State Hydrological Institute

The Hydrological Institute was created at the Commission for the Study of the Natural Productive Forces of Russia ^[1] at the initiative of the founder of Soviet hydrology Viktor Glushkov .

The decision to open the Russian State Hydrological Institute on July 1, 1919, was made by the collegium of the People's Commissariat of Education on June 19, 1919. However, the Institute’s regular activities began only after the People’s Education Commissariat of Education approved the Regulation on the WGI and the composition of its organizing committee on October 7, 1919.

Until 1930, the Hydrological Institute was under the jurisdiction of the People's Commissariat of Education, and then, after the formation of the Hydrometeorological Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR in 1929, it became subordinate to it and was approved as a hydrological research institution of all-Union significance.

In the early 1930s, hydrobiological and hydraulic engineering works were stopped at the institute, and the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology ( VSEGINGEO ) began to manage groundwater research. In the newly created State Oceanographic Institute of the Hydrometeorological Service, all studies on marine hydrology were transferred.

In 1944, the State Hydrological Institute was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for outstanding successes in the development of Soviet hydrology in connection with the 25th anniversary.

The Institute’s research is based on the use of versatile information from the entire hydrological network of Russia and the former USSR, from specialized observations of water-balance stations located in different regions of Russia, soil and water-evaporation networks, unique observational data obtained from the GGI expeditions, and on the field experimental catchments of the Valdai GGI branch and in experimental laboratories of the Main experimental base (BBB) ​​of GGI (Ilyichevo village, Leningrad region).

The Institute has an archive and a scientific and technical library, which contains the most complete collection of specialized hydrological literature in Russian in Russian and foreign languages.

Valdai Branch of the State Property

The Valdai Research Laboratory named after Uryvaev was established in 1933 . Since 1981, it has become a branch of the State Property Institute. It is a world famous center for experimental hydrological research. The main directions are related to the improvement of the methodological and measuring bases in the field of hydrology and meteorology. The work of the branch covered various areas:

• Research of channel processes. A mobile farm was installed on the Polomet River, allowing measurements to be made over the entire width of the river, at a distance of about 20 meters along the length of the river.
• Precipitation measurement. On the basis of tests to improve precipitation instruments , with different wind protection and under various conditions.
• The measurement of evaporation . Studies included measurements from various underlying surfaces, including from the surface of swamps. On Valdai Lake , measurements were taken using a floating evaporation platform, including various instruments and a 20 m² vapor pool.
• Assessment of the hydrological role of the forest. A unique experiment has been conducted for several decades. On a treeless plot, various components of the water balance were measured, then a forest was planted on this territory.

Main experimental base, BBB GGI

Located in the village of Illichyovo, Leningrad Region. On the base there is a channel platform for modeling rivers and river sections under various hydrological conditions. Field studies are being conducted at the Lamminsuo bog station (Zelenogorsk field experimental base). Also located here is a hydrometric reference automated system for reproducing the flow rate of a liquid, used for checking and calibrating various hydrometric instruments.

Zelenogorsk Field Experimental Base, SPEB GGI

The creation of such a station as part of the BBB GGI was caused by the need to establish and develop the hydrology of marshes as a science and organize an specialized specialized network of hydrometeorological observations in marshes in the Hydrometeorological Service. The station was organized on the Lammin-Suo swamp massif, located 2.5 km southeast of the Illichyovo settlement at the end of 1949, and entered into operation on February 1, 1950. The main objectives of the station were: conducting field hydrometeorological studies of hydrological and hydrophysical processes occurring in natural bogs, developing and testing new methods for observing elements of the hydrometeorological regime of bogs, testing new and improved means of measuring the specific characteristics of bog massifs, as well as providing training for specialists of bog stations and posts of hydrometeorological services.

When organizing the station, a topographic survey of the Lammin-Suo swamp was carried out on a scale of 1: 5000 with measurements of the depths of the peat deposit and a geobotanical description of the massif. Based on aerial photographs using data from field surveys E. Romanova a typological map of the Lammin-Suo swamp was compiled, which served as the basis for choosing the locations of the observation installations. To obtain a clear idea of ​​the nature of runoff of swamp water, as well as to calculate runoff from the massif, a so-called grid of runoff lines was compiled reflecting the direction of movement of surface and filtration water in the swamp.

