Can the uncertainty of full carbon accounting of forest ecosystems be made acceptable to policymakers?

In accordance with the concept that only full accounting of major greenhouse gases corresponds to the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol, this paper considers uncertainties of regional (national) terrestrial biota Full Carbon Accounting (FCA), both those already achieved and those expected. We analyze uncertainties of major components of the FCA of forest ecosystems of a large boreal region in Siberia (~300 × 10⁶ ha). Some estimates for forests of other regions and Russia as a whole are used for comparison. The systems integration of available information sources and different types of models within the landscape-ecosystem approach are shown to have enabled an estimation of the major carbon fluxes (Net Primary Production, NPP, and heterotrophic respiration, HR) for the region for a single year at the level of 7–12% (confidential interval, CI, 0.9), Net Ecosystem Production (NEP) of 35–40%, and Net Biome Production (NBP) of 60–80%. The most uncertain aspect is the assessment of change in the soil carbon pool, which limits practical application of a pool-based approach. Regionalization of global process-based models, introduction of climatic data in empirical models, use of an appropriate time period for accounting and reporting, harmonization and multiple constraints of estimates obtained by different independent methods decrease the above uncertainties of NEP and NBP by about half. The results of this study support the idea that FCA of forest ecosystems is relevant in the post-Kyoto international negotiation process.     

Colliding winds in symbiotics

The results of gasdynamic modeling allowed us to propose the new mechanism of transition to active state in classical symbiotics and explain the step-by-step rise to the light maximum during the outburst. Good agreement with available observational data for Z And supports our model. Existing observations of symbiotic stars indicate the presence of winds from both components at active stages in these systems. We have carried out the gasdynamic modeling of the outburst development process in the classic symbiotic star Z And in the framework of the colliding winds model. It is shown that contribution from the system of shocks that forms in the area of wind collision is rather significant especially at short wavelengths.     

Polarization and brightness opposition effects for the E-type Asteroid 44 Nysa

We present new polarimetric and photometric observations of high-albedo E-type Asteroid 44 Nysa in the BVRI wavebands at phase angles ranging from 0.41° to 7.49° during the 2005 opposition. A bimodal phase-angle dependence of polarization was found for Nysa in the V band. The polarization opposition effect was revealed in the form of a secondary minimum of negative polarization with amplitude ∼0.3% centered at a phase angle ∼0.8°. It is superimposed on the regular negative polarization branch with minimal polarization −0.30% at a phase angle 5.8°. We analyzed all available polarimetric data for E-type Asteroids 44 Nysa, 64 Angelina, and 214 Ashera and confirmed the presence of the polarization opposition effect for high-albedo asteroids at phase angle ∼1° with an amplitude ∼0.35%. The magnitude-phase curves reveal the presence of spike-like opposition effect of brightness for 44 Nysa in the BVRI spectral bands. 44 Nysa is the second high-albedo asteroid after 64 Angelina for which both the polarization opposition effect and the brightness opposition effect are detected. The differences between the parameters of the opposition effects for silicate surfaces (44 Nysa, 64 Angelina, Io) and icy surfaces (Europa, Ganymede, Iapetus, Saturn's rings) are discussed. The specific morphological parameters of opposition effects, in particular the angular width of the polarization opposition effect is comparable to that of the brightness opposition effect, provide almost unequivocal evidence that they are caused by coherent backscattering. One of unexpected results of our investigation is that 44 Nysa becomes bluer with increasing phase angle, while 64 Angelina shows phase reddening.     

Robotic optical telescopes global network MASTER II. Equipment, structure, algorithms

Presented paper describes the basic principles and features of the implementation of a robotic network of optical telescopes MASTER, designed to study the prompt (simultaneous with gamma radiation) optical emission of gamma-ray bursts and to perform the sky survey to detect unknown objects and transient phenomena. With joint efforts of Sternberg astronomical institute, High altitude astronomical station of the Pulkovo observatory, Ural state university, Irkutsk state university, Blagoveshchensk pedagogical university, the robotic telescopes MASTER?II near Kislovodsk, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk and Blagoveshchensk were installed and tested. The network spread over the longitudes is greater than 6?h. A further expansion of the network is considered.     

The Signs and the Role of Structures of Subsurface Flow in Permafrost Zone

Water Resources - The subsurface runoff in the permafrost zone shows considerable structural and seasonal specifics. The structural features are due, on the one hand, to the lithologically...     

