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During the warm season in the Moscow region, severe convective events like squalls, heavy showers, large hail, and tornadoes are regularly observed. Moscow megacity may intensify such phenomena due to various urban effects including modulation of heat and moisture fluxes. To quantitatively estimate this effect, we used datasets from two long-term numerical experiments based on the high-resolution COSMO-CLM mesoscale model (grid size ~1 km, output step 1 hour) for the summer seasons of 2007–2016. Experiments differ by switching on/off the urban canopy layer parameterization of TERRA_URB (labeled as URB and noURB, respectively). We analyzed the maximum surface wind speed, the vertical component of wind speed at different levels, the hourly intensity and daily precipitation amount, and high quantiles for wind and precipitation. To analyze the possibility of mesocyclones formation, we used the Updraft Helicity (UH25) parameter. We revealed statistically significant differences between the two experiments for the distributions of intense precipitation, vertical wind speed, and the UH25 parameter. The URB experiment showed an increase of the highest quantiles, standard deviations and partially mean values directly above Moscow and to the northeast of the city, in the leeward region compared to the noURB experiment. The compound events were analyzed as well (when both extreme precipitation and extreme surface wind speeds were noted). We found a statistically significant growth of compound events frequency for URB sample and inside the 18-km radius around the center of Moscow indicating the influence of the city.

In 2020 and 2021 the city of Moscow, Russia, has experienced two historical rainfall events that had caused major flooding of small rivers. Based on long-term observation datasets from the surrounding weather stations, regional mesoscale COSMO-CLM climate model results, and a detailed hydrological and water quality monitoring data collected in 2019–2021, we performed pioneer climate change and urbanization impact assessment on flooding hazard and water quality of case study urban Setun river. Statistically significant rise of moderate extremity indices and absence of significant trends for the most extreme indices was revealed for the 1966‑2020 period. The combined impact of climate change and increased urbanization is highly non-linear and results in as much as a four-fold increase in extreme floods and shift of water regime features which lead to formation of specific seasonal flow patterns. The rainstorm flood wave catchment response, involving infiltrated and hillslope-routed fraction of rainfall, is accounted as 6 to 11 hours, which it is more than twice as rapid as compared to the non-urbanized nearby catchments. Behaviour of four types of chemicals in the river water during rainstorms was identified, as well as main differences compared to the spring freshet period revealed. Based on the obtained results we conclude that lack of research focused on the combined impacts of climate change and urbanization on flooding and water quality in the Moscow urban area is a key problem in water management advances.

Wind wave modeling (WAVEWATCH III model) is used to analyze the storm activity in the Kara Sea for the period from 1979 to 2019. The NCEP/CFSR/CFSv2 reanalysis data used as forcing. Simulations realized on the nonstructural grid with a resolution of 700 m to 10 km. The quality of wind wave simulation is assessed through a comparison with direct measurements and satellite data. The storm wave frequencies are analyzed separately for each year. It is found that storms with waves more than 3 m are observed on average about 30 times a year. The frequency of storms with waves more than 3–5 m increased twofold from 1979 to 2019. The increase in the storm frequency is due to a decrease in the sea ice cover extent. Analysis of the seasonal variations in storm activity shows that the largest amount of storms is observed from July to December. A strong positive trend in the frequency of storms is observed from October to December. Storms in January, February, and March have been observed since 2005 due to the absence of ice, which contributes significantly to the ultimate increase in the storm frequency.

Large cities are especially vulnerable to heavy precipitation events, which can lead to significant economic losses. This topic is relevant both due to the observed increase in the frequency of dangerous weather phenomena (including extreme precipitation [Ye et al., 2017; Chernokulsky et al., 2019]) in midlatitudes in general, and due to the previously noted facts of intensification of deep atmospheric convection and associated rainfall over urban areas [Han et al., 2014; Liu, Niyogi, 2019]. Yet, despite the numerous studies, the magnitude of urban effects on intense precipitation and their physical drivers are not fully understood.In this study, we investigate urban effects on intensity and frequency of summer precipitation events exemplified by Moscow megacity, Russia. Previously, increase of mean summer precipitation amount by 10% over Moscow was revealed according to COSMO-CLM simulations for multiyear period [Varentsov et al., 2018]. Here we use long-term (1988-2021) observations at urban and rural weather stations. Statistical analysis is performed separately for categories of precipitation intensity. Moreover, using ERA5 reanalysis data [Hersbach et al, 2020] we estimated atmospheric convective instability and frontal parameters in order to classify precipitation cases according to the synoptic situation. This will help us to understand the physical mechanisms of precipitation intensification better. The assumption is that megacity influence on frontal systems is less noticeable than its influence on local convective clouds and convective systems in the low pressure gradient filed. Also we collected a catalogue of extreme precipitation cases in Moscow region exceeding 0.999 quantile values and studied most interesting cases among them.Eventually, we obtained qualitative and quantitative estimates of the Moscow impact on the characteristics of intense precipitation for various synoptic conditions.Acknowledgements:The study was supported by the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education (grant of President of Russian Federation for young PhD scientists No. МК-5988.2021.1.5, agreement No. 2020-220-08-5835).References:Chernokulsky, A., Kozlov, F., Zolina, O., Bulygina, O., Mokhov, I. I., & Semenov, V. A. (2019). Observed changes in convective and stratiform precipitation in Northern Eurasia over the last five decades. Environmental Research Letters, 14(4), 045001.Han, J. Y., Baik, J. J., & Lee, H. (2014). Urban impacts on precipitation. Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 50(1), 17-30.Hersbach, H. et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 146(730), 1999-2049.Liu, J., & Niyogi, D. (2019). Meta-analysis of urbanization impact on rainfall modification. Scientific reports, 9(1), 1-14.Varentsov M., Wouters H., Platonov V., & Konstantinov P. (2018). Megacity-Induced Mesoclimatic Effects in the Lower Atmosphere: A Modeling Study for Multiple Summers over Moscow, Russia. Atmosphere, 9(2), 50.Ye, H., Fetzer, E. J., Wong, S., & Lambrigtsen, B. H. (2017). Rapid decadal convective precipitation increase over Eurasia during the last three decades of the 20th century. Science advances, 3(1), e1600944.

