COST 271 Action - Effects of the upper atmosphere on terrestrial and Earth-space communications: introduction

Abstract

The COST 271 Action («Effects of the Upper Atmosphere on Terrestrial and Earth-space Communications ») within the European ionospheric community has the objectives, embodied in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU): to study the influence of upper atmospheric conditions on terrestrial and Earth-space communications, to develop methods and techniques to improve ionospheric models over Europe for telecommunication and navigation applications and to transfer the results to the appropriate Radiocommunication Study Groups of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R) and other national and international organizations dealing with the modern communication systems. This introductory paper summarises briefly the background and historical context of COST 271 and outlines the main objectives, working methods and structure. It also lists the participating countries and institutions, the Management Committee (MC) Meetings, Workshops and Short-term Scientific Missions. In addition, the paper discusses the dissemination of the results and the collaboration among the participating institutions and researchers, before outlining the content of the Final Report.