Prognosis of TiO2 abundance in lunar soil using a non-linear analysis of Clementine and LSCC data

We suggest a technique to determine the chemical and mineral composition of the lunar surface using artificial neural networks (ANNs). We demonstrate this powerful non-linear approach for prognosis of TiO₂ abundance using Clementine UV-VIS mosaics and Lunar Soil Characterization Consortium data. The ANN technique allows one to study correlations between spectral characteristics of lunar soils and composition parameters without any restrictions on the character of these correlations. The advantage of this method in comparison with the traditional linear regression method and the Lucey et al. approaches is shown. The results obtained could be useful for the strategy of analyzing lunar data that will be acquired in incoming lunar missions especially in case of the Chandrayaan-1 and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter missions.     

Origin of V. Grib pipe eclogites (Arkhangelsk region,NW Russia): geochemistry,Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotopes and relation to regional Precambrian tectonics

Mineralogy and Petrology - In this paper, new main and trace elements and isotopic data are presented for 14 coarse-grained eclogite xenoliths from the V. Grib kimberlite pipe in the central part...     

Field Research in the Baltic Sea on Cruise 55 of the P/V Akademik Ioffe

Oceanology - New data on the structure of the water column, upper layer of bottom sediments, and biological communities of the Gdansk and Gotland deeps and the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea...     

Late Pleistocene stratigraphy and sedimentary environments of the Severnaya Dvina‐Vychegda region in northwestern Russia

The Late Pleistocene stratigraphy from the Severnaya Dvina‐Vychegda region of northwestern Russia is revised based on investigations of new localities, revisiting earlier localities, introduction of about 110 new OSL dates and burial depth corrections of earlier published OSL dates, in addition to six new radiocarbon dates. Most of the OSL samples studied here are from fluvial and subaquaeous sediments, which we found to be well bleached. Six chronostratigraphical units and their sedimentary environment are described, with the oldest unit consisting of pre‐Eemian glacial beds. For the first time, Early Weichselian sediments are documented from the region and a fluvial environment with some vegetation and permafrost conditions is suggested to have persisted from the end of the Eemian until at least about 92 ka ago. The period in which a Middle Weichselian White Sea Lake could have existed is constrained to 67?62 ka, but as the lake level never reached the thresholds of the drainage basin, the lake probably existed only for a short interval within this time‐span. Blocking and reversal of fluvial drainage started again around 21?20 ka ago when the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet advanced into the area, reaching its maximum 17?15 ka ago. At that time, an ice‐dammed lake reached its maximum water level, which was around 135 m above present sea level. Drainage of the lake started shortly after 15 ka ago, and the lake was emptied within 700 years. Severe periglacial conditions, with permafrost and aeolian activity, prevailed in the area until about 10.7 ka.     

Glacial and environmental changes over the last 60 000 years in the Polar Ural Mountains,Arctic Russia,inferred from a high‐resolution lake record and other observations from adjacent areas

Our knowledge about the glaciation history in the Russian Arctic has to a large extent been based on geomorphological mapping supplemented by studies of short stratigraphical sequences found in exposed sections. Here we present new geochronological data from the Polar Ural Mountains along with a high‐resolution sediment record from Bolshoye Shchuchye, the largest and deepest lake in the mountain range. Seismic profiles show that the lake contains a 160‐m‐thick sequence of unconsolidated lacustrine sediments. A well‐dated 24‐m‐long core from the southern end of the lake spans the last 24 cal. ka. From downward extrapolation of sedimentation rates we estimate that sedimentation started about 50–60 ka ago, most likely just after a large glacier had eroded older sediments from the basin. Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) exposure dating (¹⁰Be) of boulders and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of sediments indicate that this part of the Ural Mountains was last covered by a coherent ice‐field complex during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4. A regrowth of the glaciers took place during a late stage of MIS 3, but the central valleys remained ice free until the present. The presence of small‐ and medium‐sized glaciers during MIS 2 is reflected by a sequence of glacial varves and a high sedimentation rate in the lake basin and likewise from ¹⁰Be dating of glacial boulders. The maximum extent of the mountain glaciers during MIS 2 was attained prior to 24 cal. ka BP. Some small present‐day glaciers, which are now disappearing completely due to climate warming, were only slightly larger during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) as compared to AD 1953. A marked decrease in sedimentation rate around 18–17 cal. ka BP indicates that the glaciers then became smaller and probably disappeared altogether around 15–14 cal. ka BP.