THE USE OF ANCIENT MAPS AND SPACE IMAGERY IN THE STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

The author outlines, in diagrammatic form, a procedure for the joint use of old maps (topographic, land survey, etc.) and current space imagery to compile maps of environmental change. The ancient maps reveal land use and physical conditions which serve as a benchmark for evaluation of subsequent change. Space imagery is useful both in updating the current state of the environment and providing a cartographic base for the preparation of final maps. Selected areas of Moscow Oblast are used as test sites. Translated from: Izvestiya vuzov, Geodeziya i aerofotos' yem-ka, 1985, No. 1, pp. 104-109.     

APPLICATIONS OF REMOTE SENSING IN THE STUDY OF THE MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN OF DAGESTAN

The authors explore a wide range of applications of remote sensing methods in the study of natural hazards posed by exogenous geomorphologic processes in areas of predominantly calcareous and shale-based rock in mountainous portions of Dagestan. Space imagery, air photographs, and ground truth established from field observations provides the basis for the mapping of environmental conditions with an emphasis on the extent to which mass movements and other exogenous geomorphologic processes pose natural hazards to human residence and economic activity. Translated by Elliott B. Urdang, Providence, RI 02906 from: Geomorfologiya, 1993, No. 4, pp. 26-35.     

STUDY OF THE MORPHOSTRUCTURES OF MOUNTAINOUS AREAS FROM SPACE IMAGERY

The authors review recent developments in the USSR in the use of remote sensing imagery in the analysis, at the world-regional and local levels, of major relief elements (and structural elements manifest in relief) typical of mountainous country. Keys to their interpretation at a variety of scales are described. Case studies and detailed interpretation of imagery in the Soviet Far East and Central Asia (large-scale) and the Caucasus (intermediate-scale) provide for the identification of all morphostructural elements possible through traditional analysis, and in the latter case, for the first direct detection of transverse (cross-cutting) faults. Translated from: Geomorfologiya, 1988, No. 1, pp. 16-29.     

THE INTERRELATIONSHIP AND DYNAMICS OF VEGETATION COVER AND WATER IN THE NORTH CASPIAN REGION

The effectiveness of utilizing the remote sensing signatures of various vegetation associations along the Volga delta region as indicators of specific water availability/flooding conditions is explored. Considerable attention first is devoted to elucidating relationships between higher aquatic vegetation and hydraulic regimes on the basis of field and laboratory studies, before the focus shifts to how remote sensing imagery can provide insights into these relationships. An output of the process was a series of maps depicting environmental change and suggesting sites where reclamation and public health measures were necessary. Translated from: L. N. Vasil'yev, ed., Kosmicheskiye metody izucheniya biosfery [Remote Sensing Methods in the Study of the Biosphere]. Moscow: Nauka, 1990, pp. 88–93.     

MAPPING THE STRUCTURE OF THE SOIL COVER OF THE TAIGA FROM REMOTE SENSING IMAGERY

An experiment is described in which multiscalar remote sensing imagery is sequentially employed in the detection of various rankings of soil types endemic to the taiga natural zone in the northern USSR. Relief features, vegetation associations, extent of surface water, and drainage patterns visible on imagery at scales from 1:12,000,000 to 1:5,000, also examined at low altitude and in the field at a series of test sites, served as indicators of various soil cover types. Considerable attention is given to an explanation of why these features can be considered valid indicators of taiga soil types as well as to the appearance of the indicators on band-specific (black-and-white) and color composite imagery. Translated from: Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, seriya geograficheskaya, 1987, No. 3, pp. 87-99.     

THE STUDY OF DEFORESTATION PROCESSES WITH SPACE IMAGES OF THE SOUTHWESTERN GDR

The use of intermediate-scale space imagery in the analysis of current and ancient deforestation is exemplified by a case study in the southwestern quarter of East Germany, an area heavily deforested as a result of mining and agricultural activities. More specifically a mosaic of 1:1,000,000-scale Landsat imagery was used to compile a series of maps (of modern landscapes, forests, land use), the comparison of which provided an inventory of the causes and extent of deforestation over the study area. This in turn permitted linkages between losses of forest cover and other environmental problems to be identified. Translated by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon Inc., Washington, DC 20005 from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1988, No. 1, pp. 165-173.     

