Том 41, № 2 (2016)

G.S. Golitsyn, a geophysicist of broad expertise, presents his way in environmental science and the detailed description of his research activity.

The data are presented on total nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) content in the atmosphere from 1979 to 2009 at the high-mountain scientific station located in the unpolluted area in the North Caucasus at the height of 2070 m above the sea level (43.7° N, 42.7° E). The total content of NO₂ was measured on the basis of attenuation of direct solar radiation over slope pathways after the sunrise and before the sunset. Characteristics features are analyzed of temporal variability of total NO₂ content in the atmosphere related to its diurnal and seasonal variations, 11-year solar activity, volcanic eruptions, quasi-biennial oscillations of tropical circulation, and the El Niño effect.

In the 1980s–1990s possible climatic consequences of the nuclear war were assessed in the papers by academician G.S. Golitsyn and other scientists. The assessment was based on the data of modeling of radiation and circulation processes in the atmosphere under different scenarios of ground-based and air nuclear exchange. Perhaps, underground nuclear explosions do not result in considerable climate effects associated with the emission of the large amount of aerosol to the atmosphere. However, they may cause changes in the rock structure at the big depth, in the composition of underground water as well as of liquid and gas hydrocarbons; the migration of radioactive products from the explosion melt cavity to the water and hydrocarbon layers. The incompleteness of nuclear reactions and heat emission in the melt cavity can be indirectly judged by the results of a thermal survey of the Earth surface in the epicentral zone of the explosion. It is demonstrated that a thermal anomaly is formed here, the temperature exceeds the background temperature of the Earth surface by 8–10°C. The possibility of the space monitoring of thermal anomalies using low-orbiting satellites is considered. It is shown that at cloudless weather for the typical size and temperature of thermal anomalies the flux density is about 9 × 10⁻¹⁰−2 × 10⁻⁹ W/cm² at the space vehicle orbit in the spectral band of 8–14 μm; so, these objects can be registered.

The results of computation of wind wave fields for two versions of the WAM model (the original version of the European wind wave model WAM4 and its modified version WAM4-M) are compared with satellite measurements. The mapped data on the daily averaged wave height obtained from the data of combined measurements of several satellite altimeters are used. Significant correlation between wind wave series for both models and satellite data is demonstrated as well as the advantage of the WAM4-M model over its original version in accuracy and some statistical parameters of comparison with the altimeter. Advantages and shortcomings of numerical and remote sensing methods of wind wave investigation at the ocean scales are noted.

The critical comments to the publications by the authors ofthe present paper that were given in [10] (the publications deal with the possible effects of gravity field inhomogeneities in the atmosphere and ocean) are discussed. In the authors' opinion, some remarks are groundless. At the same time, the authors agree with one of the important remarks that the results of their paper concerning studies of the ocean disturbances are to be reconsidered.

The review is compiled on the basis of the results provided by the system of total ozone (TO) monitoring in the CIS and Baltic countries that functions in the operational regime at the Central Aerological Observatory (CAO). The monitoring system uses data from the national network of M-124 filter ozonometers being under the methodological supervision ofthe Main Geophysical Observatory. The functioning of the entire system is under operational control based on the observations obtained from the OMI satellite equipment (NASA, USA). Basic TO observation data are generalized for each month of the fourth quarter of 2015, for the fourth quarter, and for the year as a whole. The results of regul ar observations of surface ozone content carried out in the Moscow region and Crimea are also provided.