The International Union of Radio Science (
abbreviated
An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening, contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened form of a word, usually ended with a trailing per ...
''URSI'', after its French name, ) is one of 26 international
scientific unions affiliated to the
International Council for Science (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 (1913–1914) when the only radio communication system was
radiotelegraphy
Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is the 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 f ...
. 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; ), also referred to as the third International Polar Year, 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 w ...
.
In addition to publishing the
open access
Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...
journal ''URSI Radio Science Letters'', it sponsors the journals ''
Advances in Radio Science'', ''
Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics'', and ''
Radio Science'', last of which is co-sponsored by the
American Geophysical Union
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that ...
.
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
Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
to
radio astronomy
Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies Astronomical object, celestial objects using radio waves. It started in 1933, when Karl Jansky at Bell Telephone Laboratories reported radiation coming from the Milky Way. Subsequent observat ...
, acquisition of
radar
Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
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 (formerly called Hertzian waves) are a type of electromagnetic radiation with the lowest frequencies and the longest wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum, typically with frequencies below 300 gigahertz (GHz) and wavelengths g ...
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.
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
*
Outline of radio science
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 organisations based in Belgium
Scientific organizations established in 1919
Members of the International Science Council
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