Atmospheric Physics, Institute of

a scientific research institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR engaged in the study of the earth’s atmosphere. It was founded in Moscow in 1956 on the basis of the laboratories for atmospheric turbulence, atmospheric acoustics, and atmospheric optics of the Geophysical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Its founder and director is Academician A. M. Obukhov.

The Institute of Atmospheric Physics has made major contributions to the development of the theory of small-scale turbulence and the hydrodynamic theory of the overall dynamics of atmospheric phenomena. It conducts fundamental work in the development of the theory and methods of long-distance optical probing of the atmosphere and the investigation of the propagation of electromagnetic radiation in the atmosphere at various frequencies. It also studies the mechanisms of atmospheric pollution at different altitudes and the physical processes in the upper atmosphere, at altitudes of 70 to 400 km.