21st NRB symposium and workshop was successfully held in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia. This largest region of Russia (total area 3.1 mln km²) is located in the north-eastern part of the Eurasian continent. More than 40% of its territory is within the Arctic Circle. Yakutsk is the oldest (almost 400 years), largest (300 000 inhabitants) and coldest (average January temperature -39°C) city built in continuous permafrost. Yakutsk is built as the port at the Lena River, the tenth largest river in the world.
Climate and landscape changes are causing the transformation of hydrological cycle in Arctic regions, with major impacts on society. 21st NRB workshop will address the issues of hydrological research in cold regions, both in fundamental scientific and applied aspects, including the studies of snow, glaciers, permafrost, frozen ground, groundwater, seasonally frozen rivers and lakes.
As the Symposium was organized jointly by two leading Research Institutes of Russian Academy of Science – Institute of Water Problems and Melnikov Permafrost Institute, particularly the contributions on following research topics were welcome:
- Observational evidences of change in coupled permafrost-hydrology system
- Present state and future projections of local, regional and pan-Arctic hydrology
- Modelling studies representing landscape evolution, dynamics of water storages and permafrost degradation
- Impacts of permafrost hydrology changes on local communities”.