The number of severe weather events at the Arctic region increased significantly. Its formation related generally to the mesoscale processes including downslope windstorms over Novaya Zemlya, Svalbard, Tiksi bay accompanied by strong winds. Therefore, its investigation required detailed hydrometeorological and climatic information with a horizontal resolution of at least several kilometers. This work aims to investigate extreme wind speeds statistics associated with downslope windstorms and evaluate it according to the COSMO-CLM Russian Arctic hindcast, ASR reanalysis, stations and satellite data.COSMO-CLM Russian Arctic hindcast created in 2020 covers the 1980–2016 period with grid size ~12 km and 1-hour output step, containing approximately a hundred hydrometeorological characteristics, as well at surface, as on the 50 model levels. The primary assessments of the surface wind speed and temperature fields showed good agreement with ERA-Interim reanalysis in large-scale patterns and many added values in the regional mesoscale features reproduction according to the coastlines, mountains, large lakes, and other surface properties.Mean values, absolute and daily maxima of wind speed, high wind speed frequencies were estimated for the COSMO-CLM Russian Arctic hindcast and the well-known Arctic System Reanalysis (ASRv2) for a 2000-2016 period. COSMO-CLM showed higher mean and daily maximal wind speed areas concerned to coastal regions of Svalbard and Scandinavia, over the northern areas of Taymyr peninsula. At the same time, the absolute wind speed maxima are significantly higher according to ASRv2, specially over the Barents Sea, near the Novaya Zemlya coast (differences are up to 15-20 m/s). The same pattern observed by a number of days with wind speed above the 30 m/s threshold. Compared with station data, the ASRv2 reproduced mean wind speeds better at most coastal and inland station, MAE are within 3 m/s. For absolute wind speed maxima differences between two datasets get lower, the COSMO-CLM hindcast is quite better for inland stations.Model capability to reproduce strong downslope windstorms evaluated according to the observations timeseries over Novaya Zemlya, Svalbard and Tiksi stations during bora conditions. Generally, the ASRv2 reproduced the wind direction closer to observations and the wind speed worser than COSMO-CLM. The extreme wind speed frequencies during bora cases have less errors according to COSMO-CLM hindcast (up to ~5%) compared to the ASRv2 data (up to 10%). At the same time, moderate wind speed frequencies are reproduced by ASRv2 better.Five specific Novaya Zemlya bora cases were evaluated according to SAR satellite wind speed data. Both ASRv2 and COSMO-CLM overestimated mean wind speed (MAE 0.5-6 m/s), maximal wind speed bias has different signs, however, the COSMO-CLM is better in most cases. Extreme percentiles biases (99 and 99.9%), correlation, structure and amplitude (according to the SAL method) are closer to observations by the COSMO-CLM hindcast.

Introduction. The aim of the study is to analyse existing tests for assessing agility in combat sports and martial arts, as well as to develop new tests and to test their effectiveness. Material and methods. The study involved 16 athletes at various competitive levels specialising in hand-to-hand combat. It used the following methods: review of specialised literature along with policy and normative documents, an expert survey, testing, instrumental methods of assessing psychophysical capabilities, a pedagogical experiment, and methods of mathematical statistics. Results. The article clearly delineates the concepts of “agility” and “coordination”. It was found that most of the exercise tests recommended for assessing agility actually only evaluate coordination, without taking into account unexpected and unpredictable situations, which are the key components of agility. While some tests allow for the assessment of agility, they are based on motor actions which are non-specific for combat sports. Moreover, the use of computer-based techniques for studying the visual-motor reaction has proven to be ineffective for assessing agility in sports. Conclusions. The article proposed three variants of specialised tests for assessing agility in motor actions specific for hand-to-hand combat. According to the results of all the three tests, the programme proposed for the development of agility and coordination caused a significant improvement in the level of agility in six months.

