Introduction
Information Systems
GIS Software
Geographic information systems in ecology
MEMOS project
Bibliography
Introduction
Information technologies serve primarily the purpose of saving resources by searching and then using information to improve the efficiency of human activity. Currently, research on environmental protection is conducted in all fields of science and technology by various organizations and at various levels, including at the state level. However, information from these studies is highly scattered.
Large volumes of environmental information, long-term observation data, and the latest developments are scattered across various information bases or even located on paper in archives, which not only complicates their search and use, but also leads to doubts about the reliability of the data and the effective use of funds allocated for the environment from the budget, foreign funds or commercial structures.
The second point that determines the need for informatization is constant monitoring of the actual state of the environment, payment of taxes, and implementation of environmental measures. The need for control arose with the adoption of pollution charges back in 1992, when problems such as re-indexation of payments due to inflation, non-payment for air pollution, and “evasion” of environmental payments were discovered, due to the lack of the necessary technical basis for timely monitoring of compliance with the law. .
Thanks to automated monitoring systems, control over environmental activities becomes more effective, since constant monitoring allows not only to monitor the correct implementation of the law, but also to make amendments to it in accordance with the actual conditions of the environmental and socio-economic situation.
At the turn of the two millennia, the problem of the relationship between human society and the environment became acute. Over the past decades, the risk of major environmental disasters caused by humans and resulting from the protective reaction of nature has increased.
Natural and man-made environmental disasters have a historical aspect. Various natural disasters, such as floods and forest fires, have existed throughout the history of our planet. However, with the development of modern civilization, new types of disasters have arisen, including desertification, degradation of land resources, dust storms, pollution of the World Ocean, etc. The beginning of the 21st century poses the urgent task of assessing the risk of environmental disasters and taking measures to prevent them. In other words, the task of managing environmental disasters has become urgent. And this is possible if there is the necessary information support about the past, current and future state of environmental objects, including natural, man-made and anthropogenic systems.
Information Systems
Modern information technologies are intended for searching, processing and distributing large amounts of data, creating and operating various information systems containing databases and banks of data and knowledge.
In the broad sense of the word, an information system is a system, some elements of which are information objects (texts, graphics, formulas, websites, programs, etc.), and the connections are of an informational nature.
An information system, understood in a narrower sense, is a system designed to store information in a specially organized form, equipped with tools for performing procedures for entering, placing, processing, searching and issuing information at user requests.
The most important subsystems of automated information systems are databases and data banks, as well as expert systems belonging to the class of artificial intelligence systems. Separately, geographic information systems should be considered as one of the most developed global AIS in ecology at the moment.
Concept of Geographic Information System (GIS)
A geographic information system (GIS) is a software and hardware complex that solves a set of tasks for storing, displaying, updating and analyzing spatial and attribute information on territorial objects. One of the main functions of GIS is the creation and use of computer (electronic) maps, atlases and other cartographic works. Berlyant A.M. Cartography: Textbook for universities. - M.: Aspect Press, 2001. - 336 p. The basis of any information system is data. Data in GIS is divided into spatial, semantic and metadata. Spatial data is data that describes the location of an object in space. For example, the coordinates of the corner points of a building, represented in the local or any other coordinate system. Semantic (attribute) data - data about the properties of an object. For example, address, cadastral number, number of storeys and other characteristics of the building. Metadata is data about data. For example, information about who, when and using what source material the building was entered into the system. The first GIS were created in Canada, the USA and Sweden to study natural resources in the mid-1960s, and now in industrialized countries there are thousands of GIS used in economics, politics, ecology, natural resource management and protection, cadastre, science, education etc. They integrate cartographic information, remote sensing and environmental monitoring data, statistics and censuses, hydrometeorological observations, expedition materials, drilling results, etc. Structurally, a municipal GIS is a centralized database of spatial objects and a tool that provides storage, analysis and processing capabilities for any information associated with a particular GIS object, which greatly simplifies the process of using information about objects of the urban area by interested services and individuals. It is also worth noting that GIS can (and should) be integrated with any other municipal information system that uses data about objects in the urban area. For example, a system for automating the activities of a municipal property management committee should use in its work the address plan and map of land plots of the municipal GIS. The GIS can also store zones containing rental rate coefficients that can be used in calculating rent. In the case when a centralized municipal GIS is used in the city, all employees of local government bodies and city services have the opportunity to obtain regulated access to up-to-date GIS data, while spending much less time on searching, analyzing and summarizing them. GIS are designed to solve scientific and applied problems of inventory, analysis, assessment, forecast and management of the environment and the territorial organization of society. The basis of GIS is automated mapping systems, and the main sources of information are various geo-images. Geoinformatics - science, technology and industrial activities:
