Foreword to the special issue on papers presented at the Jicamarca 40th Anniversary Workshop: 40 years of equatorial aeronomy sparked by the Jicamarca Radio Observatory

Abstract

In May 2002 the Jicamarca Radio Observatory hosted a workshop to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Fifty-one scientists from 11 different countries participated and presented not only a number of reviews of past highlights of the science generated at Jicamarca, but also up-to-date reports on various aspects of equatorial and low latitude aeronomy. Almost all the past directors of Jicamarca attended, as well as several of the ‘‘old timers’’ from the early 1960s, including Kenneth Bowles, the Observatory builder and first director. This special issue of the Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics includes a selection of fourteen papers from the workshop covering a number of the topics including both emerging theories and new observations.