Wind speed extremes in the sub-Arctic realm of the North-East Pacific region were investigated through extreme value analysis of wind speed obtained from wind simulations of the COSMO-CLM (Consortium for Small-scale Modelling, climate version) mesoscale model, as well as using observed data. The analysis showed that the set of wind speed extremes obtained from observations is a mixture of two different subsets each neatly described by the Weibull distribution. Using special metaphoric terminology, they are labelled as “Black Swans” and “Dragons”. The “Dragons” are responsible for strongest extremes. It has been shown that both reanalysis and GCM (general circulation model) data have no “Dragons”. This means that such models underestimate wind speed maxima, and the important circulation process generating the anomalies is not simulated. The COSMO-CLM data have both “Black Swans” and “Dragons”. This evidence provides a clue that an atmospheric model with a detailed spatial resolution (we used in this work the data from domain with 13.2 km spatial resolution) does reproduce the special mechanism responsible for the generation of the largest wind speed extremes. However, a more thorough analysis shows that the differences in the parameters of the cumulative distribution functions are still significant. The ratio between the modelled Dragons and Black Swans can reach up to only 10%. It is much less than 30%, which was the level established for observations.

Objective. Study of the Olympic Games and the Olympic movement as an aggregate of phenomena and processes of historical, socio-economic, political, educational, and purely sports character in their organic relationship, with due account for achievements and issues, positive and negative aspects, risks and development prospects. Results. Most of the modern initiatives and educational resources implemented in the modern Olympic education system are focused only on obtaining general ideas about the Olympic Games and the Olympic movement, active promoting the ideals and values of the Olympic philosophy, which has been peculiar for the policy of the IOC and IOA in this area for several decades. Traditionally established concept of the Olympic education, peculiar for most countries, lags behind the needs of the time, is characterized by weak sociocultural content, limited criticism and commitment to emotional rhetoric, especially in the part that relates to the universalism of the Olympic values, claims to the global educational potential of the Olympic education. However, the Olympic movement and the Olympic Games do not need artificial idealization. Their value is in the greatest history, bright modernity, diversity and popularity, difficulties and contradictions, numerous interrelations with politics and economics, culture and art, education and upbringing. Versatile and objective consideration and study of the Olympic movement and, above all, the Olympic Games various aspects, with account for all strengths and weaknesses, achievements and issues, weak points and drawbacks can in no way adversely affect the popularity and significance of this phenomenon, including as an object of the Olympic education. On the contrary, the idealization of the Olympic sport and the Olympic Games, outstanding athletes and their role in the process of educational and upbringing, ignoring issues, difficulties, contradictions, negative phenomena and risk factors are a direct way to the devaluation of the Olympic education, to skepticism regarding its potentials and significance.

Objective. To reveal and summarize the peculiarities of athlete preparation system functioning in the Netherlands. Methods. Analysis and generalization of data from scientific and documentary sources. Results. The main goal of sport development is to make the Netherlands among the top ten world’s leading sports countries. The development of sport is the responsibility of the National Olympic Committee with sports federations, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Social Welfare and Sport. Since 2004, the country has implemented four-year sports development programs. The main efforts are aimed at creating an effective and flexible organization of the sports sector with the introduction and application of modern principles of management and integrity; the achievement of stable and higher sport financing to make it financially secure, diversified and actively developing; the formation of an appropriate infrastructure; the development and implementation of training programs that qualitatively and quantitatively increase the competitiveness of athletes at the global level, covering the age period from 8 years until the end of a sports career; formation of effective and efficient training programs for coaches and managers; the provision of medical services in the conditions of centralized training and at the place of residence; monitoring the implementation of targeted programs and activities of the Olympic Committee; scientific support and the use of innovations through the improvement of interdisciplinary connections, the integration of sports science and practice. Conclusion. The modern system of athletes’ preparation in the Netherlands is based on the development of sports infrastructure; talent identification and development; support of athletes and the opportunity for them to get a double career; the training of highly qualified coaches and sports managers; providing permanent individual medical care for athletes; promoting sports programs; anti-doping activities; monitoring the development of sport; scientific support and the use of innovations; sports promotion. Keywords: the Netherlands, Olympic sport, organization, financing, athlete preparation, sports centers, scientific support.

Detailed long-term hydrometeorological dataset for Russian Arctic seas was created using hydrodynamic modelling via regional nonhydrostatic atmospheric model COSMO-CLM for 1980 – 2016 period with ~12 km grid. Many test experiments with different model options for summertime and wintertime periods were evaluated to determine the best model configuration. Verification has showed that optimal model setup included usage of ERA-Interim reanalysis as forcing data, new model version 5.05 with a so-called ICON-based physics and spectral nudging technique. Final long-term experiments were simulated on the MSU Supercomputer Complex “Lomonosov-2” become more than 120 Tb data volume excluding many side files.Primary evaluation of obtained dataset was done for surface wind and temperature variables. There are some mesoscale details in wind sped climatology reproduced by COSMO-CLM dataset including the Svalbard, Severnaya Zemlya islands, and the western coast of the Novaya Zemlya island. At the same time, high wind speed frequencies based on COSMO-CLM data increased compared to ERA-Interim, especially over Barents Sea, Arctic islands (Novaya Zemlya) and some seacoasts and mainland areas. Regional details are manifested in wind speed increase and marked well for large lakes and orography (Taymyr and Kola peninsulas, Eastern Siberia highlands).Comparison of two periods (1980 ­­– 1990 and 2010 – 2016) has shown that spatial distributions of high wind speed frequencies are very similar, but there are some detailed differences. Wind speed frequencies above 20.8 m/s has been decreased in the last decade over the Novaya Zemlya, southwest from Svalbard, middle Siberia inlands; however, it has been increased over Franz Josef Land and Severnaya Zemlya.Large-scale temperature climatology patterns have shown a good accordance between ERA-Interim and COSMO-CLM datasets. Significant temperature patterns are detailed relief and lakes manifestations, e.g., over Scandinavian mountains, Eastern Siberian and Taymyr highlands, Novaya Zemlya ranges. The added value in the 1% temperature percentile patterns is more pronounced, especially in the mountainous Eastern Siberia. Regional features are prominent over Onega and Ladoga lakes, and western Kara Sea. There is a remarkable warming over islands and Eastern Siberia valleys, and more clear temperature differentiation between ridges and valleys.The nearest prospect of the COSMO-CLM Russian Arctic dataset application is its comparison with other appropriate datasets including reanalyses, satellite data, observations, etc. This will provide important and useful information about opportunities and restrictions of this dataset regarding different variables and specific regions, outline the limits of its applicability and get framework of possible tasks. The other important task is to share this dataset with scientific community.

