Environmental studies in Lake Baikal: basic facts and perspectives for interdisciplinary research

А.d Avrorin ,M.B Milenin,A.G Solovjev,S.V Fialkovsky,N.S Gorshkov,K.V Golubkov,M.M Kolbin,O.G Kebkal,V.D Rushay,M.V Kruglov,D.A Kuleshov,M.K Kryukov,I Shtekl,Zh.-A.M Dzhilkibaev,V.F Kulepov,M.I Rozanov,T.I Gres,V Nazari,L Fajt ,E.v Rjabov ,V Brudanin ,А Р Гафаров ,А П Кошечкин ,А А Дорошенко ,А И Панфилов ,К.г Кебкал ,И А Белолаптиков ,F Šimkovic ,A N Dyachok ,R Dvornický ,R Mirgazov ,О В Суворова ,М Н Сороковиков ,M.d Shelepov ,I A Portyanskaya ,B Tarashansky ,Michael Sturm ,G Safronov ,G Domogatsky ,Р Баннаш ,Б А Шайбонов ,V M Aynutdinov ,S.v Lovtsov ,E N Pliskovsky ,В А Кожин ,K V Konischev ,E S Troitskaya ,С М Коротаев ,V O Serdyuk ,A.p Korobchenko ,E Khramov ,Evgeniy O Kiktenko ,Д П Петухов ,A.v Avrorin ,В А Таболенко ,Н М Буднев ,S A Yakovlev ,А Загородников

doi:10.1051/epjconf/201920709001

Abstract

Lake Baikal in Siberia is one of the most interesting lakes in the world. It is the world’s largest reservoir of fresh surface water and home to several hundred endemic species. At the same time it harboured the first underwater neutrino telescope NT200, now followed by its successor Baikal-GVD, a cubic-kilometre scale neutrino telescope. Within the Baikal Neutrino project a number of methods and instruments have been designed to study various processes in the Baikal ecosystem. Hundreds of optical, acoustic and other sensors allow for long-term 3D monitoring of water parameters like temperature, inherent optical properties or the intensity of water luminescence, as well as processes like sedimentation or deep water renewal. Here we present selected results of the interdisciplinary environmental studies.

Highlights

Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest, deepest and most voluminous fresh-water lake, is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots on the planet, holding about 20% of the world’s total freshwater. It is located in eastern Siberia covering an area of 31,722 km2
Site studies are a significant part of the project -- because the configuration of neutrino detectors builds on the knowledge of light background, optical characteristics of water, water currents and other properties, and because new technologies, instruments and methods designed in the framework of the experiment allow to get much information about the Lake Baikal ecosystem
Continuous, long-term monitoring of water parameters with a many different instruments distributed on the moorings of the neutrino observatory allows studying horizontal and vertical water exchanges which are of great importance for the preservation of the Baikal ecosystem

Summary

Introduction

Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest, deepest and most voluminous fresh-water lake, is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots on the planet, holding about 20% of the world’s total freshwater. It is located in eastern Siberia covering an area of 31,722 km. Site studies are a significant part of the project -- because the configuration of neutrino detectors builds on the knowledge of light background, optical characteristics of water, water currents and other properties, and because new technologies, instruments and methods designed in the framework of the experiment allow to get much information about the Lake Baikal ecosystem. Meteorological and other factors, a number of different hydrophysical phenomena take place: flows, fronts, internal waves, upwelling, convection, turbulence eddies an so on, with space–time scales ranging from a fraction of millimetres and seconds up to several hundreds of kilometres and several years

Luminescence of Baikal water

Optical properties of Baikal water

Hydrophysical studies

Findings

Geophysical studies