Workshop on Applications of Radio Science (WARS)

WARS is a conference with a difference.

The National Committee for Radio Science (NCRS) established a forum for the presentation of current work in radio science, particularly in Australia, and for discussions between radio scientists to promote new work. The WARS Conference format is based on both formal talks, by invited speakers, and submitted papers that are presented in poster format to encourage discussion and interaction. The title of Workshop was initially chosen in preference to Conference to promote the extra features at WARS not found at other conferences, especially to emphasise making new work contacts through discussions.

The WARS Conferences provide an important opportunity for cross-fertilisation of ideas between the wide range of sub-disciplines that make up radio science in Australia and also internationally. They provide a forum to discuss and plan new projects that will develop Australia's contributions to radio science and its applications, both nationally and internationally.

All WARS papers are fully reviewed, to meet the DEST E1 classification for refereed papers published in conference proceedings, and thereby encourage student attendance and support by Universities. The review process is guided by a panel of Editors, representing the 10 Commissions of URSI, and the a list of the referees used appears in the Conference Proceedings. The Conference Proceedings is supplied to Conference attendees on CD-ROM and is also published on the world-wide-web on this Website.

· The Seventh WARS Conference - WARS2008

To be held on 10th-12th February 2008 at Sofitel Gold Coast, Broadbeach, Queensland.

Details are HERE.

· The Sixth WARS Conference - WARS2006

WARS2006 Conference was held at Dougherty Leura Gardens Resort, Leura, New South Wales 15 - 17 February 2006. It was attended by 80 people, including 11 students, and as usual had a residential format. The invited speakers set the tone for the meeting. Dr Trevor Bird spoke on Terahertz (THz) frequencies (the spectrum covers frequencies from about 300 GHz to 10 THz. Dr Le Nguyen Binh addressed the advancement of electronic integrated circuit technology and photonics in the last decade. Prof Ron Ekers showed in a wide-ranging talk that one of the most important events in twentieth century astronomy was the birth of radio astronomy. Dr Peter C. Kemeny described the Australian Synchrotron and Dr Iver Cairns, Chair of the NCSS, described the need to for a Decadal Plan for Space Science. All other papers were presented as posters (67) covering all aspects of radio science from testing relativity to RF bio-effects and including many papers on propagation, space weather, antennas and in particular a number of papers on the major Australian Square Kilometre Array (SKA) demonstrator project.

At WARS Conferences, a prize is offered for the best Student paper presented and this Conference the prize was won by Mr Jonathan Boan, University of Adelaide, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering for his paper titled: "Radio Propagation in Fire Environments".

The Proceedings for this meeting is here:

Proceedings WARS2006 Meeting - Leura 15 - 17th February 2006

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· The Fifth WARS Conference - WARS04

was held at Hadleys Hotel, Hobart, Tasmania, 18-20 February 2004 and was attended by almost 70 people, including people from Japan, Singapore and the USA.

The invited talks for WARS04 covered a range of important radio science topics. Dr Andrew Parfit spoke on Fedsat, possibly one of the most sophisticated micro-satellites currently in orbit given the wide range of scientific and propagation experiments it carries. Dr David Cole spoke on space weather, commencing his talk provocatively with a picture of an atomic bomb explosion to emphasise both the harshness of the space environment and the role radiation hardening plays in electronics. Prof. Stuart Anderson spoke on sea-state scattering of radio waves, expertly surveying the processes and how they relate to target identification. Dr Ken Joyner surveyed the wide literature and current research on cancer hazards associated with mobile phones. Generally, the review demonstrated no effects have been identified and verified to date. All the invited talks stimulated productive discussions.

Prof. Ray Norris delivered a review of future radio astronomy developments and consequently how cosmology will drive technological change. This review opened a special session on these developments with several poster papers being presented on the SKA and related astronomical proposals. The poster session was followed by a successful discussion session attended by the majority of WARS attendees who enjoyed the flow of ideas.

In addition, there were a wide range of posters that covered many aspects of radio science, as can be seen in the WARS Proceedings.

WARS2004 Proceedings is available on-line

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· The Fourth, WARS Conference - WARS02

was held at the Mercure, Leura, 20-22 February 2002 and was attended by over 80 people. The same successful format of a small number of invited talks and a larger number of poster papers adopted at past WARS Conferences continued with WARS02. In addition, there was a discussion session on the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The focussed discussion forum was an addition to the established WARS format and was intended to showcase a topic of high national interest in radio science. The WARS02 Proceedings was distributed on CDROM.

WARS2002 Proceedings is available on-line

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· The Third WARS - WARS'00

was held at the La Trobe University Beechworth Campus, 27-29 April 2000. As with the second meeting, the organising committee was a separate committee of the National Committee of Radio Science. The WARS'00 Conference Proceedings was distributed on CDROM,

WARS2000 Proceedings is available on-line

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· The Second WARS - WARS'97

was held in Adelaide's wonderful Barossa Valley, 21-23 September 1997. 84 delegates attended to see 56 poster papers and hear 6 invited talks. Again, the workshop was very successful, with feedback very positive. For the first time, a student prize was awarded. It was won by Philip Webb, for his paper "Modelling the Plasmasphere".

· The First WARS - WARS'95

was held in June 1995 in Canberra, using the format proposed by the National Committee. The atmosphere was informal and very productive. 101 delegates attended and the feedback was very positive.

For comments on this page please email: Ray.Norris(at)csiro.au