The extreme rainfall on June 30, 2017 in the central part of the European territory of Russia is one of the strongest precipitation events ever observed in this region. According to ground observations, it caused the record precipitation amount per day for June in Moscow (65 mm) since 1970.Our study considers physical and synoptic drivers of the extreme rainfall on June 30, 2017 as well as statistical estimates of such phenomena’s repeatability for the Moscow region. The degree of extremality of this phenomenon has been assessed using long-term observational time series since second half of the 20th century. Based on meteorological observations, radar data and ERA5 reanalysis we demonstrate that rainfall was associated with three mesoscale convective systems (two squall lines [Markowski, Richardson, 2010] and one meso-beta scale convective system) which appeared in the warm sector of a cyclone. The main cause for their development was an anomalously high total moisture content for the region which reached 41.5 kg / m2 and exceeded 0.995 percentile in the sounding data over Moscow [Durre et al., 2006] for the period 1957 – 2017. An analysis of the water vapor balance components using ERA5 reanalysis showed that advection of water vapor was the main factor in the appearance of the quasilinear region of an extremely high moisture content (“atmospheric river”). A smaller but very noticeable role was played by evaporation from the earth surface, largely controlled by the soil moisture.Besides evaporation, another local factor which may intensify precipitation are the physical effects induced by a big city [Han et al., 2014]. To test the role of the Moscow city and soil moisture in the June 30 case the mesoscale non-hydrostatic model COSMO 5.05 with 3 km grid was used. The simulation result confirmed an idea of the significant role of evaporation from the earth's surface in precipitation intensity: a 10-times decrease in soil moisture in the initial conditions led to a 3-times decrease in the daily amount of precipitation in the study area. Urban-induced effects of the Moscow megacity were studied by running sensitivity model experiments with COSMO where bulk urban canopy model TERRA_URB was switched on or off. The account for urban surface effects did not provide any noticeable increase in the amount of precipitation in the Moscow region, but led to redistribution of the daily precipitation sum and its increase at the leeward side of the megacity.Acknowledgements:The bulk of the study was funded by Russian Foundation for Basic Research under project number 20-35-70044. The statistical assessment was supported by the grant of President of Russian Federation for young PhD scientists No. МК-5988.2021.1.5.References:Durre, I., Vose, R. S., & Wuertz, D. B. (2006). Overview of the integrated global radiosonde archive. Journal of Climate, 19 (1), 53-68.Han, J. Y., Baik, J. J., & Lee, H. (2014). Urban impacts on precipitation. Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 50 (1), 17-30.Markowski, P., & Richardson, Y. (2011). Mesoscale meteorology in midlatitudes (Vol. 2). John Wiley & Sons.

Diverse and severe weather conditions and rapid climate change rates in the Arctic emphasize the need for high-resolution climatic and environmental data that cannot be obtained from the scarce observational networks. This study presents a new detailed hydrometeorological dataset for the Russian Arctic region, obtained as a long-term hindcast with the nonhydrostatic atmospheric model COSMO-CLM for the 1980–2016 period. The modeling workflow, evaluation techniques, and preliminary analysis of the obtained dataset are discussed. The model domain included the Barents, Kara, and Laptev Seas with ≈12-km grid spacing. The optimal model setup was chosen based on preliminary simulations for several summer and winter periods with varied options, and included the usage of ERA-Interim reanalysis data as forcing data, the new model version 5.05 with so-called ICON-based physics, and a spectral nudging technique. The wind speed and temperature climatology in the new COSMO-CLM dataset closely agreed with the ERA-Interim reanalysis, but with detailed spatial patterns. The added value of the higher-resolution COSMO-CLM data with respect to the ERA-Interim was most pronounced for higher wind speeds during downslope windstorms with the influence of mountain ranges on the temperature patterns, including surface temperature inversions. The potential applications and plans of further product development are also discussed.

