LABORATORY OF NUMERICAL EXPERIMENTS ON OCEAN DYNAMICS

Modeling the tidal and wave dynamics of the ocean.
Creation of non-hydrostatic ocean dynamics models.

LABORATORY OF MODELING OCEAN BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES

Study of marine ecosystems in their relationship to the geological and climatic system.

LABORATORY OF OCEAN AND ATMOSPHERE OPTICS

Creation of optical models of the ocean and atmosphere.
Design and development of optical measuring instruments for studying the optical properties of seawater

LABORATORY OF GEOPHYSICAL BOUNDARY LAYERS

Study of the interaction of the ocean and the atmosphere, as well as wave processes by numerical experiments, contact and satellite observations

About the branch

Main facade of the SPB
IO RAS building

Founded in March, 1966, the St. Petersburg Branch of Shirshov Institute of Oceanology  of Russian Academy of Science (SPB IO RAS) is one of the largest research centers in the Russian Federation in the field of oceanology.

The SPB IO RAS conducts scientific work in all areas of marine sciences. The staff includes 7 Doctors of Science (DSc) and 17 PhD researchers. The branch participates in the implementation of Federal Target Programs, Fundamental Research Programs of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, grants from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.

 

Experimental complex

Main scientific achievements:

  • One of the world’s first circulation model of the ocean-atmosphere system has been created;
  • The world’s first numerical simulation of the Venus atmosphere general circulation has been implemented;
  • • A method for calculating storm surges (floods) in the Gulf of Finland has been developed and implemented;
    • The impact of anthropogenic impacts on climate change has been estimated;
    • The basis for modeling of surface and internal tides dynamics in the World Ocean and marginal seas has been developed;
    • Predicting technology for tidal ice drift and ice field compressions and thinning in the Arctic seas has been developed;
    • New laws of resistance for an oscillating turbulent boundary layer over the underlying surface of various roughness were formulated, considering the effects of rotation and phase shifts between the bottom friction stress and the flow velocity beyond the layer;
    • A method for tidal effects realization in regional climate models has been proposed;
    • A general approach to non-hydrostatic dynamics modeling in the straits of the World Ocean and over steep continental slopes was developed based on a three-dimensional model in morphometry consistent curvilinear coordinates;
    • Forecasts of biogeochemical cycles variability in the World Ocean and seas were conducted;
    • Features of short-period and sub-mesoscale variability of hydrophysical fields on the Arctic shelf have been established;
    • Mathematical modeling of sea waves has been introduced as a new direction of computational geophysical hydrodynamics;
    • New statistics on extreme waves (Rogue waves) and their mechanics have been suggested.

Leading scientists of the branch are members of the editorial board of the journal «Fundamentalnaya i Prikladnaya Gidrofizika» («Fundamental and Applied Hydrophysics») ((ISSN 2073-6673 (print), ISSN 2782-5221 (online)), which publishes scientific articles, reports, and reviews related to state-of-the- modern research in the field of hydrophysics.

 

Specialists of the SPB IO RAS interdisciplinary study the World Ocean and marine resources of Russia. And also, annually participate in expeditions to the White, Barents, Kara, Black and Okhotsk seas.

 

 

 

MAIN DIRECTIONS OF FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED RESEARCH:

Ocean and Atmosphere interaction

Ocean and marginal seas circulation

Biogeochemical cycles in the ocean

Tides, wind and internal waves, storm surges

Ocean and atmosphere optics

Technical means of research and development of the ocean