Priority social and economic development areas as an economic development tool for the Siberian mono-settlements

The article is discussing the Priority Social and Economic Development Areas (PSEDAs) which are formed in the Siberian part of the Russian Federation (Siberian Federal District and the Baikal region). One of the goals for the PSEDAs formation is the diversification of mono-specialized towns and the reduction of their reliance on the city-forming enterprises. A typology of mono-settlements was carried out and the areas of activity that receive support within the framework of this mechanism in Siberia were presented.

Agroecological cluster as a system integrator of the Baikal region

The Baikal Region, despite its favorable geopolitical position (between Europe and Asia) and the most famous lake on the planet, located in its territory, is peripheral and depressive. The lag in socio-economic development is due to severe environmental restrictions imposed on economic activities. New business models and process solutions are necessary to enable the transition to a digital economy without harming the environment. Development of a agroecological cluster based on a digital platform will help increase the connectivity of the macroregional space, its integration and the rational use of the resources of the Baikal ecosystem. Due to generation of a synergistic effect that manifests itself in the socio-economic and environmental spheres the agroecological cluster acts as an integrator uniting the subjects of the “state – society – business” triad on the basis of mutually beneficial partnership.

Changes in the Local Territorial Government Organization and Their Effect on Municipal Budgets (by the Example of Trans-Baikal Region)

The current reform of local governments in Russia is a process of optimization, consolidation and changing the territorial government organization, which corresponds to global trends in searching for a relevant and effective local territorial governance scheme. The new wave of interest to this process in the RF has been caused by establishing a new type of municipality, namely, municipal district. The article studies the problem of changes in local territorial governance organization in Russia and in Trans-Baikal region, in particular, as well as the effect of these changes on municipal budgets. The analytical calculations are based on the data from The Federal State Statistic Service of RF; the time lag for analyzing the local territorial governance organization is the period of 2007–2020, and 2016–2020 — for analyzing the budget funding of the transformed municipalities in Trans-Baikal region. The results of the study show that the common trends of consolidation of municipalities in Russia became evident only in 2020. According to the analysis of income and expenditures per capita, the territorial transformation of municipality influences the budget relations on the municipal level. Basing on the results of the study, the author proves the necessity of conducting a complex analysis before taking a decision to change a local territorial governance organization in order to build up the financial base of the municipalities.

Results and prospects of seismological observations in the central part of the Baikal rift

This article reports the results of detailed seismological observations in the Central Baikal region conducted by the local network of seismological stations of the Buryat Division of the Geophysical Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The local network was created in the 1990s. A crucial feature of the network is the combination of seismic monitoring both in the passive mode (the study of natural seismicity) and in the active mode, with a controlled vibration source of seismic waves. The study area covers the Lake Baikal region and adjacent territories characterized by high seismic activity. Here occurred several catastrophic earthquakes including the strongest one during the period of instrumental observations – the Middle Baikal’1959 earthquake. Recently here occurred the Kudarinsky earthquake on December 9, 2020 with mb=5.4. For more than twenty years the network of observations has been expanding, the equipment has been upgrading. A significant amount of seismo-logical material has been accumulated. Broadband data was processed by the receiver function method. The Moho and the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundaries for stations of the network are determined. Shear seismic wave attenuation characteristics are obtained and the possibility of energy classification of Baikal earthquakes by coda-waves total oscillations is shown.

Spatiotemporal Variations of Aerosol Optical Depth in the Atmosphere over Baikal Region Based on MODIS Data

This paper considers spatiotemporal distribution and seasonal variability of aerosol optical depth (AOD) of the atmosphere at the 0.55 μm wavelength in the atmosphere over the Baikal region of Russia based on long-term data (2005–2019) from satellite observations (MODIS/AQUA). A comparison of satellite AOD values with the AERONET record at the Geophysical Observatory of Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics of Siberian Brunch of Russian Academy of Science was performed. The results show that interannual AOD variability is mainly due to forest fires. The highest atmospheric transparency was in 2010, 2013, and 2016, and the lowest was in 2008, 2012 and 2014. It is noted that AOD decreased with latitude with a gradient ΔAOD = 0.002÷0.001 per degree of latitude. The mean seasonal variations in AOD at the six satellite overpass points were characterized by spring (April) and summer (July) highs and low AOD values in autumn. From June to November, the drop in AOD monthly means was more than 60%.