For the purposes of medium-term earthquake forecasting, a model of their preparation in the geodynamic conditions of the Baikal rift zone is considered. The model is based on seismogeological features: the presence of a seismic gap, an active fault or fault node, as well as previous pre-shock activity and subsequent calm before the shock. The analysis uses a catalog of earthquakes and a list of active faults. The success of the forecast for the «place» and «energy» parameters is ≈ 70%. The most difficult parameter is «time». The causes and some possible solutions to problems associated with assessing the waiting time of a predicted earthquake, which are caused by a combination of a number of active natural factors, are discussed.

The appearance of a resonant spectral structure (RSS) – multiband spectra of electromagnetic noise in the range of the first Hz, observed on the Earth’s surface at night, is usually associated with the excitation of the ionospheric Alfvén resonator (IAR) in the upper ionosphere. The proposed review discusses various ideas about the specific mechanisms of excitation of IAR by lightning discharges: (1) the generation of a set of eigenmodes of the IAR, (2) the formation of an echo pulse by the primary pulse reflected from the upper boundary of the IAR, (3) the presence of isolated pulses with a certain duration. The arguments for and against each proposed mechanism are considered. Qualitative representations of how the pulse structure of the response to a thunderstorm discharge should be visible in the data of low-orbit satellites are formulated. The response of an ionospheric magnetosonic waveguide to volcanic thunderstorm activity is considered. The detection of «magnetic ripples» over typhoons in the upper ionosphere – fluctuations of small amplitude with a period of 5–10 seconds caused by small-scale longitudinal currents, which are apparently generated by acoustic waves in the lower ionosphere, is discussed. The unsolved problems of electromagnetic coupling between the atmosphere and the ionosphere in the IAR range have been formulated.

One of the impacts of human activity on the near-Earth environment that will be discussed in this review is the propagation of electromagnetic radiation emitted by power lines and microwave transmitters through the ionosphere into the near-Earth space. The first Chinese seismo-elecromagnetic satellite (CSES) orbiting at 528 kilometers, recorded radiation emitted by ZEVS transmitter operating at frequency of 82 Hz and by the Northern Transit industrial power line operating at 50 Hz over the Kola Peninsula. ZEVS signal was detected at distance from 600 to 2500 kilometers from the source. Electrical and magnetic sensors of CSES detected narrowband radiation with maxima at frequency of 82 Hz and 50 . Results of measurements agree with results of numerical simulation of spatial structure of electromagnetic field in the upper ionosphere, excited by an alternating horizontal current of finite length. An amazing feature of the reported event was slow decrease in the amplitude of 82 Hz radiation with distance from the ZEVS transmitter compared with model calculations within 600 to 1000 km range. These results can be used to assess the effectiveness of active experiments aimed at generating artificial disturbances in the near-Earth environment.

The article presents the results of verification for the base hypothesis about the physical mechanism of magnetic pole shift impact on the ionosphere. In the previous works it was implicitly assumed that an auroral oval keeps its shape and intensity invariant in geomagnetic coordinates and shifts in geographic coordinates according to the magnetic pole shift. This hypothesis is verified by means of DMSP satellite data for 1983–2016. The statistical analysis has shown the shift of equator-ward boundary northward both in US and Siberian sectors. While the observed shifts for the magnetic and geomagnetic poles are 9° and 1.7° respectively for the same period of time, the shift of the equatorward boundary is less than 2°–3°.

Over the past decades, about 1.400 recent meteoroid impact sites have been discovered on Mars, which include single craters and crater scattering fields, with crater sizes up to 70 m. Due to the more rarefied (in comparison with Earth) atmosphere of Mars, meteoroids entering the atmosphere are less destroyed. Nevertheless, about half of them fragment in the atmosphere and form crater clusters. Study of crater clusters on Mars reveals details of cosmic body fragmentation that cannot be detected in terrestrial conditions. Earlier it was suggested that the description of a cluster by an ellipse allows ones to estimate the parameters of the meteoroid trajectory, the entry angle and azimuth. In this paper, scattering ellipses for 105 clusters are considered. Independent estimates of the flight direction were made for 89 of these clusters using crater ejecta; in 54–56 cases (depending on the method of the ellipse constructing), the crater ejecta are oriented along the main axis of the scattering ellipse; the flight direction coincides in 29–32 cases. For the remaining clusters, crater ejecta are oriented along the minor axis of the scattering ellipse, counterintuitively.

The catalogue of recently formed meteoroid impact sites on Mars provides an opportunity to study the meteoroid population common to Earth and Mars. Cluster analysis was applied to analyse the catalogue data. The number of clusters varies depending on the method chosen; regardless of the method, clusters with a dominant major crater and clusters with a large number of relatively small craters are distinguished into separate groups. A third frequently distinguished group is one with two comparable large craters. The plotted cumulative distributions of craters in clusters by mass showed that the slope of the distribution was significantly different for the group with small craters. Cluster analysis suggested cluster partitioning correlated with previously proposed cluster classifications. Attempts to find a partitioning into groups reflecting the relationship between height above the mean surface and mean cluster size did not lead to a positive result, nor does the dependence of the number of craters on height above the mean surface. 

Space plasmas appear a useful tool for fundamental physics investigations. The major drawback of in-situ space experiments and measurements is inability of desirable experiment reproduction under the same physical conditions. This limitation significantly complicates space plasmas research. Yet laboratory plasma devices solve this drawback which allows to investigate space plasma phenomena in details. The paper is devoted to achievements of KI-1 laboratory plasma device (designed by Institute of Laser Physics of the Siberian Branch of the RAS) in exploration of fundamental physics of magnetosphere and ionosphere plasmas. Obtained results reveal relevance of laboratory space physics investigations generally and KI-1 plasma device in particular.