NATO Advanced Research Workshop “Regional aspects of climate-terrestrial-hydrologic interactions in Eastern Europe“
(NEESPI Regional Non-boreal Europe Meeting)


August 23-28, 2008, Hotel “Valentina”, Odessa, Ukraine


Meeting was jointly hosted by Odessa State Polytechnic University and Odessa State Environmental University, Odessa, Ukraine.

Background.
Strong atmosphere-hydrology-biosphere feedbacks (including human activity) affect the rate and sign of changes in the Earth’s system and having impacts on socioeconomic relationships. These processes are related to an increased number and intensity of extreme weather events with consequent property damages and changes in land use. The Workshop aimed to bringing together scientists involved in Earth System programmes, members of the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI) and managers from research and educational organizations who have vested interests in climate-change and environmental studies in Eastern Europe. We have still a limited knowledge of how the regional systems and their components, such as the forest, forest-steppe, steppe, river basins and the Black Sea coastal zone, function on their own and interact with the global Earth’s system. Therefore, the goal of the Workshop was to assess the present state of research on land cover, atmosphere and water resources of the region and to discuss directions for future studies. The meeting participants (47 scientists from 10 countries) were requested to summarize the information about significant changes in the landscape associated with warming climate and socio-economic impacts as well as to specify sources of these changes and feedbacks to the atmospheric circulation and water cycle.

Workshop Program

Arrival Day. Friday, 22 August 2008

Arrivals; evening activities (organizing committee meeting, hotel “Valentina”)

Day 1. Saturday, 23 August 2008

Session 1. 09:00 – 10:45. International Environmental Projects.
Chair: Sergiy Ivanov (Odessa Environmental University)


Welcome from Local Organizers. Sergiy Ivanov
NEESPI status and its Projects in Eastern Europe. Pavel Groisman
NASA projects on land cover and land use change in non-boreal Europe. Garik Gutman
Global Land Project (GLP): Major scientific questions for coupled modeling.
Richard Aspinall
Air pollution problems in Eastern Europe. Eugeny Genikhovich

Coffee break

Session 2. 11:45 – 13:45. Regional and National Environmental Projects.
Chair: Csaba Mátyás (University of West Hungary)


Climate change prediction using remote sensing data on Ukraine. Vadim Lyalko
Land-Use and Forestry sector of Ukraine in climate change context. Igor Buksha
Ukrainian segment of GEOSS: Status and prospects. Natalia Kussul
Remote Sensing Education and Research Program: Case study for land cover monitoring of non-boreal Russia. Elena Cherepanova

Lunch

Session 3. 17:00 – 19:00. Black and Azov Seas studies: Focus on the Coastal zone. Chair: Olexandr Svitlychnyy (Mechnikov Odessa National University)

Venue: Khadji-bey ship

On development of the State Programme on protection and rehabilitation of the Azov and Black Seas environment in Ukraine. Alexander Kuzin
Black Sea state forecasting system. Gennady Korotaev
The environmental problems of the Azov Sea and Lower Don Watershed: Modeling and geo-informational systems approach. Feodor Surkov
Changes of the sea water characteristics in the region of Zmiyinyy Island.
Alexander Matygin

19:00 – 21:00 The coastal zone from off-shore; icebreaker on the ship’s deck

Day 2. Sunday, 24 August 2008.

Session 4. 09:00 – 11:00. Land Cover – Land Use Change Studies in Eastern Europe. Part 1. Chair: Garik Gutman (NASA HQ)

Monitoring Forest Change in the Black Sea Region: Implications for Terrestrial Carbon Dynamics. Curtis Woodcock
Non-boreal forests of Eastern Europe in a changing world - the role in functioning the Earth System. Anatoly Shvidenko
Land use and land cover changes in non-boreal Eastern Europe. Mutlu Ozdogan
Environmental and social impact of climatic changes at the xeric limits of the closed forest zone in Eastern Europe. Csaba Mátyás

Coffee break

Session 5. 11:30 – 13:00. Land Cover – Land Use Change Studies in Eastern Europe. Part 2. Chair: Curtis Woodcock (Boston University)

Cropland abandonment during the post-socialist transition in Southern Romania.
Daniel Mueller
Land Distribution and assessment in the Ukrainian Steppe. Larisa Anisimova

Lunch

14:00 - 16:00 General Poster Session

List of posters


Socioecological Dynamics in Armenia: Linking forest cover, biodiversity and rural livelihoods. Daniel Mueller

Flooding response to surface mining and reclamation: A comparative study. Todd Lookingbill

Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership (NEESPI): An update. Pavel Groisman

Trends in Land Surface Phenologies in the Don and Dnieper River Basins 2000-2007: The MODIS perspective. Valeriy Kovalskyy

Experiments on computing of the vertical circulation in seas, lakes, and reservoirs using baroclinic mode. Konstantin Kunshenko

Mathematic Approaches Development to Ecology-Biological Land Differentiation. Mykola Kharytonov and co-authors

The generation of forest ecosystems types digital map for Romania: Problems and solutions. Vladimir Gancz

Land cover change in Georgia. Johan Olofsson and Paata Torchinava

Satellite Data Assimilation for Vegetation Health Monitoring in Ukraine. Andrii Shelestov

Spatial database development for greenhouse gas emission: Estimation on the Russian Federation using remote sensing and GIS. Irina Karachevtseva

15:00 – 15:30 Refreshments
16:00 – 19:00. Excursion to Odessa’s downtown

Day 3. Monday, 25 August 2008.

