Albedo of clouds and radiation conditions in the oceans

On the basis of the satellite and ship data of many-year observations, we parametrize the albedo of the ocean-atmosphere system both for the conditions of “fair weather” and for the maximum and climatic optical thicknesses of oceanic clouds. These results are used to develop a procedure of practically exact reconstruction of the monthly average fluxes of integral solar radiation and the radiation budget over the ice-free surface of the oceans according to the data of satellite measurements of albedo (Nimbus NOAA satellite, 1974–1983) for arbitrary conditions of transparency of the atmosphere and cloudiness. We determine the current and climatic monthly average values and the characteristics of interannual variability of all components of the radiation mode of the ocean-atmosphere system with a spatial resolution of 500×500 km. Translated by Peter V. Malyshev and Dmitry V. Malyshev     

Dissipation of baroclinic tidal energy and diapycnal mixing in the White Sea

The modeling results obtained using the original version of the three-dimensional finite-element hydrostatic model QUODDY-4 testify that the spatial distributions of dissipation of baroclinic tidal energy and the related coefficient of diapycnal mixing in the deepwater stratified subdomain of the White Sea (the Basin and Kandalaksha and Dvina bays together) are highly similar to those found for low- and midlatitude oceans. It is in the open part of the sea that their values remain equal to the minimum possible values determined by the molecular kinematic viscosity; at its lateral boundaries (not all boundaries, but only individual segments (sites of mixing)), their values increase. In the shallow homogeneous subdomain of the White Sea, the dissipation of baroclinic tidal energy is considerably larger than in the deep stratified subdomain. Accordingly, the vertical eddy viscosity in the first subdomain is a few orders of magnitude higher than the coefficient of diapycnal mixing in the second subdomain. This is caused by an increased tidal velocity due to reduced depths.     

Aerosol composition and microstructure in the smoky atmosphere of Moscow during the August 2010 extreme wildfires

This is a comprehensive study of the physicochemical characterization of multicomponent aerosols in the smoky atmosphere of Moscow during the extreme wildfires of August 2010 and against the background atmosphere of August 2011. Thermal–optical analysis, liquid and ion chromatography, IR spectroscopy, and electron microscopy were used to determine the organic content (OC) and elemental content (EC) of carbon, organic/inorganic and ionic compounds, and biomass burning markers (anhydrosaccharides and the potassium ion) and study the morphology and elemental composition of individual particles. It has been shown that the fires are characterized by an increased OC/EC ratio and high concentrations of ammonium, potassium, and sulfate ions in correlation with an increased content of levoglucosan as a marker of biomass burning. The organic compounds containing carbonyl groups point to the process of photochemical aging and the formation of secondary organic aerosols in the urban atmosphere when aerosols are emitted from forest fires. A cluster analysis of individual particles has indicated that when the smokiest atmosphere is characterized by prevailing soot/tar ball particles, which are smoke-emission micromarkers.     

Investigation of the oceanic cloudiness according to the data of satellite observations in the spectral range 10.3–11.3 μm

The temperature of waters in the upper layer of the ocean and effective cloudiness (cloudiness with simultaneous indication of its amount and optical density) are important characteristics of the natural environments. They determine the greenhouse effects and the energy of the ocean and atmosphere, and regulate climate. The satellite data on these characteristics enable one to reconstruct all components of the radiation, heat, and water budgets in the ocean–atmosphere system and study their intra- and interannual variations. We describe the procedures of evaluation of the effective cloudiness according to the sea-surface temperature and the radiation temperature in the spectral range 10.3–11.3 μm. The development of these investigations is connected with the advances in satellite hydrophysics: the satellite data become more and more accurate, regular, and global.     

Plate boundaries in the Far East region of Russia (from GPS measurement,seismic-prospecting,and seismological data)

The recent geodynamics of the Far East region of Russia is considered, where three large tectonic plates converge—Eurasian, North American, and Pacific, as well as several microplates—Okhotsk, Bering, and Amurian—have been hypothesized to exist. The available data on the position of the plate boundaries, the relative plate rotation poles, and the regional seismicity were analyzed, and parameters of plate motion models for northeastern Russia were determined in this study. The regional deep structure was investigated, using data obtained by different geophysical methods. The results of observations of the Magadan–Vrangel Island profile by deep seismic sounding (DSS), common-depth point (CDP) method, and correlation refraction method (CRM) are presented.     

Simulation of surface and internal semidiurnal tides in the Kara Sea

The problem of the dynamics of surface and internal waves M ₂ in the Kara Sea is solved within the QUODDY-4 3D finite-element hydrostatic model. It is shown that the conventional concept of surface-tide wave generation due to the interaction of two tidal waves (one arrives from the Barents Sea and the other is generated in the Arctic Ocean (AO) and propagates southward along the west coasts of Severnaya Zemlya) is only partially valid: the east branch of the tidal wave generated in the AO actually exists, but there is also a west branch that propagates along the St. Anna trough and another tidal wave that penetrates in the Kara Sea from the Laptev Sea through the Vilkitsky Strait. Simulated spatial distributions of the tidal velocities, amplitudes of internal tidal waves at the pycnocline depth, and some components of the budgets of barotropic and baroclinic tidal energy are discussed.     

Variability of the total column amounts of climate influencing gases obtained from ground-based high resolution spectroscope measurements

Doklady Earth Sciences -     

HCl content has ceased to increase in the atmosphere of the Northern Hemisphere

According to the spectroscopy data on the HCl content analyzed in Peterhof in 2009–2016 and in a number of NDACC stations in the Northern Hemisphere, growth in the HCl content observed since 2007 and caused by changes in the stratospheric circulation stopped in 2010–2011. As follows from the experimental data, a decrease in the HCl content estimated in Peterhof at 4.4 × 10¹³ cm^–2/year or ~1.0%/year started again.