On the scientific basis, design, creation, operation and use of geographic information systems;
On the development of geographic information technologies;
On applied aspects or applications of GIS for practical or geoscientific purposes. Dyachenko N.V. Using GIS technologies
GIS Software
GIS software is divided into five main classes used. The first most functionally complete class of software is instrumental GIS. They can be designed for a wide variety of tasks: for organizing the input of information (both cartographic and attribute), its storage (including distributed, supporting network work), processing complex information requests, solving spatial analytical problems (corridors, environments, network tasks, etc.), construction of derivative maps and diagrams (overlay operations) and, finally, to prepare for the output of original layouts of cartographic and schematic products to hard media. As a rule, instrumental GIS support working with both raster and vector images, have a built-in database for digital basis and attribute information, or support one of the common databases for storing attribute information: Paradox, Access, Oracle, etc. The most developed products have run time systems that allow you to optimize the necessary functionality for a specific task and reduce the cost of replication of help systems created with their help. The second important class is the so-called GIS viewers, that is, software products that provide the use of databases created using instrumental GIS. As a rule, GIS viewers provide the user (if at all) with extremely limited options for replenishing databases. All GIS viewers include tools for querying databases that perform operations of positioning and zooming of cartographic images. Naturally, viewers are always an integral part of medium and large projects, allowing you to save costs on creating some jobs that are not endowed with the rights to replenish the database. The third class is reference cartographic systems (RSS). They combine storage and most possible types of visualization of spatially distributed information, contain query mechanisms for cartographic and attribute information, but at the same time significantly limit the user’s ability to supplement the built-in databases. Their updating (updating) is cyclical and is usually carried out by the SCS supplier for an additional fee. The fourth class of software is spatial modeling tools. Their task is to model the spatial distribution of various parameters (relief, zones of environmental pollution, areas of flooding during the construction of dams, and others). They rely on tools for working with matrix data and are equipped with advanced visualization tools. It is typical to have tools that allow you to carry out a wide variety of calculations on spatial data (addition, multiplication, calculation of derivatives and other operations).
The fifth class, which is worth focusing on, is special means for processing and deciphering earth sounding data. This includes image processing packages, equipped, depending on the price, with various mathematical tools that allow operations with scanned or digitally recorded images of the earth's surface. This is a fairly wide range of operations, starting with all types of corrections (optical, geometric) through georeferencing of images up to the processing of stereo pairs with the output of the result in the form of an updated topoplan. In addition to the mentioned classes, there are also various software tools that manipulate spatial information. These are products such as tools for processing field geodetic observations (packages that provide interaction with GPS receivers, electronic tachometers, levels and other automated geodetic equipment), navigation tools and software for solving even more narrow subject problems (research, ecology, hydrogeology, etc. ). Naturally, other principles for classifying software are possible: by area of application, by cost, by support for a certain type (or types) of operating systems, by computing platforms (PCs, Unix workstations), etc. The rapid growth in the number of consumers of GIS technologies over the past by decentralizing the expenditure of budget funds and introducing them to more and more new subject areas of their use. If until the mid-90s the main market growth was associated only with large projects at the federal level, today the main potential is moving towards the mass market. This is a global trend: according to research firm Daratech (USA), the global GIS market for personal computers is currently 121.5 times faster than the overall growth of the GIS solutions market. The massiveness of the market and the emerging competition lead to the fact that consumers are offered increasingly high-quality goods for the same or lower price. Thus, for leading suppliers of instrumental GIS, it has already become the rule to supply, along with the system, a digital cartographic basis for the region where the goods are distributed. And the above software classification itself has become a reality. Just two or three years ago, the functions of automated vectorization and help systems could only be implemented using developed and expensive instrumental GIS (Arc/Info, Intergraph). There is a progressive trend towards modularization of systems, allowing optimization of costs for a specific project. Today, even packages serving a particular technological stage, for example vectorizers, can be purchased in both a complete and a reduced set of modules, symbol libraries, etc. The entry of a number of domestic developments to the “market” level. Products such as GeoDraw / GeoGraph, Sinteks / Tri, GeoCAD, EasyTrace not only have a significant number of users, but also already have all the attributes of market design and support. In Russian geoinformatics there is a certain critical number of working installations - fifty. Once you have achieved it, there are only two ways further: either sharply upward, increasing the number of your users, or leaving the market due to the inability to provide the necessary support and development for your product. Interestingly, all of the programs mentioned cater to the lower end of the price spectrum; in other words, they have found the optimal balance between price and level of functionality specifically for the Russian market.
