Since the middle of the XX^th century researchers at the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have been carrying out special ship ice observations in the Arctic and other freezing seas. Field data about main sea ice parameters are necessary for developing and validation of sea ice forecasts and satellite information. In keeping with technological advances and new research and practical tasks this method is ever developing. In spring 2023 sea ice observations were organized by the AARI’s reseachers onboard the nuclear icebreaker 50 let Pobedy in the south-western part of the Kara Sea. This paper presents recommendations concerning the method of special ship ice observations as developed during the expedition: dispatch to the vessel of operative and forecast hydrometeorological information from the AARI with a request for return transfer to the AARI of the processing results of the data obtained in the areas of predicted high deformation of ice cover along the route of navigation and upgrade of the ship television complex to receive information about ice layers and structure.

The south-eastern part of the Barents Sea is located away from the main currents, with a combination of climatic, hydrological and oceanological processes creating conditions that make the region different from the rest of the Barents Sea such that it is seen as a separate region and called sometimes the Pechora Sea. Despite the intensive economic activity in the south-eastern part of the Barents Sea, it is not yet clear to what extent the general Atlantic water transport in the Barents Sea and, consequently, the transport of heat and salt, affects this region. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess advective flows at open boundaries, as well as other components of the water, heat and salt balances of the south-eastern part of the Barents Sea. Based on monthly average data from the MERCATOR GLORYS12V1 reanalysis for the period 1993–2018, we calculated water transport, heat and salt flows at the boundaries of the south-eastern part of the Barents Sea (at 50° E in the west, at 71° N in the north and in the Kara Gate Strait); to close the balances, an assessment was made of sea-atmosphere interaction characteristics on the sea surface based on ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis data. Water, heat and salt balances were combined with a residual not exceeding 1.6 %. Linear trends for the characteristics obtained were calculated. It is revealed that the average long-term resulting water transport in the south-eastern part of the Barents Sea is directed from the north-west of the region to the Kara Gate Strait (0.40 Sv). This current is associated with the Atlantic waters and also carries heat and salt. The resulting heat input (5.92 TW) creates a heat excess in the water area, which is compensated for by interaction with the atmosphere (1.86 TW). The salt flow through the region is estimated at 13.98 t/s. During the study period, all the main flows have a statistically significant positive trend in the incoming and outgoing parts of the balances: water transport — 0.005 Sv per year; salt flow — 0.18 t/s per year. This indicates an increase in the transit of Atlantic waters through the south-eastern part of the Barents Sea. An increase in the advective heat flux (0.15 TW per year) across the western border is accompanied by an increase in its release into the atmosphere (0.07 TW per year) and an increase in evaporation of 6.9 mm per year. Sea levels are also rising at a rate of 0.27 cm per year. Thus, the increasing dynamics of the processes in the region is a factor to take into account in conducting economic activities.

Atmospheric aerosol plays an important role in the processes of radiative transfers and mass exchange by different substances in the “continent–atmosphere–ocean” system. In this paper we discuss the results of a five-year measurement cycle of the atmospheric aerosol characteristics at the polar station “Ice base Cape Baranov”, located on the Bolshevik Island (the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago). The set of the characteristics analyzed includes: the aerosol optical depth (AOD) of the atmosphere; the ground concentration of aerosol particles in the radius range of 0.15^–5 microns; the content of the absorbing substance (soot) in the aerosol in the equivalent of elemental black carbon. The average values of the aerosol characteristics for the general measurement period (from April 2018 to May 2023) were: volumes of submicron and coarse aerosol particles 0.43 and 0.46 μm³/cm³, respectively; mass concentration of black carbon — 45.8 ng/m³; AOT of the atmosphere at a wavelength of 0.5 µm — 0.08; Angstrom selectivity exponent — 1.67. The average annual variation of aerosol and black carbon concentrations is characterized by a maximum in winter (January–March) and a minimum in summer (June–August). A comparison is made against the data from analogous measurements of aerosol characteristics at the polar station in Barentsburg (the Spitsbergen Archipelago) and against the data from model calculations, i. e., MERRA-2 reanalysis. A distinctive feature of the data in the Cape Baranov area is the low content of coarse aerosol — 1.7 less than in Barentsburg. There is agreement with the annual variation of black carbon concentrations at other polar stations, but the opposite nature of the seasonal variability of model (MERRA-2) concentrations: low values in winter and high values in summer. It is shown that the average spectral AODs of the atmosphere at the “Cape Baranov” are intermediate values between the data from polar stations in NyÅlesund and Barentsburg.

