Recently, on 18-20 February, we were gathered to Annual session of the Scientific Council of the State Hydrological Institute (SHI) at St. Petersburg. The agenda includes about 20 reports from traditional hydrometric issues to advanced climatic studies.

Firstly, Prof. Igor' A. Shiklomanov, the SHI Director has developed an exhaustive report summing up our research activities and recently obtained results. He was slightly satisfied with that our institution still is productive in spite of an unfavorable external situation. Nevertheless, our science is called for, the national economy is growing, so we can hope to be busy of works by now and in the future. Prof. Shiklomanov has particularly noted the results which are of a great importance for the Earth climate. In particular, he told on how the fresh water inflow to the Arctic Ocean entails changing of the atmospheric circulation indices in north Atlantic (and, as such, the European mild climate!). He has informed us on the VI-th Russian Hydrological Congress and on how it is prepared. If anybody interests, please click on http://www.hydrology.ru/VICongress

Our studies at the Valday Branch are also necessary, as we can carry out new field investigations, open a new observational site, gather our database, travel and communicate abroad, contribute to scientific meetings and so on. As to myself, I did not contribute to the session as had earlier reported many times, and as my current work is not finalized by 2003. Those issues I addressed you can see on the web-site. What a problem was the hardest to myself during the past year? I think it was how to relate the snow water contents (SWEs) and precipitation amounts measured in different locations and then how to describe both spatial and temporal transformations of the initial SWE distribution. Both these problems are of importance to improving our measurements, understanding the natural processes and, to providing applications as well.

On my point of view, the following reports are the most constructive:

First is the report of a great importance of how to predict and, maybe, prevent the hugely high floods at Lensk, Yakutia-Sakha Republik (Siberia). Maybe, you know about the great flood on the Lena river which devastated all the town of Lensk on 2000. It was due to a strong ice jam. So, our hydrologists were employed to develop a new prediction scheme and new prevention measures. They worked three years, traveled to the site, made a laboratory installation, the hydraulic model of the river and so on. Intriguing is that the accepted manuals could not to be used without correction against the local effects, else we can commit in great errors with the high river stages expected.

The next report I should note is about the relationships between river ice and the winter low flow. The report was developed by Dr. Michael L. Markov. The phenomena, he told, are closely connected with the physical mechanism through which the inter-relations between surface and ground water flows are occurred. They, as it seems, are closely correlated with climatic conditions. Indeed, when the winter is cold, the ice cover becomes thick and this leads to a conversion of a part of ground water to ice that restrains free exchange among ground water flow and stream discharges, and vice versa. This effect seems to be very important to the hydrology of Nordic countries.

Of the reports dedicated directly to the climate research, I would like to inform about the communication on the feedback mechanisms in the Arctic climate system delivered by Dr Irena Borzenkova. She has reported with a great skill, so all the audience was attentive. As she showed, thaw of the permafrost (according to the climate changes predictable) can lead to increasing the methane emission from boreal wetlands, this, in turns, would enhance the climate warming (due to "greenhouse" effect of methane), the warming entails thaw of a new portion of frozen soils, and so on. On the other hand, the warming climate would entail increasing rainfalls that results in a growing runoff from great Siberian river basins to the Arctic Ocean. And this, as many explorers suppose, may violate oceanic circulation in the North Atlantic.

On the climate and permafrost relationships, I would also note about the report made by Oleg A. Anisimov and Marina A. Belolutskaja. They elaborated a simple model which describes the influence of warming on permafrost. The results they shown are visible in two-dimensional pictures (slides) making an animation of how the permafrost area would regress with climatic changes expected to Siberia and North America. I have noted for myself the technique they used, and also the Wilmott's "intellectual" interpolation technique deemed to imply it to my works.

My colleague Dr. Sergey A. Lavrov told about those mathematical models which simulate the CO2 exchange between wetlands and atmosphere. He develop a scheme to describe both internal flux in porous medium of a peat bog and external forces such as turbulent transfer within the atmospheric surface layer. This stresses again how the physics of atmosphere (of which I had been versed by my studentship and earlier works!) is applicable.

Another my friend, Dr. Dmitry A. Konovalov earlier awarded by an international award for his work on precipitation measurement technique has developed about the future metrological testing of the methods of runoff and evaporation measurements, that is just a new challenge for us. I have noted that we must elaborate a scheme of how to attest of the lysimetric measurements making them comparable to improve our water balance estimates.

So, I have tried to share with you the new results which our science community is to provide, new goals to be achieved and new challenges to be meet again.

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