Using the kind permission given to me by my co-author, this short preface will be written in my name. I want to devote this book to San Juan city in Argentina. It is not only due to the fact that the city was twice completely destroyed after the devastating ear- quakes in 1941 and 1977, but also because my stay there completely changed my life. Changes included changing my career from the field of space plasma physics to Earth sciences and geophysics, and changes in my personal life giving me h- piness and compliance in my present family. Going back to the subject of the book, it should be noted that the history of the question asked by the book is very complicated and intricate. Starting in the 1930s from the observation of seismogenic electric fields, the area of seismo-ionospheric coupling became an area of fighting and conflicts, hopes and frustrations. Spe- lation and misunderstanding on the interdisciplinary borders made this field for many years (even up to now) taboo for so-called "serious scientists". But due to the courageous efforts of several groups in Russia and the former USSR states such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Japan, later France and Taiwan, Greece and Italy the situation started to improve.

This book discusses how the increased emanation of radon and other gases from the Earth’s crust in the vicinity of active tectonic faults triggers a chain of physical processes and chemical reactions in the atmospheric boundary layer and the Earth’s ionosphere over an earthquake area several days/hours before strong seismic shocks occur. It presents the two main concepts involved in this mechanism: atmosphere ionization and the global electric circuit. The Lithosphere-Atmosphere-Ionosphere Coupling (LAIC) concept is strongly supported by experimental data showing the atmospheric and ionospheric precursors for major recent earthquakes including 2004 Sumatra; 2008 Sichuan, China; 2011 Tohoku, Japan; and 2015 Nepal. The book not only addresses the theoretical considerations but also includes information on experimental techniques used for precursor observations based on the space-borne systems. Providing practical methods of precursor identification and interpretation, it is an excellent textbook for graduate courses in geophysics, earthquake science, atmospheric physics and remote sensing. Moreover, it offers a wealth of information for scientists and experts from governmental and international agencies working in the fields of natural-disaster mitigation, response and recovery.

This book contains the papers selected by the Scientific Committee and represented at the XIII International Conference "Solar-Terrestrial Relations and Physics of Earthquake Precursors", which was hold at the Institute of Cosmophysical Research and Radio Wave Propagation, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Kamchatka. The papers describe the investigation results in the fields of atmosphere, ionosphere and magnetosphere physics. Mechanisms of transformation of solar wind energy into the energy of magnetospheric-ionospheric processes, effects of the processes in the Earth core on the lower and upper atmosphere, seismo-electromagnetic, seismo-electric and seismo-acoustic effects at different frequency ranges in the Earth crust, atmosphere and ionosphere are under consideration. Modern methods for geophysical data collection, processing, transfer and exchange as well as organisation issues of seismic activity monitoring are presented. The Conference "Solar-Terrestrial Relations and Physics of Earthquake Precursors" has 25 years of history. Scientists from Russia, Japan, Hungary, China, India, USA and other countries participate in it. In a traditional way, the Conference includes three sections: atmosphere physics, geophysical fields and their interaction, physics of earthquake precursors.

Pre-Earthquake signals are advanced warnings of a larger seismic event. A better understanding of these processes can help to predict the characteristics of the subsequent mainshock. Pre-Earthquake Processes: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Earthquake Prediction Studies presents the latest research on earthquake forecasting and prediction based on observations and physical modeling in China, Greece, Italy, France, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, and the United States. Volume highlights include: Describes the earthquake processes and the observed physical signals that precede them Explores the relationship between pre-earthquake activity and the characteristics of subsequent seismic events Encompasses physical, atmospheric, geochemical, and historical characteristics of pre-earthquakes Illustrates thermal infrared, seismo–ionospheric, and other satellite and ground-based pre-earthquake anomalies Applies these multidisciplinary data to earthquake forecasting and prediction Written for seismologists, geophysicists, geochemists, physical scientists, students and others, Pre-Earthquake Processes: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Earthquake Prediction Studies offers an essential resource for understanding the dynamics of pre-earthquake phenomena from an international and multidisciplinary perspective.

From July 7 to 12, 2008 in Zelenogradsk, a cosy resort on the bank of the Baltic Sea near Kaliningrad in Russia, the 1st International Conference “Atmosphere, Ionosphere, Safety (AIS-2008)” has been carried out. The State Russian University of I. Kant, Semenov Institute of chemical physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushkov Institute of terrestrial magnetism and radio-waves propagation of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Russian Committee on Ball Lightning (BL) have acted as organizers of the conference. Financial support was made by Russian Fund of Fundamental Research Project N. 08-03-06041 and European Of?ce of Aerospace Research and Development Grant award FA8655-08-1-5052. The International conference “Atmosphere, Ionosphere, Safety” (AIS-2008) was devoted to (i) the analysis of the atmosphere–ionosphere response on natural and man-made processes, the reasons of occurrence of the various accompanying geophysical phenomena, and an estimation of possible consequences of their in?uence on the person and technological systems; (ii) the study of the monitoring possibility and search of the ways for the risk level decrease. Discussion of the physical and chemical processes accompanying the observable geophysical p- nomena was undertaken. One can see from a list of the Conference sections that questions of safety took only rather modest place, so main topics of the Conference became discussion of processes taking place in the atmosphere, ionosphere and methods of monitoring these processes.

This Research Topic is Volume II of a series. The previous volume can be found here: From Preparation to Faulting: Multidisciplinary Investigations on Earthquake Processes What happens before an earthquake occurs? What are the physical processes that take place in the Earth’s crust before the earthquake nucleates? How can we observe, describe, and model them statistically, numerically, and physically in multiscales from samples in laboratory to tectonic plate of earth? During the last few decades many efforts have been devoted to multidisciplinary studies in an attempt to answer these fundamental questions. Previously, the Institute of Physics of the Earth (IPE) model (dry) and Dilatancy Diffusion (DD) model (wet) were proposed for earthquake processes. Like Schrödinger's cat, earthquakes are unpredictable—according to the IPE model, yet they can be predictable—according to DD model. Recently, with advanced techniques, some scientists have declaimed that there are precursors to be used for earthquake forecasting, which offers new opportunities to study earthquake precursors.

The latest achievements of earthquake prediction via radio communication systems, by the world's leading authority Prof. Hayakawa is one of the world leaders in the field of seismo-electromagnetics for EQ prediction and this area of research is still evolving Presents the fundamentals of radio communications and radio propagation, using the radio noises and propagation anomalies as a precursor of earthquakes Considers the combination of different kinds of seismogenic electromagnetic signals of both natural and artificial character Timely topic following the recent sequence of highly destructive earthquakes around the world

This book includes the proceedings of the conference “Problems of the Geocosmos” held by the Earth Physics Department, St. Petersburg State University, Russia, every two years since 1996. Covering a broad range of topics in solid Earth physics and solar-terrestrial physics, as well as more applied subjects such as engineering geology and ecology, the book reviews the latest research in planetary geophysics, focusing on the interaction between the Earth’s shells and the near-Earth space in a unified system. This book is divided into four sections: • Exploration and Environmental Geophysics (EG), which covers two broad areas of environmental and engineering geophysics – near-surface research and deep geoelectric studies; • Paleomagnetism and Rock Magnetism (P), which includes research on magnetostratigraphy, paleomagnetism applied to tectonics, environmental magnetism, and marine magnetic anomalies; • Seismology (S), which covers the theory of seismic wave propagation, Earth’s structure from seismic data, global and regional seismicity and sources of earthquakes, and novel seismic instruments and data processing methods; and • Physics of Solar-Terrestrial Connections (STP), which includes magnetospheric phenomena, space weather, and the interrelationship between solar activity and climate.