Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Physics

Scientific results:

1. We have proposed an original method for solving the inverse problem of the remote sensing of the atmosphere to determine the relative content of isotopologues of water  vapor in the atmospheric column with the use of ground-based high-resolution IR Fourier spectrometers.
2. Our researchers have accumulated temporal series of unique data of ground in situ measurements of isotope tracers of the water cycle in the near-earth layer of the atmosphere for the period from 2012 and 2020 for the purposes of verification and validation of modern models of general atmospheric circulation in the sub-Arctic and Arctic regions of western Siberia (55-70 N; 55-90 E). 
3. It has been demonstrated that the modern version of the European  model of general circulation ECHAM is good at reproducing the observed temperature regime of the atmosphere and the characteristics of the atmosphere and the characteristics of the atmospheric hydrological cycle in western Siberia both in the past (over the last 50 years), and in the present. The model is promising for the research in the complete climate model  when modeling the future in the Arctic regions.
4. Via a comparative analysis of results of satellite  and ground sensing of the atmosphere we have determined the amplitude of the seasonal cycle of carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere of the Urals and western Siberia, which is characterized by a high photosynthesis yield of regional ecosystems.
5. Our researchers have accumulated temporal series of data from measurements of vertical profiles of temperature and humidity as well as the depth of seasonal thawing  of the active layer in the permafrost zone in the key areas in the tundra and forest-tundra in the Yamalo-Nenets region over the period from 2012 to 2020.
6. It has been demonstrated that the new ORCHIDEE module of the model of atmospheric circulation LMDZ-iso that describes the heat exchange in the «atmosphere-surface» system adequately reproduces the vertical profiles of temperature and humidity observed in the active layer of the atmosphere in the key areas in the tundra and forest-tundra in the Yamalo-Nenets region.
7. The Laboratory has proposed a pioneering method and an algorithm for solving the inverse problem of hyperspectral satellite sensing of the atmosphere to determine the vertical profiles of the concentration of optically active gases with the simultaneous use of  atmospheric spectra of the thermal and near IR range with high resolution.

Implemented results of research:

• We have developed the original software FIRE-ARMS (Fine InfraRed Explorer for Atmospheric Radiation MeasurementS) to solve direct and inverse problems of the transfer of the IR range (the thermal and near infrared range) in the atmosphere. The FIRE-ARMS software is used for solving inverse problems of the probing of the atmosphere using data of modern satellite-based IR-Fourier high-resolution spectrometers such as: the European IASI on the METOP satellite, the Japanese TANSO/FTS on the GOSAT satellite and others.
• The Laboratory has developed an original layout of the payload of a drone for the monitoring of the boundary layer of  the atmosphere. The layout has been tested at the Ural Atmosphere Observation Station in Kourovka (Russia).       

Education and career development:

• At the initiative of the Laboratory, at the Department of Earth and Space Studies of the Institute of Natural Sciences of Ural Federal University a new education program, «Hydrometeorology», has been compiled and licensed.
• Employees of the Laboratory have developed and are now reading the following courses: «Physics and chemistry of the atmosphere», «Atmospheric aerosols», «Physics of the climate and the environment», «High-performance computations», «Computer modeling of atmospheric processes».
• 7 young employees of the Laboratory have completed internships at leading European and Japanese research centers: Laboratory for the Study of the Climate and the Environment of Pierre Simon Laplace Institute (France), the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, the Institute for Environmental Physics at the University of Bremen (Germany), Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute of the University of Tokyo (Japan).
• Three Candidate of Sciences dissertations have been prepared and defended.

Organizational and structural changes:

• In the tundra and forest-tundra of the Yamalo-Nents region we have selected and equipped key sites for conducting a continuous monitoring of the vertical profiles of temperature and humidity of the active layer in the permafrost zone as well as seasonal measurements of the depth of thawing of the active layer. The monitoring has been conducted since the summer of 2013.
• We have organized two stationary nodes of the Russian segment of the international Pan-Arctic innovative network for the monitoring of isotope tracers of the hydrolocial cycle: in the town of Labytnangi (operates since 2013) and in the town of Igarka (operates since 2015).
• The Laboratory was included into a new structural division of Ural Federal University,  the carbon landfill «Ural-Carbon» organized in 2021. 

Other results:

• The Laboratory received a joint grant of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (2016-2017).

• The Laboratory received a Russian Science Foundation grant (2018–2020).

• The Laboratory has been included in an international consortium on behalf of Ural Federal University. The project «A system for monitoring and verifying greenhouse gases» of this consortium received financial support from the EU within the Horizon 2020 program for 2018-2019. 

Collaborations:

The Laboratory has prepared an agreement between the Institute of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of Ural Federal University and Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute of the University of Tokyo (Japan) for a five-year period starting in November 2018. As part of this collaboration we are conducting joint research, exchange of young researchers, staging collaborative seminars.