International Geophysical Year

The International Geophysical Year (IGY) was a major international scientific initiative running from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. Widely regarded as the third International Polar Year, it marked a renewed period of global collaboration after years of Cold War tension that had significantly hindered the exchange of scientific knowledge. Sixty-seven nations took part in IGY projects, with the notable exception of mainland China, which objected to the participation of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The Belgian scientist Marcel Nicolet served as secretary-general of the associated international organisation. The IGY encompassed fourteen fields of Earth science, including auroral studies, cosmic rays, geomagnetism, ionospheric physics, glaciology, seismology, oceanography, and meteorology. Its timing coincided with the peak of solar cycle 19, offering a unique opportunity to investigate solar–terrestrial interactions.

Origins and Background

The origins of the IGY were rooted in the earlier International Polar Years of 1882–83 and 1932–33, which had promoted coordinated polar research but had suffered from limited technology and, in the case of the second event, disruption caused by the Second World War. A renewed proposal emerged during a meeting on 5 April 1950 at the home of James Van Allen, where Lloyd Berkner, Sydney Chapman, Fred Singer and Ernest Harry Vestine argued that advances in rocketry, radar, and computing justified a broader Geophysical rather than purely polar initiative.
In 1952, the Comité Spéciale de l’Année Géophysique Internationale (CSAGI), a special committee of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), was established to coordinate the programme. Under the presidency of the British geophysicist Sydney Chapman, the committee coordinated scientific priorities and established unified research protocols and data management systems.
A Japanese postage stamp issued for the IGY depicted the event symbolically with polar imagery, reflecting its ties to the earlier Polar Years.

Major Events and Scientific Achievements

The announcement by the United States on 29 July 1955 that it intended to launch a small Earth-orbiting satellite as part of its IGY contribution signalled a new era in scientific exploration. The proposed Project Vanguard, managed by the US Naval Research Laboratory, aimed to demonstrate the potential of sounding-rocket technology for non-military scientific purposes. Four days later, Soviet scientist Leonid Sedov announced the USSR’s intention to launch a satellite of its own. To global surprise, the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik 1 on 4 October 1957, the first artificial satellite, marking the beginning of the Space Age.
After several unsuccessful Vanguard attempts, Wernher von Braun and his team persuaded the US administration to employ a modified Jupiter-C rocket for the Explorer programme. This led to the successful launch of Explorer 1, the spacecraft that discovered the Van Allen radiation belts, one of the IGY’s most celebrated scientific breakthroughs.
Other significant achievements included:

• mapping of mid-ocean ridges during the British-American Atlantic survey (1954–59), providing crucial evidence for the developing theory of plate tectonics;
• extensive global studies of the ionosphere and upper atmosphere using sounding rockets;
• improvements in longitude and latitude determination and high-precision Earth mapping;
• major advances in auroral and airglow research.

The IGY also accelerated atmospheric and solar observation programmes. Early atmospheric carbon-dioxide measurements at Mauna Loa Observatory, established in 1956, grew into one of the world’s most important long-term climate datasets.

World Data Centres and International Data Exchange

Lessons learned from the 1932 Polar Year, during which substantial scientific data were lost due to the outbreak of the Second World War, informed the IGY’s approach to data preservation. The organising committee insisted that all observational data be freely accessible to scientists worldwide, without political restriction.
In April 1957, the World Data Centre (WDC) system was created.

• The United States hosted WDC-A,
• The Soviet Union hosted WDC-B, and
• Western Europe, Australia, and Japan comprised WDC-C.

These centres managed diverse data formats—from printed tables to early computer punch cards and magnetic tape—ensuring that complete datasets were archived in multiple locations. The network later became the foundation for the ICSU World Data System, created in 2008 to continue the stewardship of global scientific data.

Antarctic Research and International Bases

Antarctica became one of the focal regions of IGY activity. More than seventy national scientific organisations formed IGY committees, and a large number of research stations were established or expanded. Several of these bases have remained in operation to the present day.
Key national contributions included:

• Australia: Mawson Station, established in 1954, became its first permanent base and remains the longest continuously operating Antarctic station south of the Circle. Davis Station followed in 1957. As part of IGY activities, a two-man camp near Taylor Glacier conducted auroral photography and penguin studies. Australia also temporarily took over Wilkes Station from the United States before replacing it with Casey Station in 1969.
• United Kingdom: Halley Research Station was founded in 1956 by the British Royal Society. The surrounding Halley Bay was named after Edmond Halley, reflecting the station’s strong geophysical research focus.
• Japan: Showa Station was established in January 1957 with the assistance of the icebreaker Sōya. A dramatic episode occurred in 1958 when the crew were evacuated but poor weather prevented retrieval of the eighteen sled dogs. When the relief expedition arrived a year later, two of the dogs, Taro and Jiro, were found alive, having survived harsh conditions. Their story became iconic in Japan.
• France: French participation included Dumont d’Urville and Charcot Stations in Adélie Land. Earlier French expeditions on the vessel Commandant Charcot (1949–50) had laid the groundwork, although the first French station, Port Martin, was lost to fire in 1952.
• Belgium: Belgium established the Baudouin I Base in 1958 under the leadership of Gaston de Gerlache, son of the famed polar explorer Adrien de Gerlache. A notable incident occurred in December 1958 when four members of the expedition were stranded inland after damage to their aircraft, requiring a difficult rescue after ten days.

The extensive Antarctic involvement of the IGY contributed directly to the negotiation of the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, which designated the continent for peaceful scientific cooperation.

Broader Significance and Legacy

The International Geophysical Year represented one of the most ambitious and successful cooperative scientific projects of the twentieth century. It demonstrated the possibility of collaboration across political divides during the Cold War and led to major scientific breakthroughs in geophysics, space science, and Earth observation.
The IGY also transformed the culture of international science by:

• promoting open data access;
• establishing permanent global monitoring stations;
• stimulating multinational satellite and space-probe programmes;
• encouraging long-term environmental research;
• laying groundwork for later initiatives such as the International Polar Year of 2007–08.