The Greenhouse Gas Laboratory

About the Laboratory

The Greenhouse Gas Laboratory was established in 2022 at the A.M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences as a continuation of a research group within the Laboratory of Mathematical Ecology, which has been investigating atmospheric methane and carbon dioxide sources across northern Russia since 2009. The establishment of the Laboratory enabled the institutional consolidation of long-term field and analytical research and its integration into a comprehensive framework for studying greenhouse gas emission processes in natural and anthropogenic ecosystems of the Arctic and subarctic regions. Northern West Siberia represents a key, though not exclusive, focus area of the Laboratory’s research, with ongoing expansion of field activities to other regions of the Russian Federation. The Laboratory conducts both fundamental and applied research and also contributes to the training of young specialists and provides methodological support to research teams.
The Laboratory’s research approach integrates in situ measurements, statistical analysis, GIS-based techniques, remote sensing methods and mathematical modeling. A central component of field investigations is the measurement of methane and carbon dioxide concentrations using portable gas analyzers. These concentration measurements form the basis for calculating greenhouse gas fluxes across different ecosystem types. Field data are complemented by detailed spatial mapping based on satellite imagery and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys.

Research Areas

- Investigation of methane and carbon dioxide emission patterns from Arctic terrestrial ecosystems, including wetlands, lakes, drained thermokarst lake basins and well-drained tundra;
- Assessment of greenhouse gas fluxes from the surfaces of large reservoirs;
- Identification of hydrological, thermal, biogeochemical and landscape controls governing the spatial and temporal variability of emissions;
- Development of methodological approaches for evaluating ecosystem services and externalities associated with greenhouse gas emissions.

Based on field observations and modeling the Laboratory develops approaches for accounting for the climate-regulating functions of ecosystems and reservoirs, assessing environmental damage and evaluating pathways toward carbon neutrality.

Achievements

- Institutional consolidation of long-term research on methane and carbon dioxide sources in the Arctic and subarctic regions;
- Establishment of unique, representative datasets on methane and carbon dioxide fluxes across tundra and wetland ecosystems;
- Derivation of seasonal emission estimates and quantitative characterization of the controlling factors of gas exchange;
- Development of mathematical approaches for describing 24-hour dynamics and spatial heterogeneity of emissions;
- Implementation of large-scale studies of emission regimes of major Siberian reservoirs with international verification by TUV Austria;
- Advancement of methodologies for assessing climate-regulating ecosystem functions, environmental damage and carbon neutrality potential;
- Presentation of research findings at national and international conferences and publication in leading peer-reviewed journals.