The International Commission on Planetary Atmospheres and Evolution (ICPAE) is one of the 10 Commissions  of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS), which is in turn one of the 8 Scientific Associations of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG). These 8 Scientific Associations, together with the Union Commissions and the IUGG Committees comprise IUGG.

ICPAE has three primary goals:

 

shapeimage 1 ICPAE also fosters international cooperation in research into the science of the planetary atmospheres, defined loosely as covering all objects in our solar system with a gaseous envelope (even tenuous). In addition to holding its biennial meetings in conjunction with IUGG, IAMAS or IAGA, ICPAE sponsors or cosponsors other meetings and workshops (see above). ICPAE may also help organise a number of working meetings/workshops to facilitate cooperation in particular areas (such as for instance the study of the planetary atmospheres by space missions, or in the framework of comparative planetology).