Physical experiments in natural free plasma (ionosphere) using controlled injection of powerful HF radio waves (HF pump waves) into the high latitude upper (F-region) ionosphere allow the investigation of various nonlinear phenomena. HF pump waves with ordinary (O-mode) polarization are commonly used for the modification of the upper ionosphere (F-region). This is due to the fact that extraordinary (X-mode) polarized HF pump waves are reflected from altitudes significantly below the reflection altitude of the O-polarized HF pump wave and the altitude of electrostatic plasma waves. Because of that they are not able to generate such waves or, as a consequence, cause artificial plasma turbulence and accompanying phenomena. However, the results of experiments carried out by AARI researchers at the EISCAT/Heating facility (Tromsø, Norway) have clearly demonstrated for the first time that X-polarized HF pump waves are able to produce artificial ionosphere disturbances which may be much stronger compared with O-mode disturbances. This opens up new possibilities for the investigation of nonlinear phenomena and ionospheric disturbances in the upper ionosphere, leading to the development of technologies allowing one to observe the processes in the Arctic zone ionosphere. In contrast to the traditional investigations of artificial ionospheric disturbances induced by O-mode HF pump waves, X-mode disturbances in the upper ionosphere are poorly investigated, the mechanisms of their generation are not understood. Therefore, such investigations require serious experimental and theoretical development. We present investigation results of the influence of the HF Phased Array beam width at the EISCAT/Heating facility (Tromsø, Norway) on the features of artificial disturbances in the high latitude upper (F-region) ionosphere induced by powerful HF radio waves. The paper analyzes the features, behavior, and spatial structure of electron density and temperature (Ne and Te), Langmuir and ion-acoustic plasma waves, artificial field-aligned irregularities (AFAIs), and narrowband (±1кHz relative to heating frequency) stimulated electromagnetic emission (NSEE) induced by X-mode HF pumping by phased Arrays with a narrow beam width of 5–6° (A1) and a wide beam width of 10–12° (at — 3 dB level) (A3). It is shown that the spatial size in the north-south direction of the Neducts and HF-enhanced plasma and ion lines (HFPL and HFIL) depends on the width of the HF Heating facility antenna beam. It corresponds to the angle width of 7° for the A3 antenna and 4° for A1, which is approximately two times less than the width of th pattern of A3 and A1. The relationship between the Ne duct transverse size and the size of the region occupied by the X-mode artificial irregularities is found. It has been established that the intensities of all the discrete components in the NSEE spectra are 10–20 dB higher when a powerful X-wave is emitted to the antenna A1, providing ERP = 820 MW, compared to radiation to the antenna A3, providing ERP = 230 MW. A comparison is made of the influence of the radiation pattern width of the antennas A1 and A3 on the characteristics of disturbances during O- and X-mode HF pumping. It is shown that Ne ducts and narrow band stimulated electromagnetic emission during O-mode heating, at frequencies below the critical frequency of the F2 layer, are not excited at all when the pump wave is emitted by both antennas A1 and A3. However, perturbations in the electron temperature, AFAI intensity, and the size of the region occupied by AFAIs are greater during O-mode heating than during X-mode heating.

The trend of strengthening of the Antarctic polar vortex in late spring and early summer (November–December) has been observed in recent decades. A good example of this trend is the dynamics of the Antarctic polar vortex in 2020 when it existed until the last week of December. In 2019, conversely, on the contrary, an unusually early breakup of the polar vortex occurred, a minor sudden stratospheric warming was recorded. Strengthening (or weakening) of the Antarctic polar vortex occurs as a result of an increase (or decrease) in the stratospheric meridional temperature gradient under conditions of growth (or decline) in the temperature of the lower subtropical stratosphere. We considered the temperature variations in the lower subtropical stratosphere in the spring of 2019 and 2020 and the corresponding response of the Antarctic polar vortex. The dynamics of the Antarctic polar vortex in September–October 2019 and November 2020 was largely synchronized with the temperature changes in the lower subtropical stratosphere relative to climatological means. Using correlation analysis, we show that the Antarctic polar vortex dynamics in December is largely due to the temperature changes in the lower subtropical stratosphere that occurred in the second half of November, which manifested itself in 2020.

