LONG-TERM VARIABILITY OF THE ION RUNOFF OF LARGE RIVERS IN THE ARCTIC ZONE OF RUSSIA

Author(s):  
Olga S. Reshetnyak

Studies of river ion runoff and its temporal variability are important. It affects coastal waters and is interrelated with climatic changes in the Arctic region. Long-term data on the chemical runoff of macrocomponents (chlorides, sulfates, hydrocarbonates, calcium and magnesium ions) at the outlet sections of large Arctic rivers in Russia - Pechora, Usa, Yenisei, Ob, Pur, Taz, Lena, Yana and Kolyma are given. The values of volumes and modules of chemical runoff were calculated on the basis of long-term (1980-2018) hydrological and hydrochemical information from the state observation system of Roshydrom-et. It is shown that the change in the absolute values of the chemical runoff is consistent with the water inflow. Greatest contribution to the ionic runoff is made by hydrocarbonates. The intra-annual change in the water inflow and the macrocomponents runoff occurs synchronously. There is a decisive role of water runoff in the formation of chemical runoff from the catchments of large Arctic rivers. Comparison of the chemical runoff modulus indicator made it possible to classify them into low, medium or high ionic runoff rivers. It was found that the maximum runoff of macrocomponents occurs from the catchment of the Usa river. It is may be due to active processes of chemical denudation and climate change.

Author(s):  
Ю.Л. Бордученко ◽  
И.Г. Малыгин ◽  
В.Ю. Каминский ◽  
В.А. Аксенов

Арктическая зона в XXI веке становится важнейшим гарантом устойчивого развития Российской Федерации. Вклад Севера в экономику России во многом будет определяться масштабами и темпами развития Арктической транспортной системы. Необходимо расширение коммерческого и научно-исследовательского судоходства, развитие транспортных узлов и коридоров, полярной авиации, грузопассажирских морских полярных перевозок. В этих условиях Россия в целях обеспечения своих геополитических интересов должна постоянно поддерживать активное присутствие в этом регионе. Оно выражается в проведении научных исследований, разведке и добыче полезных ископаемых, обеспечении морских грузоперевозок с использованием ледоколов и специализированных ледокольно-транспортных судов. Этого невозможно достичь без развития уникального атомного ледокольного флота. В настоящее время Россия является мировым лидером в области применения атомного ледокольного флота для решения транспортных задач в морях Арктики и неарктических замерзающих морях. Для успешной конкуренции России необходимо не упускать этого лидерства и постоянно развивать и совершенствовать атомный ледокольный флот как ключевое звено инфраструктуры функционирования Северного морского пути. В статье представлен краткий обзор текущего состояния и перспектив развития атомного ледокольного флота России. Показана определяющая роль атомного ледокольного флота в обеспечении судоходства по трассам Северного морского пути для развития экономики Арктического региона России. The Arctic zone in the XXI century is becoming the most important guarantor of the sustainable development of the Russian Federation. The contribution of the North to the Russian economy will largely be determined by the scale and pace of development of the Arctic Transport System. It is necessary to expand commercial and research shipping, develop transport hubs and corridors, polar aviation, and cargo and passenger sea polar transportation. In these circumstances, Russia must constantly maintain an active presence in this region in order to ensure its geopolitical interests. It is expressed in conducting scientific research, exploration and extraction of minerals, providing sea cargo transportation using icebreakers and specialized icebreaker-transport vessels. This cannot be achieved without the development of a unique nuclear icebreaker fleet. Currently, Russia is a world leader in the use of nuclear-powered icebreaking fleet for solving transport problems in the Arctic seas and non-Arctic freezing seas. For successful competition, Russia must not lose this leadership, constantly develop and improve the nuclear icebreaker fleet as a key link in the infrastructure of the Northern Sea Route. The article provides a brief overview of the current state and prospects for the development of the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet. The article shows the decisive role of the nuclear icebreaker fleet in ensuring navigation along the Northern Sea Route for the development of the economy of the Arctic region of Russia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-73
Author(s):  
Константин Павлович Беляев ◽  
Гурий Михайлович Михайлов ◽  
Алексей Николаевич Сальников ◽  
Наталия Павловна Тучкова

The paper analyzes the statistical and temporal seasonal and decadal variability of the atmospheric pressure field in the Arctic region of Russia. Schemes for the frequency analysis of probability transitions for characteristics of stochastic-diffusion processes were used as the main research method. On the basis of the given series of 60 years long from 1948 to 2008, such parameters of diffusion processes as the mean (drift process) and variance (diffusion process) were calculated and their maps and time curves were constructed. The seasonal and long-term variability of calculated fields was studied as well as their dependencies on a discretization of the frequency intervals. These characteristics were analyzed and their geophysical interpretation was carried out. In particular, the known cycles of solar activity in 11 and 22 years were revealed. Numerical calculations were performed on the Lomonosov-2 supercomputer of the Lomonosov Moscow State University.


