Preview

Fundamental and Applied Hydrophysics

Advanced search

Peculiarities of currents in the Volga reservoir Cascade

https://doi.org/10.59887/2073-6673.2025.18(1)-8

Abstract

Data on the current structure in most reservoirs of the Volga Cascade were obtained in the last century and correctly describe the current structure only in general terms. The paper presents current structures at different distances from the HPPs in the Gorky, Cheboksary, Kuibyshev, and Volgograd reservoirs. The present work is a brief review of the existing database of current measurements in the water area of the Volga Cascade reservoirs. The data were obtained during field measurements in 2023 and 2024 using an acoustic current profiler. Longitudinal sections of the river part of the Cheboksarsky and Kuibyshev reservoirs, spatial structures of currents in the lake parts of the considered reservoirs are demonstrated. It is shown that the average current velocity in the river part of the reservoir decreases with distance from the HPP dam. The structure of currents in the lake part of the reservoir has high variability depending on the flow regime through the HPP. Local features of currents related to flow regulation at hydrosystems are presented, which include formation of whirlpools, changes in velocity and current directions.

About the Authors

D. V. Dobrokhotova
Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod ; A. V. Gaponov-Grekhov Institute of Applied Physics RAS
Russian Federation

Scopus AuthorID: 57219659995, WoS ResearcherID: AAA-7981-2022

23 Gagarin Avenue, Nizhny Novgorod 603022 

46 Ulyanova Str., Nizhny Novgorod 603950 



I. A. Kapustin
Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod ; A. V. Gaponov-Grekhov Institute of Applied Physics RAS ; Volzhsky State University of Water Transport
Russian Federation

Scopus AuthorID: 25629629000, WoS ResearcherID: A-3593-2014

23 Gagarin Avenue, Nizhny Novgorod 603022 

46 Ulyanova Str., Nizhny Novgorod 603950 

5 Nesterova Str., Nizhny Novgorod 603950 



A. A. Molkov
Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod ; A. V. Gaponov-Grekhov Institute of Applied Physics RAS ; Volzhsky State University of Water Transport
Russian Federation

Scopus AuthorID: 55377777800, WoS ResearcherID: А-3623-2014

23 Gagarin Avenue, Nizhny Novgorod 603022 

46 Ulyanova Str., Nizhny Novgorod 603950 

5 Nesterova Str., Nizhny Novgorod 603950 



G. V. Leshchev
Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod ; A. V. Gaponov-Grekhov Institute of Applied Physics RAS
Russian Federation

Scopus AuthorID: 57213165519

23 Gagarin Avenue, Nizhny Novgorod 603022 

46 Ulyanova Str., Nizhny Novgorod 603950 



A. V. Ermoshkin
Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod ; A. V. Gaponov-Grekhov Institute of Applied Physics RAS
Russian Federation

Scopus AuthorID: 54410480500, WоS ResearcherID: D-5271–2015

23 Gagarin Avenue, Nizhny Novgorod 603022 

46 Ulyanova Str., Nizhny Novgorod 603950 



References

1. Butorin N.V. Hydrological processes and water mass dynamics in the Volga cascade reservoirs. Leningrad: Nauka; 1969. 322 p. (in Russian).

2. Edelstein K.K. Reservoirs of Russia: Ecological Problems, Ways of Their Solution. GEOS Publishers: Moscow; 1998. 277 p. (in Russian).