The recurrence of extreme wind waves in the Kara Sea strongly influences the Arctic climate change. The period 2000–2010 is characterized by significant climate warming, a reduction of the sea ice in the Arctic. The main motivation of this research to assess the impact of climate change on storm activity over the past 39 years in the Kara Sea. The paper presents the analysis of wave climate and storm activity in the Kara Sea based on the results of numerical modeling. A wave model WAVEWATCH III is used to reconstruct wind wave fields for the period from 1979 to 2017. The maximum significant wave height (SWH) for the whole period amounts to 9.9 m. The average long-term SWH for the ice-free period does not exceed 1.3 m. A significant linear trend shows an increase in the storm wave frequency for the period from 1979 to 2017. It is shown that trends in the storm activity of the Kara Sea are primarily regulated by the ice. Analysis of the extreme storm events showed that the Pareto distribution is in the best agreement with the data. However, the extreme events with an SWH more than 6‒7 m deviate from the Pareto distribution.

Coastal Arctic regions are characterized by severe mesoscale weather events that include extreme wind speeds, and the rugged shore conditions, islands, and mountain ranges contribute to mesoscale event formation. High-resolution atmospheric modeling is a suitable tool to reproduce and estimate some of these events, and so the regional non-hydrostatic climate atmospheric model COSMO-CLM (Consortium for Small-scale Modeling developed within the framework of the international science group CLM-Community) was used to reproduce mesoscale circulation in the Arctic coast zone under various surface conditions. Mid-term experiments were run over the Arctic domain, especially over the Kara Sea region, using the downscaling approach, with &asymp, 12 km and &asymp, 3 km horizontal grid sizes. The best model configuration was determined using standard verification methods, however, the model run verification process raised questions over its quality and aptness based on the high level of small-scale coastline diversity and associated relief properties. Modeling case studies for high wind speeds were used to study hydrodynamic mesoscale circulation reproduction, and we found that although the model could not describe the associated wind dynamic features at all scales using &asymp, 3 km resolution, it could simulate different scales of island wind shadow effects, tip jets, downslope winds, vortex chains, and so on, quite realistically. This initial success indicated that further research could reveal more about the detailed properties of mesoscale circulations and extreme winds by applying finer resolution modeling.

Recurrence of extreme wind waves in the Kara Sea strongly influences the Arctic climate change. The paper presents the analysis of wave climate and storm activity in the Kara Sea based on the results of numerical modeling. A third-generation wave model WaveWatchIII is used to reconstruct wind wave fields on an unstructured grid with a spatial resolution of 15–20 km for the period from 1979 to 2017. The mean and maximum wave heights, wavelengths and periods are calculated. The maximum significant wave height (SWH) for the whole period amounts to 9.9 m. The average long-term SWH for the ice-free period does not exceed 1.3 m. The seasonal variability of the wave parameters is analyzed. The interannual variability of storm waves recurrence with different thresholds (from 3 to 7 m) was calculated. A significant linear trend shows an increase in the storm wave frequency for the period from 1979 to 2017. A double growth in the reccurence was observed for cases with an SWH more than 3–5 m from 1979 to 2017. The local maximum of the storm waves more than 3–4 m was observed in 1995, and the minimum in 1998. The maximum value (four cases) of the number of storms with an SWH threshold 7 m is registered in 2016. The frequency of wind speeds and ice conditions contributing to the storm waves formation were analyzed. It is shown that trends in the storm activity of the Kara Sea are primarily regulated by the ice. If the ice cover decreases in the southern part of the sea that leads to the increase of the number of events only with SWH threshold more than 3–4 m. If in the entire sea the ice cover decreases that leads already to increase of the extreme storms. The frequency of strong and long-term winds has high interannual variability and a weak positive trend. The analysis of distribution functions of the storm events with an SWH more than 3 m was carried out. Six different sectors of the Kara Sea were analyzed to reveal spatial differences. A comparison of the different distribution laws showed that the Pareto distribution is in the best agreement with the data. Up to 99 % of the points are described by this distribution. However, the extreme events with an SWH more than 6–7 m deviate from the distribution, and their probability is approximately twice as less as that predicted by the Pareto distribution. Presumably, this deviation is caused by the combined impact of rare wind speed frequencies and anomalies of the sea ice conditions.

The article dwells on theoretical and methodological foundations for the identifi cation and development of sports talents, i.e. searching for promising personalities capable of achieving high results in sports, incorporating them into an eff ective system of long-term training and appropriate orientation of their training based on individual potential, abilities, and inclinations. It shows that sports selection and orientation are permanent processes closely related to tasks and contents of each stage of long-term preparation. The article reveals organizational and content-related peculiarities of sports selection exemplifi ed by the achievements of modern science and successful practices inherent to sports of the former USSR and the GDR and modern sports of the USA, China, Germany, and Australia, i.e. the countries where this issue has been and is being given the highest priority. A set of criteria were analysed in detail, which are used in the selection and orientation process, including indicators that allow assessing the health of athletes, peculiarities of their body types, their age and sexual development, capabilities of various energy supply systems, their ability to master sports techniques and develop motor qualities, their mental peculiarities, and others. Much attention was paid to the genetic aspects of sports selection and orientation along with the importance of athletes' body types for achieving high sports results. The relationships were shown between the selection criteria, their tasks, and the contents of each stage of long-term preparation, which is of fundamental importance for an objective assessment of an athlete's potential and rational orientation of the subsequent preparation. The potential and inclinations of athletes in relation to the specifi cs of various sports can be identifi ed towards the end of the puberty period with a reasonable certainty. Depending on their predisposition to achievements in diff erent events, young athletes can be divided into 5 groups: sprinters, mixed type with a predisposition to sprint work, mixed type with mixed abilities, mixed type with a predisposition to long-distance or long-term work, and long-distance performers. Keywords: identifi cation of sports talents, sports selection, sports orientation, potential, inclinations, talent, giftedness, stages of long-term preparation of athletes.