2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-121
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Piotrowicz ◽  
David M. Legler

AbstractThe Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) is the international observation system that ensures long-term sustained ocean observations. The ocean equivalent of the atmospheric observing system supporting weather forecasting, GOOS, was originally developed to provide data for weather and climate applications. Today, GOOS data are used for all aspects of ocean management as well as weather and climate research and forecasting. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), through the Climate Observation Division of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research/Climate Program Office, is a major supporter of the climate component of GOOS. This paper describes the eight elements of GOOS, and the Arctic Observing Network, to which the Climate Observation Division is a major contributor. In addition, the paper addresses the evolution of the observing system as rapidly evolving new capabilities in sensors, platforms, and telecommunications allow observations at unprecedented temporal and spatial scales with the accuracy and precision required to address questions of climate variability and change.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 3547-3602 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Ciais ◽  
A. J. Dolman ◽  
A. Bombelli ◽  
R. Duren ◽  
A. Peregon ◽  
...  

Abstract. A globally integrated carbon observation and analysis system is needed to improve the fundamental understanding of the global carbon cycle, to improve our ability to project future changes, and to verify the effectiveness of policies aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration. Building an integrated carbon observation system requires transformational advances from the existing sparse, exploratory framework towards a dense, robust, and sustained system in all components: anthropogenic emissions, the atmosphere, the ocean, and the terrestrial biosphere. The paper is addressed to scientists, policymakers, and funding agencies who need to have a global picture of the current state of the (diverse) carbon observations. We identify the current state of carbon observations, and the needs and notional requirements for a global integrated carbon observation system that can be built in the next decade. A key conclusion is the substantial expansion of the ground-based observation networks required to reach the high spatial resolution for CO2 and CH4 fluxes, and for carbon stocks for addressing policy-relevant objectives, and attributing flux changes to underlying processes in each region. In order to establish flux and stock diagnostics over areas such as the southern oceans, tropical forests, and the Arctic, in situ observations will have to be complemented with remote-sensing measurements. Remote sensing offers the advantage of dense spatial coverage and frequent revisit. A key challenge is to bring remote-sensing measurements to a level of long-term consistency and accuracy so that they can be efficiently combined in models to reduce uncertainties, in synergy with ground-based data. Bringing tight observational constraints on fossil fuel and land use change emissions will be the biggest challenge for deployment of a policy-relevant integrated carbon observation system. This will require in situ and remotely sensed data at much higher resolution and density than currently achieved for natural fluxes, although over a small land area (cities, industrial sites, power plants), as well as the inclusion of fossil fuel CO2 proxy measurements such as radiocarbon in CO2 and carbon-fuel combustion tracers. Additionally, a policy-relevant carbon monitoring system should also provide mechanisms for reconciling regional top-down (atmosphere-based) and bottom-up (surface-based) flux estimates across the range of spatial and temporal scales relevant to mitigation policies. In addition, uncertainties for each observation data-stream should be assessed. The success of the system will rely on long-term commitments to monitoring, on improved international collaboration to fill gaps in the current observations, on sustained efforts to improve access to the different data streams and make databases interoperable, and on the calibration of each component of the system to agreed-upon international scales.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Blaschek ◽  
Federico Ambrogi ◽  
Leopold Haimberger

<p>Radiosonde measurements are potentially valuable indicators of upper air climate change because of their unique long-term availability and their high vertical extent and resolution. The radiosonde network, however, is not a long-term stable measurement system, since it was designed for operational use. Changes in the observation system are frequent and surf the purpose of competitive daily weather prediction, but result in more or less clear breakpoints in the observed long-term time series. These artificial biases need to be removed. We apply a bias adjustment scheme for radiosonde temperatures and humidity based on departures from a recent reanalysis, ERA5 potentially back to 1950. Newly digitized and recovered radiosonde data have been used within ERA5 for the first time. We present long-term bias adjustments and trends as preliminary results. In particular, we focus on the water vapour transport into the Arctic as a result of polar amplification and meridional heat exchange.</p>


Author(s):  
O.S. Reshetnyak

The methodological approaches and the results of assessing the environmental risk level in river ecosystems of the Arctic region of Russia was presented. Assessing of the environmental risk level in ecosystem includes identifying possible negative consequences of anthropogenic impact, which are appeared in a violation of the structural organization of biocenoses. An intensification of the ecological devolution of individual communities of aquatic organisms is observed in modern conditions of anthropogenic impact and climatic variations in the Arctic ecosystems of rivers. The tendency to increase the ecological devolution level as the anthropogenic impact intensifies during the transition from less polluted Arctic rivers to more polluted ones (dirty) has been revealed. The ecological devolution level varies from absence (anthropogenic stress) to its appearance in the form of elements of ecological devolution. The results of the final assessment of the environmental risk level in the ecosystems of the Arctic region of Russia according to the ecological devolution level showed that the studied sections of the rivers are characterized by a low and medium level of risk. Further enhancement of anthropogenic impact on the catchments of Arctic rivers can lead to disruption of the ecological state of aquatic ecosystems and intensification of ecological devolutions processes which may increase the level of environmental risk.