3. Reservoirs and their impact on the environment. Moscow: Nauka, 1986. 367 p. (in Russian).

4. Goldenfum J.A. Challenges and solutions for assessing the impact of freshwater reservoirs on natural GHG emissions. Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology. 2012;12(2):115–122. doi:10.2478/v10104-012-0011-5

5. Prairie Y.T., Alm J., Beaulieu J. et al. Greenhouse gas emissions from freshwater reservoirs: what does the atmosphere see? Ecosystems. 2018;21:1058–1071. doi:10.1007/s10021-017-0198-9

6. Chen Z., Liu Z., Yin, L., Zheng W. Statistical analysis of regional air temperature characteristics before and after dam construction. Urban Climate. 2022;41:101085. doi:10.1016/j.uclim.2022.101085

7. Iakunin M., Abreu E.F., Canhoto P., Pereira S., Salgado R. Impact of a large artificial lake on regional climate: A typical meteorological year Meso-NH simulation results. International Journal of Climatology. 2022;42(2):1231–1252. doi:10.1002/joc.7299

8. Karadži´c V., Subakov-Simi´c G., Krizmani´c J., Nati´c D. Phytoplankton and eutrophication development in the water supply reservoirs Garaši and Bukulja (Serbia). Desalination. 2010;255:91–96. doi:10.1016/j.desal.2010.01.009

9. Genkal S.I., Okhapkin A.G., Vodeneeva E.L. Planktonic Centric Diatoms (Bacillariophyta, Coscinodiscaceae) of the Cheboksary Reservoir, Russia. Inland Water Biol. 2022;15:750–759. doi:10.1134/S1995082922060037

10. Litvinov A.C. About measurement of currents in reservoirs by EPV-2r recorders. Proceedings of the Institute of Biology of Inland Waters of the USSR Academy of Sciences. 1968;16:259–268 (in Russian).

11. Hydrometeorological regime of lakes and reservoirs of the USSR: reservoirs of the upper Volga. Leningrag: Gidrometeeoizdat; 1975. 292 p. (in Russian).

12. Hydrometeorological regime of lakes and reservoirs of the USSR: Kuibyshev and Saratov reservoirs. Leningrag: Gidrometeeoizdat; 1978. 269 p. (in Russian).

13. Ilina A.A., Nikonorova I.V., Ilin V.N., Nikitina E.A. Hydrological and ecological problems of Cheboksary and Kuibyshev reservoirs of Cheboksary section of the Chuvash republic. Uspehi Sovremennogo Estestvoznanija. 2023;6:34– 39. doi:10.17513/use.38050 (in Russian).

14. Smirnova M.V., Cheban E.Y., Ermakov S.A. et al. Studies of the ecological state of the waters of the sites of the Gorky and Cheboksary reservoirs within the expedition “Floating university of the Volga basin” 2017. Proceedings of the scientific congress of the 20th International Scientific and Industrial Forum “GREAT RIVERS’2018”. 2018; 290–293 (In Russian).

15. Grushevskii M.S. Waves of skips and floods in rivers. Leningrag: Gidrometeoizdat; 1969. 337 p. (In Russian).

16. Rakhuba A.V. Assessment of the influence exercised by the hydrodynamic regime on the phytoplankton development and the water quality of the Kuibyshev Reservoir. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Estestvennye Nauki. 2020;162(3):430–444. doi:10.26907/2542-064X.2020.3.430-444 (In Russian).

17. Rakhuba A.V. The Saratov Reservoir water masses dynamics under the hydro power station releases impact. Vodnoe Hozjajstvo Rossii: Problemy, Tehnologii, Upravlenie. 2008;2:55–67 (In Russian).

18. Gerasimov Yu.V., Poddubny S.A., Malin M.I., Tsvetkov A.I. The influence of hydrodynamic conditions on fish distribution in cheboksary reservoir. Problems of Fishiries. 2014;15(3):295–305 (In Russian).

19. Zakonnov V.V., Zakonnova A.V., Tsvetkov A.I., Sherysheva N.G. Hydrodynamic processes and their role in formation of bottom sediments in reservoirs of the Volga — Kama cascade. Transactions of IBIW RAS, 2018, 81 (84), 35–46. doi:10.24411/0320-3557-2018-1-0004 (In Russian).

20. Rakhuba A.V., Shmakova M.V. Regime of Reservoir: Experience in Modeling Riverbed Processes with a Movable Bed. Fundamental and Applied Hydrophysics. 2022;15(2):138–149. doi:10.59887/fpg/peru-3z3h-gazh (In Russian).