The experience of comprehensive geographical research and systemic thematic mapping has allowed geoinformation mapping to take a leading position in the development of cartographic science and production.
Comparison of maps of different times and different themes allows us to move on to forecasts based on the identified relationships and trends in the development of phenomena and processes. Forecasting from maps also makes it possible to predict modern but not yet known phenomena, for example, weather forecasts or unknown minerals.
The forecast is based on cartographic extrapolations, interpreted as the extension of patterns obtained during the cartographic analysis of a phenomenon to an unstudied part of this phenomenon, to another territory or to the future. Cartographic extrapolations, like any other (mathematical, logical), are not universal. Their advantage is that they are well suited for predicting both spatial and temporal patterns. In the practice of forecasting using maps, methods of analogies, indications, expert assessments, calculation of statistical regressions, etc., known in geography, are also widely used.
Literature:
1. Trifonova T.A., Mishchenko N.V., Krasnoshchekov A.N. Geographic information systems and remote sensing in environmental research: A textbook for universities. - M., 2005. – 352 p.
2. Sturman V.I. Environmental mapping: Textbook. – Moscow, 2003.
Topic 14. Contents and methods of compiling environmental maps. Plan:
1. Mapping atmospheric problems.
2. Mapping land water pollution.
3. Qualitative and quantitative assessments of environmental situations.
1. Mapping atmospheric problems
The atmosphere, as the most dynamic environment, is characterized by complex spatiotemporal dynamics of impurity levels. At any given moment in time, the level of atmospheric pollution over a certain territory or at a particular point is determined by the balance of individual pollutants and their totality. The credit side of the balance sheet contains:
♦ supply of pollutants from a combination of man-made and natural sources within the territory under consideration;
♦ supply of pollutants from sources outside the territory under consideration, including remote ones (long-distance transport);
♦ formation of pollutants as a result of secondary chemical processes occurring in the atmosphere itself.
The expenditure side of the balance sheet includes:
♦ removal of pollutants beyond the territory under consideration;
♦ deposition of pollutants on the earth's surface;
♦ destruction of pollutants as a result of self-purification processes.
The intensity factors of deposition and self-purification for different substances largely coincide. Therefore, the concentrations of different substances usually change relatively consistently, obeying the same temporal and spatial patterns.
The supply of pollutants from natural and man-made dust sources increases with increased wind (in combination with the presence of loose surfaces) and during volcanic processes.
Thus, mapping air pollution consists of:
♦ mapping the potential for air pollution;
♦ mapping pollution sources;
♦ mapping pollution levels.
In land use management and urban management, one of the main types of products is information (including cartographic information) obtained on the basis of available data. When solving environmental problems using GIS, the focus on products is slightly different. During environmental observation (monitoring), they collect and jointly process data related to various natural environments, model and analyze environmental processes and trends in their development, as well as use data when making decisions on environmental quality management.