Author(s):  
Andrei Andreevich Kovalev

This article explores the key stages of the development of U.S. policy with regards to Arctic Region. The goal is set to outline the fundamental interests of the United States in the Arctic, as well as analyze the actions aimed at their achievement. The article examines the main priorities in U.S. Arctic policy, namely the protection and preservation of resources and ecosystem in the Arctic Region, scientific study of climatic changes, peculiarities of economic development of Alaska, and national security interests of the state. The questions of interaction of Arctic states with regards to defense cooperation become increasingly relevant. Consideration of the mid-term and long-term prospects of U.S. Arctic policy allowed the author focusing attention on the news aspects of U.S. government actions. Maritime capabilities of the United States in the Arctic waters are views in the context of modern tendencies. The author attempted to trace the prospects for expansion of U.S. influence in the Arctic Region based on the current agenda of 2019.


Author(s):  
Robert S. Dyer ◽  
Ella Barnes ◽  
Randall L. Snipes ◽  
Steinar Ho̸ibra˚ten ◽  
Valery Sveshnikov ◽  
...  

Northwest Russia contains large quantities of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) that potentially threaten the environmental security of the surrounding Arctic Region. The majority of the SNF from Russian decommissioned nuclear submarines is currently stored either onboard submarines or in floating storage vesssels in Northwest Russia. Some of the SNF is damaged, stored in an unstable condition, or of a type that cannot currently be reprocessed. Most of the existing storage facilities being used in Northwest Russia do not meet health and safety and physical security requirements. Existing Russian transport infrastructure and reprocessing facilities cannot meet the requirements for moving and reprocessing this fuel. Therefore, additional interim storage capacity is required. The removal, handling, interim storage, and shipment of the fuel pose technical, ecological, and security challenges. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory, along with the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, is working closely with the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation (RF) to develop an improved and integrated management system for interim storage of military SNF in NW Russia. The cooperative effort consists of three subprojects involving the development of: (1) a prototype dual-purpose, metal-concrete container for both transport and long-term storage of RF military SNF, (2) the first transshipment/interim storage facility for these containers, and (3) improved fuel preparation and cask loading procedures and systems to control the moisture levels within the containers. The first subproject, development of a prototype dual-purpose container, was completed in December 2000. This was the first metal-concrete container developed, licensed, and produced in Russia for both the transportation and storage of military SNF. These containers are now in serial production. Russia plans to use these containers for the transport and interim storage of military SNF from decommissioned nuclear submarines at naval installations in the Arctic and Far East. The second subproject, the design, construction, and licensing of the first transshipment/interim storage facility in Russia, was completed in September 2003. This facility can provide interim storage for up to nineteen 40-tonne SNF containers filled with SNF for a period not to exceed two years. The primary objective of building this transshipment/interim storage facility in Murmansk, Russia was to remove a bottleneck in the RF transportation infrastructure for moving containers, loaded with SNF, from the arctic region to PO “Mayak” for reprocessing or longer-term storage. The third subproject addresses the need to improve fuel conditioning and cask operating procedures to ensure safe storage of SNF for at least 50 years. This will involve the review and improvement of existing RF procedures and systems for preparing and loading the fuel in the specially designed casks for transport and long-term storage. This subproject is scheduled for completion in December 2003. Upon completion, these subprojects are designed to provide a physically secure, accountable, and environmentally sound integrated solution that will increase the capacity for removal and transfer of SNF from decommissioned RF submarines in the Russian Federation to PO “Mayak” in central Russia.


2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 855-863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne Johan Jensen ◽  
Ola Håvard Diserud ◽  
Bengt Finstad ◽  
Peder Fiske ◽  
Audun Håvard Rikardsen

A long-term study in the River Halselva in the Arctic region of Norway demonstrated that movements between watersheds were considerably higher in anadromous brown trout (Salmo trutta) than anadromous Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus). Fourteen smolt year classes of both species were captured in a fish trap, individually tagged, and thereafter registered each time they passed the trap during their migration between the sea and fresh water every summer. Annual mean survival (i.e., recovery rate) after the first entry to sea as smolts was estimated as 31.4% in Arctic char and 26.6% in brown trout. Most surviving Arctic char returned to the River Halselva to overwinter after the same summer that they migrated to sea as smolts. However, several brown trout overwintered one to four times in other watersheds, mainly the considerably larger River Altaelva, before most eventually returned to the River Halselva upon maturation. The substantial difference in movement rate between watersheds between Arctic char (2.2%) and brown trout (39.6%) is expected to be a consequence of local geographic conditions combined with different habitat preferences of the two species.


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