http://precedings.nature.com/users/28d7202342dd83b22e46581c35c0ccfc/ Documents posted by Yuriy Polyakov Nature Publishing Group en Nature Precedings http://precedings.nature.com/images/header_logo.gif http://precedings.nature.com http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3926/version/1 Water scarcity in hot deserts, which cover about one-fifth of the Earth’s land area, along with rapid expansion of hot deserts into arable lands is one of the key global environmental problems. This paper proposes and substantiates an interdisciplinary approach to sustainable settlements in hot deserts using the accomplishments in the design of closed bioregenerative life support systems (CBLSS) for beyond-Earth (Lunar, Martian) settlements. Extensive space technology experience in the design of CBLSSes, which simultaneously produce food, water, nutrients, and fertilizers, process wastes, and revitalize air, has been analyzed and systematized with application to hot deserts, which represent extreme habitats with high input of solar energy, poor organic life, and nutrient/mineral-rich soils. A general flow diagram and design principles for hot-desert bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS), which may be considered as solar-powered “bioreactors” with accelerated cycles of carbon and nutrients, are formulated. Research and design guidelines for BLSS solar energy utilization, accelerated food production, water production and recycling, and wastes processing are suggested. Environmental and socioeconomic benefits of building hot-desert BLSSes are discussed. http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3926/version/1 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:47:51 UTC Application of space technology to the design of sustainable settlements in hot deserts: Bioregenerative life support systems hdl:10101/npre.2009.3926.1 2009-11-02 Yuriy Polyakov Nature Precedings 2009-11-02T09:47:51Z Manuscript Earth & Environment http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2009.3341.1 Evolution of Earth’s climate system over the past 800,000 years represents a complex process with successions of uneven glacial and interglacial periods. The length, amplitudes, and development of each climate cycle depend on a number of different factors, including the orbital parameters attributed to insolation and the complex responses of the Earth system to solar radiation primarily through the amplification by Earth’s albedo and greenhouse gas and secondarily through a system of heat reservoirs, such as ice sheet and deep ocean, distributed throughout our planet. The purpose of this study is to analyze the transitions related to climate cycles in Antarctic ice core data (EPICA Dome C) of deuterium composition and dust concentration recorded for the past 800,000 years [1] using Flicker-Noise Spectroscopy (FNS), an analytical toolset for the extraction and analysis of information in stochastic time and space series, containing both regular and chaotic components, by using power spectra and difference moments (structural functions) of various orders [2]. The FNS nonstationarity factors for the deuterium composition and dust (logarithm) concentration, which represent the normalized discrete derivative of the second-order structural function of the source signal with respect to a given shifted “window” interval, were built for different intervals of averaging to identify the major changes in the dynamics of both time series and their precursors. It is shown that when displayed together with the source signals, the positive peaks in the nonstationarity factors provide more reliable estimates of the transition of the climate system from one sub-period to another within a specific climate cycle as compared to predefined thresholds in dust or deuterium values. For climatic transitions, the power spectral estimates of the nonstationarity factors contain several periodicities in addition to the orbital ones. These frequencies may be attributed to specific heat accumulation and discharge processes in the climate system. The results of this study demonstrate the potential of FNS in the analysis of climate data series and may be used in refining climate transition models.This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 08-02-00230a.[1] Lambert F., et al. (2008) Dust-climate couplings over the past 800,000 years from the EPICA Dome C ice core, Nature 452, 616-619.[2] Timashev, S. F., Polyakov Yu. S. (2007) Review of flicker noise spectroscopy in electrochemistry, Fluctuations and Noise Letters 7(2), R15-R47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2009.3341.1 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:43:30 UTC Analysis of Antarctic Ice Core Data (EPICA Dome C) with Flicker-Noise Spectroscopy doi:10.1038/npre.2009.3341.1 2009-06-15 Yuriy Polyakov Nature Precedings 2009-06-15T17:43:30Z Poster Earth & Environment http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://precedings.nature.com/documents/2569/version/1 Hot deserts that presently cover about one-fifth of the land area of our planet are rapidly devouring more and more arable lands mostly due to anthropogenic causes. We propose an interdisciplinary approach to revitalizing and commercializing hot deserts, which is based on systems thinking and Russian and NASA space technology experience in designing life-support systems for long-duration flights. We formulate ten principles for the design of sustainable life support systems in deserts, which can make the development of the deserts feasible. It is discussed how the principles can be employed to design and operate desert’s eco-industrial parks with greenhouses in which the transpired and evaporated moisture is collected and condensed. The potential benefits of setting up the eco-industrial parks in deserts include the slowdown and eventual reversal of the desertification trend, the migration of many industrial production facilities from mild-climate regions to deserts, the increased availability of potable water and food in deserts, the development of poor African countries, and the emergence of new investment markets. http://precedings.nature.com/documents/2569/version/1 Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:58:40 UTC Is Sustainable Development of Deserts Feasible? hdl:10101/npre.2008.2569.1 2008-12-01 Yuriy S. Polyakov Nature Precedings 2008-12-01T18:58:40Z Manuscript Earth & Environment http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/