Development and testing of new hydrophysical equipment on Lake Baikal

In March 2022, the Laboratory of Hydrology and Hydrophysics developed a thermistor chain to measure the vertical distribution of water temperature in Lake Baikal in real time. This system consists of 11 temperature sensors distributed at depths from 20 to 120 meters. The thermistor chain was integrated into one of the strings of the neutrino telescope Baikal-GVD and connected to a common online system of the telescope. As a result, data sets of water temperature measured every 10 seconds are transmitted to the WEB-interface of the LIN SB RAS. At 2023, the thermistors chain will be significantly lengthened to measure temperatures at near-bottom of the lake.

On April 07, 2022, the Laboratory of Hydrology and Hydrophysics prepared and installed an autonomous buoy station 7 km from the settlement of Bolshiye Koty in an part of Lake Baikal with a relatively high current velocity. The station was equipped with 14 temperature loggers located from a depth of 20 meters to the bottom of Lake Baikal, 5 loggers of current velocity and its direction located from a depth of 100 meters to the bottom, and one near-bottom dissolved oxygen logger. Fixing elements for the sensors were made in the LIN SB RAS using 3D-printing technology. Measurements are recorded at intervals ranging from 1 (for temperatures) to 15 (for currents) minutes into the internal memory of each logger. This station will operate in Lake Baikal until April 2023.