MAPPING THE AVALANCHE HAZARD FOR MOUNTAINOUS AREAS OF AFGHANISTAN

The authors describe a procedure for the compilation of maps of the avalanche hazard in high-mountain regions of Afghanistan. The basic sources of information include space imagery (photographs and scanner imagery), weather station data, and other geographic information on relief, elevation, location of moisture sources, etc. The methodology features the compilation of series of increasingly more specific and informative maps and graphs regarding the avalanche hazard: terrain types, snow cover depth and seasonal extent, duration of snow cover and its elevational zonation, snow as a factor in avalanche formation, and summary map of avalanche hazard. Translated by Elliott B. Urdang, Providence, RI 02906 from: Materialy glyatsiologicheskikh issledovaniy, 1991, No. 71, pp. 86–93.     

STATISTICAL APPROACHES TO IMAGE PROCESSING AND THE MODELING OF FEATURE EDGES

The authors describe a method of nonlinear modeling of the space of feature edges on remote sensing imagery, which is used to derive algorithms for the identification of edge features, and subsequently the production of feature classification maps. Translated from: Metody kompleksnykh aerokosmicheskikh issledovaniy Sibiri, L. K. Zyat'kova, ed. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1985, pp. 60–63.     

INTERPRETATION OF ECOLOGICAL-SOIL CHARACTERISTICS OF WOODED STEPPE ZONE IN THE CENTRAL RUSSIAN UPLAND

The authors describe how remote sensing imagery can be employed in the identification of different types of chernozem soils in a predominantly agricultural zone (forest steppe), where natural vegetation (normally one of the best vegetation indicators) has been largely displaced by farm fields. A multi-stage methodology is outlined whereby small-scale imagery is used to delineate large regions of similar bioclimatic-geologic characteristics, from which areas of similar soil formation conditions are distinguished. Multispectral and multitemporal space imagery then is employed to detect less salient ecological-soil differences that can affect phototone and image texture. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: G. V. Dobrovol'skiy and V. L. Andronikov, eds., Aerokosmicheskiye metody v pochvovedenii i ikh ispol'zovaniye v sel'skom khozyaystve: sbornik nauchnykh trudov [Remote Sensing Methods in Soil Science and Their Utilization in Agriculture: A Collection of Scientific Works]. Moscow: Nauka, 1990, pp 103–109.     

VEGETATION AS A CRITERION FOR INTERPRETING THE MOISTURE REGIME OF A LANDSCAPE

Vegetation signatures on aerial photographs and space imagery are used as indicators of soil moisture differences in a Siberian taiga landscape. The authors use remote sensing products to identify all major habitat types resulting from variable soil moisture regimes that were observed on the ground. These types are described, as are their interpretation keys and the effects of scale change on habitat discrimination. Translated from: Kosmicheskiye metody izucheniya prirodnoy sredy Sibiri i Dal'nego Vostoka, Novosibirsk, 1983, pp. 63-74.     

REMOTE SENSING IMAGERY IN THE STUDY OF SETTLEMENT ON ALLUVIAL FANS

The authors describe how remote sensing imagery may be employed in the zonation and mapping of the alluvial fans of the Fergana Basin, USSR. Settlement patterns depicted on these maps can then be analyzed by planners and civil defense personnel with a view toward minimizing risks posed by natural hazards endemic to alluvial fans: mudflows and other seismically triggered mass movements. Translated from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1987, No. 3, pp. 50-55.     

DEVELOPMENT OF QUANTITATIVE METHODS OF STUDYING THE EARTH FROM SPACE

The paper surveys the development of “space geography”–a field of knowledge applying the methods of remote sensing, the physical sciences, and mathematics in the solution of geographic problems. Early advances featured methodological improvements (use of quantitative methods in image processing), whereas future research must focus upon perfecting our knowledge of: (a) relationships underlying the use of these methods, i.e., between environmental parameters and reflectance values, (b) methods of effectively combining different types of imagery, and image products and field work, in research, and (c) appropriate quantitative indices for feature recognition. Examples of the operationalization of such concerns are demonstrated for land-use and soil mapping projects. Translated from: Izvestiya, AN SSSR, seriya geograficheskaya, 1985, No. 5, pp. 110–116.     

