The exploration of our Solar System is rapidly growing in importance as a scientific discipline. During the last decades, great progress has been achieved as the result of space missions to planets and small bodies - as teroids and comets - and improved remote-sensing methods, as well as due to refined techniques of laboratory measurements and a rapid progress in theoretical studies, involving the development of various astrophysical and geophysical models. These models are based, in particular, on the approach of comparative planetology becoming a powerful tool in revealing evolu tionary processes which have been shaping the planets since their origin. Comets and asteroids, being identified as remnants of planetary formation, serve as a clue to the reconstruction of Solar System history because they encapsulated the primordial material from which the planets were built up. At the same time, these interplanetary carriers of original matter and mes sengers from the past, being triggered by dynamical processes well outside our neighboring space, were responsible for numerous catastrophic events when impacting on the planets and thus causing dramatic changes of their natural conditions. In the crossroads of astronomy and geophysics, recent years have seen a growing understanding of the importance of collisional processes through out the history of the Solar System and, therefore, the necessity to get more insight into the problem of interactions of planets and small bodies.

When I wasa child, growing up in South America,I often went camping in the wild and hence had direct access to the wondrous Southern sky; the Southern Cross was all mine at the time. Little did I know then that the study of the sky would take such a huge importance in my life, and that in the end astronomy and astrophysics would in many ways become my country and my religion. I have lived in several di?erent countries, and when asked my nationality, I am always very tempted to reply: astronomer. I started as a theorist, and my only dream in my youth was to spend nights thinking and calculating, with paper and pencil, and to have the impression by dawn that I had understood something new. So at the time astronomy was seen or dreamt by me as a solitary endeavour, with periodic encounters with my wise adviser and professors; it is this model that I adopted when doing my PhD work. My generation has lived through many revolutions of all kinds. Those in astronomy, I believe, remain particularly remarkable, and I am a true product of them. Now, I elect to live and work in large organizations, and to share my endeavours with many people. And I relish the series of Andr ́ e Heck on Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy, which help us recover our memories, reconstitute our own story, and read with glee about our neighbouring or far-away colleagues.

Advances in Geosciences is the result of a concerted effort to bring together the latest results and planning activities related to earth and space science in Asia and the international arena. The volume editors are all leading scientists in their research fields covering six sections: Atmospheric Science (AS), Hydrological Science (HS), Ocean Science (OS), Solid Earth (SE), Solar Terrestrial (ST) and Planetary Science (PS). The main purpose is to highlight the scientific issues essential to the study of earthquakes, tsunamis, atmospheric dust storms, climate change, drought, flood, typhoons, monsoons, space weather, and planetary exploration. This volume is abstracted in NASA's Astrophysics Data System: http://ads.harvard.edu Contents:Volume 10: Atmospheric Science (AS) Rainfall over Thailand during ENSO (1997–2000) (Wonlee & Prungchan)Formation of Tropical Cyclone Concentric Eye Walls by Wave–Mean Flow Interactions (J-Y Peng et al.)Anthropogenic Aerosol Radiative Forcing in the INDO-Gangetic Basi (S Dey & S N Tripathi)and other papersVolume 11: Hydrological Science (HS)Study for the Fresh Ground Water Resources, Neil, Island, India (V K Saxena)Emerging Concepts in Hydrology for Tropical Pacific Regimes (J Terry)Analysis of Monami Waves in Aquatic Vegetation (S Patil et al.)and other papersVolume 12: Ocean Science (OS)3D Current Characteristics Simulation with ANN (C Z Chew et al.)Classification of Ocean Waves from the Data Buoy Measurements (R Balaji et al.)Intercomparison of Various Latent Heat Flux Products in the South China Sea (Zhen et al.)and other papersVolume 13: Solid Earth (SE)The International Laser Ranging Service (M Pearlman et al.)Numerical Modeling of the 2006 Java Tsunami Earthquake (N R Hanifa et al.)Statistical Properties and Time Trend in the Number of Holocene Volcanic Eruptions. (A N Zemtsov & A A Tron)and other papersVolume 14: Solar Terrestrial (ST)ULF Waves: Exploring the Earth's Magnetosphere (B J Fraser)Spectrum of Density Fluctuations in the Solar Wind (V Krishnan)Polarization Properties of the Ultra-Low Frequency Waves in Non-Axisymmetric Background Magnetic Fields (K Kabin et al.)and other papersVolume 15: Planetary Science (PS)X-Rays from Nonmagnetic Planets (K Dennerl)Clouds, Clumps, Cores, and Comets — A Cosmic Chemical Connection? (S B Charnley & S D Rodgers)Comparative X-Ray Studies of Planetary Aurorae (G Branduardi-Raymont)and other papers Readership: Academics, researchers and postgraduate students in geosciences. Key Features: Provides an important source of new and not-yet-published results from the growing Asian and international geoscience community Presents a unique view of the rapid scientific progress made by Asian researchers in topics crucial to the future of the global environment Highlights a first-hand description of how the largest scientific population in the world is working together to manage the environmental problems which will determine the economic and social growth of the world itselfKeywords:Planetary Science;Atmosphere;Ionosphere;Magnetosphere “This set is the result of an effort to bring together the latest results and planning activities related to earth and space science in Asia and the international arena. The main purpose of this set is to highlight the scientific issues essential to the study of earthquakes, tsunami, atmospheric dust storms, climate change, drought, floods, typhoons, monsoons, space weather, and planetary exploration.” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

Planet Earth is part of our Galactic environment, not just the product of it, and it is still today influenced by phenomena related to Galactic forces. Specifically, our planet is affected by its near environment, in particular the small bodies in the Solar System. This book reviews the processes which cause the collisions of these small bodies with the Earth as well as the consequences of such collisions. The various articles take the reader through the Galaxy-Solar System connection to the orbital dynamics of the small bodies and to their number and distribution in near-Earth space. The hazards of the impacts of small bodies on Earth are evaluated, and the geophysical records of such impacts are discussed. The book takes the reader to the forefront of research on both impact cratering and the origin and evolution of small bodies in the Solar System. Thus it brings together two subjects, geophysics and astronomy, which are usually discussed in separate volumes but are closely knit together in this particular area of research.