THE ECOLOGY OF RUSSIA ON MAPS

An overview paper, providing general information on research in the field of ecological mapping, surveys the cartographic study of ecological problems occurring in Russia at present and defines priority problems for the future development of this field. Among the criteria used to categorize the inventory of the ecological cartographic products of Russia are map topic, scale, time of compilation, format, and regional distribution. The survey was carried out under the auspices of the Russian Federation Ministry of Science, Higher and Intermediate Education, and Technical Policy at the Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with specialists of many institutions and organizations of the country—The Siberian Section, Institute of Geography; the Russian State Library; and others. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, seriya geograficheskaya, 1994, No. 1, pp. 107-118.     

MAPS OF USE OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE BURYAT REPUBLIC

A team of Russian geographers describes the development of a program for mapping land use/resource development and the condition of the environment in Russia's Buryat Republic. Three ecological maps recently compiled in the Republic, using a single cartographic base and employing standardized methods, are described. The last such map is a map of environmental use that reflects both a resource-development and an environmental-protection perspective. The article includes detailed examples of the legend of the latter map. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1998, No. 3, pp. 23-29.     

APPLICATION OF THE CARTOGRAPHIC METHOD IN THE STUDY OF NATURE-SOCIETY INTERACTION IN THE MOLDAVIAN SSR

A Russian geographer describes a methodology whereby data on slopes contained within a geographic information system are employed in the compilation of geomorphological maps. More specifically, the author proposes and tests a technology for the automated compilation of electronic maps of mean slope for the territory of Altay Kray, West Siberia, Russia. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, Virginia from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 2002, No. 2, pp. 142-146.     

MEDIUM-SCALE MAPPING OF THE FOREST ECOSYSTEMS OF MONGOLIA

The paper describes the organization and preliminary results of a joint Mongolian-Russian program for mapping forest vegetation in an area of Mongolia adjacent to the Russian border. The project involved the compilation of a map of ecosystems, which provided a base for a subsequently prepared map of ecosystem disturbance by humans. The paper includes a discussion of procedures followed in compilation of the legends of the two maps, as well as a detailed analysis of the spatial patterns of human disturbance revealed by analysis of the second map. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1996, No. 3, pp. 135-144.     

COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CARTOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

In a review of one of the fundamental Russian works on geographic information systems, the author provides an interesting glimpse into the development of GIS and GIS training in Russia and other former Soviet republics (most notably, Georgia). Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1992, No. 3, pp. 171-172.     

REMOTE SENSING-BASED MONITORING OF GEOSYSTEMS USING MORPHOMETRIC METHODS

A Russian geographer assesses past experience with (and potential applications of) the principles and methods of landscape morphometry in the remote sensing-based monitoring of geosystems. Considerable attention is devoted to methods of calculating indices measuring the shape, nonuniformity, relative location, proximity, connectivity, and fractal dimensions of strips and patches—two basic types of forms found on remote sensing imagery. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1998, No. 4, pp. 97-103.     

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION MAPPING IN REGIONS OF GAS DEVELOPMENT IN MOUNTAIN TAIGA LANDSCAPES

A Russian geographer outlines a program of environmental protection mapping undertaken in conjunction with the development of the Kovyktinskoye gas condensate deposit. The main thrust of the approach is the delineation of areas characterized by different levels of environmental protection measures necessary during development. The article addresses methodological issues affecting the map compilation procedure and presents in tabular form the measures determined to be most important in various ecological zones. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1998, No. 1, pp. 49-53.     

CARTOGRAPHY ON THE EVE OF A NEW MILLENNIUM

One of Russia's foremost cartographers surveys the status of cartography on the eve of the 21st century, in a review of research presented at a plenary session of a recent national cartographic conference of the Russian Federation. The focus is on how changes in scientific paradigms (toward a so-called phenomenological paradigm) have been accompanied by the appearance of new products and modes of communication and information transmission. These, in turn, have generated needs for new programs of mass-based cartographic education and new scientific production institutes for the design and testing of new mapping technologies. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, seriya geograficheskaya, 1998, No. 1, pp. 8-17.     

MODERN CARTOGRAPHY: RESULTS AND PROSPECTS

The author reviews the principal problems pertaining to the development of modern cartography raised at a conference on Cartography at the Transition between the 20th and 21st Centuries, held in Moscow in the autumn of 1997. The conference was organized by the Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Russian Geographical Society, the Russian Federation Geodetic and Cartographic Service, the school of Geography at Moscow University, the Russian State Library, the Moscow State University of Geodesy, Aerial Mapping, and Cartography, and the Geoinformation System Association. There were 67 plenary reports, over 30 poster sessions, and a roundtable on “Cartographic Working Groups of Today and Tomorrow.” Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA from: Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, seriya geograficheskaya, 1998, No. 2, pp. 121-130.     

A MAP OF THE AVERAGED RELIEF OF THE RUSSIAN PLAIN

The authors outline a methodology for the small-scale hypsometric mapping of plains areas based on the averaging of relief—this for the purpose of portraying the most important details of local relief (small erosional landforms) without obscuring larger, major relief forms or compromising the readability of the map. An example map (25-m contour interval) of the Soviet portion of the East European Plain at a scale of 1:5,000,000 is included. The elevations portrayed on this map were averaged, according to a multi-stage procedure, from grid cells on a 1:2,500,000 map before transference onto the smaller-scale map base. The new map makes possible a revised estimate of the average elevation of the Russian Plain and depicts well the effects of both endogenous and exogenous factors on relief formation. Translated from: Geomorfologiya, 1987, No. 1, pp. 22-29.     

ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT AND MAPPING FOR BALANCED REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

A Russian geographer summarizes the results of a comprehensive study of modern landscapes and the mapping of diverse ecological situations. The procedure involves the development of a system of criteria and indices for the assessment of the properties of the environment, which provide a sound basis for comprehensive ecological mapping. The importance of an ecological assessment in the mapping of environmental problems and situations in support of the stable and balanced development of regions is demonstrated. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA from: Izvestiya Akademiya Nauk, seriya geograficheskaya, 1999, No. 1, pp. 81-87.     

EVALUATION OF THE COEFFICIENT OF TERRESTRIAL REFRACTION

Abstract

In a previous article on this subject (Empire Survey Review, January 1937) the writer sought to show that for trigonometrical observations of vertical angles made near noon in the Tropics the coefficient of refraction depends chiefly on height above ground level in the case of stations sited within a few hundred feet above the general level of the ground surface. Indeed, the computed values of the coefficient K show a definite and appreciable increase with “h”, the height of the observing station above ground level; it is usually assumed that K decreases with increase in height above the Mean-Sea-Level surface. From analysis of the results obtained by varying h but holding the heights above Mean Sea Level fixed the writer came to the conclusion that the variations in K could only be due to abnormal values of dt/dh and d²t/dh², “t” denoting the air temperature. Now it is generally recognized by meteorologists that abnormal lapse-rates of temperature do frequently occur in the lower air layers in the Tropics; but up to the present time no temperature soundings in Nigeria are available. Recently, however, the writer came across the results of the aerological soundings made by an expedition in East Africa during the year 1908. The results of many of the soundings were of no use for the purpose of this paper; many of the observations were not taken at or near noon, and in others counterlapses of temperature in the lower layers indicated that conditions were not normal. A set of observations taken at Mombasa between 10 and 11 a.m. were eventually chosen as offering an example of what might reasonably occur in the lower layers of the atmosphere.     

EVALUATION OF THE COEFFICIENT OF TERRESTRIAL REFRACTION

Abstract

In two previous articles (E.S.R., vol. iv, nos. 23 and 25) it was shown that, at the time of maximum diurnal temperature in the tropics, a definite relationship exists in the lower layers of the atmosphere between the magnitude of the coefficient of terrestrial refraction at a point and the height of that point above plain level, provided the weather is fine and clear. In fact the coefficient K increases with the height h, within certain limits which are probably defined by the condensation layer.     

THE CONFORMAL TRANSFORMATION OF A NETWORK OF TRIANGULATION

Abstract

In a recent issue of this Review, an example is given of the conformal transformation of a network of triangulation using Newton's interpolation formula with divided differences. While the application of the method appears to be new, attention should be drawn to the fact that Kruger employed Lagrange's interpolation formula in a discussion and extension of the Schols method in a paper which was published in the Zeitschrift für Vermessungswesen in 1896. A reference to this paper was given at the end of the paper, “Adjustment of the Secondary Triangulation of South Africa”, published in a previous issue of the E.S.R. (iv, 30, 480).     

COMPENSATION AS A CONSEQUENCE OF TWO KINDS OF ROCK STRUCTURE

Abstract

The following points occurred to me when reading the interesting paper on crustal equilibrium in E.S.R. No. 23. The principle of compensation or isostasy necessarily involves the idea of two different kinds of rock structure—one strong, the other weak or in extreme cases fluid; for example, there is the familiar case of the strong iceberg resisting change of shape in the liquid sea. In dealing with crustal problems of the earth then, we should make up our minds which part is to be considered as strong, e.g. the granite crust, and which part as weak or fluid, e.g. material at a depth x km. (say roo km.); by weak or fluid I mean that a possibility exists of horizontal movement.     

TWO PROBLEMS OF RESECTION

Abstract

That admirable annual, The Surveyor (Ceylon), was generously forwarded to us some months ago. In this issue, vol. 2, no. 4, p. 93, there is given the solution of a question on resection in an examination paper. Since the solution appears rather laboured and the problem is interesting in itself and by no means valueless, it seems not out of place to attempt a simpler and more obvious answer.     

A NOVEL METHOD OF MEASURING THE COEFFICIENT OF THERMAL EXPANSION OF INVAR

Abstract

In a letter published in a recent issue of Nature, Prof. L. F. Bates and Mr J. C. Wilson, of University College, Nottingham, have described a new and novel method of determining the coefficient of thermal expansion of invar. Although this method is hardly likely to be applied to the measurement of the coefficient of expansion of long invar tapes, such as are used by surveyors, yet it is so novel and ingenious in itself that a short reference to it may not be out of place in this Review. One extremely interesting thing about it is that no measurements of a length, or of changes of length, are involved.     

EXPANSION OF PAPER AS AFFECTING AREA

Abstract

For the sake of the junior reader we may repeat an old and simple investigation. Let us suppose that the paper on which a map is printed undergoes a regular expansion p in one direction, say the X direction, and another regular expansion q in the Y direction, perpendicular to the former; it is required to know the effect of these expansions on the area of any parcel on the map. Note that, so far as the mathematics are affected, X and Y are not necessarily parallel to the margins of the sheet; we shall take them here as axes of any rectangular coordinate system. The symbols p and q are regarded as ratios, so that 100p and 100p represent the percentage expansions; if the paper contracts instead of expanding, no more is necessary than to change the sign.     

THE COOLING OF THE EARTH BY CONVECTION AND SOME OF ITS CONSEQUENCES

Abstract

In this Review (24, 68, 1937) attention was drawn to the need, in considering isostasy, of recognizing the existence of two separate weak layers, i.e. layers in which material can flow horizontally. One of these is a deep layer under both oceans and continents, the other being a layer of plastic basalt, immediately under the continents only, in which mountain ranges and other local surface masses are compensated. That suggestion formed part of a wider theory which has been developed in recent articles in the Pan-American Geologist. A brief review of that theory may be of interest.