INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN RADIO COMMUNICATION NIGERIAN CASE STUDY

1. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN RADIO COMMUNICATION � NIGERIAN CASE STUDY M. O. AJEWOLE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE, NIGERIA

2. INTRODUCTION Radio communication and modern society EXAMPLE OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN RADIOWAVE STUDIES NIGERIAN CASE STUDY - OUR EXPERIENCE IN FUTA - COOPERATION OR COLLABORATION? SOME INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS - Status of Nigeria in these organizations? CONCLUSION

3. INTRODUCTION Co-operation in the field of scientific and technical research facilitates the stimulation, promotion and coordination of research in diverse areas. It is also concerned with basic and pre-competitive studies and activities that are usually of public interest. Earth-satellite radiowave communications for example are central to many new radio services which are designed to meet increasing communications requirements. The proper understanding of the influence of the lower and upper atmosphere on radiowave propagation for example is essential to support the design, implementation and operation of many modem communication systems. International collaboration on research, particularly pre-competitive research, brings many advantages in key areas. It allows the concentration of the necessary resources (financial and human) and facilitates the development of consensus.

4. Radiowave communication and modern society The information society is now here with us and communications technology and services are an essential element in this new age. A number of players are involved in bringing new communication-based services and facilities to the home and to the workplace - telecommunications operators, navigation services for maritime operators, cable TV operators and terminal suppliers to entertainment, publishing and media companies. On the research front teams are working at the world and national levels requiring an increased scope for co-operation.

5. Real-time mapping of ionospheric variability such as over Europe and eastern Mediterranean by the National Observatory of Athens using a portable Digisonde Sounder Example of on-going international co-operation in radio communication

6. International co-operations contd To contribute to acquiring real-time data for planning better HF communications and Earth-satellite communications world-wide� To support remote mapping and surveillance To develop forecasting models to study the influence of space weather on the Earth�s ionosphere.� Others engaged in international ionospheric co-operation are: Center for Atmospheric Research, University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA

7. Instituto Nazionale di Geofisica, Rome, Italy Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Science and Engineering Research Council, UK IPS Radio and Space Services, Australian Forecast Center The Swedish Institute of Space Physics. The International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, who have created the ionospheric data bank of COST 251 Action International co-operations contd

8. NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE Radio telescopes at UNN, Nssuka and RSUST, Port Harcourt supported by Japan Radiometric measurements at OAU, Ife NIMEX for boundary layer studies in FUTA & OAU Ife Investigation of processes governing electrodynamics and cold plasma mass injection and loss in the low/mid latitude storm time plasmasphere-ionsphere system etc using a network of ground based magnetometer (to carried out at Unilorin) etc.

9. OUR EXPERIENCE IN FUTA contd OUR EXPERIENCE IN PHYSICS DEPARTMENT FUTA HF field strength measurement Measurement of some rainfall parameters using a 24 GHz vertically pointing radar Measurement of vertical distribution of atmospheric parameters such as P, T, Rh, RR, etc using wireless meteorological stations mounted at varying heights on a 200 m TV mast Study of dynamics of geo-space plasma changes during magnetic storms and aurora substorms etc using Magnetic Data Acquisition System (MAGDAS) Investigation of communication degradation due to ionospheric scintillation using Scintillation Network Decision Aid (SCINDA)

10. The NOA in Athens for example had a budget of $130M to be expended in two years The radiometric measurements at Ile � Ife was supported by the ITU-R, NITEL, and OAU Ile � Ife These measurements were carried out simultaneously in Douala Cameroon, and Nairobi, Kenya Huge budgetary provisions were required for equipment and logistics Collaboration between institutions, individual researchers, etc for specific studies usually requires small budgets (< $100,000) NIGERIAN EXPERIENCECollaboration or co-operation?

11. Collaboration or co-operation? contd. Collaboration is easier to initiate and execute It requires very little paper work Easier to obtain funding from external sources Preference for research collaboration The game is survival first !!!!

12. Some relevant international organizations UN Office for outer space affairs URSI General Assembly and URSI Commissions The URSI Commission F encourages: Radiowave study at all frequencies in a non-ionized environment Radiowave propagation through planetary neutral atmospheres and surfaces, Radiowave interaction with planetary surfaces and sub-surfaces including land, ocean and ice Characterization of the environment as it affects wave phenomena; al National Workshop of the IHY, Nigeria at Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ijebu - Ode, Nigeria on 20th July 2006 al National Workshop of the IHY, Nigeria at Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ijebu - Ode, Nigeria on 20th July 2006

13. URSI Commission F contd. Commission F has sponsored or co-sponsored more than 30 meetings in the last five years. Mode A meetings can explicitly use the name and logo of URSI, but no financial commitment is involved. URSI grants a fixed, unconditional sum to meetings under Mode B sponsorship, but the support is strictly restricted to cover expenses of Young Scientists, key speakers, or other scientists considered essential to the meeting (but not organizational costs). Under sponsorship Mode C URSI grants to a meeting a sum that is to be regarded as a loan. This sum may typically be used to cover preparatory expenses. It may be combined with an additional, fixed unconditional sum to be used in accordance with Mode B. URSI should be involved in sharing any profits from the meeting under Mode C sponsorship.

14. Status of Nigeria in some international organizations � Commission F EXPULSION OF NIGERIA FROM MEMBERSHIP OF URSI IN AUGUST 2002 DUE TO UNPAID DUES DEMISE OF PROF. G. O. AJAYI HAS THE SITUATION BEEN CORRECTED? ANY HOPE FOR PARTICIPATION IN MAJOR URSI SPONSORED MEETINGS?

15. CONCLUSION Developing countries such as Nigeria are still far behind in investigating such issues that are central to improving many new radio communication services. Dearth of facilities remains a major cause of this backwardness Collaboration/co-operation with scientists in the north (hemisphere) can assist to bring about donation of basic research facilities which will help scientists in the south to leapfrog from their state of complete isolation into the mainstream of modern research. Data collected from such collaborative studies will allow the development of new improved regional procedures. Young scientists can through such programmes benefit from the expertise of scholars in the north, their scientific publications, attendance at meetings once some basic state of the art research facilities are domiciled in their region Re-integration of Nigeria into major scientific associations

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