27 Academician Zabolotny St., 03680, Kyiv Ukraine

Phone: (044) 526 2286; fax: (044) 526 2147
e-mail: nazar@mao.kiev.ua;
http://www.mao.kiev.ua/icamer

The International Center for Astronomical, Medical and Ecological Research (ICAMER) was set up in 1992 for preserving and furthering the potential of fundamental research in Elbrus region (the Northern Caucasus), accumulated by Ukrainian scientists in several decades in observational astronomy, extreme physiology and ecology. At present there is a unique research facility located on the slopes of Elbrus – the highest European mountain. It has a well-developed infrastructure. The scientific bases, namely, the high-altitude Terskol observatory (3100 m a.s.l.) and the Elbrus Medico-Biological Station (2100m a.s.l.) are equipped with a lot of instrumentation. Their principal elements are Zeiss-2000 RCC telescope with a high-resolution echelle spectrometer, ACU-26 large horizontal solar telescope and a climatic test bench, which is the largest in the region.

Principal research areas: kinematical and physical characteristics of celestial bodies; development of equipment for astronomical research; automation of observations and data processing; environment monitoring (changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere, air pollution transport etc.); extreme physiology, climate therapy, mountain and sport medicine; development and implementation of methods for rehabilitating survivors of man-caused disasters; studies of the Human-Environment-Space interaction.

At the Elbrus Medico-Biological Station, followers of academician N.N.Sirotinin, the founder of the school for hypoxia state studies, conduct fruitful studies of hypoxic states which develop in organism both under the action of extreme (natural and technogenic) factors and during various diseases. Researchers are developing mathematical models for forecasting hypoxic states. The method of hypoxytherapy, devised back in the 1990s, is now used in medicine and sport to improve health, increase organism stability and capacity for work.

The Synchronous Network of Telescopes, which incorporates optical telescopes on Terskol Peak and in the observatories in the Crimea, Bulgaria and Greece, was developed in the late 1990s to organize annual coordinated international campaigns for synchronous observation of star flares and active galactic nuclei.

Various observational programs are performed by the Terskol Observatory: discovery and monitoring of potentially hazardous objects (Earth-approaching asteroids, comets) and space debris; follow-up observations during space missions launches for spacecraft safety control and orbit computations; precise astrometry and photometry of satellites of major planets; high-resolution mapping of planetary surfaces.

ICAMER focuses its current activities on the search for extra-solar planets, investigations of cosmic gamma-burst optical afterglows as well as monitoring and quantifying the Earth’s atmosphere. Surface monitoring of air pollutants in the ambient air and the multi-wavelength determination of total amounts of ozone and other gases in the atmosphere have been performed recently.

Observational facilities and analytic tools of the three observatories located in the Northern Caucasus, namely the Terskol Observatory, the Special Astrophysical Observatory and the Baksan Neutrino Observatory, are combined into a virtual observatory. This allows performing coordinated multi-wavelength observations in real time as well as data accumulation and remote access to them.