Monin Andrey Sergeevich (1921-2007)

Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (1956), Professor (1963),
Academician of RAS (2000)
from 1965 to 1987 - Director of the Institute of Oceanology
since 1987 - Head of the Laboratory of Synoptic Processes

Born in Moscow in the family of an associate professor at the Moscow Pedagogical Institute.

In 1938 he entered the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University, from which he graduated in December 1942 and was immediately admitted to graduate school.

In 1943 he was drafted into the army and sent to the courses of military forecasters at the Higher Hydrometeorological Institute of the Red Army. Received the rank of junior lieutenant, was sent to the 3rd Baltic Front, where he served as the commander of the front-line weather station during the entire campaign from the liberation of Pskov to the liberation of Riga.

He was awarded medals "For Military Merit", "For the Defense of Moscow", "For Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."

In May 1945 he was seconded to the Central Institute of Forecasts of the Red Army, in January 1946 he was demobilized and began to work as a researcher at the Central Institute of Forecasts.

Further scientific specialization was determined in the postgraduate study of the Research Institute of Mathematics of Moscow State University, where, under the leadership of Academician A.N. Kolmogorov, in the period from 1946 to 1949, he prepared and defended his Ph.D. thesis on the theory of atmospheric turbulence. In 1951 he transferred to the Geophysical Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences in the Department of Atmospheric Physics, which was later transformed into the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, where he worked as a senior researcher, head of a department, and a scientific consultant. In 1956 he defended his doctoral dissertation on the theory of turbulent diffusion.

Since 1965 - Director of the Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Under his leadership, the projects "Polygon", the international project "POLYMODE", complex expeditions "Mesopolygon", "Megapoligon", long-term experiments "Chernomor", "Rabbit", "Argus", deep-sea diving on Lake Baikal, in the Red Sea, Indian and Atlantic oceans on manned submersibles.

The breadth of scientific interests and the encyclopedic nature of knowledge have found useful application in the post of director of the Institute of Oceanology. With his arrival, work on fundamental problems of physics, chemistry, geology, and biology of the ocean was intensified. The works of the Institute have received worldwide recognition, and the Institute itself has become the leading scientific center of the country and the world in the study of the ocean. Thanks to the director's persistence and dedication, the Institute's fleet increased significantly at that time, modern ships were built to replace the Vityaz - the RV Akademik Kurchatov, Dmitry Mendeleev, Akademik Mstislav Keldysh, Professor Shtokman, the new Vityaz, acoustic ships "Akademik Sergei Vavilov" and "Akademik Ioffe", manned submersibles "Paysis" and "Mir" appeared.

Monin delved into all the problems of the Institute's activities - the construction of a building, new ships, the creation of underwater laboratories and manned submersibles; carried out fundamental theoretical research in the physics of the ocean, organizing the implementation of numerical experiments on the general circulation of the atmosphere and ocean and paying great attention to the technique of direct measurements and the creation of new measuring instruments.

The earliest and most enduring scientific hobbies are the mechanics of turbulence and the physics of the atmosphere. He obtained a number of outstanding results in the mechanics of turbulence - the derivation of the general equation for the second and third moments of locally isotropic turbulence, the derivation of the Lagrangian equations of the dynamics of turbulence, equations for the finite-dimensional probability distributions of the turbulent velocity field. In cooperation with Academician A.M. Obukhov created a similarity theory for turbulence in stratified fluids, which became the basis for a huge number of works in this area - the theory of turbulence in the atmospheric boundary layer with the laws of resistance, heat transfer and moisture exchange, the theory of the spectrum of turbulence, and the theory of turbulent diffusion.

He performed fundamental work on weather forecasting, climate theory, numerical modeling of the atmosphere and ocean. An extensive cycle of his works is devoted to the problems of ocean hydrodynamics from the smallest-scale movements (turbulence, microstructure, surface and internal waves) to large-scale (synoptic eddies, meanders, rings, general ocean circulation).

He created the foundations of geophysical hydrodynamics as the hydrodynamics of stratified fluids on rotating planets, summarizing the general principles of hydrodynamics of the atmosphere, ocean, and liquid interior of planets.

A significant cycle of works is devoted to planetology: hydrodynamic problems of planetary evolution and geomagnetic dynamo, gravitational differentiation of planetary interiors, density convection in the earth's mantle and the motion of the poles.

Until 2007, Andrei Sergeevich continued to work at the Institute of Oceanology of RAS, heading the Laboratory of synoptic processes. He created a scientific school on geophysical hydrodynamics, which was awarded, since 1996, a grant from the President's Program for the Support of Scientific Schools.

He is the author of over 620 published scientific works, including 24 monographs. Almost all of his books have been translated into foreign languages. His great merit as an initiator and scientific leader is the creation of a ten-volume collection "Oceanology" in 1978.

He is an honorary foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1973), the US National Academy of Sciences (1976), an honorary doctor of the University of Gothenburg (1986), an academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (1991) and the International Academy of Informatization (1992), an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2000). Laureate of the State Prize in Science (1980). He was awarded the Yu.M. Shokalsky (1986) and the A.A.Friedman (1993) prizes. He was awarded six orders and twelve medals.

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