Future perspectives on space-borne/ground-based state-of-the-art scientific instruments, exploration space missions, and advanced modeling/simulation methods, are intensively discussed from multilateral viewpoints regarding solar-terrestrial physics, space plasma, upper atmospheric observations for the Earth and planets. In addition to innovative technologies, international collaborations have been getting more essential and crucial factors in the space observations/missions. The novel concept, strategy, and promotion in these international collaborations are also main subjects of this conference.

Astronomy has been associated with the detection of electromagnetic waves or photons from within and beyond the solar system, ranging from Radio to Gamma-ray Astronomy. Particle Astrophysics, including Neutrino and Dark-Matter Astrophysics today, started with the discovery of cosmic rays in 1911. The Space Age expanded particle observations to in-situ studies of lower energy electrons and ions with a variety of charge states in space plasmas traversed by spacecraft. Remote observation of space plasmas became possible only after the discovery of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) in space in 1950.This book is a primer for those who wish to learn more about the origins of ENAs, related detection techniques, and how ENA images and spectra can be used to study space plasmas beyond the reach of spacecraft. It tells a comprehensive story from the first encounters with ENAs in the Earth's magnetosphere to Neutral-Atom Astronomy of the edge of the heliosphere and the interstellar medium. This story includes how ion mass spectrographs evolved into ENA imagers, overcoming the technical challenges, how to extract information from ENA data, and a variety of diagnostic applications on the magnetosphere, interplanetary space, other solar-system objects, the heliospheric boundary, the local interstellar medium, and a glimpse into the future of Neutral-Atom Astronomy.The authors hope to inform and inspire readers to further enrich this field of study.

Since the year 2000 the ESA Cluster mission has been investigating the small-scale structures and processes of the Earth's plasma environment, such as those involved in the interaction between the solar wind and the magnetospheric plasma, in global magnetotail dynamics, in cross-tail currents, and in the formation and dynamics of the neutral line and of plasmoids. This book contains presentations made at the 15th Cluster workshop held in March 2008. It also presents several articles about the Cluster Active Archive and its datasets, a few overview papers on the Cluster mission, and articles reporting on scientific findings on the solar wind, the magnetosheath, the magnetopause and the magnetotail.

This invaluable volume set of Advances in Geosciences continues the excellent tradition of the Asia-Oceania scientific community in providing the most up-to-date research results on a wide range of geosciences and environmental science. The information is vital to the understanding of the effects of climate change, extreme weathers on the most populated regions and fastest moving economies in the world. Besides, these volumes also highlight original papers from many prestigious research institutions which are doing cutting edge study in atmospheric physics, hydrological science and water resource, ocean science and coastal study, planetary exploration and solar system science, seismology, tsunamis, upper atmospheric physics and space science.

Advances in Geosciences is the result of a concerted effort to bring together the latest results and planning activities related to earth and space science in Asia and the international arena. The volume editors are all leading scientists in their research fields covering six sections: Atmospheric Science (AS), Hydrological Science (HS), Ocean Science (OS), Solid Earth (SE), Solar Terrestrial (ST) and Planetary Science (PS). The main purpose is to highlight the scientific issues essential to the study of earthquakes, tsunamis, atmospheric dust storms, climate change, drought, flood, typhoons, monsoons, space weather, and planetary exploration.

This book explores the character and contours of the Asian Space Powers. At present, Asian states like China, Japan and India are found investing in space technologies with analogous social and scientific and probably with divergent military intents. Other Asian states like Israel, South Korea and Malaysia are also making investments in the space arena. States like Iran and North Korea are faulted for using space launches as a demonstrative tool to achieve strategic objectives. This work examines this entire maze of activities to unearth where these states are making these investments to accomplish their state-specific goal or are they also trying to surpass each other by engaging in competition. Explaining why and how these states are making investments towards achieving their socio-economic and strategic mandate this book infers that the possibility of Asian Space Race exists but is presently fairly diminutive.

Advances in Geosciences is the result of a concerted effort to bring together the latest results and planning activities related to earth and space science in Asia and the international arena. The volume editors are all leading scientists in their research fields covering six sections: Atmospheric Science (AS), Hydrological Science (HS), Ocean Science (OS), Solid Earth (SE), Solar Terrestrial (ST) and Planetary Science (PS). The main purpose is to highlight the scientific issues essential to the study of earthquakes, tsunamis, atmospheric dust storms, climate change, drought, flood, typhoons, monsoons, space weather, and planetary exploration. This volume is abstracted in NASA''s Astrophysics Data System: http: //ads.harvard.edu. Contents: X-Rays from Nonmagnetic Planets (K Dennerl); Clouds, Clumps, Cores, and Comets OCo A Cosmic Chemical Connection? (S B Charnley & S D Rodgers); Comparative X-Ray Studies of Planetary Aurorae (G Branduardi-Raymont); and other papers. Readership: Academics, researchers and postgraduate students in geosciences."

This invaluable volume set of Advances in Geosciences continues the excellent tradition of the Asia-Oceania scientific community in providing the most up-to-date research results on a wide range of geosciences and environmental science. This information will be vital to the understanding the effects of climate change, extreme weathers on the most populated region and fastest moving economies in the world. Besides reviews, these volumes contain original papers from many prestigious research institutions which are doing cutting edge study in atmospheric physics, hydrological science and water resource, ocean science and coastal study, planetary exploration and solar system science, seismology, tsunamis, upper atmospheric physics and space science.

Documents the science, the mission, the spacecraft and the instrumentation on a unique NASA mission to study the Earth’s dynamic, dangerous and fascinating Van Allen radiation belts that surround the planet This collection of articles provides broad and detailed information about NASA’s Van Allen Probes (formerly known as the Radiation Belt Storm Probes) twin-spacecraft Earth-orbiting mission. The mission has the objective of achieving predictive understanding of the dynamic, intense, energetic, dangerous, and presently unpredictable belts of energetic particles that are magnetically trapped in Earth’s space environment above the atmosphere. It documents the science of the radiation belts and the societal benefits of achieving predictive understanding. Detailed information is provided about the Van Allen Probes mission design, the spacecraft, the science investigations, and the onboard instrumentation that must all work together to make unprecedented measurements within a most unforgiving environment, the core of Earth’s most intense radiation regions. This volume is aimed at graduate students and researchers active in space science, solar-terrestrial interactions and studies of the upper atmosphere. Originally published in Space Science Reviews, Vol. 179/1-4, 2013.