R/V “VITYAZ” – FLAGMAN OF THE SCIENTIFIC FLEET OF THE GOLDEN AGE OF SOVIET OCEAN SCIENCE

The article is devoted to the first research vessel “Vityaz” of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences (IO RAS, until 1991 – IO of the USSR Academy of Sciences). The history of the vessel is briefly told, information about “Vityaz” cruises is selectively given, photographs stored in the Museum of the History of IO RAS and documents from the personal archives of IO RAS employees participating in “Vityaz” cruises are given. Some of the photos and documents are published for the first time.

AT THE ORIGINS OF A NEW OCEAN SCIENCE. ON THE CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF ACADEMICIAN A.S. MONIN (1921–2007)

July 2, 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Andrei S. Monin, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (since 1972), Director of the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1965–1987, a world-famous outstanding Soviet and Russian scientist in the field of Earth and Ocean sciences. The article highlights the main fundamental scientific results obtained by this scientist as a result of his many years of research on a wide range of problems of hydromechanics, dynamics of the earth's interior, planetology, atmospheric physics, and first of all, gives a high assessment of his capital contribution to domestic and world oceanology.

Identifying Source Region Elemental Indicators in Aged Saharan Dust Plumes Over the Tropical Atlantic

This work examines the spatial dependency of Saharan dust aerosol composition over the Tropical Atlantic Ocean using observations collected during the 2015 Aerosols and Ocean Science Expedition (AEROSE). Regionally specific elemental indicators remain detectable in the dust samples collected along the Saharan air layer trajectory far into the Tropical Atlantic marine boundary layer. Saharan dust transport characteristics and elemental composition were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometric (ICP-MS) analysis of airborne dust samples, ship-based radiometry, satellite aerosol retrievals, and atmospheric back-trajectory analysis. Three strong dust events (SDEs) and two trace dust events (TDEs) were detected during the campaign. The associated mineral dust arrived from potentially 7 different north African countries within 5 to 15 days of emission, according to transport analysis. Peak Na / Al and Ca / Al ratios (>1 and >1.5, respectively) in dust samples were traced to northern Saharan source regions in Western Sahara and Libya. In contrast, peak Fe / Al ratios (0.4–0.8) were traced to surface sources in southern Saharan regions in central Mauritania. We observe the highest ratios of (3–10) at sampling latitudes north of 15N in the Atlantic. Additionally, the sub-micron fraction of dust particulate settling over the Atlantic showed significant temporal and spatial variability, with coarse-fine Al ratios (at 0.8 microns) of 1.05, 0.65, and 0.95 for SDE1 (11/21–23), SDE2 (11/25–26), and SDE3 (11/28), respectively. This was consistent with elemental concentrations of Ca, Na, K, Ti, and Sr, per Al, that exhibited coarser size tendencies per dust event. These observations could validate spatially-sensitive aerosol models by predicting dust aerosol abundance and composition within the tropical Atlantic. Such predictions are critical towards understanding Saharan dust effects on regional climate, Atlantic Ocean biogeochemistry, satellite observations, and air quality modeling.

