Gelendzhik

Off-shore area

120 km2

The off-shore area is located on the outer part of the Blue (Fishing) Bay over the shelf (100 m isobaths), the shelf boundary being about 8 km from the shore.

Carbon farm

Marine carbon farm for studying carbon sequestration by sea plankton

Coastal area

6 Ha

Two plots on the southern coastal slope, 15-20 ° steep on average: the lower part is at a distance of 100 m from the coastal ledge and the upper part is 200 to 300 m from the coastal ledge.

Plot 1

Pine stand — about 300-400 trees — with an average height of 14 m and a diameter of 18-32 cm, the average height of crown attachment is 8-9 m. The pubescent oak mizunara — about 40-60 trees occur in the upper part of the plot, solitary or in bunchs. The average height is 9 m, the diameter is 16-28 cm, the average height of the crown attachment is 5 m. The plot has abundant pine undergrowth up to 1-2 m high.

Plot 2

Shrubby growth. The most common is Jerusalem thorn, less often oriental hornbeam, sparsely — Sicilian sumac and common smoke tree.

Tasks

Create infrastructure and full-scale monitoring of flows of climate-active (greenhouse) gases in the off-shore (Black Sea) and land areas of the measurement supersite in the Krasnodar Territory.

Measure flows of climate-active gases over the sea area and land areas of the measurement supersite using pulsation and chamber (mobile and stationary systems) methods. Obtaining data on the isotopic composition of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to determine the share of natural and anthropogenic sources to the integral emission of climate-active gases in the region.

Obtain regular high-resolution remote multiband spectral information, as well as data on vegetation structure and terrain topography based on multispectral and lidar equipment installed on unmanned aerial devices.

Develop new sequestration technologies to reduce emissions and increase the absorption of climate-active gases by terrestrial and marine natural ecosystems.

Prepare highly qualified specialists to conduct observations and analyses of experimental information on greenhouse gas fluxes obtained using in-situ and remote technologies.

Education and trainings

A designated course with a workshop «Energy and mass exchange of the Earth’s surface with the atmosphere» has been conducted Summer internships have been organized for MSU meteorology students on measuring the surface meteocharacteristics and fluxes of climate-active gases.

Research result

Landscape description of the coastal and off-shore areas of the site and their digital model.

The Mesocosm experiment to study carbon sequestration by marine plankton.

International integration

• University of Capetown — measurements of CO2 fluxes at the water-atmosphere interface
• Ocean University of China — Qingdao) — carbon cycle in the coastal areas of the Black Sea
• KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) — coastal hydrology and biogeochemistry

Planned outputs

Deliverables:

• quantitative characteristics of the fluxes of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide between the ocean and the atmosphere in the coastal area of the northeastern Black Sea
• characteristics of carbon dioxide fluxes between the coastal land surface and the atmosphere, obtained by pulsation and chamber measurements
• estimates of the spatial and temporal variability of the fluxes of climate-active gases in the coastal waters of the northeastern Black Sea and the coastal zone at the scales of hundreds of meters and days, as well as estimates of their seasonal trends
• integral estimates of the fluxes of climate-active gases for the water areas of the northeastern Black Sea and the coastal zone, obtained by in-situ measurements and remote sensing data
• rationale for developing technologies to reduce emissions and increase the sequestration potential of coastal waters and certain sections of the northeastern Black Sea coast