Home – Home – Jornals – Advanced Search

Results of a long-term comprehensive study of the natural environment of Northeastern Cisbaikalia are presented. Some theoretical and practical issues of a cartographic study of topological-level geosystems are considered in terms of Academician V.B. Sochava’s theory of geosystems. The map of geosystems of the North-Baikal and Upper-Angara depressions displaying the ecological-dynamical interrelations of facies is compiled. The geosystems of the depressions of Northeastern Cisbaikalia are characterized by a relatively weak degree of anthropogenic disturbance thereby easing the selection of the natural boundaries of geosystems. Vegetation cover was the main component of the analysis of diversity of geosystems and dynamical processes occur ring in them. The investigation is based on data obtained in the process of field work and complemented by archival material; remote sensing data were also used. The main unit of mapping is represented by groups of facies, the number of which in the map legend totaling 101 without considering the derived units. These communities have an anthropogenic origin; however, the degree of disturbance of such communities is low, and the nature of restoration processes allows their full recovery to be pre dicted. A unified approach is suggested for identifying the classification divisions of different hierarchical levels for different types of landscapes, which permits comparisons of different territories from a variety of geosystems of a similar level. The content of the mountain tundra geom class was updated. The rejection of the use of subdivisions of tree stands in the classification schemes according to the type of limited, reduced and optimal development is considered. The groups of facies are subdivided according to soil thawing cycles and belonging to the types of factor-dynamical series. Emphasis is placed on the prospects and the need for large-scale investigations into geosystems for the purpose of assessing the environmental potential, predicting environmental changes and optiming the economic activities.

The issues related to efficiency of the use of the recreation potential and the regulation of the recreational load on the ter ritory of the nature parks of Volgograd oblast in established ecological routes are examined. For the analysis the Shcherbakovskii, Donskoi and El’tonskii Nature Parks are used their location on the territory of the region makes it possible to cover the entire spectrum of zonal steppe landscapes, including their different variations. The information basis for the analysis included data on the technical parameters of the routes implemented by selected nature parks and on congestion of the routes during the three seasons in the period 2015-2017. Estimates were made of the physical current capacity, maximum real capacity and actual capacity of the tourist routes and ecological trails. Our calculation implies a sequential updating of the value of effective current capacity on the basis of corrective parameters taking into account the actual conditions for the functioning of specially protected natural areas at the present time. Results of calculations show a consistent decrease of the values of recreation capacity in the «physical current capacity - maximum real capacity - actual capacity» line for most routes. The resulting pattern indicates a low level of load in implementing the route-based recreation and allows to suggest measures to improve its efficiency. The causes for the low efficiency in the use of the recreation potential of ecological and tourist routes for the nature parks of Volgograd oblast are identified.

A historical background of the hydrological role of forests abroad and in Russia is presented. Attention is focused on the significance of solid precipitation for the Ural in the formation of the channel flow and groundwater recharge. Forest is considered as a regulated landscape influencing the hydrological regime of the territory. The study as carried out in the southern-taiga for est district of the Middle Ural low-mountain province of the Ural mountain forest region. An analysis is made of snow storage under the forest canopy for a long-term period having regard to the fluctuations in winter weather conditions. Detailed forest inventory characteristics of forest stands on snow survey profiles are presented. Long-term series of observations were analyzed using principal component analysis. Data on the snow depth on open sites and under the forest canopy of a different composition are given. The leading formation factors for the snow layer and water storage in it within forest catchments are determined. It is established that in the Ural the snow depth in the forest is determined by the degree of closeness, the age of the forest stand and average temperatures of the winter season, and snow storage is primarily associated with the meteorological factors and slope exposure and less with the age and degree of closeness of the forest stand. Data on the dynamics of snow storage in forest stands of the same age and the same degree of closeness are presented. It is established that water storage in the snow can decrease with the increasing contribution of dark coniferous species; in this case, the leading formation factor for water storage in the snow is the contribution from coniferous species in the forest stand composition. The range of influence of the species composition of the forest stand depends largely on the weather conditions of the winter season.

