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.     

SPECIAL-PURPOSE REGIONALIZATION OF THE EUROPEAN USSR IN THE STUDY OF HUMAN IMPACTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT

A procedure is elaborated whereby image pattern (texture) provides the basis for development of a hierarchical regionalization scheme for the European USSR based on the level of human modification of the environment. Medium and high resolution scanner and photographic imagery in the visible and near infrared bands are analyzed, together with supporting materials, to identify 6 natural-economic zones, 14 natural-economic provinces, 52 natural-economic oblasts, and 180 natural-economic regions. Such regionalization permits comparisons among different parts of the USSR in terms of locations where image pattern (and landscapes) are more or less significantly altered by human activity. Translated by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington, DC 20005 from: L. I. Vasil'yev, ed., Kosmicheskiye metody izucheniya biosfery [Remote Sensing Methods in the Study of the Biosphere]. Moscow: Nauka, 1990, pp. 18–23.     

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.     

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.     

A GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR PHYSICAL-GEOGRAPHIC REGIONALIZATION

The design and functioning of a geographic information system established for the purpose of objectively delineating the boundaries of major physical geographic regions in the USSR is described. The basic components include an information input block for data collection and preliminary image processing; a recognition block for feature classification and analysis; a data base management system providing for repeated revision, addition, and use of spectral information; and a block for displaying results of processing in various forms. Applications of the system are demonstrated in the mapping of physical regions in a steppe and semi-desert area of the southern USSR. Translated from: Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, seriya geograficheskaya, 1988, No. 2, pp. 89-94.     

USEFUL EXPERIENCE IN THE CREATION OF COMPUTER ATLASES

The activities of the Pacific Institute of Geography, USSR Academy of Sciences in the creation of a series of standardized computer (line printer) atlases of sown areas and yields of basic agricultural crops at 1:8,000,000 scale are described. Contributions by Institute researchers in the development or refinement of greytone scales for alphanumeric areal symbols, computer mapping programs in general, and applications of line-printer maps in planning and nature management are also mentioned. Translated from: Izvestiya Akademiya Nauk SSSR, seriya geografi-cheskaya, No. 3, 1986, pp. 128-130.     

THE RELATION OF CARTOGRAPHY TO THE LAWS AND CLASSIFICATION OF SCIENCE

The chairman of Moscow University's Cartography Department addresses questions about cartography's place in the system of scientific knowledge, qualifications as a science, subject matter, and methods of analysis. Critiques of recent theoretical works both within and outside the USSR lay the groundwork for the author's view of cartography: a multifaceted, interdisciplinary field of knowledge using maps for the presentation and investigation of natural and socioeconomic phenomena. Although few if any strictly cartographic laws exist at present, map use methods are applied widely for the discovery and analysis of laws in other disciplines. Translated from: Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta, geografiya, 1984, No. 6, pp. 3-10.     

GLOBAL ATLASES: A NEW STAGE IN THE GEOGRAPHIC AND CARTOGRAPHIC STUDY OF NATURE AND RESOURCES

This article examines the objectives, structure, content, and scientific significance of three new major world atlases being prepared for publication by the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences in cooperation with other organizations. Translated from: Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, seriya geograficheskaya, 1988, No. 3, pp. 22-30 by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington, DC 20005.     

AN EXPERIMENT IN THE COMPILATION AND USE OF A COMPLEX ENGINEERING-GLACIOLOGICAL MAP

A method for the compilation of 1:3,000,000-scale maps of natural nival-glacial phenomena is proposed for an area of the High Pamir Range in Soviet Central Asia. Such maps depict the distribution, frequency and intensity/magnitude, and potential impacts of such natural hazards as avalanches, mudslides, “dirty snow” avalanches (combined avalanches-mudslides in late spring), icings (naledy), and glacier pulsations, and are used in the planning of construction and the maintenance of roads and other transportation corridors during winter and spring. Hypothetical examples of the use of the maps are provided. Translated from: Materialy glyatsiologicheskikh issledovanly, USSR Geophysical Committee Publication No. 55. Moscow: Mezhduvedomstvenniy geofizicheskiy komitet, 1986, pp. 213–219.     

THE CLASSIFICATION AND MAPPING OF IMPRECISE GEOGRAPHIC SYSTEMS

The author describes problems with traditional statistical and cartographic methods employed in the classification and mapping of ambiguously or vaguely defined features. Using a series of maps on the same subject (the foreign trade relations of European countries and the USSR), he demonstrates that greater attention should be paid to potential changes in the distribution of mapped objects depending on the criteria selected and the classification algorithms employed, argues that multiple classification strategies be used to determine optimal strategies for visually representing imprecise systems, and provides recommendations for their graphic representation. Translated by Kurt E. Engelmann, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 from: Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta, geografiya, 1989, No. 3, pp. 16–23.     

THE CONCEPT OF AN INTEGRATED REPOSITORY OF SPACE IMAGERY AND NEW CRITERIA FOR ITS GEOGRAPHIC AND CARTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS

This paper outlines some principles believed necessary for the establishment of integrated collections of remote sensing imagery, including, at the national level, a unified state image repository for the USSR. A multi-criterion classification of imagery is introduced, which provides a framework for structuring such a repository, and a number of measures for evaluating the utility of imagery within it are described. One of the latter is “geographic” resolution (levels of image detail), which provides a relatively straightforward indication of the type of geographic information embedded within particular types of remote sensing imagery. Translated by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington, DC 20005 from: Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta, geografiya, 1988, No. 6, pp. 53-62.     