21. Parshakova Y.N., Lyubimova T.P., Lepikhin A.P., Tiunov A.A. Numerical modeling of influence of irregularity of water discharge through the dams of large HPPs on hydrodynamic regimes of the upper embankments of hydroelectric complexes. Abstracts of XXIX All­Russian School­Conference “Mathematical Modeling in Natural Sciences”. 2020; 91 (in Russian).

22. Guzivaty V.V., Naumenko M.A., Rumyantsev V.A. Estimation of velocity of upper layer of Lake Ladoga by using of Maximum Cross Correlation (MCC) Method. Issledovanie Zemli iz Kosmosa. 2020;1:20–30. doi:10.31857/S0205961420010042 (in Russian).

23. Kapustin I.A., Molkov A.A., Danilicheva O.A., et al. Determining currents in the reservoir by consequent subdaily satellite images. Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics. 2024;60(3):297–305. doi:10.1134/S0001433824700233

24. Kapustin I.A., Molkov A.A., Ermoshkin A.V. Reconstruction of the сurrents structure in the Kuibyshev Reservoir using satellite data and field measurements. Fundamental and Applied Hydrophysics. 2024;17(1):63–72. doi:10.59887/2073-6673.2024.17(1)-5 (in Russian).

25. Molkov A.A., Kapustin I.A., Ermakov S.A. Hydrophysical laboratory of IPF RAS “Geofizik” as an effective tool for limnological monitoring. Scientific problems of improvement of Russian rivers and ways of their solution. Nizhny Novgorod, 8–14 September 2019, 214–218 (in Russian).

26. Kapustin I.A., Molkov A.A. Structure of currents and depth in the lake part of the Gorky Reservoir. Russian Meteorology and Hydrology. 2019;7:110–117 (In Russian).

27. Molkov A., Kapustin I., Grechushnikova M., Dobrokhotova D., Leshchev G., Vodeneeva E., Sharagina E., Kolesnikov A. Investigation of water dynamics nearby hydroelectric power plant of the Gorky Reservoir on water environment: Case study of 2022. Water. 2023;15(17):3070. doi:10.3390/w15173070

28. Water flow rates through HPPs, RusHydro URL: https://rushydro.ru/informer/ (accessed: 12.10.2024).

29. Dobrokhotova D.V., Kapustin I.A., Molkov A.A., Leshchev G.V. A study of the effect of hydropower operation regime on the redistribution of phytoplankton in the upper water layer in the dam section of the Gorki Reservoir. Sovremennye Problemy Distantsionnogo Zondirovaniya Zemli iz Kosmosa. 2023;20:242–252. doi:10.21046/2070-7401-2023-20-1-242-252 (In Russian).

30. Kapustin I.A., Ermakov S.A., Smirnova M.V., Vostryakova D.V., Molkov A.A., Cheban E. Yu., Leshchev G.V. On the formation of an isolated lens of a river runoff by a whirlpool in the Gorky Reservoir. Sovremennye Problemy Distantsionnogo Zondirovaniya Zemli iz Kosmosa. 2021;18(6):214–221. doi:10.21046/2070-7401-2021-18-6-214-221 (In Russian).

31. Kapustin I.A., Molkov A.A., Ermakov S.A., Smirnova M.V. General characterization and features of the flow structure in the water area of the Cheboksary reservoir from Nizhny Novgorod to Kozmodemyansk. Proceedings of the 4th All­Russian Scientific Conference “Problems of ecology of the Volga basin”. 2019; 17. (In Russian).


Review

For citations:


Dobrokhotova D.V., Kapustin I.A., Molkov A.A., Leshchev G.V., Ermoshkin A.V. Peculiarities of currents in the Volga reservoir Cascade. Fundamental and Applied Hydrophysics. 2025;18(1):92-105. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.59887/2073-6673.2025.18(1)-8

Views: 67


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.


ISSN 2073-6673 (Print)
ISSN 2782-5221 (Online)