scholarly journals Traces of Early State formations in South East Georgia, Caucasus - response and impact on changes in the climate and environment Shiraqi Plane, South East Georgia, Caucasus

Author(s):  
Konstantine (Kiazo) Pitskhelauri ◽  
◽  
Mikheil Elashvili ◽  

Study of past changes in environment and, its effect on human society delivers key information to reconstruct the hystorical past but also to project future changes and their effects. Study focus on South-East Georgia, Caucasus region, which represents natural polygon of long term changes in the environment. Study area represents semi-arid Shiraqi plain in South-East Georgia (see the map below). It is characterized with annual precipitation <600mm and shows open dry steppic landscape today. However, recent data collected using remote sensing and archaeological studies, deliver evidences of early human inhabitation of this area, starting from the Paleolithic and forming a constant chain of active settlement through the time, until sudden abrupt at the end of the Bronze Age. Geomorphologically Shiraqi plane represents 800 sqr. km of almost flat area with average height of 600 m above Sea level, surrounded by chains of mountains creating a natural walls surrounding the plane. There are almost no settlements in the area, devoid of water resources today. Archaeo-Botanic and soil studies assume that the region was covered by forests, Hydro modelling shows possibility of existence of well developed water network with a shallow lake in the center of plane. Remote sensing data and resent archaeological excavations at Didnauri site provides clear evidences of early state formation, with favorable paleo-environmental conditions. The goal of current study is to shed light on historic changes in the environment of the region, its natural and anthropogenic factors and consequently response of human society on these changes.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Yang ◽  
Xiaoli Jiang

Abstract. Fires are an important factor involved in the disturbance of forest ecosystems, causing resource damage and the loss of human life. Evaluating forest fire probability can provide an effective method to minimize these losses. In this study, a comprehensive method that integrates remote-sensing data and geographic information systems is proposed to evaluate forest fire probability. In our analysis, we selected four probability indicators: drought index, vegetation condition, topographical factors and anthropogenic factors. To evaluate the influence of anthropogenic factors on fire probability, a distance analysis from fire locations to settlements or roads was conducted to see which distance was associated with a higher probability. The forest fire probability index (FFPI) was calculated to assess the probability level in Heilongjiang Province, China. According to the FFPI, five classes were identified: very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. A receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve was used as the validation method, and the results of the ROC analysis showed that the proposed model performed well in terms of forest fire probability prediction. The results of this study provide a technical framework for the Department of Forest Resource Management to predict occurrence of fires.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yabin Sun ◽  
Dadiyorto Wendi ◽  
Dong Eon Kim ◽  
Shie-Yui Liong

AbstractThe rainfall intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) curves play an important role in water resources engineering and management. The applications of IDF curves range from assessing rainfall events, classifying climatic regimes, to deriving design storms and assisting in designing urban drainage systems, etc. The deriving procedure of IDF curves, however, requires long-term historical rainfall observations, whereas lack of fine-timescale rainfall records (e.g. sub-daily) often results in less reliable IDF curves. This paper presents the utilization of remote sensing sub-daily rainfall, i.e. Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation (GSMaP), integrated with the Bartlett-Lewis rectangular pulses (BLRP) model, to disaggregate the daily in situ rainfall, which is then further used to derive more reliable IDF curves. Application of the proposed method in Singapore indicates that the disaggregated hourly rainfall, preserving both the hourly and daily statistic characteristics, produces IDF curves with significantly improved accuracy; on average over 70% of RMSE is reduced as compared to the IDF curves derived from daily rainfall observations.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 2845-2875 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Schneider ◽  
Andreas Wiegele ◽  
Sabine Barthlott ◽  
Yenny González ◽  
Emanuel Christner ◽  
...  