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 WORLD ATLAS OF SNOW AND ICE RESOURCES

The World Atlas of Snow and Ice Resources, scheduled for publication in the late 1980s, is an extensive cartographic summary of current knowledge about snow and ice. Roughly 750 maps organized under 17 broad themes cover topics such as glacier morphology, temperature and precipitation conditions in glacier formation, avalanches, meltwater runoff, sea ice, and past glaciation. The organization of the project is described along with the contents of major thematic sections, and examples of the use of basic initial maps to validate information used in more complex derivative maps are provided. Translated from: Materialy glyatsiologicheskikh issledovaniy, USSR Geophysical Committee Publication No. 51. Moscow: Mezhvedomstvenniy geofizicheskiy komitet, 1984, pp. 89-95.     

A CENTER FOR IMAGE PROCESSING IN SIBERIAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

The authors describe the structure and operations of a special Center for Geographic Information [digital image] Processing, now being established in support of the “Sibir” “program—a comprehensive research project on applications of remote sensing in Siberian resource development undertaken by the Siberian section of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Translations of related papers on technical aspects of image processing, also products of the program's research, will appear in subsequent installments of Mapping Sciences and Remote Sensing. Translated from: Metody kompleksnykh aerokosmicheskikh issledovaniy Sibiri, edited by L. K. Zyat'kova. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1985, pp. 57-60.     

CARTOGRAPHIC PERIODICALS OF EASTERN EUROPE AND THE SOVIET UNION

The Chair of the Moscow University Department of Cartography surveys the current cartographic periodicals of the USSR and Eastern Europe, with special emphasis on the USSR, Hungary, East Germany and Poland. The number and relative importance of each country's periodicals reflect general levels of economic and scientific development, although periodicals even from small countries with relatively unfamiliar languages of publication make significant contributions. The Soviet Referativnyi zhurnal, kartografiya supplies Russian-reading cartographers with information on hundreds of cartographic publications worldwide. Translated from the original by Marcia Levenson, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington, D.C. 20005.     

USE OF SPACE IMAGERY IN THE STUDY OF MASS EXCHANGE IN GLACIER SYSTEMS

The author surveys the use of remote sensing imagery in the study of mass exchange in glaciers, i.e., glacier dynamics resulting from phase changes in the water which they contain. A program of research now underway at the Institute of Geography (USSR Academy of Sciences) in conjunction with the “Priroda” Remote Sensing Center (Moscow) focuses on improving methods of data collection and mapping of glacier dynamics from space imagery, and particularly on identifying natural glacioclimatic zones believed to represent specific mass exchange conditions or regimes. The boundary of glacier nourishment separating areas of accumulation and ablation represents a key glacioclimatic indicator of mass exchange on satellite imagery and aerial photography. Translated from: Geodeziya i kartografiya, 1986, No. 5, pp. 26–31.     

REMOTE SENSING IN THE STUDY OF DEEP GEOLOGIC STRUCTURE IN OIL AND GAS FIELDS

The paper presents a series of guidelines, developed by the “Aerogeologiya” prospecting trust, for the use of remote sensing imagery in the study of oil-gas potential in remote areas of the USSR. These guidelines take into consideration both conventional oil-gas exploration strategies and the sequence typical of remote sensing research [from small-scale, general analysis, to large-scale detailed studies]. At present predominantly small-scale imagery is used for general reconnaissance, although instances where larger-scale images provide the basis for more specific investigations are also mentioned. A diagram demonstrates how remote sensing might be incorporated into the traditional framework of oil-gas exploration. Translated from: Kompleksnyye aerokosmicheskiye issledovaniya Sibiri, A. L. Yanshin and L. K. Zyat'kova, eds. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1984, pp. 33-40.     

AN INITIAL ATTEMPT AT INTERPRETING THE STRUCTURE OF MOUNTAINOUS AREAS IN THE WESTERN ANTARCTIC WITH SPACE IMAGERY

The second of two reports on the use of space imagery in the interpretation of Antarctica's geologic structure applies interpretation procedures described in an earlier article (see Mapping Sciences and Remote Sensing, 1985, No. 1) to produce a geologic map of a portion of the Antarctic Peninsula. Features identified on space imagery and depicted on the map include: a deep pericratonnal fault zone, a Mesozoic fold belt interrupted by a complex system of faults, and ring or annular structures of volcanic origin. Translated from: Antarktika, AN SSSR Mezhduve-domstvennaya komissiya po izucheniyu Antarktiki, Doklady komissii [USSR Academy of Sciences Joint Commission on Antarctic Research, Commission Report], No. 24. Moscow, 1985, pp. 43-49.     

THE ECOLOGY OF URBAN GEOSYSTEMS FROM SPACE IMAGERY

This study uses space imagery, particularly false-color composites, to identify and map major natural complexes of the Yerevan basin and the changes they are undergoing as a result of a variety of in situ and “imported” pollution impacts. Interpretation aides in the identification of areas affected by different types of pollution in the basin are identified. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: Izvestiya [Rossiyskoy] Akademii Nauk, seriya geograficheskaya, 1992, No. 1, pp. 112–121.