SSI “AMIT GLACIER STUDY CENTER” IN COOPERATION WITH IAEA LEADS NEW RESEARCH AND TRAINING METHODS STUDY OF GLACIERS

On October 28, 2022, a meeting was held with the Head of the IAEA Department for European Technical Cooperation, Sandra Maria Steiskal, with the aim of establishing cooperation in the field of isotope studies of glaciers and snow cover.

During the meeting, the representative of the IAEA Sandra Maria Steiskal, as well as the representative of the Agency for Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear Safety of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan Olimjon Azizov and employees of the Laboratory for Water Quality, Isotopes and Sanitation of the State Scientific Institution “Center for the Study of Glaciers AMIT” took part in the meeting.

At the beginning of the meeting, the director of this institution, Professor Abdulkhamid Kayumov spoke about the achievements of the center in the direction of conducting scientific and fundamental research, and at the same time noted that since the beginning of its activity, the center has conducted more than 50 studies on the study of glaciers, monitoring and control of the state of loss , as well as determining the isotopic and hydrological composition of glacial waters, glacial lakes and ponds, and has achieved significant results.

It should be noted that isotopes of natural origin are and are used as indicators for determining the real state of glaciers, their competitiveness in relation to the climate change process, the specific position of glaciers in the water supply of rivers and subglacial lakes, as well as the role of glaciers in increasing surface and groundwater, and at the same time time to determine the age of rivers.

It should be noted that already with the support of the IAEA, within the framework of mutually beneficial cooperation, Pikaro laser equipment was installed in the laboratory for the quality of water, isotopes and sanitation of the center. This device allows further isotopic studies of glaciers and snow cover in innovative ways.

In order to better conduct such studies and organize the laboratory, the President of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, Academician Farhod Rahimi, allocated two working premises for the further work of the laboratory of water quality, isotopes and sanitation of the state scientific institution “AMIT Center for the Study of Glaciers”, the purpose of which is to support in the first place policy of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan regarding the study and protection of glaciers.

It should be noted that thanks to the constructive actions of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, His Excellency Emomali Rahmon, on the issue of efficient use of water resources and the study of glaciers, this center has allowed establishing mutually beneficial cooperation relations with international organizations and institutions and development partners, and has also strengthened significant activities in the direction of development and strengthening glaciological science in the republic.

In order to organize a laboratory for the study of glaciers, snow cover and the installation of the analytical instrument “Pikaro” in the institution, the staff of the laboratory for the quality of water, isotopes and sanitation of the center for a period of one month under the scholarship program, from 22.08.2022 to 20.09.2022 with financial supported by the IAEA at the University of Innsbruck (Institute of Geology) in Austria, under the guidance of Dr. Yuri Dublyansky, studied methods of isotopic studies of glaciers.

During the training, the staff of the center received full information about practical samples of ice and water to determine their further isotopic composition, training in the laboratory of the Picarro isotope analyzer, as well as about the installation components of the PICARRO analytical equipment, as a result of which the experiment will make it possible to carry out isotope analyzes in the future. studies of glaciers and snow cover using the specified device.

It should be said that such a laboratory is extremely rare at the world level, and its creation in the center is a kind of innovation and at the same time leads to the advancement of the science of glaciology, as well as to new ways of carrying out glacial work.