N.I. Lobachevsky UNN Physics of planetary boundary layer Laboratory established In December 2012 has successfully completed the second year of the project "The interaction of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and the land surface: the physical mechanisms, the methods of monitoring and control of the planetary boundary layer and the quality of the environment" in the framework of the program of state support of scientific research conducted by leading scientists in Russian institutions of higher education (megagrant programs). The main objective of the project is a comprehensive study of dynamic processes in the boundary layers of the atmosphere and hydrosphere of the Earth, from the development of the theory of physical and numerical models of these processes to testing in real conditions of new methods and techniques of remote sensing. The particular relevance of the project is due primarily to the fact that the planetary boundary layer (PBL) is a sensitive indicator of a variety of human impacts on the environment and of climate changes observed in the last decade.
The staff of the Laboratory uniting under a leading scientist prof. S.S. Zilitinkevich (Finnish Meteorological Institute), about 60 specialists of Nizhny Novgorod State University, Institute of Applied Physics, NIIIS, Upper Volga control Hydrometeorology, Geophysical Observatory "Borok" IPE RAS, University. Ben-Gurion University (Israel), Nansen Center for Research and Remote Sensing of the Environment (Norway), obtained a large number of new results, which reflect the modern world level studies on the project. Among the main results in 2012:
- The development of a new theoretical model of the processes of self-organization of turbulent flows in PBL under conditions of free and forced convection, the development of techniques for remote sensing of PBL at altitudes up to 1 km with high temporal (up to 5 min) and spatial (up to 50 meters) resolution with the meteorological temperature profiler ( for the formation of a data archive profiler MTP-5 Russian-made was used);
- Development and implementation in the laboratory of modern methods of measuring the velocity field of air flow over the rough water surface using the Particle Image Velocimetry, which allowed for a series of measurements in a wide range of equivalent (at the standard height of 10 meters in natural conditions) wind speeds from 10 to 40 m/s and the mean velocity profiles for the airflow above breaking waves generating spray typical for sea storms and hurricanes;
- Establishment (based on analysis of data series of field measurements of the electromagnetic radiation of lightning and electrostatic field variations) of the important role of atmospheric convection to generate atmospheric electricity and the development of a tomographic method for monitoring convective structures in the surface layer of the atmosphere that allowed the preparation of a work program for future experiments aimed at the diagnostics of coherent aeroelectric structures and the creation of a regional monitoring of thunderstorm activity;
- Development and the creation of the basic blocks of new generation spectroradiometer model for remote sensing of tropospheric thermal structure;
- The development of architecture, creation and environmental testing of prototype of a distributed sensor network based on wireless sensors designed to monitor the state of the atmosphere and medias contacting it; developed software allows for the collection of information from the network nodes to a base station in automatic mode, control the functions of a sensor network nodes through the web-interface and channel configuration of their connection with each other and with the base station, as well as to represent data collected by the base station for further processing;
- The development of the method and the creation of on-board optical system for investigating the characteristics of wind speed on the optical space-time images of the sea surface, the development of an original algorithm processing to quantify the size of the surface area occupied by the breaking wind waves and foam in various weather conditions, and its approbation during the expedition on the research vessel "Akademik Sergey Vavilov" in the Atlantic Ocean (12.10.2012 - 20.11.2012);
- Quantitative analysis based on data from a series of field experiments, including subsatellite, of the effects of organic surface-active substances and phytoplankton in the upper layer of natural reservoirs on the formation of patterns of wind waves in the short wave range, which is the physical basis for the improvement of radar remote sensing of ecological state of natural reservoirs.
Results of the Laboratory obtained during the 2012 are published in 49 papers in refereed scientific journals, including 28 papers in leading international journals on the project theme (Geophysical Research Letters, Journal of Geophysical Research, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Climatic Change, Physical Review E, Physics of Fluids, etc.) are presented in 117 papers at professional conferences, including 54 reports at international conferences.
In 2012, Laboratory defended 1 doctor dissertation and submitted for the defense 1 Ph.D. dissertation, defended 9 final qualifying works of masters and experts. Currently 10 graduate students of UNN and IAP, and 5 full-time students are involved in research on the project.
