Environmental research and provision of hydrometeorological safety in high-latitude and polar regions

The information is presented on the activity of Roshydromet in high-latitude and polar regions for providing the hydrometeorological safety of population and economy in the Arctic and presence in Antarctica as well as on its development and modernization since the 2000s and on the contribution of Roshydromet to Russian studi es and works in the framework of the International Polar Year 2007–2008.     

Reduction of the atomic oxygen content in the upper atmosphere

It is theorized that the discovered negative trends in the critical frequency of the F2 layer are caused by the reduction (a negative trend) of the atomic oxygen concentration in the thermosphere. Such a reduction may be caused by intensification of the turbulence in the region of the turbopause (100–120 km). Arguments are presented in favor of an increase in the turbulence taking place caused by the increase in penetration of internal waves to the turbopause heights.     

The structure of the Lomonosov volcanic pipe in the Arkhangel’sk diamond province from anomalies of the microseismic field

This paper presents results from a study of the Lomonosov volcanic pipe as derived from anomalies of the microseismic field. Microseismic sounding revealed that this volcanic pipe is a cone-shaped body with a small gradient of microseismic intensity motion (2 to 5 dB). Discontinuities generally show greater contrasts compared with the variations of microseismic motion in the pipe body. Comparison of the results of this microseismic sounding with other geological and geophysical data showed that the intensities of the microseismic field along lines that traversed the pipe reflect realistic structures of a kimberlite pipe and the host rocks. The method of microseismic sounding was used to reconstruct the deeper structure of the volcanic pipe and the host rocks down to depths greater than 2 km. We estimated the velocity contrast and the errors involved in the identification of vertical boundaries of the pipe. The volcanic pipe has a shape that is consistent with a nearly vertical source situated at a depth of a few hundred meters. This is hypothesized to be a typical occurrence for other diamond-bearing pipes as well.     

Long-term changes in the relation between <Emphasis Type="Italic">foF</Emphasis>2 and <Emphasis Type="Italic">hmF</Emphasis>2

The change in the dependence of the F2-layer critical frequency on its height hmF2 is considered based on two sources of initial data used earlier by the authors. It is found that the slope k of the foF2 dependence on hmF2 systematically decreases from the earlier (“etalon”) period, 1958–1980, to the later periods of 1988–2010, 1998–2010, and 1998–2014. Since the foF2 value depends on the atomic oxygen concentration in the F region much more strongly than hmF2, the found decrease in k confirms the concept of a decrease in the atomic oxygen concentration in the thermosphere with time previously formulated by the authors.     

Geomagnetic activity as a reflection of processes in the magnetospheric tail: 2. Plasma convection model

A model of plasma convection in the magnetospheric tail was developed. Although highly simplified, the model adequately describes the main characteristics of the process. We have calculated the physical parameters characterizing the magnetotail, as well as described the convection of fluxtubes in it and the process of electron dropout. The model explains the semiannual variation in magnetic activity.     

Relation of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">F</Emphasis>2 region to stratospheric parameters: Dependence on magnetic activity in two solar cycles

The dependence of the correlation coefficient r(h, fo) between the stratospheric parameter h(100) and critical frequency foF2 revealed in the data of two solar cycles (1979–1989 and 1990–2000) on geomagnetic activity is analyzed. It is shown that the character of the r(h, fo) dependence on limitation on the Ap geomagnetic index is the same in both cycles but depends on the time of day and solar activity level for the given year. It is also found that there is a considerable difference in the absolute values of r(h, fo) between two cycles.     

Energy parameters of deep fluid systems

Doklady Earth Sciences -     

Variations in <Emphasis Type="Italic">foF</Emphasis>2 at the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s according to the SPIDR system data

Variations in the critical frequency of the F2 layer at 22 ionospheric stations within the period 1990–2010 according to the SPIDR system data are considered. A confirmation of the negative trends in foF2 for seven stations considered by one of the authors earlier on the basis of median data is obtained. It is found that both negative (a decrease in foF2 with time) and positive (growth in foF2 with time) trends of the critical frequency are observed. During the later part of the considered period (after 1997), negative trends dominate. This fact manifests itself, apparently, in an increase in the role of the decrease in the thermospheric neutral temperature in the formation of foF2 trends.     

Properties of stellar trajectories in numerical dynamical models of open star clusters

Stellar trajectories in models of open star clusters that are nonstationary in the regular field of the cluster are analyzed. The maximum characteristic Lyapunov exponents λ of the trajectories of the stellar motions in the open cluster are estimated. The mean λ in the open-cluster models considered are \(\bar \lambda \simeq ({\rm M}yr)^{ - 1} \). Cluster cores and halos are regions of highly stochastic and more ordered stellar motions, respectively. The mean Lyapunov exponent, \(\bar \lambda \), increases with the cluster density, as does the size of the highly stochastic region in the cluster core. The stellar trajectories in phase space are “glued” to a domain with a given λ. A Fourier analysis of the stellar trajectories in the open-cluster models is performed. The distributions of the periods of the stellar trajectories with the highest power-spectrum levels are constructed. The distributions of the periods corresponding to the most significant oscillations of the stellar trajectories exhibit peaks with periods commensurable with (or close to) those of the most significant oscillations of the regular field of the system. Specific features of the distributions of the periods of the most significant oscillations of the stellar trajectories and the origins of the formation of these features in the open-cluster models are discussed.