IPELS'99: Objective

The IPELS conference series was established in order to stimulate the exchange of insights into plasma physical processes by comparing plasma experiments in laboratory and space. While this opportunity has been seized by an increasing number of scientists, it has shifted emphasis, on the side of space physics, from active plasma experiments to the probing of unique natural situations including astrophysics.

August 1999 offers the opportunity to watch one of the most impressive plasma "experiments" that nature has prepared for direct human experience, a total solar eclipse. The venue of the workshop lies only a few kilometers south of the totality zone on August 11 (see map and Special Events page), allowing us to find a promising spot for observing this phenomenon. It is, therefore, only natural that IPELS 1999 places particular emphasis on solar plasma phenomena, but all other topics arising from rocket and satellite measurements, laboratory experiments, and interpretative efforts by theory and simulation are equally welcome, in particular if the bridge from laboratory to space is made apparent.