This article presents the results of 30 years (1988-2017) observations of wind-snow interaction processes on the territory of Tomsk oblast. Based on long-term landscape-route snow surveys, it has been established that on the study territory every year there occur wind-driven snow processes similar to aeolian processes in the mechanism of action. An analysis is made of their influence on the soil transformation within the agrolandscapes in the south of Western Siberia. The influence of the various processes and properties of landscape components on snow accumulation conditions in small river basins of the Tom-Yaya in terfluve is outlined. For a detailed study into the wind-driven snow processes within the study territory, we used the key area located within the Basandika small river basin, with the type of nature management characteristic for the southern regions of Western Siberia. The average annual values of temperatures and precipitation amounts were calculated for the study territory, and their trends were determined. An analysis was made of changes in snow cover characteristics: the snow thickness, start of formation and duration. The anti-deflation resistance of soils was calculated and critical wind velocities leading to winter defla tion were identified. The wind regime parameters were determined for a cold period of a year: the frequency of moderate and strong wind velocities, their cyclicity and the activity of wind transport. Accumulative and deflationary aeolian relief-formations in a cold period of a year have been measured and described. Winter deflation of arable soils is assessed on the basis of long-term field observations, and the amount of aeolian snowdrift in the snow thickness is determined. It is concluded that the most intense development of deflation centers and the formation of aeolian ripples on the snow surface are observed in early spring during snowmelt. An analysis was made of the snow samples to reveal a high level of accumulation of soil particles on the snow surface. A predominance of dust fractions was observed in determining the composition of aeolian snowdrift.

We calculated the water balance and investigated the mineralization of water in closed Lake Chany, the largest lake in Western Siberia in terms of its water area and of great ecological and fisheries importance. The most important natural charac teristic of the lake is the cyclic fluctuation of the water level caused by the variability in the overall humidity of the Ob-Irtysh interfluve. The water level regime of Lake Chany is the main natural factor influencing its water-ecological state. Changes in water level are determined by the ratio between the inflow and discharge in its water balance. The modern water balance of Lake Chany (after the separation of the Yudinskii reach) was calculated for hydrological years, and the previously calculated values of its components were refined using a new digital elevation model. It was found that the most significant influence on the water level fluctuation comes from changes in the discharge of the Kargat and Chulym rivers feeding the lake, which is confirmed by a high correlation coefficient between the river inflow and the level increment. Comparison of the curve of changes of the average annual level of Lake Chany and the differential integral curve of the total annual flow of the Kargat and Chulym rivers shows that the main phases of fluctuations in the water level in the lake and the river inflow coincide. The values of mineralization of the lake water changes with fluctuations in water storage. Results of investigations made in 2002 and 2004 were used in carrying out the zoning of the lake water area according to the mineralization of water. The heterogeneity of water salinity is explained by the morphology of its basin without outflow, a low water exchange between different parts of the lake, and by the desalinating effect of the waters of its feeding rivers.

The spatial distribution of total water vapor content over the Yamal Peninsula and adjacent territories was analyzed using data of four-year-long measurements from the European ENVISAT satellite during warm periods of the year (June-August). Special attention was given to water vapor variations at the transition from little to abundant water-bearing areas of the underly ing surface. It was found that for the five selected sites located in a dry tundra and in large water bodies the logarithmic rather than Gaussian form of the distribution functions of total water vapor content turned out to be typical according to the number of its measurements. Each function has at least two modes. The parameters of these modes were calculated and presented, and they are necessary for simulation of climatic conditions in the northern territories. Geometric mean values of total water vapor content over the Gulfs of Gydan and Baidaratsk, and especially over the Gulf of Ob, can be by a factor of 1.5 larger than those for the less water-abundant areas of tundra and have clear boundaries coincident with geographical contours of the water bodies. It is most likely that these boundaries exist at insignificant speeds of surface winds, which is indicative of weak turbulent mixing of the lower air layers. This conclusion is confirmed by results from processing published data of ground-based and satellite observations. For the five sites they were used to calculate and construct the wind roses for all five sections in the same time intervals when the satellite measurements of water vapor content were carried out. Wind rose analysis shows that the average velocity of predomi nantly N and NW winds on all the selected sites at a height of 10 m above the underlying surface are 5-6 m/s with a standard deviation of 1.5 m/s. Additional data are presented on the form of the distribution function of various parameters in other natural environments (water bodies and vegetation) which give support to what has been said above about water vapor.

