Head: Prof. P.O. Zavialov

• Impacts of continental discharges on the marine systems
  
  
• Anthropogenic impacts on the ocean and inland water bodies
  
  
• Remote sensing of the ocean
  
  
• Climate variability at different scales 

Vertical distribution of salinity in Aral Sea on measurements of 2005

The Atlantic Ocean waters from Greenland to Antarctica have been studied with the UV lidar sounding from aboard a research vessel within the framework of the "Meridian" inter-agency project. Fluorograms of sea water have been obtained for different geographic regions. The concentrations of chlorophyll pigments, dissolved organic matter (DOM) and carbon in DOM in the subsurface ocean layer are available as the measured values and the estimated means. The results are compared to satellite data (Head Zavialov P.O., Doctor of Geographic Sciences) 

A new method for sea research - "Fluorovision" of the sea surface has been proposed. The method consists in taking and analyzing a current time panorama of sea fluorescence in air-borne HF scanning UV-laser beams. An aircraft fluorescent scanning lidar (AFSL) has been designed. The method can be employed for discovering oil or other organic matter contaminated water, as well as for detecting signs of impacts of hydrodynamic sources from beneath the sea surface (Head Zavialov P.O., Doctor of Geographic Sciences).

A thermodynamic model of the genesis of tropical cyclones (typhoons, hurricanes) has been advanced and published (two publications), and a probability criterion has been developed for the generation of disastrous cyclones from satellite SHF-measurements (with a multispectral temperature-humidity profiler aboard SICH-1M satellite or from DMSP series data) (Head Zavialov P.O., Doctor of Geographic Sciences)