The Great Norilsk Expedition, organized by the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch, is not limited to field works and sampling. Scientists have analyzed the data on industrial enterprises, received from satellites. Andrei Yurchenko, First Deputy Director of the Federal Research Center for Information and Computational Technologies (based in Novosibirsk) in an interview with TASS spoke about work on the system of absolute ecology monitoring in Norilsk and throughout the Arctic. This system would notify specialists about possible accidents, he added.
“For preventing possible accidents, we should organize a system-based monitoring of facilities and buildings,” the scientist said. “We may use existing technologies, though some aspects require special attention. The monitoring should include both observation and additional risk assessment, based on computer model forecasts and on opinions of invited experts. Obtaining a system to observe buildings and highly dangerous technical facilities is a must, and this system should be exhaustive. We should address every facility, which is hazardous for the ecology and safety.”
Correct monitoring requires a combination of terrestrial sensors and satellite surveillance, the special stressed. “We are unable to install terrestrial sensors in every location, while from the space we can watch bigger territories more regularly and in more details, though with less ‘precision’,” he continued. “As yet, those are independent systems, and we hope to make an integrated, complex monitoring system, which will use certain terrestrial sensors to verify data from satellites, since the satellite surveillance gives only a general picture. This system is doable and it is exactly what we have planned to make.”
Arctic’s future
According to the scientist, the Arctic’s future is closely connected with the apparent global climate changes. “Presently, we are unable to predict their term,” the expert added. “We can see, this year, even in Novosibirsk November is green. This is not the norm, as at this time of year we usually have a steady snow layer. The changes, which anyone notices, are reflected clearly in the remote sensing data, and particularly in retrospective. On the current climate changes, no doubt, will depend how people build and exploit buildings in the Arctic. In my opinion, specialists in construction, mechanics, technical control face a big and very serious task to present new regulations for construction in the Arctic region.”
In response to a question about possible forecasts of anthropogenic accidents in the region, the scientist said that certain things could be forecasted by using means of observation and computer modeling, as well as on opinions of experts, who analyze results of the observation and modelling data. “For example, analysis, we have presented, shows possible preventive notification of possible catastrophic changes, like those which have resulted in the accident. Naturally, the technology has its limits, though its abilities have not been exhausted.”
“The technology, we have presented, is aimed at tracing positions of objects, their vertical shifts. We measure both an entire object and its separate parts. Not all objects could be traced at a time, but should objects have special reflectors, we will be able to monitor objects of any kind. Having analyzed the accumulated data, we see that objects at the power plant did have vertical shifts, and those shifts were in different parts of the objects. Specialists in structural strength could immediately assess this as a danger and could say that a deeper on-site survey is necessary to prevent, if not the destruction of the object, then at least the negative environmental consequences,” he said.
Monitoring data center
“Speaking about industrial systems, we realize the high costs, since it is necessary not only to design them, but also to attract big numbers of specialists to organize operational monitoring, construction of new data centers, etc.,” the scientist continued.
“Presently, we provide monitoring, which is not based on a system, by analyzing archival images of certain territories. When it comes to observing hundreds or thousands of objects, we will need to expand the computing capacity, the capacity of data storage systems, and, most likely, the construction of a new data center. We have planned to build such a data center, and we hope that our idea of creating a Siberian national center for high-performance computing, data processing and storage in Akademgorodok (Novosibirsk) will be supported at all levels,” he said.
The data center, he added, could focus on aspects of industrial development. “It will be used not for the sciences only. The center’s objective would be to offer highly productive computing resources and competences in digital transformation in all spheres as well as to address the general safety, including ecology and industrial safety,” the scientist said in conclusion.