Why is it necessary to decipher the cedar genome, how is the air quality monitored in the city, and what are the latest scientific advances in radio electronics? Within the framework of the Day of Russian Science, which is celebrated on February 8, employees of the Krasnoyarsk Science Center SB RAS invited “City News” to excursion to their new laboratories.

What is hidden in genome?

The decoding of the human genome, which had been started in the last millennium, lasted for more than ten years. Scientists from all over the world worked on this scientific project. So, the larch genome is four times as large as the human one, while the cedar genome is twelve times larder, and it is Krasnoyarsk scientists who are engaged in their decoding.

The laboratory of genomic research and biotechnology was created last year. It is planned to develop an integrated plant protection system during the study of the “parasite-host” relationships at the genomic level. Currently, a team of young scientists is studying conifers and their main phytopathogens.
“We continue the work which was started at the Siberian Federal University as part of a mega-grant supervised by K.V. Krutovsky, - says Natalya Oreshkova, Candidate of Biological Sciences, head of the laboratory of genomic research and biotechnology. - We are closely collaborating with specialists of the supercomputer cluster of the Siberian Federal University. In the course of the research, a huge amount of data is generated and an ordinary computer is not capable of coping with it as this requires complicated computational software”.

Deciphering the genome of conifers and their main phytopathogens would aid in understanding features of the species development, evolution, and adaptation. Knowing this, we can further develop a set of measures to prevent the death of forests.

Why do we need such complex studies if the Siberian taiga is many centuries old and the main causes of the problems seem to be understood? Man is evolving. So, the emissions from industrial enterprises a hundred years ago and today are incomparable. Living organisms are also changing. The combination of a number of conditions — climate change, large deforestation, fires and other circumstances — led a number of phytopathogens to change their diet and become highly pathogenic. At present, it has already been proved that it is due to the aggressive behavior of the mushroom Armillaria borealis that the conifers in the Eastern Sayan are undergoing massive drying.
According to experts, it is sometimes impossible to determine a single main cause of a particular problem as everything in nature is interrelated.

Photos of the Earth

Red marks on the large screen are fires in the north of the Krasnoyarsk Region. This picture was taken last July. At the example of archival photos, Oleg Yakubaylik, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Associate Professor, Head of the Laboratory of Space Systems and Technologies, explains what “Earth remote sensing” is. In their work, the experts use immediate information from satellites which is received around the clock by the satellite antennas installed on the ecology building of the Krasnoyarsk Science Center SB RAS.

“The information received is used to solve a wide range of problems, - says the head of the laboratory. - First of all it is necessary for fire fighting and monitoring the situation in the regional forests, farmland, various natural phenomena and processes”.

Unlike a conventional camera, multispectral space images can be made in the visible, ultraviolet and infrared ranges. This makes it possible to obtain a synthesized image, in which, for example, the foci of fires can precisely be determined even in the case of strong smoke.

Specialists receive updated information about once every one and a half hour, which is the time necessary for a satellite to complete a revolution around the Earth. Then, within half an hour, there occurs a preliminary processing and analysis of the data obtained.

In addition to online satellite monitoring, much attention is paid in the laboratory to the development of methods and technologies for remote sensing of the Earth, and to the study of various characteristics of the environment in a changing climate.

Another area of laboratory work is monitoring the air quality in Krasnoyarsk. The city has a network of certified sensors which transmits data around the clock and allows estimating the degree of pollution in different areas.

As explained by Oleg Yakubaylik, the Krasnoyarsk scientists in their work rely not only on the state standards and officially adopted ones, but also on the best foreign experience and methods. The collected data helps not only to see the situation in the city and its dynamics, but also to understand the reasons of adverse conditions.

Communication through the troposphere

Thirty years is an average age of employees of the laboratory of scientific instrumentation making at the L.V. Kirensky Institute of Physics SB RAS. Young scientists are working on the development of new instruments and devices for radio electronics. These devices are to be used both in the military-industrial complex and in everyday life.

“This is one of the departments of the laboratory, and here the development of high frequency devices is underway – these devices are present in all electronic gadgets intended for communication, - says Nikita Boyev, Candidate of physical and mathematical sciences, head of the laboratory. - Our task is to create compact products with the highest characteristics. I can say with confidence that one of the best teams of specialists in Russia is working here. Top-end equipment manufactured abroad cannot sometimes measure the characteristics of our devices because they outperform everything currently existing in the world. ”

The main customer of the laboratory in Krasnoyarsk is the radio engineering plant. The application range for the developments of our scientists is wide. The equipment can be used for communication in difficult conditions - in water, underground etc. It is also used in remote areas where there are no towers of mobile operators. Communication under such conditions is provided through the troposphere.