Large scale aspects of the monsoon-2011 Relevant to the objectives of the CTCZ

Hkkjr esa xzh"edkyhu ekulwu ds nkSjku flukWfIVd vkSj mi&ekSleh mrkj p<+koksa dks le>us ds fy, o"kZ 2011 esa egk}hih; m".kdfVca/kh; vfHklj.k {ks= ¼lh-Vh-lh-tsM-½ ds uke ls Hkkjrh; ok;qeaMyh;&leqnzh foKku leqnk; us ,d QhYM dk;Zdze vk;ksftr fd;kA bl dk;Zdze dk ,d mís'; ekulwu ds flukWfIVd vkSj varjk&ekSleh mrkj&p<+koksa ls lacaf/kr c`greku ifjlapj.k ds dzfed fodkl ds ckjs esa tkudkjh izkIr djuk Hkh jgk gSA bl 'kks/k i= esa ekulwu 2011 ds le; cM+s iSekus ij gq, mrkj&Pk<+koksa ds ckjs esa Hkh crk;k x;k gSA o"kZ 2011 esa ekuwlu esa ekSle dh yxHkx lkekU; o"kkZ gqbZ rFkkfi mi&ekSleh eku ij twu ekg esa vPNh o"kkZ gqbZ] rRi'pkr tqykbZ ekg esa de o"kkZ gqbZ vksj fQj vxLr ekg ds vkjaHk ls ysdj flracj ekg ds var rd fQj ls vPNh o"kkZ gqbZA ekSle ds iwokZ)Z esa djhc&djhc U;wVªy yk&fuuk fLFkfr;k¡ cuhA rFkkfi vxLr ekg ls ysdj flracj ekg ds var rd Hkwe/;js[kh; iwohZ iz'kkar egklkxj esa leqnz lrg rkieku ¼,l-,l-Vh-½ lkekU; ls de ¼yk&fuuk fLFkfr;k¡½ esa ifjofrZr gks x,A gkykafd xaxk ds eSnkuh Hkkxksa esa fuEu {kksHkeaMy ij leqnz dh rjQ ls vkus okyh ok;q dk izokg cuk] ij iwjh _rq esa ok;q foy; yksM lkekU; ls cgqr de cus jgsA bl 'kks/k i= esa flukWfIVd ds fofHkUu igyq] iz'kkar egklkxj esa ,l-,l-Vh ds lqnwj izHkko ls lacaf/kr ekulwu ds miekSleh mrkj&p<+koksa rFkk Hkkjrh; leqnzh f}/zkqo ¼vkbZ-vks-Mh-½ ds LFkkuh; izHkko ij fopkj&foe'kZ fd;k x;kA blds lkFk&lkFk izpkyukRed lkaf[;dh; ekSle izkxqfDr ¼,u-MCY;w-ih-½ fun'kksZa] ;wjksih; e/; vof/k ekSle iwokZuqeku dsUnz ¼bZ-lh-,e-MCY;w-,Q-½] HkweaMyh; iwokZuqeku iz.kkyh ¼th-,Q-,l-½ vkSj ekSle vuqla/kku vkSj iwokZuqeku ¼MCY;w-vkj-,Q-½ ds fu"iknu ij Hkh fopkj&foe'kZ fd;k x;kA lh-Vh-lh-tsM- vkadM+ksa dk mi;ksx djrs gq, ekulwu 2011 ds fu"iknu ds vk/kj ij vkxs fd, tkus okys vuqla/kku ds dbZ {ks=ksa ds fo"k; esa Hkh lq>ko j[ks x,A Indian atmosphere-ocean science community organised a field programme known as Continental Tropical Convergence Zone (CTCZ) during 2011 to understand the synoptic and sub-seasonal fluctuations of summer monsoon over India. One of the objectives of the programme was to understand the evolution of the large scale circulation in relation to synoptic & intra-seasonal fluctuations of the monsoon. The paper addresses the large scale fluctuations of Monsoon-2011. The Monsoon-2011 performed very close to the normal rainfall of the season. However, on the sub-seasonal scale its performance was good during June, became deficient during July and it recovered from the beginning of August to the end of September. The early part of the season was accompanied by near neutral La-Nina conditions. However, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the Equatorial Eastern Pacific Ocean shifted to below normal (La-Nina conditions) from August to the end of September. As the Gangetic Plain was swept by marine origin air stream in the lower troposphere, the aerosol load remained much below the normal during the entire season. The paper discusses different aspect of synoptic, sub-seasonal fluctuations of monsoon in relation to remote forcing of the SSTs in the Pacific and the local forcing of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). Also the performance of the operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) models: European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), Global Forecast System (GFS) and Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) is discussed. Several areas of further research using CTCZ data are also suggested based on the performance of the Monsoon-2011.

Coastal HF radars in the Mediterranean: Applications in support of science priorities and societal needs

The Mediterranean Sea is a prominent climate change hot spot, being their socio-economically vital coastal areas the most vulnerable targets for maritime safety, diverse met-ocean hazards and marine pollution. Providing an unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution at wide coastal areas, High-frequency radars (HFRs) have been steadily gaining recognition as an effective land-based remote sensing technology for a continuous monitoring of the surface circulation, increasingly waves and occasionally winds. HFR measurements have boosted the thorough scientific knowledge of coastal processes, also fostering a broad range of applications, which has promoted their integration in the Coastal Ocean Observing Systems worldwide, with more than half of the European sites located in the Mediterranean coastal areas. In this work, we present a review of existing HFR data multidisciplinary science-based applications in the Mediterranean Sea, primarily focused on meeting end-users and science-driven requirements, addressing regional challenges in three main topics: i) maritime safety; ii) extreme hazards; iii) environmental transport process. Additionally, the HFR observing and monitoring regional capabilities in the Mediterranean region required to underpin the underlying science and the further development of applications are also analyzed. The outcome of this assessment has allowed us to finally provide a set of recommendations for the future improvement prospects to maximize the contribution in extending the science-based HFR products into societal relevant downstream services to support the blue growth in the Mediterranean coastal areas, helping to meet the UN’s Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and the EU’s Green Deal goals.

Making the UN Ocean Decade work? The potential for, and challenges of, transdisciplinary research & real-world laboratories for building towards ocean solutions

This paper provides a critical contribution to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030, outlining some of the core challenges of sustainable ocean governance and management by reflecting on modes and logics of interactions between ocean-related sciences, policy-makers and practitioners. In this regard, we give an overview of the potential for, and challenges of, transdisciplinary research which is essential to understanding the linkages between oceans and societies and thereby for attending to contemporary ocean concerns. The paper contributes both a review of transdisciplinary research and a particular format of transdisciplinary experimentation: Real-world Laboratories (RwLs). These are currently gaining traction as a method and approach for the co-creation of knowledge between the natural and social sciences and society to foster sustainability transformations. Altogether, we offer a first major contribution to synthesising knowledge on the potentials of marine RwLs, considering how they act as a way of exploring options for sustainable ocean futures through experimentation. Indeed, in the marine context, RwLs are under-explored but are a vital way for addressing the societal challenges of working towards transformations over the coming UN Ocean Decade.