Climate research in the former Soviet Union. FASAC: Foreign Applied Sciences Assessment Center technical assessment report
This report assesses the state of the art in several areas of climate research in the former Soviet Union. This assessment was performed by a group of six internationally recognized US experts in related fields. The areas chosen for review are: large-scale circulation processes in the atmosphere and oceans; atmospheric radiative processes; cloud formation processes; climate effects of natural atmospheric disturbances; and the carbon cycle, paleoclimates, and general circulation model validation. The study found an active research community in each of the above areas. Overall, the quality of climate research in the former Soviet Union is mixed, although the best Soviet work is as good as the best corresponding work in the West. The best Soviet efforts have principally been in theoretical studies or data analysis. However, an apparent lack of access to modern computing facilities has severely hampered the Soviet research. Most of the issues considered in the Soviet literature are known, and have been discussed in the Western literature, although some extraordinary research in paleoclimatology was noted. Little unusual and exceptionally creative material was found in the other areas during the study period (1985 through 1992). Scientists in the former Soviet Union have closely followed the Western literature and technology. Given their strengths in theoretical and analytical methods, as well as their possession of simplified versions of detailed computer models being used in the West, researchers in the former Soviet Union have the potential to make significant contributions if supercomputers, workstations, and software become available. However, given the current state of the economy in the former Soviet Union, it is not clear that the computer gap will be bridged in the foreseeable future.
- Research Organization:
- Science Applications International Corp., McLean, VA (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 10115504
- Report Number(s):
- FASAC-TAR-94005182; ON: TI94005182
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Sep 1993
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
CLIMATE MODELS
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
INFORMATION VALIDATION
GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
CARBON CYCLE
CLOUD COVER
AIR-WATER INTERACTIONS
USSR
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540120
990200
CHEMICALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT
MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTERS