Study of thunderstorm activity in Volyn Region and in Ukraine using the data of Blitzortung online resource

The article contains the results of statistical and graphical analysis of thunderstorm activity in Ukraine and within Volyn Region, in particular, following the study of the dynamic maps archive available at the online resource Blitzortung.org (lightnings and thunderstorms in real time). It describes the principles and results of activities of Blitzortung.org, a community of lightning direction sensors owners and users, and presents the developed algorithm of the methodology of reading dynamic maps available at this resource. Regional analysis of the archival maps on the website Blitzortung.org for 2008-2019 for the territory of Volyn Region made it possible to establish the following changes of the thunderstorm activity dynamics: the total number of thunderstorm days more than doubled (from 30 to 68.3 days on average); the number of thunderstorms increased in April (it was a rare phenomenon earlier); the number of thunderstorms increased significantly in May, for some years the number of thunderstorm days in May reached certain summer months (June and July); most thunderstorms are of frontal origin, storm fronts come from the west, north and southwest. The number of frontal thunderstorms tends to increase, therefore indicating increased atmospheric instability and the number of natural meteorological phenomena associated with such instability; the average monthly number of thunderstorm days in Volyn Region also increased for all months of the year with no exception. The analysis of storm activity within the whole territory of Ukraine during the period of 2018-2019 indicated the presence of clear regional features and differences. The increase in thunderstorm activity is observed in the western (50-100%) and southern (15-50%) regions of the country, and partly in the north. The number of thunderstorm days in the eastern part of Ukraine is close to the climatic normal. At the same time, the analysis needs to be clarified and detailed throughout the whole network of meteorological stations of Ukraine whose data can be compared with the results of the study of archival maps available at Blitzortung.org.

Water quality assessment of the rivers of the Southern Buh Basin within Vinnytsia Region as per integral indicator of pollution

Vinnytsia Region is a region of Ukraine that attracts people by its nature from ancient times to the present day and is subject to various active economic development efforts. Natural water (aquatic) objects such rivers, lakes, as well as their floodplains and watersheds, are among the ones that are intensively affected by human activities. Therefore, the author chose the basin of the Southern Buh River within Vinnytsia Region for establishing a degree of anthropogenic transformation in the river itself and for determining the state of its left tributaries. The paper highlights the results of field and laboratory studies of chemical and organoleptic state of water of the Southern Buh and its tributaries. The study of the Southern Buh Basin was conducted within Vinnytsia Region, as it is a region of early agricultural development and it has a large number of enterprises of various industries on its territory. Since the basin occupies a large area of Vinnytsia Region, it was reasonable to explore the main tributaries of the Southern Buh flowing through the main localities, and to identify the required sampling points. Currently, the problem of ensuring rational use of water resources is severe because of such factors as growth of water consumption, irrational use of natural resources, excessive and uncontrolled economic activity. All these factors lead to disruption of relations within geosystems, degradation of natural components and decrease of natural resources productivity. Therefore, the study of a degree of anthropogenic transformation of landscape complexes, including geosystems, allows identification of a possibility to reverse anthropogenic changes and display intensity and tendencies of natural processes after transformation of the complexes, as well as display of ability of natural components of the landscape to self-restore. All these components are necessary for field researches and form a basis for the author's research. The aim of the research is to conduct an assessment of the ecological status of surface waters, which serves as one of components of the general status of water bodies, as well as to determine their chemical status based on concentrations of high-priority hazardous pollutants. It establishes the fact that the quality of surface waters of the basin depends on a degree of pollution of water bodies that are subject to economic activity affecting the transformation of the basin system.

Peculiarities of biogenic elements migration in case of complex utilization of bioorganic component of municipal solid waste

Finding solutions to the problem of municipal solid waste management is impossible without involvement in the waste management system of the largest group of wastes – bioorganic waste, which form up to 60% of the municipal solid waste total mass. The aim of the article is to analyze the redistribution of biogenic elements subject to implementation of the Concept of solid municipal waste management by OSENU and subsequent utilization of bioorganic waste flow. Research methods include mass balance and equations of methane generation. The article presents the results of research on the biogenic elements migration in case of complex utilization of bioorganic component of municipal solid waste. The study shows that processing of easy-decomposed organic waste into a gaseous fermentation product and biomineral fertilizer allows full involvement of biogenic elements in natural cycles. The processed solid products present an additional source of organic matter and biogenic elements needed by soil. In the event of humus and nutrients shortage in soil the retrieved-from-waste fertilizer becomes an important secondary resource, containing up to 65% carbon and almost 100% nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The rest of carbon is released with biogas and is eventually involved in natural cycles. Burial of such waste results in localization of biogenic elements in a landfill's body and gradual release of carbon with the products of destruction (27% over 50 years). All this data indicate the need for efficient use of such waste resource potential which is possible in case of easy-decomposed organic waste separation at the beginning of the municipal solid waste life cycle. Combustion releases only carbon in the form of carbon dioxide, the rest remains in ash. However, complex utilization of easy-decomposed organic waste ensures complete return of biogenic elements to the environment. Reuse of secondary raw materials in the form of paper and textile waste minimizes involvement in economic turnover of carbon from natural sources.

Evaluation of water resources changes of the Mountain Dniester in 20th century following the RCP8.5 scenario and based on the “climate-runoff” model

The relevance of the research consists in the need for evaluating the water resources changes of the Dniester due to global warming. The mountain part of the Dniester Basin is a zone of the river's runoff formation that determines its water content. The subject of research includes a process of climate changes and their impact on the water resources of the Mountain Dniester’s catchments. The research focuses on determining the water resources changes under current and possible future climatic conditions represented by climatic scenarios. The research aims at evaluating the water resources changes of the mountain part of the Dniester’s catchment area at the present and in the future by the mid-21 st century (2021-2050) based on the “climate-runoff” model using meteorological observations data (up to 2018 inclusive) and scenario data (averaged data based on 14 mathematical models of the CORDEX project, RCP8.5 scenario). During the research the resources of humidification, heat (heat equivalent) and water content for modern (1989-2018) and scenario (RCP8.5, 2021-2050) climatic conditions based on application of the "climate-runoff" model were evaluated. The theoretical basis for estimating the natural (undisturbed by water management) annual runoff in this model is represented by the water-heat balance equation. The meteorological characteristics (average monthly air temperatures and precipitation) serve as input data. The runoff calculated using the water-heat balance equation is called a climatic runoff. One of the peculiarities of the research consists in the use of the vertical zoning law with respect to distribution of runoff and climatic factors of its formation. During the comparative analysis the dependence of annual runoff norms on height of the Mountain Dniester’s terrain specified in modern regulatory documents served as a basic dependence. Such dependence reflects an altitude-dependant distribution of runoff for the climatic conditions that preceded the significant impact of global warming on air temperature (until 1989). The analysis of the dependences of average long-term values of the annual runoff depending on the terrain altitude showed that the runoff changes for two studied periods (before and after 1989) are within ±12,3%. The analysis of the graphs of chronological course of annual water flow of the mountain tributaries of the Dniester made it possible to confirm the absence of statistically significant trends in their fluctuations. According to the RCP8.5 climate scenario over the period of 2021-2050 and following the results of calculations based on the “climate-runoff” model, the dependences of the average long-term altitude-related values of climatic factors and climatic runoff were retrieved. It was found that the effects of global warming decrease with increasing altitude. In the foothills (up to 200 m) the annual precipitation decreases (up to 11%), the maximum possible evaporation increases (up to 17%) and water resources decrease (up to 46%). Heat resources cease to increase and water resources cease to reduce at the altitudes over 800 m. The average deviation of the scenario and baseline values for precipitation over the estimated period will amount to 2.41% for precipitation, 5.79% for maximum possible evaporation and 8.87% for water resources. Thus, reduction of water resources in the mountainous part of the Dniester by the mid-21 st century will be insignificant. When evaluating the current state of water resources of the Mountain Dniester no significant changes were discovered, thereby not contradicting the other authors’ data.

Evaluation of the ecological and geochemical state of surface water in Donbas

The article covers evaluation of the ecological and geochemical state of surface water and bottom sediments in Donbas, as well as their pollution resulting from spatio-temporal changes of natural and anthropogenic factors. It was established that chemogenic pollution occurs due to penetration of polluting elements into surface water as a result of filtration leaks from sedimentation tanks and water discharges made by enterprises of coal, chemical, metallurgical, coke-chemical and petrochemical industries. Increased concentrations of biogenic elements (mineral forms of nitrogen and iron) were recorded in the water of the Siverskyi Donets and the Luhan Rivers. The most significant deterioration of groundwater quality because of high content of sulfates and chlorides is observed within the watersheds of the Luhan River's valley. Measurement results of the metals content indicated an increased content of copper and manganese. Some values even exceed the average annual concentrations specified by the existing normative values. In general, the results of the pollutants content analysis in the river basins under study did not reveal significant changes in the content of heavy metals during the period of military actions as compared to the results of government monitoring by 2014. The obtained experimental data indicate that vanadium, chromium and copper dominate in bottom sediments of all the studied objects. The greatest accumulation of heavy metals is observed in the Bakhmutka River and the Kryvyi Torets River. The research established that copper and plumbum in the bottom sediment samples taken from the Kryvyi Torets exceed the background values by 4-5 times. Zinc and vanadium exceed the background content values by 10 and 4 times, respectively. The same indicators are slightly lower in the Volyntsevske Reservoir and this fact is associated with more intense processes of water exchange and certain peculiarities of bottom sediments granulometric composition. Concentration of zinc is 3 times as much as the background level, vanadium and manganese – twice as much. Heavy metals in the bottom sediments of the studied water bodies are characterized by uneven distribution. Vanadium and copper dominate in the content of bottom sediments. Concentrations of zinc, vanadium and nickel at certain objects also exceed their regional background content values. Titanium was detected in minimum quantities.

