Lakes Ladoga and Onego are the greatest lakes in Europe. With a surface area of 17891 km2 and a volume of 902 km3, the former is one of the top fifteen world s freshwater lakes and is only slightly smaller than Lake Ontario. Lake Onego s surface area is 9600 km2 and it has a volume of 292 km3. The watershed of Lake Ladoga (258000 km2) extends through Northwestern European Russia and the eastern part of Finland, including the large Lakes Ilmen and Saimaa, and together these Great European Lakes are an important link in the Caspian-Baltic-White Sea waterway system. Their ecological state affects the water quality of the Neva River, the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea. Thus any changes affect the operational use, environmental protection and management of water resources of a wide area and concern such issues as drinking, recreation, transport and energy.

The anthropogenic impact on the Lake Onego ecosystem is mostly determined by the sewage waters of the Petrozavodsk and Kondopoga industrial centres, while the river inflow makes the most impact on Lake Ladoga. Although the anthropogenic stress on the water ecosystems of the Great European Lakes has decreased over the last 15 years, there has been some simultaneous evidence of global warming. There is not enough current data to identify the climate-induced changes in lake ecosystems, but there is proof that the main cause of lacustrine ecosystem changes is determined by anthropogenic factors.

Coupled thermohydrodynamic and ecosystem models for Lakes Ladoga and Onego have been developed to study the contemporary situation, to understand the main mechanisms of the ecosystem transformation, and to learn what may happen in future under the varying antropogenic impact and climate changes. Lake Ladoga preserves its weak mesotrophic status while Lake Onego can be characterized as oligotrophic. Economic growth during the last seven years has led to the increasing anthropogenic impact on both their ecosystems.

The Great European Lakes are attracting the increasing attention of both researchers and end-users. This book is a synthesis of multifaceted interdisciplinary studies conducted by a team of experts in limnology, geography, biology, mathematical modeling and economy. The editors, Professors Rukhovets and Filatov, are the authors of numerous articles and books and are recognized as the foremost experts in their fields. Professor Rukhovets has been Director of the Institute of Economy and Mathematics in Saint-Petersburg and head of the laboratory of mathematical modeling since 1998 while Professor Filatov is currently Director of the Northern Water Problems Institute in Petrozavodsk, Russia."

Lakes Ladoga and Onego are the greatest lakes in Europe. With a surface area of 17891 km2 and a volume of 902 km3, the former is one of the top fifteen world s freshwater lakes and is only slightly smaller than Lake Ontario. Lake Onego s surface area is 9600 km2 and it has a volume of 292 km3. The watershed of Lake Ladoga (258000 km2) extends through Northwestern European Russia and the eastern part of Finland, including the large Lakes Ilmen and Saimaa, and together these Great European Lakes are an important link in the Caspian-Baltic-White Sea waterway system. Their ecological state affects the water quality of the Neva River, the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea. Thus any changes affect the operational use, environmental protection and management of water resources of a wide area and concern such issues as drinking, recreation, transport and energy.

The anthropogenic impact on the Lake Onego ecosystem is mostly determined by the sewage waters of the Petrozavodsk and Kondopoga industrial centres, while the river inflow makes the most impact on Lake Ladoga. Although the anthropogenic stress on the water ecosystems of the Great European Lakes has decreased over the last 15 years, there has been some simultaneous evidence of global warming. There is not enough current data to identify the climate-induced changes in lake ecosystems, but there is proof that the main cause of lacustrine ecosystem changes is determined by anthropogenic factors.

Coupled thermohydrodynamic and ecosystem models for Lakes Ladoga and Onego have been developed to study the contemporary situation, to understand the main mechanisms of the ecosystem transformation, and to learn what may happen in future under the varying antropogenic impact and climate changes. Lake Ladoga preserves its weak mesotrophic status while Lake Onego can be characterized as oligotrophic. Economic growth during the last seven years has led to the increasing anthropogenic impact on both their ecosystems.

The Great European Lakes are attracting the increasing attention of both researchers and end-users. This book is a synthesis of multifaceted interdisciplinary studies conducted by a team of experts in limnology, geography, biology, mathematical modeling and economy. The editors, Professors Rukhovets and Filatov, are the authors of numerous articles and books and are recognized as the foremost experts in their fields. Professor Rukhovets has been Director of the Institute of Economy and Mathematics in Saint-Petersburg and head of the laboratory of mathematical modeling since 1998 while Professor Filatov is currently Director of the Northern Water Problems Institute in Petrozavodsk, Russia."

Diminishing water resources are becoming of increasing concern because in many countries the sources of drinking water are close to being exhausted. Therefore, there is an urgent need to study and assess the various components of global water resources, of which freshwater lakes are one of the most important. This book discusses contemporary limnological problems on a local, regional and global scale with special emphasis on the application of remote-sensing techniques to monitor lake dynamics, thermodynamics, biodynamics and water quality. An interactive approach is used to assess various processes from both the numerical modelling and observational standpoints. The authors recommend a combined use of in situ and remote-sensing data, giving a specific comparative analysis of the lakes of north-western Russia and the American Great Lakes as an illustration. The role of GIS is discussed and emphasised.

This unique collaboration of Russian and Norwegian scientists examines the most recent data on the White Sea bathymetry, examines the ecosystem profile, and provides extensive historical marine and riverine data records. The book presents extensive data and numerical modelling simulations of the White Sea to provide a quantitative assessment of vulnerability of the Sea 's marine ecosystems, of future anthropogenic and climate change forcing.

This unique collaboration of Russian and Norwegian scientists examines the most recent data on the White Sea bathymetry, examines the ecosystem profile, and provides extensive historical marine and riverine data records. The book presents extensive data and numerical modelling simulations of the White Sea to provide a quantitative assessment of vulnerability of the Sea 's marine ecosystems, of future anthropogenic and climate change forcing.