Viivikonna – Formation of a Ghost Town Amongst Other East Estonian Oil-Shale Mining and Industrial Town

The central Stalinist urban ensembles in East Estonian oil-shale mining and industrial townsKohtla-Järve, Ahtme, Sompa, Jõhvi, Kukruse, Kiviõli, Kohtla-Nõmme and Sillamäe areprotected by comprehensive plans and regarded as built-up areas of cultural andenvironmental value; Viivikonna, although similar to these towns, does not boast suchpatronage. Compared to other oil-shale mining and industrial towns, Viivikonna has becomea brownfield nearly completely. What could be the reason for such a difference?Someanswers may be found in history (1946–1980). Viivikonna is the only East Estonian oil-shalemining and industrial town that follows urban planning principles and a pattern, establishedby the Department of Architecture of the Estonian SSR, led by Harald Arman, to this day.However, it is necessary to decide the purpose of Viivikonna in the near future: whether partsor whole of the town are worthy of preservation–both in the economic and aesthetic sense.

Detecting the Sources of Methane Emission from Oil Shale Mining and Processing Using Airborne Hyperspectral Data

Methane (CH4) is one of important greenhouse gases that affects the global radiative balance after carbon dioxide (CO2). Previous studies have demonstrated the detection of known sources of CH4 emission using the hyperspectral technology based on in situ vertical CH4 profile or ground CH4 emissions data. However, those approaches have not yet to detect the unknown terrestrial sources of CH4 emission at local-scale or regional-scale. In this paper, the Shortwave Airborne Spectrographic Imager (SASI) was employed to detect concentrated sources of CH4 emissions based on the absorption of CH4 in the shortwave infrared (SWIR) region. As a result, a band ratio (namely RCH4, RCH4 = Band91/Band78) determined through wavelet transform singularity detection has proposed for detection of the terrestrial CH4 emissions sources using SASI hyperspectral radiance image data, and elevated CH4 locations in the oil shale retorting plants were identified. Additionally, SASI surface reflectance data and multiple reference spectra in the spectral angle mapper (SAM) were used to classify surface sources of CH4 release. High-resolution Google Earth imagery and thermal imaging camera (FLIR GF320) had also verified that the CH4 releasing sources are mainly the oil shale mining field and the retorting plant. Therefore, the high-resolution imaging hyperspectral spectrometer can provide a powerful tool for detecting terrestrial CH4 release sources at local-scale to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions related to hydrocarbon development.

Formation Mechanisms of Stalinist Oil-Shale Mining and Industrial Towns in East Estonia: Soviet Nuclear Needs and Local Ambitions

Planning of oil-shale mining and industrial towns Kohtla-Järve, Jõhvi, Sillamäe, Ahtme, Sompa, Kukruse, Kiviõli, Kohtla-Nõmme, and Viivikonna was caused by Soviet Union’s need for mineral resources, nuclear arms race, army, industry, and economy. East Estonian region gained strategic importance for the Soviet Union already in 1940. Although these towns were planned mostly by nonlocal architects and stately architectural firms, for instance, Stalinist central gridlines and central urban ensembles of Kohtla-Järve and Sillamäe were designed under the guidance of local architect Harald Arman. As a head of the Department of Architecture of the Estonian SSR, he processed both masterplans and construction plans of those towns within ambitious planning of oil-shale region during the mid-1940s and early-1950s. Those factors established urban planning principles and a pattern of East Estonian oil-shale mining and industrial towns.