Scientific-methodical and practical principles for assessment of the key territories of the Eastern Podillya's econetwork based on the main criteria of their formation

The article presents scientific-methodical and practical principles for assessment of key territories of the ecological network of Eastern Podillya based on the main criteria of their formation. It offers the system of appropriate approaches and principles to be applied for formation of the key territories of the region's ecological network. The principle of representativeness should serve as a main criterion for selection of the key territories, however, we still advise to consider three types of such territories – biotic (botanical, zoological, mycological); geographical (landscape; biogeographical); geozoological (object; categorical; functional). Such aspects as area, size, configuration, state of internal ecological balance should play a significant role in creating the key territories, however, the qualitative and quantitative composition of protected objects, degree of anthropogenic impact on natural and man-made ecosystems and types of conservation regimes are also extremely important. Matrix representativeness, which is widely used in EU countries, should be also of great importance in forming a network of key territories. It is based on the landscape-zonal principle, where the systems of natural zoning units (biogeographical, geobotanical, floristic, forest typological, zoogeographical, physical-geographical) form the matrix of biodiversity species and landscapes. According to this principle, the basis for creation of key territories should by all means include typical (indicator) species of biodiversity, landscapes of all natural zones, subzones, regions, provinces, sub-provinces, districts. The field surveys of Eastern Podillya led us to a conclusion that a significant number of key territories do not perform a function of preserving biotic and landscape diversity. The conducted field researches allowed establishing the fact that there is a risk of losing such diversity under current ecological conditions of the region. Therefore, using the principle of representativeness, we presented a method of assessing the key territories of the Eastern Podillya's ecological network based on the main criteria of their formation. The main criteria include degree of naturalness of a certain key territory, its floristic and faunistic significance, landscape-coenotic and specific (relating to species) representativeness, purpose of a key territory, and its protected status (regime).

Variability of thermohaline regime of see water of the Gulf of Mexico in 2005-2017

The Gulf of Mexico is a large, productive, marine and coastal ecosystem providing the coastal residents and neighbouring regions with goods and services. The Gulf of Mexico's water area plays a significant role in shaping the climate across the coastal zone and the thermal state of the region's water also has a major impact on development of atmospheric processes over the Atlantic and Europe. Long-term climate variability throughout the Gulf of Mexico may affect both the strength of the Gulf Stream and heat transfer patterns within the ocean and the economic activity and environmental stability of the entire Northwest Atlantic Region. This work aims at determining the characteristics of variability of temperature regime and salinity of the Gulf of Mexico over recent decades. The study was conducted based on the Gulf of Mexico Regional Climatology (GOM RC) data, version 2, available at the website of the NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). It analyzes the temperature and salinity values at different depths for the period of 2005-2017. According to the analysis, over 2005-2017 the spatial distribution of the average annual water temperature on the Gulf of Mexico's surface demonstrates its decrease from south to north. Its highest value is observed next to the northwestern coast of Cuba and along the coastal area of the Bay of Campeche, and the lowest temperature is observed at Apalachee Bay located in the northeastern part of the Gulf of Mexico. Though significant horizontal temperature gradients are observed in winter, during the warm period the temperature field is more homogeneous. The minimum average monthly water temperature on the surface is observed in January, the maximum one – in September. The most distinct seasonal changes in temperature are observed in the water of the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico next to the United States' coast. The distribution of average annual salinity of the most of the Gulf of Mexico is homogeneous with the exception of its northern part, especially in the area where the Mississippi River water flows into it, where salinity decreases sharply. Graphs of water temperature and salinity distribution at different depths across different areas of the gulf were constructed in order to determine the water stratification.