Session 6. 09:00 – 11:00. Regional Climate Change Studies. Part 1.
Chair: Richard Aspinall (Global Land Project)


Climate in the late 20th and 21st centuries over the northern Eurasia: RCM and IPCC AR4 simulations. Igor Shkolnik
Climate and Glacial Change in the Caucasus: Observations and Projections. Maria Shahgedanova
Projections of climate change over non-boreal eastern Europe during first half of XXI century according to results of a transient RCM experiment. Simon Krichak
Regional climate and environmental change: Moldova's case study. Roman Corobov

Coffee break

Session 7. 11:00 – 13:00. Regional Climate Change Studies. Part 2.
Chair: Clemens Simmer (University of Bonn)


Regional heat waves in current and future climates. Alexander Gershunov
Regional climate modeling of daily precipitation characteristics. Susanne Bachner
Precipitation statistics in Ukraine: The interannual variability and circulation epochs. Sergiy Ivanov
Long - term forecasting of natural disasters under projected climate changes in Ukraine.
Yuriy Kostyuchenko

Lunch

Session 8. 14:30 – 17:30. Informational Support for Regional Studies in Eastern Europe. Chair: Pavel Groisman (NEESPI Project Scientist)

The NASA NEESPI Data Center to support studies of climate and environmental changes in non-boreal Europe. Suhung Shen
“Transparent World” efforts in support of oil spills’ monitoring on land and sea. Dmitry Aksenov
Baseline climatological data sets for Eastern Europe area. Vyacheslav Razuvaev

Refreshment break

16:30 – 17:30 General Discussion on Data Needs for Regional Studies in Eastern Europe

Day 4. Thursday, 26 August 2008.

7:30-22:00 Field Trip to the Danube Delta Ecological Reserve in Ukraine
(http://neespi.org/web-content/Danube_Reserve_info.pdf)

On the road: talks on hydrological and ecological aspects of the Danube delta: National and International perspectives. Discussion on possible optimal solutions.
Discussion Lead/Chair: Nikolai Berlinsky (Institute of Biology of South Seas).

Presentations on the road:


Comprehensive assessment of negative factors affecting the Black Sea shallow water in the Danube area. Nikolai Berlinsky (Ukraine)
Ecological imbalance of Romanian costal lakes: Causes and effects. Laura Alexandrov (Romania)
Danube Delta Ecological Reserve in Romania (Study of inland fisheries in Danube delta). Laura Alexandrov

Day 5. Wednesday, 27 August 2008.

Session 9. 09:00 – 11:00. Regional Hydrological Studies in Eastern Europe.
Chair: Feodor Surkov (Southern Federal University)


Regional climate modelling in Europe: Focus on precipitation. Clemens Simmer
Hydrological Changes in European Russia. Alex Shiklomanov
Soil moisture and land cover changes in European Russia: In situ data. Nina Speranskaya
Application of the Snowmelt Runoff Model in the Kuban River Basin by using MODIS satellite images. Mikhail Georgievsky

Coffee break

Session 10. 11:30 – 13:30. Regional Land Use Studies in Eastern Europe.
Chair: Igor Buksha (Ukrainian Research Institute of Forestry and Forest Melioration)


Soil erosion induced degradation of landscapes in Ukraine: modelling, computation and prediction. Olexandr Svitlychnyy
Climate and Managed Land in Ukraine: Integrating Data and Models of Land Use. Mykola Zalogin
The GLOBE Program in Eastern Europe and Russia. Teresa Kennedy (presented by F. Surkov)
Post-socialist land cover change in Eastern Europe, detecting agricultural abandonment across several countries. Alexander Prishchepov

Lunch

Session 11. 15:00 – 17:00. General Discussion.
Discussion Lead: Pavel Groisman(NEESPI Project Scientist)

Preliminary discussion notes.
The Workshop Proceedings Preparation, Assessment of available drafts.

17:00 – 19:00. Off-line activity: Training course for early career scientists from Eastern Europe on the use of remote sensing products. Johan Olofsson

Day 6. Thursday, 28 August 2008.
09:00 – 12:00 Work in small groups, Preparation of the Workshop documents

12:00 Adjourn

Workshop Statement.
List of Participants.