At the beginning of 1950, observations began on the level of bog waters at three gauging stations (their total length is about 4 km), equipped with 16 gauging wells. At the same time, observations were begun on the meteorological regime of the massif according to the program of station II category. In addition to the precipitation gauge installed on the weather site, another 5 precipitation observation stations were equipped at the water gauging stations. Since 1950, at 4 permanent sites, observations began on the freezing and thawing of the swamp, on the height and density of snow cover . In the same year, monitoring of runoff from the swamp began. In 1950, the first experimental work was carried out to study the filtration properties of the active layer of peat deposits on filter trays.

In the next few years, the development of special observations and experimental work at the swamp station occurred simultaneously with the expansion of the standard observation network. Serial gradient observations of meteorological elements were carried out while studying the laws of the process of evaporation from swamps, and the water-physical properties of the active layer of the peat deposit were comprehensively studied. Since 1953, observations were begun in three swamp microlandscapes at a facility consisting of water and rain level recorders. According to these observations, reflecting the reaction of the level of swamp water to precipitation, the coefficient of rise in water level was determined. Observations and experimental studies carried out in the early 1950s at the Zelenogorsk mire station served as the basis for the development and improvement of methods for observing elements of the hydrometeorological regime of marshes.

Further research on the Lammin-Suo swamp massif gradually expanded. Since 1956, regular monitoring of evaporation from the swamp by GGI-B-1000 evaporators began. Research on evaporation and the heat balance method continued. In the 1960s A remote installation was developed to monitor the components of the heat balance. A sensor system was installed in the swamp, and the following were recorded using potentiometers in the station room: total, scattered and reflected radiation , radiation balance , heat flow to the peat deposit at different depths, swamp surface temperature, air temperature at a height of 2 m. 21 hydrogeological well and began monitoring the level of groundwater, i.e., the water levels in mineral soils.

The development of the richest oil and gas fields in the swamps of Western Siberia led to great attention to the problem of environmental protection in the areas of oil and gas production. In this regard, in 2000 laboratory experiments were carried out at the swamp station to study the process of oil absorption by the peat deposits of the swamps. As a result, the first information on the possible values ​​of oil absorption by the bogs was obtained and published. Since 2002, the GGI Hydrophysics Laboratory at the Lammin-Suo swamp began experimental studies of the carbon exchange process of swamps with the atmosphere in order to assess the role of hydrological factors in this process. The research results form the basis of the mathematical model of the carbon cycle in the swamps.

Zelenogorsk field experimental base is not only one of the specialized stations of the hydrometeorological network, but also a methodological center in the field of development of methods and instruments for hydrological research at the network of Roshydromet wetland stations. Over the 60-year period of operation of the ZEBP, unique material has been obtained on the water-thermal regime and the components of the water balance of the upland bog massif, which makes it possible to solve a variety of scientific and practical problems related to the study, development and protection of bogs. The scientific analysis and generalization of this material made it possible to identify the basic laws of hydrological and hydrophysical processes occurring in the marshes of the thawed zone, and on the basis of this, to develop methods for calculating almost all elements of the water- thermal regime , water and heat balance of this type of bogs.

• Alekin, Oleg Alexandrovich
• Bliznyak, Evgeny Varfolomeevich
• Budyko, Mikhail Ivanovich
• Wiese, Vladimir Yulievich
• Voskresensky, Konstantin Petrovich
• Glushkov, Victor Grigorievich (director 1919-1935)
• Puzyrevsky, Nestor Platonovich
• Zhdanko, Mikhail Efimovich
• Uryvaev, Valerian Andreevich (Director 1942-1968)
• Shiklomanov, Igor Alekseevich (director 1981—2010)
• Georgievsky, Vladimir Yuryevich (Director 2010-2018)
• Sokolovsky, Daniil Lvovich

• Hydrology sushi

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