Dear member representatives of the FDSN:
I write to you in my role as the newly elected Chair of the International
Federation of Digital Seismograph Networks. I am honored to have been
elected to this position, and look forward to working with all of you to
further the goals of the FDSN over the coming years. The election took
place at the IASPEI meeting in Göteborg in late July, where the FDSN held
two plenary and five working-group sessions. Also at this meeting,
Michelle Grobbelaar was elected as Secretary of the Federation.
Many of you know me through my ongoing effort to characterize global
earthquake activity in the Global CMT Project, an effort that relies
on open global seismic data. I have a career-long interest in and
experience with multiple uses of global and regional digital seismic
data. I have been involved in various advisory capacities in the
development and operation of the permanent global network operated by
IRIS and the USGS, as well as of the temporary deployment of USArray,
and serve on advisory committees of the French global network Geoscope,
and the new European infrastructure project EPOS. Over the last decade,
I have also been an instructor at six IRIS organized metadata workshops
that have been co-sponsored with the FDSN, IASPEI, and IUGG, along with
support from other FDSN members (in Europe, South America, Japan,
Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Egypt, Kuwait, Malaysia, Brazil).
All of these experiences have highlighted to me the important role that
the FDSN plays in fostering and supporting international cooperation
in seismology. As Chair of the Federation, my ambition is to ensure that
the FDSN continues to fill its current role, but also to explore new
ways in which the FDSN can facilitate the development and operation
of seismological networks around the world, and ensure preservation of
and access to seismological data.
Over the coming months, I plan to review the ongoing activities of the
five Working Groups of the FDSN, and to initiate a discussion with the
Executive Committee members about priorities and goals, as well as
new opportunities. I anticipate that this activity will result in the
preparation of a discussion document and, subsequently, a plan for future
FDSN activities.
I invite all of you to share any comments or suggestions about the FDSN
with me and the other members of the Executive Committee:
Michelle Grobbelaar, Seiji Tsuboi, Reinoud Sleeman, Tim Ahern, Florian
Haslinger, Reinoud Sleeman, and Bruce Beaudoin. I also invite you to visit
the web site of the Federation,
http://www.fdsn.org, where you can find
additional information about FDSN membership and activities.
Best regards,
Göran Ekström