Development of hydrophysical monitoring methods for seas

Abstract

Object and purpose of research. This paper reviews the results of Krylov State Research Centre R&D projects in development and improvement of monitoring methods for water areas in order to ensure environmental protection and obtain engineering data for the sites of offshore facilities (both under construction and in service). Materials and methods. This paper studies the materials yielded by environmental monitoring and engineering surveys in various parts of Russia, including the Baltic, the Black Sea, Arctic seas and other water areas. The study gives the results of data processing and analysis published in journals and at scientific conferences, as well as some examples of the activities performed in the Baltic, the Black Sea and in certain areas of the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea. It also points out some results of hydrophysical studies performed as part of industrial hydrophysical monitoring and engineering surveys at intended sites of offshore facilities. Main results. Many years of R&D activities performed with state-of-the-art instrumentation have led to the development of a system for express hydrophysical monitoring of coastal waters. Its method has been tested in various regions of Russia. Now it is used in various environmental protection programs, as well as in environmental protection measures and engineering surveys performed by Gazprom and Lukoil in offshore areas, including Arctic shelf. In the Baltic, this system made it possible to discover inception laws and parameters of inertial waves in different seasons, as well as to understand time and space peculiarities of upwelling. In polar waters, the system has been successfully used to describe the specifics of currents in ice-adjacent layer that determine its drift conditions, as well as to obtain time and space characteristics for hydrological fluctuations of icy waters. Conclusion. Today Krylov State Research Centre has a system for hydrophysical monitoring of water areas, including both conventional tools of hydrophysical measurements (multi-parametric hydrologic probes, acoustic profilographers of currents, etc.) and new data acquisition systems (autonomous underwater vehicle, radar-based system for detection of currents and waves in the water area). Measurement system and special techniques of data processing, analysis and presentations make it possible to perform practical monitoring of water areas, even in emergency conditions, as well as to pursue scientific studies under cooperation programs with branches of the Russian Academy of Sciences and other organizations.

Keywords

• hydrophysical monitoring of water areas
• hydraulic structures
• offshore areas