We substantiate the use of the previously developed methods to classify sections of the largest river (Lena) from the types of channel processes and special aspects of their management, i. e. water resource use, exploitation of the river as the water transport way, development of riverine areas and construction of river crossings for service lines. For assessing the complexity of river channel reconfiguration and implementing regulatory measures we use certain indicators of channel stability, the channel patten, river runoff, conditions of effective discharge, composition of bed-material load, occurrence of riffles and characteristics of their regime. It is shown that the indicator of complexity of channel processes management is represented by the amount of channel dredging performed to ensure normal navigation conditions. On the Lena river (from the Osetrovo port to the estuary) there are 10 reaches which differ both in the features and the degree of complexity of channel processes and, accordingly, in the conditions for their management. The study identified the most difficult (for channel management) sections; for the broad floodplain, unstable and compound braided channel we determined the main water management and water transport problems associated with channel processes.

The state and the prospects of implementation of major investment projects combined into the Eastern Gas Program have been analyzed. The terms of realization, the state of resources and the state of gas transportation system under the projects form ing part of them are considered. It is shown that only one (Sakhalin) of four gas production centers foreseen in the program has an adequate infrastructure; the unified gas transportation system has not been established, and the gas processing industry has received insufficient development. It has been determined that the capacity of the pipeline makes up 70 % of the total production volume and this is the factor limiting the development of the gas production and processing industry in the regions. The reasons for a change of the terms and conditions of the development of the projects of the Eastern Gas Program have been investigated. It is shown that the discrepancy in key goals and the actual state of gas industry in the eastern regions of the country is explained by the changing situation in the key gas markets, which determines the final economic efficiency of the projects, the lack of the solution to long-term demand problems and stable sources of financing. The prospects of the development of the projects of the Gas Program and the risks of implementation for the Russian side have also been investigated. The article describes a dependence of the implementation of separate projects on the possibility of signing efficient international contracts with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and on the success of the strategy of formation of new export goods niches based on the in-depth processing of hydrocarbon raw materials. The consequences of creating the full-scale gas industry in Eastern Russia have been analyzed. It has been determined that the projects within the Program with a focus on the formation of the national export income have been implemented. It is shown that the projects within the Program do not ensure an accelerated development of the Eastern regions of the country because of the lack linkages between the projects and other branches of regional economy. Furthermore, the regions do not accumulate financial resources from the project implementation.

Socio-economic maps are essential for identification and system analysis of sectoral and territorial imbalances, ensuring the effective organization of productive forces, planning and forecasting of socio-economic development of the territory. This paper presents the authors’ experience in creating and interpreting socio-economic maps in national and regional atlases, ana lyzes current trends in the development of socio-economic mapping of the eastern regions of the country, which have their own characteristic features (a high sectoral and territorial differentiation, weak integration ties, underdeveloped infrastructure and innovation, etc.). Special attention is paid to the creation and practical use of the general economic map as a universal source of spatial information. In this context, an attempt is made to modify the technique of compiling the general economic map. The authors’ scientific developments that have found their practical implementation are presented. We defined the main problems and prospects of further developing socio-economic mapping related to future geoinformation mapping. Results of summarizing and re-interpreting a huge body of theoretical and practical material suggest that socio-economic mapping is in the next critical stage of its development and requires significant changes in many areas. Therefore, this dictates a need for a new view of the concep tual framework and methodology for compilation and use of socio-economic maps, and for switchover to the creation of complex maps (animation, three-dimensional, assessment-forecast and other maps.

The problem of constructing a statistical predictive model and the related problem of selecting predictors for the forecasted variable are considered. This study is based on using data on the interannual variability in average discharge of the Ob in the hydrometric section of Barnaul during the flood period and on hydrometeorological characteristics having a potential influence on it. It is argued that the result from selecting predictors for the predictive model depends not only on the data used but also on the method employed in solving the problem. Such a method is determined by the mathematical operator used to approximate the simulated dependence, the optimality criterion of the model and the algorithm for selecting predictors. To study the influence of the modeling method on its result, a number of computer experiments were carried out, and each of them used different meth ods to find the best combination of predictors. It is shown that the best solution on the training sample is not always confirmed on independent data. To improve the sustainability of the simulation results, it is recommended that the criteria for selecting the optimal model should be used, which include assessments of its reliability. Use and comparison of different methods of construct ing models made it possible to identify the main predictors which explain most of the variance of the forecasted discharge. They are determined primarily by data on the object and have a physical interpretation. Their selection is less dependent on the method used to construct the model. The highest effectiveness was shown by the method of constructing the predictive model as an ensemble of partial models, each of which uses a limited number of non-intersecting predictors. Retaining the sustainability of the simulation result, make it possible to take into account, along with the main predictors, also the influence of secondary factors and, hence, to improve somewhat the quality of the predictive technique being developed.