Welcome toIICWG-IV |
|
|
[IICWG main site at NSIDC]General Information
The fourth meeting of the International Ice Charting Working Group (IICWG) was held in St.Petersburg, Russian Federation, April 7-11,2003. Meeting was hosted by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) and sponsored by NOAA, the U.S. National Ice Center, Canadian Ice Service and the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. Following documents are available:
Organization of the meeting
Agenda, Meetings and Events
| IICWG-IV Meeting was hosted
by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute during April 7-11, 2003.
It was preceded by a Science Workshop (Monday, 7 April) dedicated to Sea Ice Modeling and Data Assimilation. Agenda (see final version) of the IICWG-IV Meeting included reports from the IICWG Chairs, IICWG Standing Committees - on Data, Information and Customer Support and on Applied Science and Research, other international sea ice working groups, including WMO/IOC JCOMM Expert Team on Sea Ice (ETSI), Baltic Sea Ice Meeting (BSIM), U.S/Canada Joint Ice Working Group, International Ice Patrol and various technical sessions. Thematic sessions during the Meeting were dedicated to Sea Ice Modeling and Data Assimilation, Ice Center Relationships including GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security), ECDIS, Satellite Data Access, and Development of Sea Ice Mapping Systems. The Session also included one report of Russian icebreaker captains on their experience during Baltic ice navigation. All suggested modifications and additions to the agenda, and suggested presentations in the thematic sessions should be submitted to the organizing committee by 15 January. Presentation topics for the science Workshop should be sent to Dean Flett (Dean.Flett@ec.gc.ca) or Rashpal Gill (rsg@dmi.min.dk). Following technical tours were conducted: to the Russian
State Museum of Arctic and Antarctic and to the historical
icebreaker "Krasin" (non-operative). Planned cultural program
included visits to the Mariinsky opera and
ballet theatre and the Hermitage Museum. |
Location
| State Scientific Center of
the Russian Federation, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute
(AARI) belongs to the Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology
and Environmental Monitoring (RosHydromet). Organized in 1920, AARI is the oldest
and the largest Russian research institution in the field of comprehensive
studies of the Polar Regions. The history of the Institute begins since
1920, when the Northern Research and Trade Expedition was organized.
In 1925 the Northern Research and Trade Expedition was reorganized
into the Institute for Northern Studies. Since 1930 the Institute was
named as the Arctic Research Institute. In 1958 according to the Resolution
of the Government the organization and coordination of national Antarctic
exploration were laid on the Institute and it has become the Arctic
and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI). Further changes brought the
AARI in 1963 under the Main Administration of the Hydrometeorological
Service (now the Federal Service of Russia for Hydrometeorology and
Monitoring of the Environment). In 1994 the AARI has obtained the
status of State Research Center of Russia. [top] |
St.Petersburg background
| Saint Petersburg (Russian
Sankt Peterburg), second largest city and largest seaport in
Russia, located in the northwestern part of the country, at the
head of
the Gulf of Finland (an arm of the Baltic Sea). The capital
of Russia for two centuries (1712-1918), Saint Petersburg is
one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, noted for its lavish
palaces and grand cathedrals. It is also a major rail junction and
an industrial, cultural, and scientific center. The city is located
on both banks of the Neva River and on a number of river islands.
Saint Petersburg has been renamed three times since its founding. Construction of the city began in 1703, ordered by Russian tsar (later emperor) Peter the Great, who named it Saint Petersburg after his patron saint. After World War I broke out in 1914, the city's Germanic name was changed to Petrograd. In 1924, upon the death of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, its name was changed to Leningrad. Finally, in June 1991, six months before the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) officially dissolved and Russia emerged as an independent country, the city reverted to its original name. Saint Petersburg's climate is one of strong contrasts. It is affected by air masses coming off the Atlantic Ocean and by polar continental air, which in winter is very dry and cold. Saint Petersburg has cold winters, with temperatures in January averaging -10° C (14° F); the summers are generally cool, with the temperature in July averaging 17° C (63° F). Although the city's harbor is frozen for three to four months of each year, icebreakers keep it open for much of the winter season. Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia
2001
See also:
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved
|
Geography and climate
St. Petersburg is the northernmost
major city of the world. It is located at 59° 57' Latitude
North, 30° 19' Longitude East (Pulkovo meridian).
