Distribution of methane content and methane fluxes in the Sea of Japan,Sea of Okhotsk,and near-Kuril Pacific

The spatial distribution of methane content and methane fluxes in the water in the north-western part of the Sea of Japan, in the Kuril basin of the Sea of Okhotsk, and in the near-Kuril part of the Pacific Ocean is studied using the data of marine research expeditions in 2005, 2010, and 2011. The studies revealed the significant variability of the methane flux depending on the source presence and on the sea surface conditions. The high emission of methane from water to the atmosphere is registered in the areas where its concentration exceeds the equilibrium values with the atmosphere. The use of the model of computation of the fields of currents and contaminant transport for the investigated water area enabled explaining the formation of the high concentration of methane in the center of vortices in the zones of sea water convergence in the water areas under study.     

Long-term estimates of parameters of the vertical distribution of cloud layers from atmospheric radiosounding data

Based on the global aerological dataset and on the method for determination of the boundaries and amount of cloudiness using the profiles of temperature and humidity obtained from the atmospheric radiosounding data [23], the estimates are computed for the parameters of atmospheric temperature- humidity separation into cloud and intercloud layers from the surface to the height of 10 km. The base and top of cloud layers and their total thickness and frequency are selected as layering parameters. The computations are based on the data for the observational period of 1964-1998. To specify the spatiotemporal features of atmospheric layering, long-term geographic distributions of mean values and standard deviations of the mentioned parameters are constructed for January and July, and the amplitude of their variations is determined.     

Variability of atmospheric circulation under the climate change in West Siberia in the late 20th–early 21st centuries

The estimates of spatiotemporal variability of climatic parameters in West Siberia are obtained over the period of 1976-2014. It is revealed that this variability is affected by the parameters of atmospheric circulation such as wind speed components, relative vorticity, and large-scale circulation indices. It is found that in winter the warming changed into the cooling that is particularly associated with the change in atmospheric circulation patterns described by the SCAND index.     

Ozone content over the Russian Federation in the second quarter of 2016

The review is compiled on the basis of the operation of the total ozone (TO) monitoring system in the CIS and Baltic countries that functions in the operational regime at the Central Aerological Observatory. The monitoring system uses the data from the national network equipped with M-124 filter ozonometers under methodological supervision of the Main Geophysical Observatory. The quality of the functioning of the entire system is under the operational control based on the observations obtained from the OMI satellite equipment (NASA, the United States). The basic TO observation data are generalized for each month of the second quarter of 2016 and for the quarter as a whole. The data of routine observations of surface ozone content carried out in the Moscow region and Crimea are also presented.     

Climate changes in atmospheric radiation parameters from the MSU meteorological observatory data

Variations in radiation fluxes and the factors that define them and their redistribution in the atmosphere are analyzed using the data of long-term ground-based measurements at the Meteorological Observatory of Lomonosov Moscow State University. It is demonstrated that since the middle of the 1990s trends in many atmospheric radiation parameters have changed as compared to the trends observed in the previous years. For some parameters the trends are significant, are kept for a long period of time, and. hence, can be considered as climate changes. The potential effects of these changes on the regional warming are assessed.