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Does size matter? Modelling the cooling effect of green infrastructures in a megacity during a heat wave
Science of the Total Environment. 2023. Vol. 902. Article 165966.
Mikhail Varentsov, Vasenev V., Dvornikov Y., Samsonov T., Klimanova O.
The vulnerability of urban ecosystems to global climate change becomes a key issue in research and political agendas. Urban green infrastructures (UGIs) are widely considered as a nature-based solution to mitigate climate change and adapt to local urban climate anomalies in cities. However, UGI-induced cooling effect depends on the size, location and geometry of green spaces, and such dependencies remain overlooked. This research aimed to investigate the cooling effect of UGIs of different size under extreme conditions of 2021 summer heat wave for the case of Moscow megacity (Russia) using a numerical mesoclimatic model COSMO. UGIs objects were assigned to one of the four size categories (S, L, M and XL) based on their area. Their cooling effects at the local, non-local and city scales were evaluated based on comparison between the model outcomes for the realistic land cover and simulations for which UGI of a particular size category were replaced by the built-up areas typical for their surroundings. The highest cooling effect was observed for XL size UGIs, which reduced the local heat-wave-averaged air temperatures by up to 3.4 °C, whereas for the S size UGIs it did not exceed 2 °C. The cooling effectiveness for XL category was higher than for S category by 23 % inside the green spaces (locally), by 40–90 % in the buffer zones around the green space (non-locally) and by 35 % for the whole city. More effective cooling of large UGIs is partially explained by their stronger park breeze effect, i.e., impact on the airflow increasing the divergence over green spaces. However, when standardized to the population affected by cooling, the M size UGIs made the strongest contribution to the thermal environment where people live and work. The stronger non-local cooling induced by the largest UGI objects cannot compensate for their remoteness from the built environment.
Chernyshov A., Padokhin A. M., Grach S. M. et al., Geophysical Research Letters 2026 Vol. 53 P. 1–11
This paper presents the first results of a coordinated experiment on the ionospheric plasma response to high-frequency (HF) overdense heating, conducted using the SURA heating facility and the Ionosfera-M satellite. The experiment combined ground-based observations with in situ satellite measurements, enabling a comprehensive study of artificial ionospheric disturbances. During the experiment, the SURA facility transmitted ...
Added: August 31, 2026
D. A. Dorofeev, A. A. Chernyshov, Mogilevsky M. M. et al., JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS 2025 Vol. 130 Article e2025JA033900
This study analyzes data from the ERG (Arase) satellite over a period of nearly 7 years (2017–2023). During this time, about 1,000 cases of hectometric continuum (HMC) radiation in near‐Earth space were detected, which made it possible to identify characteristic features on different time scales. On a daily scale, it was established that HMC is ...
Added: August 31, 2026
Mogilevsky M. M., Shaposhnikov V., Chernyshov A. et al., Physics of Plasmas 2025 Vol. 32 P. 1–10
The ERG (Arase) satellite recently discovered a non-thermal hectometric continuum with a narrowband frequency structure. The mechanism behind the generation of this type of emission in the near-Earth plasma is still unknown. This study examines the potential use of electron cyclotron harmonics instability to explain the line structure of hectometric radio emissions for the first ...
Added: August 31, 2026
Shabanov N., Kuricheva O., Kurbatova J. et al., / Series Working Papers SSRN "Department of Economics Ca’ Foscari University of Venice". 2026.
The carbon balance of an ecosystem is the difference between Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) and Ecosystem Respiration (Reco) as expressed by Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE). While remote sensing retrievals of GPP have reached maturity, Reco estimation remains underexplored and ultimately cast bias on NEE. Here we present an end-to-end multi-scale analysis of the mechanism of ...
Added: August 21, 2026
Gorbacheva A., Krenke A., Puzachenko M. et al., Geoderma Regional 2026 Vol. 46 Article e01124
Legacy soil maps remain essential for national land-use planning. However, their thematic accuracy and spatial resolution are often insufficient for contemporary applications requiring reliable estimates. This study presents a digital soil-mapping approach to update legacy soil information without extensive field sampling, demonstrated for arable lands in the Republic of Tatarstan (4.5 million ha). The proposed ...
