
Members of the International Science Council
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