ИСТИНА

The main goal of the study is to describe the possible impact of deforestation, afforestation and land-use changes in the Upper Volga area in European part of Russia on fluxes of the main greenhouse gases (H2O, CO2) and on regional climate conditions. To solve the main scientific task the following research activities were applied: 1) Organization of the intensive field campaigns to derive the spatial and temporal variability of H2O and CO2 fluxes at forest and clear-cut sites using the eddy covariance and chamber measurements; 2) Application of remote sensing data to describe the recent vegetation dynamics; 3) Development and application of local scale process-based 2D and 3D turbulent transfer models to describe the influence of vegetation and relief heterogeneity on atmospheric fluxes; 4) Application of mesoscale atmospheric models to derive the possible influence of deforestation, afforestation and land-use changes on regional climate under present and projected future climate conditions.