Features of the long-term transformation of the Krasnodar reservoir,near the mouth of the Kuban River,Russia

The article considers the long-term(1941–2018) transformation of the Krasnodar valley reservoir, the largest in the North Caucasus. The main functions of the Krasnodar reservoir are irrigation of rice systems and flood protection of land in the Krasnodar reservoir region and the Republic of Adygea. According to topographic maps, Landsat satellite images(1974–2018) and field observations(2016–2018), four stages of transformation of the floodplain reservoir are identified. The selected stages are characterized by both natural causes(the transformation of the filling deltas into the extended deltas, etc.) and man-made causes(runoff diversions in the delta areas, etc.). The key factor of transformation is the formation of deltas of rivers flowing into the reservoir. Each of the selected stages, against the background of a gradual reduction in the area and volume of the reservoir, is characterized by the peculiarities of the formation of river deltas with the formation of genetically homogeneous sections of delta regions. During the period of operation of the reservoir, the delta of the main Kuban River moved up to 32.4 km and took away an area of 35.4 km~2 of the reservoir. During the formation of the deltas of the Kuban and Belaya rivers, a bridge was formed on the Krasnodar reservoir. The evolution of the delta regions led to the division of the reservoir into two autonomous reservoirs. The total area of the delta regions was 85.9 km~2 by 2018, i.e., 21% of the initial area of the reservoir. The transformation of the Krasnodar reservoir leads to a decrease in its regulated volume and gradual degradation.     

Determination of the Enhancement in Electron Temperature in the Subauroral Ionosphere during Magnetic Storms on a Global Scale

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - An attempt was made to determine on a global scale the zone of enhanced electron temperature (Te) in the subauroral ionosphere during magnetic storms via the combination...     

Extreme manifestations of fluvial processes under natural-technogenic conditions

Changes in micro-relief under the influence of natural as well as technogenic factors lead to generation of elementary models of development of erosional and landslide processes, which is confirmed by examples of the development of fluvial processes occurring during torrential rainfall events on the territory of the Baikal region and the Transbaikalia. Formation of such processes under natural conditions is influenced by a larger number of parameters than in the case of experimental modeling.     

On the dynamics of the chromosphere above sunspots

The brightness oscillations of a sunspot umbra in the H and Ca⁺ K lines are studied. The observational results are explained in terms of the resonance theory of slow-mode magnetohydrodynamic waves in the sunspot chromosphere. The thickness of the chromosphere above a sunspot varies quasi-periodically from 420 km to 1000 km.     

The angle of inclination of the sunspot symmetry axis to the solar surface

The Wilson effect, used before only as a method of determining the physical depression of sunspots, is used here to estimate a quite different parameter - the sunspot symmetry axis inclination angle to the solar surface, this explains the observed negative Wilson effect.On the basis of photoheliograms taken with three telescopes of the High-Altitude Solar observatory Peak Alma-Ata, the Wilson effect for the whole solar disk is investigated, the east and west parts of the disk being studied separately. 111 sunspots of regular shape at different heliocentric angles were measured, eight of them being under observations from one limb to the other. To study the dependence of the Wilson effect on the heliocentric angle, all observations within an angular interval of 10° were averaged. The dependence thus derived is described by two sinusoids having the zero point shifted along both axes. The shift of the zero Wilson effect to the west, i.e., a shift along the heliocentric angle axis, can be caused by the deviation of the sunspot axis to the east from the normal to the solar surface. On the line of sight-normal plane the angle corresponding to this deviation is =34°±14°.     

A two-color CCD survey of the North Celestial Cap: I. The method

We describe technical aspects of an astrometric and photometric survey of the North Celestial Cap (NCC), from the Pole (δ=90°) to δ=80°, in support of the TAUVEX mission. This region, at galactic latitudes from ∼17° to ∼37°, has poor coverage in modern CCD-based surveys. The observations are performed with the Wise Observatory one-meter reflector and with a new mosaic CCD camera (LAIWO) that images in the Johnson–Cousins R and I bands a one-square-degree field with sub-arcsec pixels. The images are treated using IRAF and SExtractor to produce a final catalogue of sources. The astrometry, based on the USNO-A2.0 catalogue, is good to ∼1 arcsec and the photometry is good to ∼0.1 mag for point sources brighter than R=20.0 or I=19.1 mag. The limiting magnitudes of the survey, defined at photometric errors smaller than 0.15 mag, are 20.6 mag (R) and 19.6 (I). We separate stars from non-stellar objects based on the object shapes in the R and I bands, attempting to reproduce the SDSS star/galaxy dichotomy. The completeness test indicates that the catalogue is complete to the limiting magnitudes.     

Magnetic waves of solar activity

An asymptotic solution of generation equations for the solar mean magnetic field is given and studied. The variation of rotational angular velocity with depth is taken from helioseismological data. Average helicity is prescribed according to the mixing length theory. It is shown that three dynamo waves of the magnetic field are excited. The first wave is generated at the surface layer and concentrates at latitudes of about 60°. Its activity becomes apparent in the poleward migration of the zone of polar faculae formation. The second more powerful wave of the field is excited in the center of the convection zone and its activity shows up in a sunspot cycle. The third wave which is similar to the first wave, is generated at the bottom of the convection zone and attenuates towards the surface. Its activity may appear as a three-fold reversal of the polar magnetic field.     

Zonal character of failure near the wells and openings in high depth conditions

Rock mass failure on the high depth near the underground openings often has zonal character. The mechanism of this phenomenon consists in the periodical character of stresses in surrounding rock mass and developing of tensile macrocracks at the places (zones) of maximum tangentional stresses. Mathematical model of the high stressed rock mass is developed on the base of the defect media mechanics and nonequilibrium thermodynamics principals. The correspondence between the experimental research of faulted zonal structures near the high depths openings and mathematical model calculation is achieved. Relationships between the width of cracking zones and rock mass strength property have been determined.     

Does the Poleward Migration Rate of the Magnetic Fields Depend on the Strength of the Solar Cycle?

We present the pattern of the polar magnetic reversal for cycle 23 derived from H synoptic charts and have also included the reversals of the earlier cycles 18–22 for comparison. At the beginning of a new cycle (i.e., soon after the polar reversal) the zonal boundaries of unipolar magnetic regions of opposite polarities (seen as filament bands on the synoptic charts) appear close to and on either side of the equator continuing through the years of minimum indicating the onset of the cancellation of flux at these low latitudes. The cycle thus starts with cancellation of flux close to the equator and ends with the polar reversal or flux cancellation near the poles. The filament bands just below the polemost ones migrate and reach latitudes 35°–45° by the time of polar reversal and become the polemost, once the polar reversal has taken place. During the years of minimum that follow, these filament bands remain more or less stagnant at the latitudes 35°–45° except for occasional slow migration towards the equator. The migration to the poles starts at a low speed of 3 m s^–1 only when the spot activity has risen to a significant level and then it accelerates to 30 m s^–1 at the peak of the activity. It takes 3–4 years for the polemost bands to reach the poles moving at these high speeds. We quantify this possible cause and effect phenomenon by introducing the concept of the `strength of the solar cycle' and represent this by either of a set of three parameters. We show that the velocity of poleward migration is a linear function of the `strength of the solar cycle'.