The ongoing energy transition away from conventional energy generation to renewable energies demands for long distance connections with transmission lines and high energy cables. To reduce the risk of failures and outages the use of modern sensor and monitoring systems forces the implementation of fiber optic sensor systems. Fiber optic sensor systems are presented for the detection of acoustic partial discharges at cable connectors, switchgear and high energy transmission systems. Similar technology is used to assess the condition of circuit breaker. An additional application for photonic detection of partial discharges is shown too by the use of a photon sensitive fiber. Signal processing is applied for automated identification of defined patterns to separate partial discharges from noise for online monitoring as well as condition monitoring of circuit breaker based on acoustical analysis. All these modern techniques are presented for the use at energy transmission and distribution equipment.

A detailed modeling of meteorological parameters over the last 30 years (1985–2014) has been performed for the Sea of Okhotsk and Sakhalin regions in the frame of the COSMO-CLM regional mesometeorological nonhydrostatic atmospheric model. The downscaling technology is suggested and achieved with three consequent “nesting domains” (with 13.2-, 6.6-, and 2.2-km grid scales). The COSMO-CLM model reproduces (especially successfully on the 2.2-km grid scale) the extremes of wind velocity observed by meteorological stations well. Synoptic situations accompanied by extreme wind speeds are reproduced in detail.

Objective. To carry out a comprehensive analysis of the schemes of direct preparation of top-level athletes for the main competitions of the year or macrocycle focused on achieving the state of the highest readiness for the start. Methods. Study and analysis of scientific literature and practice of elite athletes training for the main competitions, instrumental methods for studying the energy systems capacities, psychomotor capabilities, testing of specific working capacity, historical method, logical method, expert survey, and system integrative approach. Results. Comparative analysis was performed of alternative models of preparation during the time immediately preceding the main competitions of the year or macrocycle. The short-term (2–3 week long) Western model of tapering is aimed at ensuring a full recovery after the previous loads, technical and tactical and psychological adjustment to the start. The Eastern European model, which is longer in duration (of up to 8 weeks), has a much broader focus. It is shown that the latter model make possible to address a wide range of tasks related to ensuring a high level of general and specialized preparation, the formation of a natural training eff ect as a response to the previous loads with achieving a peak of functional preparation at the time of main competitions and the highest readiness at the moment of specific events. The content of the concepts of ‘tapering’ and ‘direct preparation’ is subjected to analysis, detailed information is presented on the structure of two different schemes of tapering within direct preparation phase: the one of 5 weeks in duration with two mesocycles and the other 8 week-long with three mesocycles. Their principal advantage over the widespread 2-3-week tapering models is shown. Keywords: high performance sport, the phase of direct preparation, tapering phase, the peak of functional preparedness, the highest readiness for starts, pre-start preparation.

Objective. To analyze the system of training Canadian athletes for the Olympic Games. Methods. Analysis and generalization of scientific and documentary data. Results. The Federal Government and the Canadian Olympic Committee, national sports federations, sports training centers, provincial governments, and numerous sports organizations act as partners for the preparation athletes for the Olympic Games. The government agency Sport Canada implements its policies and takes part in shaping the Canadian sports system through these bodies. Legislative and political acts have been adopted, including position document Canadian Sport Policy, that contribute to continuous increasing of the government infl uence on the development of sports in Canada through the funding and monitoring mechanisms. The special program Own the Podium serves as a basis for the purposeful strategy of training Canadian athletes for the Olympic Games. Effective management structures have been established aimed at optimizing and focusing activities of public bodies, various sports organizations, and sponsors on the training of the strongest athletes, who are really capable of stepping onto the Olympic podium. An effective policy was developed and implemented to identify the challenges of Olympic preparation, effective training programs for athletes were created, monitoring was planned, critical problems for scientific research were identified, rapid introduction of scientific advances into practice was enabled along with the implementation of advanced world experience and advanced training coaches and other professionals. Conclusions. The formation and implementation of an effective system for training Canadian athletes for the Olympic Games were facilitated by: the positive attitude and support of the government for sports, physical education, and healthy lifestyle of the population; the intensive development of health enhancing physical culture and mass sports; the creation of a strong physical infrastructure; the introduction of rational organizational forms of training for top level athletes; substantial funding of Olympic preparation; and introduction of advanced technologies in all components of the training system.