Analysis of air pollution in the City of Odesa using automated observation data

The work presents the analysis of air pollution in the City of Odesa using, among others, the data of automated observations. The air basin state was also evaluated using individual parameters of sustainable development. According to the official data of the recent years the City of Odesa belongs to the most polluted cities of Ukraine in terms of air pollution. Based on the ranking results it was established that the level of atmospheric pollution in the City of Odesa can be classified as high for the most of pollutants. It is classified as acceptable for some substances (sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide) and as extremely high for formaldehyde concentration. After comparing the observational data related to content of individual pollutants at the OSENU's observation point and the data of long-term observations in the city it was found that the content of nitrogen dioxide generally corresponds to the average long-term values. The observations conducted at the points of the city network indicated that the content of carbon monoxide is two orders of magnitude lower and the content of PM10 is one order of magnitude lower than dust concentrations. The increased content of certain pollutants in the air (nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc.) is observed in the summer-autumn period and caused by the traffic intensification. The evaluation of the city's air basin state using individual parameters of the environmental measurement index showed that we observed better conditions in 2014 and 2016. The conditions for sustainable development are characterized by average indicators, however, towards worsening of the situation. The results obtained in this paper form a basis for extending the implementation of the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on introducing a new procedure for state monitoring of the atmospheric air in Ukraine. The existing laboratory base of the observation points requires radical re-equipment. It is also necessary to conduct an air pollution survey for identification of high priority pollutants and, based thereon, development of monitoring programs with consideration of the necessity for keeping certain impurities under control.

Objective selection of model run from regional climate models ensemble

In this paper, a method was developed in relation to the north-western coast of the Black Sea in order to determine the optimal model run from regional climate models ensemble. As a result of climate change, which has been observed since the late 1980s in Ukraine, various natural objects changes have been also transformed. The study of such changes in the future is possible only by using runs of global or regional climate models. Moreover, the step of the spatial grid in the climate model must be comparative with the spatial size of a natural object under study. In the north-western coast of the Black Sea, climate change is characterized by increasing aridity of climate and a corresponding decrease in freshwater inflows into coastal lagoons from their catchments, making ecosystems of these lagoons sensitive and vulnerable to climate change. Using numerical models in order to study climate change impact on these natural objects requires input hydrometeorological information in the spatial grid points, the distance between which should correspond to the horizontal size of lagoons, i.e. several kilometers. In this paper, data from the scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 of the ensemble from 14 model runs with different regional climatic models of the CORDEX project were used to simulate the future changes of the temperature and precipitation regime. For each grid point and scenario, a single simulation was selected from the ensemble, which best reproduces the intra-annual changes of temperature, precipitation, and evaporation compared to the ensemble means. Despite the sufficiently large distance between the estuaries, the method allowed the selection of a single optimal model run, which shows the significant differences in spring and summer precipitation as well as year-around evaporation in the southern and northern parts of the northwestern coast of the region. This run well reproduces the relationship between temperature, precipitation, and evaporation in the southern and northern parts of the northwestern coast of the Black Sea.

Analysis of sorption capacity of natural sorbents in relation to aqueous solutions of heavy metal compounds

The main preconditions emergence of an environmental crisis in the country due to surface water pollution include irrational use of water resources in violation of the environmental requirements, discharge of untreated and insufficiently treated industrial and municipal wastewater into water bodies and inflow of polluting substances from agricultural lands as a result of surface water drainage. The whole set of considered factors leads to depletion and pollution of surface water of Ukraine, reduction of their self-cleaning capacity, degradation, impoverishment and collapse of aquatic ecosystems. Excessive content of heavy metal ions in surface water has a negative impact on the environment, causing acute and chronic diseases. Ingress of such pollutants into surface water is almost entirely due to anthropogenic economic activity. Wastewater from chemical, ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy brings a great amount of such pollutants. Among various methods used for removing heavy metal ions from aqueous media, sorption methods remain one of the most effective and popular, mainly due to the fact that they ensure a high degree of purification at relatively low costs. Along with the adsorbents traditionally involved in these processes, a number of studies and practical implementations with use of natural dispersed minerals as adsorbents were conducted lately. The research aims at studying the sorption capacity and efficiency of natural and modified sorbent such as bentonite clay for purification of aqueous solutions containing heavy metal ions in the form of dissolved compounds and justifying its potential application. It studies the efficiency of wastewater treatment aimed at removing heavy metal ions by the natural clay sorbent of bentonite clays of the Cherkaskyi Deposit (Dashukovskyi deposit). The paper presents a technique for modification of bentonite clay in order to increase its adsorption capacity for heavy metal ions using the following three methods: physical (thermal), chemical (processing with application of Iron(III) chloride solution) and combined (thermal processing of the original sorbent followed by processing with application of Iron(III) chloride solution). It has been experimentally proved that a natural sorbent modified via thermal and chemical processing is characterized by a high absorption capacity to heavy metal ions contained in water solutions, in particular to chromium(VI) ions, copper(II) ions and aluminum(III) ions with the purification degree ranging from 5% to 83%. The highest adsorption rate, 83%, is demonstrated by the combined method of bentonite clay modification, therefore proving the effectiveness of application of environmentally friendly natural sorbents for wastewater treatment processes aimed at removing heavy metal ions. The paper indicates the advantages of wastewater treatment sorption methods allowing removal of pollutants of different origin and any concentration.