News in Press-centre

The comprehensive research station for monitoring greenhouse gases was presented in Far Eastern Federal University on September 5^th. The head of the FEFU Climate Smart Laboratory, Nobel Laureate Riccardo Valentini told the FEFU Acting President Nikita Anisimov about the unique research equipment that will be installed for the first time in the Far East of Russia.

According to Professor Valentini this equipment is used to obtain automated high frequency data on the flow of the main greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide). It is planned to install 10 field stations, which will help researchers study the balance of greenhouse gases and human impact on global climate change, as well as generally assess the climate change in the Asia-Pacific region.

"Hopefully the first five stations will be installed this year: two in the suburbs of Vladivostok and Ussuriysk, two in the Sikhote-Alin Reserve in ecosystem conditions with prevalence of Manchurian oak and cedar, one more station will work in FEFU campus for student's study and the urban ecosystem monitoring," said Riccardo Valentini. Next year it is scheduled to equip five additional stations in taiga boreal ecosystems of Yakutia and possibly Kamchatka.

According to the researcher, forest ecosystems are understandably selected as the main location of the stations. Far Eastern forests are a unique reservoir of the accumulation of an excessive concentration of CO₂ from the atmosphere, and the plants themselves are highly susceptible to subtle changes in climate.

The FEFU Laboratory staff will study their reactions by using fundamentally new instrument, unrivaled anywhere in the world. TreeTalker Sensor, which was first publicly presented by Riccardo Valentini, is the first invention in the context of the work of the new FEFU Laboratory, created in partnership with Russian State Agrarian University–Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy.

"Thanks to this device, we are establishing a new system of environmental monitoring. Very compact and inexpensive device will allow to receive online information on environmental conditions of thousands of trees worldwide. The sensor can measure and transmit to a single online system the indicators of temperature, humidity, flow rate of moisture from the roots to the leaves and back, as well as assess tree growth and determine the color of the foliage, that allows us to instantly track the emergence of diseases caused by microclimatic or climatic conditions," said Riccardo Valentini.

The FEFU Acting President Nikita Anisimov highly commended the work that was conducted in the first stage by the team of the Climate Smart Laboratory.

"To have such enthusiastic professional as Riccardo Valentini in the team is the honor for any university in the world. I am sure that we are a successful acquisition for him as well. The position and role of FEFU in the Asia-Pacific region and Russia allow the professor to implement his boldest research ideas. This project is a truly global one, and its results can significantly enhance the impact of our country on the global environmental space", stressed Nikita Anisimov.

The Climate Smart Laboratory under the leadership of an outstanding Italian researcher was created within the FEFU Competitiveness Enhancement Program (5top100 Project). Its aim is the development of a modern environmental policy in the Asia-Pacific region on the basis of the analysis of global climate change models and regional environmental monitoring.

Riccardo Valentini was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was engaged in the risk assessment of global climate change caused by man-made factors. At different times he received other prestigious awards and prizes, and in 2015 he was named the Europe Best Ecologist.

Anna Leonteva,
leonteva.as@dvfu.ru

Photo by Roman Savin