We analyzed clouds macrophysics and their radiative effects according to COSMO mesoscale atmospheric model and measurements at Lindenberg Observatory (Germany). Different cloud parameters simulated by the model and derived from measurements of ground-based remote sounding systems as well as by measurements of the BSRN station have been compared for snow-free conditions during March-October, 2016. We show that simulated water vapor content (QV) values were higher than the observed ones in the middle and upper troposphere. Furthermore, the modeled cloud ice water content (QI) is significantly higher at these altitudes and the ice cloud water path (TQI) is ten times higher than the observed value. Typical values of TQI and of TQC (liquid cloud water path) lie within 3*10-13-1.1 kg/m2 and 0.0017-2.9 kg/m2 , respectively with average values of 0.015 and 0.079 kg/m2 correspondingly. We also found a positive bias with the measurements for the TQC greater than 0.1 kg/m2 and a negative bias for other values. A clear nonlinear dependence of solar irradiance at ground against TQC values was obtained both from measurements and model experiments. We showed a significant (29%) underestimation of model solar irradiance for the same TQC values in overcast cloud conditions compared with the observations.

Complex shorelines and coastal relief strongly influence wind speeds. Since the Arctic is poorly covered by ground observations, one of the most reasonable approaches to investigating these events is hydrodynamical high-resolution modeling. In this work we apply a model COSMO-CLM to reproduce wind fields and characteristics in different rugged shore conditions. Some model experiments are designed with this regional climate non-hydrostatic atmospheric model COSMO-CLM to investigate the best configuration to reproduce the mesoscale circulations in the Arctic coastal zones considering different relief conditions on the example of the Kara Sea. Some mid-term experiments of a three-month timespan, Aug-Oct of 2012 and Jul-Sep of 2014, are conducted over the Arctic domain and specially over the Kara Sea region using a downscaling approach with ∼12 and ∼3 km horizontal grids. These periods are characterized by some storm events. The purpose of these experiments is to reproduce the surface wind and wave characteristics in the best way, especially near the shorelines during the storm events. Verification of these experiments has shown the best configuration of the COSMO-CLM with a “spectral nudging” technique and reducing the model time step. However, the verification and detailed investigation of the model runs raise a question about the quality of this verification, and how relevant are the wind station data in different coastline and relief conditions. Therefore, an additional analysis is carried out from a synoptic overview of the influence of the coastline configuration on different mesoscales and for different regions. Malye Karmakuly (Novaya Zemlya island), Belyi and Dikson Islands are considered as different examples to study the wind and wave regimes. Although the model cannot describe the dynamics on all scales using a 3-km resolution, it can realistically simulate the islands’ wind shadows, tip jets, downslope winds, vortex chains, etc. on different scales. It justifies further research to apply a finer resolution to learn detailed properties of mesoscale circulations and extreme winds. This analysis has shown a need to predict better these circulations by using numerical modelling.

This paper considers physical and synoptic mechanisms of an extreme rainfall on June 30, 2017 in the central part of European Russia, which was the maximum of daily precipitation sum in Moscow (65 mm) since 1970. Based on meteorological observations, radar data, and ERA5 reanalysis data, we show that the rainfall was associated with three mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) that formed in the warm sector of a cyclone in a strip of anomalously high moisture content in the considered region, which developed further due to advection and evaporation. A numerical simulation with mesoscale model COSMO shows a significant contribution to the precipitation intensity of evaporation from the Earth’s surface: a 10-times decrease in soil the moisture in the initial conditions leads to a 3-times decrease in the amount of precipitation and its intensity. Additionally, we consider urban-induced effects on this rainfall event by switching on and off urban parametrization TERRA_URB. The application of the urban surface parametrization has not changed the average amount of precipitation in Moscow region. It causes, however, a redistribution of precipitation sums within it.

Estimation of the recent and future climate changes is the most important challenge in the modern Earth sciences. Numerical climate models are an essential tool in this field of research. However, modelling results are highly sensitive to the spatial resolution of the model. The most of the climate change studies utilize the global atmospheric models with a grid cell size of tens of kilometres or more. High-resolution mesoscale models are much more detailed, but require significantly more computational resources. Applications of such high-resolution models in climate studies are usually limited by regional simulations and by relatively short timespan. In this paper we consider the experience of the long-term regional climate studies based on the mesoscale modelling. On the examples of urban climate studies and extreme wind assessments, we demonstrate the principle advantage of long-term high-resolution simulations, which were carried out on the modern supercomputers.

In the past four years a theory has been developed for finding fundamental units in hyperelliptic fields, and on basis of this theory innovative and efficient algorithms for computing them have been constructed and implemented. A new local-global principle was discovered which gives a criterion for the existence of non-trivial units in hyperelliptic fields. The natural connection between the problem of computing fundamental units and the problem of torsion in Jacobian varieties of hyperelliptic curves over the rational number field has led to breakthrough results in the solution of this problem. The main results in the present survey were largely obtained using a symbiosis of deep theory, efficient algorithms, and supercomputing. Such a symbiosis will play an ever increasing role in the mathematics of the 21st century. Bibliography: 27 titles.