Added: August 18, 2026
Shartova N., Mironova E., Geo Journal 2026 Vol. 91 Article 78
The historical timeline of urban development profoundly shapes the contemporary form and functionality of cities. Traditionally, cities were planned with limited consideration for the promotion of a healthy urban environment. Using Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, a city that has evolved from a medieval market town to an industrial centre and later into a multifunctional city with ...
Added: August 9, 2026
Tsydypova M., Современные проблемы дистанционного зондирования Земли из космоса 2026 Т. 23 № 3 С. 263–275
The article presents a methodology for mapping coniferous forest decline, based on the integration of automated remote sensing data interpretation techniques, vegetation indices, remote sensing data on above-ground biomass (Biomass CCI (Climate Change Initiative)), and materials from ground-based forest pathology surveys using forests of the Khamar-Daban ridge (Republic of Buryatia) as a case study. The ...
Added: August 9, 2026
Sandlerskiy R., Elsevier, 2026.
Encyclopedia of Ecology, Third Edition, Four Volume Set - with over 300 chapters - once again provides a comprehensive reference work covering the current ideas and practices in ecology.
Ecology is the ideal field for studying complex, adaptive, and self-organizing systems and by observing and understanding ecosystems, it provides valuable insights into creating sustainable systems. This knowledge is ...
Added: August 9, 2026
Kotenko M., Zaytsev A. I., Pelinovsky E., Pure and Applied Geophysics 2026 Vol. 183 No. 6 P. 2681–2695
On July 29, 2025, a strong earthquake near Kamchatka (Russia) generated a tsunami that spread across the entire
Pacific Ocean. The tsunami had its strongest impact on the coast of the North Kuril Islands (Paramushir and Shumshu), causing significant destruction. During the first days after the earthquake, a field survey of tsunami traces on these islands was conducted in the area ...
Added: August 3, 2026
Kivalov S., Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024), 2024.
An observed 20-30% increase in forest net ecosystem exchange (NEE) on partly cloudy days is often attributed to there being more uniform canopy illumination by diffuse radiation when clouds are present. However, the sky on such days is typically populated by fair-weather cumulus clouds, bringing dynamically changing shadow-to-light conditions on the order of minutes to ...
Added: July 24, 2026
Stepanov A., Kivalov Sergey N., Vasenev I., Sustainability 2026 Vol. 18 No. 13 Article 6879
The carried-out microfield model research was aimed at identifying patterns in the dynamics of soil CO2 effluxes depending on the locally occurring hydrothermal regimes of regenerated lawn ecosystems on peat-sand substrates with different peat contents. Monitoring was carried out every ten days from 21 April 2019 to 30 October 2019 and included measurements of soil ...
Added: July 8, 2026
Podolskaia E., Вопросы лесной науки 2022 Т. 5 № 4 Статья 115
Paper presents an overview of history and current research state on the use of remote sensing data from
space to recognize roads for the regional projects. We have characterized principles of road detection on the imagery. A group of direct deciphering signs used in combinations such as brightness and texture, geometry and
brightness. Three research directions with ...
Added: June 25, 2026
Князева С. В., Ершов Д. В., Никитина А. Д. et al., Современные проблемы дистанционного зондирования Земли из космоса 2025 Т. 22 № 6 С. 383–386
This brief report summarizes the key outcomes of the IX All-Russia (with International Participation)
Scientific Conference “Aerospace Methods and Geoinformation Technologies in Forest Science,
Forestry and Ecology”. The conference was held April 15–17, 2025, in Moscow at Isaev Center for
Forest Ecology and Productivity RAS with organizational support from Space Research Institute RAS.
The conference was attended about 130 ...
Added: June 24, 2026
Ekaterina S. Podolskaia, Sinitsina A., European Journal of Forest Engineering 2026 Vol. 12 No. 1 P. 7–22
Machine learning in transport modeling has become a trend in science and industry. In this paper, we observe its main directions and focus on a dataset of seasonal road creation. Seasonality as a parameter in transport modeling has a significant impact on transport scenarios but is underestimated worldwide and in Russia, despite modern data challenges. ...
Added: June 24, 2026
Lifshits A., Святохина Е. В., Одиссей: Человек в истории 2026 № 1 С. 156–173
This article introduces a new source for scholarly discussion on the history of Russian language, science, and culture in the late 17th century. Numerous Russian captions for engravings were discovered in a copy of the "Travnik" (Herbal) by the great Renaissance botanist and pharmacist Pietro Andrea Mattioli, published in Prague in German in 1563. In ...
