COSPAR Space Research, Volume 20 covers the proceedings of the open meetings of the Working Groups on Physical Sciences of the 22nd Plenary Meeting of COSPAR in Bangalore, India on May 29-June 9, 1979. This volume is organized into four parts encompassing 50 chapters that review significant advances in space research concerning the Earth''s atmosphere and plasma envelope, as well as in the planetary science and astronomy fields. Part I describes the unique properties of the different layers of the Earth''s neutral atmosphere, including the tropical troposphere, stratosphere, and mesosphere. This part also deals with the measurements of atmospheric radiation, the application of remote sensing by satellites to radiation climatology, the structure and circulation of the stratosphere and mesosphere, and the theory and application of thermospheric models. Part II highlights the research studies concerning the chemistry and energetic charged particle effect in the ionosphere. This part also examines the in situ measurements of equatorial ionosphere and the distribution of singly ionized helium through backscatter observations. Part III contains surveys associated with some planetary components, such as the comets, moon, and Venus. This part specifically discusses the data obtained from different probes, models, and analytical techniques to study these components. Part IV explores research works on the sun, cosmic ray, and infrared and gamma-ray astronomy. This book is intended primarily to astronomers and space scientists and researchers.