An analysis of extreme wind speeds over Sakhalin region shows that a set of wind speed extremes obtained from observations is a mixture of two different subsets, each of them neatly described by a Weibull distribution. The empirical tail of the pdf diverges from a linearized Weibull model, indicating that another model could fit the most extreme wind speed data better. Each of these subsets is characterized by parameters k and A, regarded as coefficient and free terms of the linear Weibull model, these samples are labelled BSs and Ds. The Ds are responsible for the strongest extremes. Mesoscale modelling is used to investigate a possibility of the models to reproduce these statistical features. A detailed hydrodynamic simulation of major meteorological parameters (1985 – 2014) has been performed for the Sea of Okhotsk and Sakhalin Island with horizontal resolutions of ~13.2, ~6.6, and ~2.2 km by using a regional climate model, COSMO-CLM. This dataset is utilized for an investigation of the statistical structure of extreme wind speeds. First, it is shown that a model with a detailed spatial resolution is able to reproduce the statistical structure in general, and a special mechanism is responsible for the generation of the largest of wind extremes. However, a model with a resolution of ~13,2 km could not reproduce some essential parts of the wind speed maximum’ statistical properties, underestimating the parameters k and A of Ds Weibull distribution significantly. This gap could be covered by using a higher resolution, as well as by areal estimation techniques and many others.

Taking into account that dangerous phenomena on the Arctic coast are increasing in number, providing the region with detailed hydrometeorological and climatic information with a horizontal resolution of at least several kilometers becomes particularly important. In this work, we obtain for the first time a detailed archive of many hydrometeorological parameters with a spatial resolution of less than 5 km based on long-term simulation experiments. Detailed hydrometeorological fields in the Arctic basin over a long period (1980 – 2016) are derived by a two-step downscaling technology with domains of horizontal resolutions of~13 km and ~4 km that cover most of the Russian Artic, by using a regional non-hydrostatic model, COSMO-CLM. First results of verification with hundreds of Russian Arctic stations allow us to select the best configuration of the model and domains, including many turbulent scheme options and starting time of the experiments. The model results for the coast have shown good agreement with observations (with mean errors of 1 - 2 C). The larger temperature biases over the Eastern Siberia inland have been partially reduced by using selected turbulence scheme options (with mean errors of 5 - 6 C to 2 – 3 C). The differences between the ERA-Interim and ERA5 driving conditions are not great. Therefore, the former are chosen as basic reanalysis, taking into account the data volume and limitations on computational resources. A possible future regional reanalysis output would be useful in many applications, e.g. modelling ocean’s characteristics, coastal ecosystems, detailed investigation of individual extreme phenomena in nested domains, analysis of trends in the frequency of occurrence of extreme events and features of their spatial distribution, study of the hydrometeorological regime of coastal areas, the climatology and tracking of polar mesocyclones, etc.

The generalization of scenarios of the development of large-scale moisture exchange is carried out separately for the warm and cold phases of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event using the NCEP/NCAR and GPCP reanalysis data. Obtained are the composition models of the integral water vapor transport for the monsoon and trade-wind regions of the Pacific and Indian oceans. It is demonstrated that the monsoon circulation is suppressed during the El Nino and is replaced by the trade wind in the Indian Ocean and the trade wind is suppressed and replaced by the monsoon circulation in the Pacific Ocean. During the La Nina, the opposite picture is observed: the monsoon circulation intensifies in the Indian Ocean and the trade wind, in the Pacific Ocean. It is revealed that the South Pacific convergence zone is the main object of large-scale moisture exchange during ENSO: it moves unprecedentedly to the east of the Pacific Ocean during the warm phase and maximally approaches the northeast of Australia and Indonesia during the cold phase. The intensification of the convergence zone in the mentioned regions is accompanied by the active tropical cyclogenesis, intensive cloud formation, and heavy rains.

A synoptic mechanism of the formation of atmospheric circulation anomalies over the tropics of the Indian and Pacific oceans observed during the La Nina 2010–2011 culmination is considered using the daily data of the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. It was established that the most destructive flood during the whole modern history of Australia was caused by the unprecedented activity of the tropical cyclogenesis in the circulation system of the Australian summer monsoon. The tropical cyclones affected in turn the monsoon regions of Australia both from the Indian Ocean through the system of the equatorial zone of westerlies and from the Pacific Ocean through the system of the eastern trade wind. The Pacific trade wind during the Australian flood was maximally developed and the South Pacific high was shifted considerably from the coast of Peru and Chile to the center of the ocean. It is demonstrated that the maximum values of negative SST anomalies were observed not in the east of the Pacific Ocean as in the case of the “canonical” La Nina but they were shifted significantly to the west to the line of the date change. All this enables to refer the extreme La Nina 2010–2011 to La Nina of Modoki type.

We suggest using OpenCL standard for programming FPGA devices that are used as accelerators in a heterogeneous system. We describe the implementation of a subset of OpenCL that is required for organizing data exchange and task management for FPGAs given that CPU and FPGA are connected via PCI-express bus. Basically, the first part of the required functions is the simple device manipulation and FPGA program loading; the latter requires flashing the FPGA via the JTAG interface. The second part is the memory buffer transfer to and from the FPGA. Its implementation in the runtime library is straightforward given that the FPGA supports PCI-express exchanges; the main load falls onto the FPGA driver and the FPGA system-level firmware organizing these exchanges. The final part is the FPGA task management that is achieved via the simple task scheduler implemented within the FPGA driver. The code running on FPGA can be created with a hardware description language or generated automatically using one of the known translators, e.g. C-to-Verilog, but it should adhere to the ABI described by the FPGA driver and firmware implementations.