Recent advances, open questions and future directions in solar-terrestrialresearch

The International Symposium on Solar-Terrestrial Coupling Processes was hel d in Paros, Greece, on June 23-27, 1997. The Symposium was sponsored by NAS A, the European Geophysical Society, the Creek Ministry of the Aegean, and the Creek Ministry of Development. It was attended by 85 scientists from 13 countries, and included six sessions on topics ranging from Interplanetary Disturbances to Particle Acceleration. In addition to the six sessions a p anel discussion session was held. Eight scientists reported on recent advan ces, open questions and future directions in solar-terrestrial research. Th is review paper is based on the panelists' reports and includes individual sections on seven particular topics of special interest to solar-terrestria l research. The topics range from the significance of solar wind compositio n and interplanetary disturbances to promising new technologies and methods . Solar-terrestrial research deserves the special attention of the scientif ic community, both because of the attractive physics underlying the various phenomena associated with them, as well as because of the applied aspect o f the sometimes destructive effects of solar-terrestrial coupling on a wide variety of technological systems. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All right s reserved.