Added: June 15, 2026
Madison A., Plandin F., Kuzmina T. et al., Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 2026 Vol. 697 Article 113864
Unlike most other brachiopods, craniiforms lack a prominent pedicle, cement to a hard substrate by their ventral valve, and thereby can be easily distinguished in paleontological materials. In this study, we describe a new genus and species from the Porkuni Regional Stage of Northeastern Estonia (Baltica), corresponding to the lower part of the Hirnantian Stage ...
Added: June 15, 2026
Plandin F., Temereva E., Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 2025 Vol. 205 No. 2 Article zlaf139
Although Brachiopoda represent a relatively small phylum, they exhibit significant morphological diversity. One of the central issues in understanding the evolution of the ancestral brachiopod body plan pertains to the homologies among body compartments across the different brachiopod subphyla: Craniiformea, Linguliformea, and Rhynchonelliformea. In this context, the pedicle stands out as one of the most ...
Added: June 15, 2026
Yin X., Wu Y., Kivalov S. et al., Journal of Hydrology 2026 Vol. 677 No. A Article 135843
As a frequent extreme event under global climate change, drought significantly threatens the net primary productivity (NPP) of terrestrial ecosystems. Although numerous studies have reported drought-induced declines in NPP, the hydroclimatic mechanisms behind remain insufficiently understood. The strong interdependence among temperature, precipitation, and water availability has made it challenging to quantify their independent effects on ...
Added: June 8, 2026
An S., Wu Y., Luo X. et al., Catena 2026 Vol. 263 Article 109767
Vegetation restoration represents a highly effective strategy for offsetting carbon emissions, mitigating climate change, and enhancing the quality of the eco-environment. Despite the ecological benefits, the large-scale ‘Grain-for-Green’ program in China has caused unintended hydrological consequences, threatening the sustainability of regional water resources in this arid and semi-arid region. Therefore, it is crucial to understand ...
Added: June 8, 2026
Zhang G., Wu Y., Lu X. et al., Journal of Environmental Management 2026 Vol. 401 Article 128981
The ‘Grain for Green’ (GFG) project is a key ecological restoration initiative in the Loess Plateau. The land use changes induced by GFG project have the potential to alter the spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC), yet its impact on the lateral loss of SOC was not well understood or insufficiently quantified. This study ...
Added: June 8, 2026
Tararushkin E., Glushak A., Rudmin M. et al., Applied Clay Science 2026 Vol. 291 Article 108288
Phengite is one of the important hydrous phyllosilicate minerals capable of transporting water and potassium in subducting slabs down to the Earth’s upper mantle. Being able to incorporate significant amounts of ammonium in its structure, phengite is also a major contributor to the nitrogen cycle in subduction zones. Employing classical molecular dynamic simulations with the ...
Added: June 6, 2026
Le M. T., Bakaeva N. V., Construction Materials and Products 2024 Vol. 7 No. 5 Article 10
Large cities, as financial centres, attract a dense adult population, leading to a high demand for housing. This growth requires urban expansion and increased building density, which disrupts the ecosystem and gives rise to a concentrated urban heat island (UHI). In a study conducted in Moscow, a numerical climate simulation model was used to explore ...
Added: July 22, 2025
Shartova N., Mironova E., Varentsov M. et al., Sustainable Cities and Society 2024 Vol. 114 Article 105729
Heat vulnerability in big cities is important because of the increase in heat wave frequency and thermal stress that is identified by Urban Heat Island. Our study investigated intra-urban heat vulnerability in Moscow, which strongly influenced by historic context in urban planning, with a focus on local disparities. We considered the vulnerability framework in terms ...
Added: September 7, 2024
Chubarova N., Androsova E., Kirsanov A. et al., Urban Climate 2024 Vol. 53 Article 101762
The study of urban aerosol and its influence on radiation and meteorological regime is important due to the climate effect. Using COSMO-ART model with TERRA_URB parameterization, we estimated aerosols and their radiative and temperature response at different emission levels in Moscow. Mean urban aerosol optical depth (AOD) was about 0.029 comprising 20–30% of the total AOD. Urban black carbon ...
Added: February 20, 2024