Abstract. In the lower/middle troposphere, {H2O,δD} pairs are good proxies for moisture pathways; however, their observation, in particular when using remote sensing techniques, is challenging. The project MUSICA (MUlti-platform remote Sensing of Isotopologues for investigating the Cycle of Atmospheric water) addresses this challenge by integrating the remote sensing with in situ measurement techniques. The aim is to retrieve calibrated tropospheric {H2O,δD} pairs from the middle infrared spectra measured from ground by FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectrometers of the NDACC (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change) and the thermal nadir spectra measured by IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) aboard the MetOp satellites. In this paper, we present the final MUSICA products, and discuss the characteristics and potential of the NDACC/FTIR and MetOp/IASI {H2O,δD} data pairs. First, we briefly resume the particularities of an {H2O,δD} pair retrieval. Second, we show that the remote sensing data of the final product version are absolutely calibrated with respect to H2O and δD in situ profile references measured in the subtropics, between 0 and 7 km. Third, we reveal that the {H2O,δD} pair distributions obtained from the different remote sensors are consistent and allow distinct lower/middle tropospheric moisture pathways to be identified in agreement with multi-year in situ references. Fourth, we document the possibilities of the NDACC/FTIR instruments for climatological studies (due to long-term monitoring) and of the MetOp/IASI sensors for observing diurnal signals on a quasi-global scale and with high horizontal resolution. Fifth, we discuss the risk of misinterpreting {H2O,δD} pair distributions due to incomplete processing of the remote sensing products.


REPORTS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (330) ◽  
pp. 41-48
Author(s):  
A.G. Gabdykadyr ◽  
G.T. Issanova ◽  
Y.Kh. Kakimzhanov ◽  
Long Ma

Desertification and degradation provide a clear picture of global environmental and socio-economic issues. Most of Kazakhstan is located in a desert region, including the suburbs of South Balkhash. The reason is that desertification of the region has a strong influence on natural and anthropogenic factors. To consider the geomorphological state of the region and the problem of desertification of the territory, it is necessary to determine the importance of the process of relief of geological structure and relief of tectonics. In recent years, the environmental situation in Balkhash has deteriorated sharply not only as a result of river flow regulation, but also as a result of non-commercial economic activities. Therefore, it is very important to assess the situation of desertification and degradation in the Balkhash region. Desert vegetation has been identified, since information in the spectral range is often insufficient to describe the state of plants, plant indices often develop by combining two or more spectral bands. Land cover index is the percentage of vegetation over a given surface area. Remote sensing information was used to detect the entire land cover. Remote sensing with time and space limitations is widely used to classify vegetation cover. In this work, the proportion of vegetation was estimated by NDVI. The proportion of land cover is based on the relationship between NDVI (NDVIS) and NDVI (NDVIV) in the soil. Using the NDVI index, land cover zones were determined based on satellite images of 2006 and Landsat-5 from 2011. TCT (Tasseled Cap Transformation) coefficients are used in the widest range of problems solved using Earth remote sensing data: from recognition of the coastline of water bodies to determination of forest disturbances. Stressful vegetation may be an indirect sign of the presence of salt in soils. Saline soils are usually characterized by poorly planted areas. A normalized differential salinity index (NDSI) was also determined.


Author(s):  
Tigran Shahbazyan

The article considers the methodology of monitoring specially protected natural areas using remote sensing data. The research materials are satellite images of the Landsat 5 and Landsat 8 satellites, obtained from the resource of the US Geological Survey. The key areas of the study were 3 specially protected areas located within the boundaries of the forest-steppe landscapes of the Stavropol upland, the reserves «Alexandrovskiy», «Russkiy Les», «Strizhament». The space survey materials were selected for the period 1991–2020, and the data from the summer seasons were used. The NDVI index is chosen as the method of processing the spectral channels of satellite imagery. To integrate long-term satellite imagery into a single raster image, the method of variance of the variation series for the NDVI index was used. The article describes an algorithm for processing satellite images, which allows us to identify the features of the dynamics of the vegetation state of the studied territory for the period 1991–2020. The bitmap image constructed by means of the variance of the NDVI index was classified by the quantile method, to translate numerical values into classes with qualitative characteristics. There were 4 classes of the territory according to the degree of dynamism of the vegetation state: “stable”, “slightly variable”, “moderately variable”, “highly variable”. The paper highlights the factors of landscape transformation, including natural and anthropogenic ones. In the course of the study, the determining influence of anthropogenic factors of transformation was noted. The greatest impact is on the reserve «Alexandrovskiy», the least on the reserve «Russkiy Les», in the reserve «Strizhament» the impact is expressed locally. The paper identifies the leading anthropogenic factors of vegetation transformation, based on their influence on vegetation.


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