CBERS-02B星数据质量评价及其铀成矿要素解译应用研究

利用遥感影像处理技术和数理统计方法,评价了中巴地球资源一号卫星02B星（CBERS—02B,以下简称02B星）遥感数据的空间特性和辐射特征,并与ETM＋多光谱数据主要特征参数进行了对比分析。在此基础上,以江西桃山花岗岩型铀矿田为试验区,结合航空放射性数据,开展了基于02B星遥感数据的控矿断裂带、热液蚀变带及主要成矿岩体等铀成矿要素的光谱特征识别与提取,并对该数据的地学应用潜力进行了评价。     

REMOTE SENSING AND THE STUDY OF SIBERIAN MINERAL RESOURCES

The authors outline the general policy governing the use of remote sensing in Siberian mineral exploration—as a tool in the structural-geomorphologic mapping of potential mineral-bearing locations. Such maps are used to infer geologic structure (and endogenous conditions for mineral formation) and the character of contemporary exogenous processes (and conditions of transport and concentration of mineral residues) from geoindicators in surface terrain visible from space. Uses of space imagery in the study of seismic activity and engineering geomorphology are also described. Translated from: Kompleksnyye aerokosmicheskiye Issledovaniya Sibiri, A. L. Yanshin and L. K. Zyat'kova, eds. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1984, pp. 5-14.     

MAPPING THE SOILS OF THE MAJOR NATURAL ZONES OF THE USSR FROM REMOTE SENSING IMAGERY

The authors describe the results of their experience in the use of remote sensing imagery to map the distribution of soils within the major natural zones (e.g., wooded steppe, taiga, semidesert) of the USSR. Considerable attention is devoted to instrumental-visual methods of interpretation before the focus shifts to automated interpretation and methods of map compilation, particularly general mapping at intermediate and large scales. One section assesses the relative sizes of mesorelief forms and fields in various natural zones in an effort to determine at what image scales the soil types indicated by these features will be identifiable. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: G. V. Dobrovol'skiy and V. L. Andronikov, eds., Aerokosmicheskiye metody v pochvovedenii i ikh ispol'zovaniye v sel'skom khozyaystve: sbornik nauchnykh trudov [Remote Sensing Methods in Soil Science and Their Utilization in Agriculture: A Collection of Scientific Works]. Moscow: Nauka, 1990, pp. 22-34.     

FORECASTING LOCATIONS OF POTENTIAL INFESTATIONS OF FOREST INSECT PESTS BASED ON REMOTELY SENSED DATA

The authors describe a methodology for the compilation of a final map from remote sensing imagery (that can be rapidly updated) showing the location of likely future sites of infestations of forest insect pests. A series of preliminary maps is compiled, with each stage of mapping providing information used in compiling a map in the subsequent stage, in this case wind damage $$ resistance to further damage $$ locations of potential centers of insect infestation. The design and informational content of maps at all stages in the process are described. Translated by Elliott B. Urdang, Providence, RI 02906 from: A. S. Isayev, V. I. Sukhikh, Ye. N. Kalashnikov et al., Aerokosmicheskiy monitoring lesov [Remote Sensing-Based Monitoring of Forests]. Moscow: Nauka, 1991, pp. 154-163.     

THE CONTENT OF ECOLOGICAL-LANDSCAPE MAPS

The authors describe results of a project involving intermediate-scale mapping of natural environmental complexes of an experimental area in central Belarus'. Three different cartographic models—of landscape dynamics, landscape-geochemical conditions, and composite ecological-landscape conditions—make it possible to organize and synthesize a large volume of material for the assessment of the ecological situation across a number of diverse natural complexes. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: Izvestiya Rossiyskogo Geograficheskogo Obshchestva, Vol. 127, No. 5, 1995, pp. 24-32.     

VEGETATION DYNAMICS OF THE SOUTHERN SLOPE OF THE GREAT CAUCASUS FROM SPACE IMAGERY

The use of multitemporal space imagery in the study of vegetation change in a mountainous section of the Azerbaijan SSR is described. Maps depicting both the character and intensity of change are presented, and methods of their compilation described. Translated from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1987, No. 4, pp. 174-176.     

INTERPRETATION OF THE AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPE WITH SPACE IMAGERY

Heterochronous multispectral imagery from the “Fragment” scanner is used to identify and map a series of “natural-agricultural complexes,” or agricultural landscapes, of southern European Russia. Interpretation is based on imagery in the green, orange, red, and near-infrared zones of the spectrum (0.5-1.1 μm). Interpretation keys and other information designed to facilitate feature discrimination (optimal wavelengths, best seasons for imagining) are provided in many instances. Natural landscape and soil erosion maps are also compiled from the imagery, which supply information (an optimal crop rotation scheme and needed reclamation measures) used on the agricultural landscape map. Translated from: Vestnik Moskovs-kogo Unlversiteta, geografiya, 1985, No. 2, pp. 34-41.