Due to the city's northern position it enjoys the phenomenon of the «white nights», lasting from May 25-26 till July 16-17. July 22, the Solstice Day is the longest day (18 hours 53 minutes); the shortest day is December 22 (5 hours 52 minutes). The climate is humid, close to maritime, with a moderately warm summer and a rather long moderately cold winter. The average winter temperature is -8°C, the average summer temperature is +17.8°C. In dry hot) weather the temperature may rise to +25°C - +30°?. The temperature may seriously drop in winter, reaching -25°C - -30°C. Precipitation reaches 550-600 mm per year. The Neva River is the city's main waterway The name of the river derives from the ancient name of Lake Ladoga, the Neva where it begins. The Neva is 74 kilometers long, flowing 32 kilometers within the city boundaries. The average width of the Neva within the city is 600 meters, depth - up to 24 meters. In the delta, the Neva splits into three main branches: the Bolshaya Neva, the Malaya Neva and the Bolshaya Nevka. St. Petersburg is situated in the North-West of Russia in the Neva River delta on the Eastern coast of the Gulf of Finland and occupies, together with the administratively subordinated territories, the terri-tory of 1439 square kilometres. The city is located on 44 islands formed by the Neva River and 90 more rivers and canals. The abundance of islands has led to the construction of a multitude of bridges. Of these, nowadays there are308 within the city proper, and 5 34 if suburbs are included. 22 of the bridges are drawbridges. The total length of all the bridges is about 16 kilometers. The longest bridge across the Neva is the Alexander Nevsky Bridge (909 meters with runways), the widest bridge is the Siniy Bridge on the Moika River (99.5 meters). The highest elevation equals 42 meters above the sea level (Poklonnaya Gora). Floods occur frequently in the city Most often they happen in autumn due to strong westerly winds. In the history of the city the Neva has risen above ordinary level more than 300 times. A water-meter was built near the Mining Institute in 1877. A flood is registered if the water rises 180 cm above the normal level. The biggest flood was on November 7 1824 when the water rose 4.1 metres above the ordinary level. From: http://petersburgcity.com/city/generalinformation/
See also:
[top]Official Internet guide to St.Petersburg |
Registration, accomodation and visa support
| Registration:
Logistics during IICWG-IV will be provided by AARI Local Organizing Committee. Potential attendees are asked to confirm participation by 20 December by sending e-mail to Cheryl Bertoia (bertoiac@natice.noaa.gov) or Mike Manore (mike.manore@ec.gc.ca) or Keld Hansen (kqh@dmi.dk) with a copy to AARI Local Committee - iicwg@aari.nw.ru, so that Local Committee can make block reservation at the nearest Pribaltiiskaya Hotel. Possibly, there may be a small registration fee, which can be paid by participants during the Meeting. Accomodation: You may also use http://www.hotelguide.com to choose other hotels in St.Petersburg. Please, mind that May 2003 will be 300 years anniversary of St.Petersburg, so that early booking can sufficiently reduce prices. It is recommended for potential attendees of IICWG to inform
Organizing Committee on the dates of arrival - departure, preferred
hotel, need for visa support, so that we can make block booking
in Pribaltiyskaya Hotel before the end of 2002. Support for visa application |
Prompts on tourism
| Newcomer may spend a
lot of time in St.Petersburg - days and weeks - vandering through
the metropolitan museums and theatres - Hermitage, Russian Museum,
St.Isaacs Cathedral, or Mariinsky Theatre and more. However,
in the case one gets tired of the city, there are a number of other
places which are easily reachable and which we recommend to visit
and get acquainted with the splendor of Emperor Russia of XVIII-XIX
centuries or with the vague pages of the initial Rus' of IX-X centuries.
The nearest is the necklace of Tzar's palaces and parks created in 18th century and located at the distance of 30-40 km from the city center including: Pushkin (Tzarskoe Selo), Pavlovsk, Gatchina, Peterhoff and Lomonosov (Oranienbaum). All these places are reachable by local bus or train in 40-60 min. Usually it takes 3-4 hours to see a single palace plus surrounding park. On a longer distance (140 km) is a small town of Vyborg with an scenic park of Mon-Repo. Mon-Repo can take half a day and is not recommended to be visited during rainy weather. That is interesting to note that the oldest Russian towns found in IX century are also located quite near to St.Petersburg city which is only 300 years old. Those towns are Old Ladoga town (or "Staraya Ladoga" in russian, it holds the same name as Ladoga Lake), located 80 km eastward near Murmansk highway, Novgorod town, located 180 km southward near Moscow highway and Pskov town, located 240 km southwestward. Excursion to Ladoga takes 5-6 hours and needs a rented car/minibus. Novgorod can be reached by an express train or also by a rented car / mini-bus from St.Petersburg, starting early morning and returning late in the evening. However, we recommend to spend more than one day in Novgorod - the oldest Russian town. Excursion to Pskov in all cases takes more than one day and again needs a tourist bus or rented car / mini-bus. Train to Pskov is inconvenient but possible. At the time of conference AARI Local Organizing Committee will provide you more information and help on tours logistics. You may also contact LOC Secretary Ms Svetlana Kraeva (tel. +7 (812) 352-3433, e-mail: tourism@intaari.nw.ru) for organising tours before the meeting. See also: [top] |
IICWG - IV Organizing Committee
|
Local Organizing Committee
|
Correspondence
| Arctic and Antarctic Research
Institute 38 Bering str. Russian Federation, 199397 |
||||||||||
|