Temperature of the ocean surface as an indicator of thermodynamic processes in the northwest Pacific

The numerical computations and analysis of the anomalies of temperature of the ocean surface in the northwest part of the Pacific Ocean were carried out on the basis of the archival data for 1960 and 1964–1985. A five-year period of general instability of the annual average temperature was revealed (1973–1977). In this period, the year 1974 was the coldest and the year 1977 was characterized as extremely warm. We performed the analysis of the interannual and annual variability of the anomalies of temperature of the ocean surface and revealed common features and distinctions of the seasonal evolution of these anomalies for years with substantially different temperature conditions. A quasistationary zone of maximally heated waters was discovered in the band located (independently of the year and season) between 36 and 46°N to the east of 140°E. This zone coincides in space with the zone of the subarctic front and the south part of the subarctic region. The influence of the meanders of the Kuroshio Current was demonstrated. It is shown that their activity increases after the events of El-Niño and, hence, the thermal energy of the water area considerably increases and remains elevated for a period of 1–2 yr after the indicated events.Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 5, pp. 45–52, September–October, 2004.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to cover date.     

Characteristic Features of Solar Cosmic Rays in the 21st–24th Solar-Activity Cycles According to Data from Catalogs of Solar Proton Events

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - Homogeneous series of solar cosmic-ray events for four solar-activity cycles against the background of decreased activity in cycles 23 and 24 are considered. The number...     

Dynamics of the ring current–magnetotail currents relationships during geomagnetic storms of different intensity

The results of studying the intensity of fluxes of 30–80 keV ions from the data of measurements of the NOAA (POES) sun-synchronous satellites during geomagnetic storms of different intensity are presented. For 15 geomagnetic storms with |Dst|_max from ~37 to ~422 nT, the storm-time maximum ion fluxes in the near-equatorial region (trapped particles) and at high latitudes (precipitating particles) have been considered. It is shown that the maximum fluxes of trapped particles, which are considered a ring-current proxy, increase with the storm power. In this case, if a smooth growth of fluxes is recorded for storms with |Dst|_max < 250 nT in the near-equatorial region, a significantly steeper growth of fluxes of trapped particles is observed when storm power increases during storms with |Dst|_max > 250 nT. This may be evidence of both an increasing of the contribution of the ring current relative to magnetotail currents to the development of high-intensity storms and to a nonlinear link between the ring current and ion fluxes at low altitudes in the near-equatorial region. Despite large variations in fluxes of precipitating particles in the polar region above the boundary of isotropization, a decreasing tendency, as a whole, in fluxes of these particles is observed with increasing the storm intensity. This is the evidence of the effect of saturation of magnetotail currents and of an increase in the relative role of the ring current during strong magnetic storms.     

Hydrotroilite as a bioindicator of paleohydrological and paleoclimatic processes in the Caspian basin

The results of studying the distribution of hydrotroilite (a product of bacterial sulfate-reduction) in deep-water bottom sediments in the Southern and Middle Caspian Sea are considered and its relationships with paleoclimatic and paleohydrological processes in the sea basin are analyzed.     

Study of the organic matter in the rocks of the crystalline basement and weathering mantle of Tatarstan

This paper is dedicated to study of the rocks of crystalline basement and weathering mantle taken from several parametric boreholes at the territory of Tatarstan Republic. Optical-microscopy in combination with methods of organic geochemistry, including isotope analysis, revealed a migration nature of the organic matter of the studied rocks from oil-source beds of the Devonian domanikoid-facies deposits.     

Orbit determination for a radar mapping satellite of Venus

'Geology and Tectonics of Venus', special issue edited by Alexander T. Basilevsky (USSR Acad. Sci. Moscow), James W. Head (Brown Univ., Providence), Gordon H. Pettengill (M.I.T., Cambridge, Mass.) and R. S. Saunders (J.P.L., Pasadena).     

Statistical Links between Solar Cosmic Rays,Type-II Radio Emission,and Coronal Mass Ejections

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - Type-II radio emission often accompanies events in solar cosmic rays and is an indicator of the propagation of a shock wave in the solar corona. Conversely, the shock...     

Influence of Tropical Cyclones of the South China Sea on the Variability of the Vietnamese Coastal Current Structure

The state of the natural environment of the marginal seas of the Northwest Pacific is largely controlled by the interaction of the atmospheric and hydrophysical processes. Tropical cyclones (typhoons), originating in the tropical zone of the Northwest Pacific and over the South China Sea basin, occupy a special place among atmospheric processes. The main destructive impact of typhoons falls on Southeast Asia. However, a significant number of are moving to the Russian Far East. The region of the South China Sea plays a significant role in the formation of tropical cyclones. This determines the importance of studying hydrometeorological processes not only in the Far East, but also in the South China Sea, and the need for cooperation between Vietnamese and Russian scientists. The main hydrodynamic structure of the western South China Sea is the Vietnamese Coastal Current (Western Boundary current), which depends not only on the seasonal monsoons but also on typhoons. The paper presents the results of joint Russian–Vietnamese studies of the dependence of the vertical structure of the Vietnamese Coastal Current on the Pacific tropical cyclones that form in the South China Sea. The study is done with numerical modeling. The period from April to June 1999 was used for modeling, provided with the necessary field data. The simulation results showed that, in general, the structure of water masses depends on the trajectories of tropical cyclones. In all cases considered, the Vietnamese Coastal Current is not a single flow, but represents a zone of eddy structures of different directions. An exception is the only situation in the condition of a tropical cyclone in the central region of the South China Sea when this current acquired the form of a single continuous flow directed from north to south only in the 200-m layer. The general patterns of changes in the dynamic structure of the Vietnamese Coastal Current for all the considered tropical cyclone trajectories include the following: areas with water transport in the northern direction prevail on the surface, while the rest of the water mass continues to flow generally in the southern direction. This transport of surface waters may be due to the influence of the emerging summer monsoon, and the rest of the water mass, which is less exposed to the still weak atmospheric processes of the monsoon type, continues to flow in the winter regime.

     

Specifying the atmospheric pollutant distribution forecast using the mathematical modeling and measurement data

Considered is a possibility of specifying the forecast of volcanic aerosol distribution in the atmosphere using the data of ground-based actinometric measurements. To simulate the aerosol distribution, the FlexPart software (Norwegian Institute for Air Research) was used. Using the FlexGraph software (Planeta Research Center for Space Hydrometeorology), the visualization and interactive analysis were carried out of aerosol concentration fields at different time moments. The prognostic concentration of volcanic ash from Grímsvötn volcano (May 2011) is bound to the results of measurements of aerosol optical depth in Hamburg at one of the points of AERONET global network. The comparison of the corrected aerosol concentration with the measurements at other AERONET points demonstrated the competence of the proposed approach. To specify the aerosol cloud distribution forecast on the territory of Russia, the Roshydromet actinometric network data can be used.