The air temperature in the Arctic zone of Russia is increasing at a rate of 0.71 °C per decade, which is three times faster than the global average. The warming of climate is accompanied by an increase in its extremeness, which leads to an increase in the number of dangerous hydrometeorological phenomena. The most significant changes occurred in the statistics of large-scale summer heat waves in European Russia. One of the most important goals in studying current climate changes is to study the frequency of extreme hydrometeorological phenomena, in particular, heat or cold waves. In this paper, we investigate the average daily anomalies relative to the annual variation of air temperature at a height of 2 meters from the surface in the region of the western part of the Russian Arctic (60°–75° N, 30°–85° E), according to ERA5 and MERRA-2 atmospheric reanalyses for the period 1980–2022. Their root-mean-square deviations and the distribution of their average number per year are calculated. We have plotted the fields of average values and the rate of changes in the amplitude, duration and number of anomalous temperature events which exceed two standard deviations in the study region. Areas of increase and decrease in the amplitude, duration and number of extreme events, both with positive and negative temperature anomalies, are displayed. In general, it can be concluded that, on average, the amplitudes of positive extreme air temperature anomalies in the study area slightly increase. The duration of positive extreme anomalies is growing everywhere at a rate of 0.2 days per 10 years. The duration of negative extreme anomalies slightly decreases. The number of events with negative extreme anomalies has been decreasing at a rate of –0.5 to –3 events per year for 10 years, while the number of events with positive extreme anomalies has been increasing from 0.1 to 1 events per year for 10 years.

The results obtained significantly expand our knowledge of the spatiotemporal features of the ongoing changes in the extreme climate of the western part of the Russian Arctic, which is of paramount importance for the analysis and forecasting of the development of natural and socio-economic systems in the region under study.

A classification of cryogenic-landslide landforms is developed for mapping their distribution and dynamics. It is based on the previously suggested classification subdividing cryogenic landsliding into two main types: cryogenic translational landslides (or active-layer detachment slides), and cryogenic earth flows (or retrogressive thaw slumps). The increased proportion of retrogressive thaw slumps compared to active layer detachments in the North of West Siberia in the last decade creates the need for an expanded classification of cryogenic earth flows. One of the important issues is separating the process of landsliding and resulting landforms, which in English are covered by one term ‘retrogressive thaw slump’. In dealing with the landforms, we distinguish (1) open and (2) closed ones. Open cryogenic-landslide landforms are those formed by the retreating of the coast bluff due to the thaw of ice or ice-rich deposits with an additional impact from wave or stream action. Closed cryogenic-landslide landforms are those initiated on a slope landward, and thawed material is delivered to the coast or stream through an erosional channel. Morphologically we distinguish thermocirques and thermoterraces depending on the shape of the retreating headwall, crescent or linear, respectively. An important issue is the type of ground ice subjected to thaw: tabular, ice-wedge or constitutional ground ice are distinguished. Landforms can be active, stabilized or ancient. One can find both single landforms and their combination. The classification is based on a significant amount of field studies and interpretation of remote sensing data. Mapping of the cryogenic-landslide landforms is suggested using the proposed classification and indication features. The classification is based on the experience obtained mainly in the north of West Siberia. Applying it to other regions may require additional studies.

The paper deals with studies conducted in Russia and USSR of ice density, a most important characteristic of ice, and spans a period from the late XIX^th century to 1940. It is shown that Russian scientists started their investigations of ice density only around the end of the XIX century, and those studies were often performed with specific applications in mind, e. g. works by B.P. Veinberg and his disciples in Tomsk in 1911–1914. In the USSR, there was a revival of interest in this kind of studies in the late 1920s in connection with explorations of the polar seas. Density measurements were mainly performed by hydrostatic weighing. At the request of N.N. Zubov and I.I. Mesyatsev in 1927 V.V. Shuleikin invented a simple instrument to measure ice density without weighing samples. In the early 1930s, ice porosity became an important field of research aimed at finding the causes of variance of experimental data on ice density. Ice porosity and density were studied using innovative devices developed by V.V. Shuleikin and V.I. Arnold-Alyabiev, which allowed studying ice properties in expedition conditions. The device developed by Arnold-Alyabiev found widespread use in field studies. Ice density and porosity are closely related physical quantities, therefore measuring the porosity of ice allowed researchers to estimate its density. By the end of the 1930s the ice density measurements had developed into a standard procedure of ice studies, which was due in large measure to the plans devised at the All-Union Arctic Institute headed by B.P. Veinberg to investigate ice at polar stations, which also included ice density and porosity studies.