The result of an environmental study typically represents three types of operational data: stating (measured parameters of the state of the environmental situation at the time of the survey), evaluative (results of processing measurements and obtaining assessments of the environmental situation on this basis), forecast (predicting the development of the situation for a given period of time).
It follows from this that environmental GIS primarily uses dynamic models. Because of this, technologies for creating electronic maps play a large role in them.
The combination of all these three types of data forms the basis of environmental monitoring.
A feature of data presentation in environmental monitoring systems is that environmental maps are more representative of areal geo-objects than linear ones.
Regarding digital modeling, the use of digital models such as digital model of the phenomenon, field and so on.
At the level collection Along with topographic characteristics, parameters characterizing the environmental situation are additionally determined. This increases the amount of attribute data in environmental GIS compared to standard GIS. Accordingly, the role of semantic modeling is increasing.
At the level modeling use special methods for calculating parameters that characterize the ecological state of the environment and determine the form of presentation of digital maps.
At the level representation during environmental studies, not one, but, as a rule, a series of maps are issued, especially when forecasting phenomena. In some cases, maps are produced using dynamic visualization methods, which can often be seen in weather forecasts shown on television.
As an example, let's consider the environmental monitoring system created for Moscow." The objects of monitoring in Moscow are: atmospheric air, surface and groundwater, soil, green spaces, radiation conditions, habitat and health status of the population.
A large number of organizations (federal, municipal, departmental) in Moscow are independently collecting data on the state of parameters of environmental objects. The composition of atmospheric air, the amount of emissions from industrial enterprises and vehicles, the quality of surface and groundwater, etc. are monitored. These works are carried out by various organizations - from traffic police to sanitary and epidemiological stations. The shortcomings of the existing procedure for collecting environmental data are fragmentation and unsystematic nature, disunity of urban environmental organizations and the lack of comprehensive assessments and forecasts of the development of the environmental situation.
The main task of urban environmental monitoring is to obtain a comprehensive assessment of the environmental situation in the city based on the integration of all types of data coming from various organizations. The integration basis of a set of data is, naturally, a map. Consequently, solving the problems of urban environmental monitoring inevitably leads to the creation and use of GIS.
(‘Pupyrev E.I., Butakov P.D., Dronina N.P. The role and place of geographic information technologies in the Moscow environmental monitoring system // GIS - Review. - Summer, 1995.-pp. 34-36.)
For this purpose, existing networks of various measurements and specialized monitoring of environmental services are combined. The creation of the system is based on the introduction of modern control tools based on a single information space.
The structure of Moscow's environmental monitoring system includes two levels.
Lower system level includes:
Federal, city and departmental subsystems of specialized monitoring (monitoring of the atmosphere, surface water, public health, radiological monitoring, monitoring of sanitary cleaning of the city territory, monitoring of subsoil and groundwater, soil, green spaces, acoustic monitoring, urban planning monitoring);
Territorial centers for data collection and processing, created on the basis of territorial branches of Moskompriroda.
These subsystems ensure the collection of complete and, if possible, high-quality information about the state of the environment throughout the city. In local centers, information is also analyzed and selected for transmission to the upper level.
Territorial centers ensure the collection of information on sources of anthropogenic pollution on the territory of administrative districts and use data from territorial divisions of federal services and city economic organizations.
Upper The level of the environmental monitoring system is the information and analytical center. The tasks of the top level of the system include:
Rapid assessment of the environmental situation in the city;
Calculation of integral assessments of the environmental situation;
Forecast of development, environmental situation;
Preparation of control action projects and assessment of the consequences of decisions made.
It is obvious that the Moscow environmental monitoring information system has a clearly distributed nature. Therefore, it is built on the basis of a distributed information network.
To effectively use the accumulated data, complex processing and advanced methods for modeling and presenting data are required.
Geographic information systems are the optimal means for presenting and analyzing spatially distributed environmental data.
The subsystem of specialized monitoring covers a number of organizations (Moskomzem, NPO "Radon", NIiPI General Plan) that have GIS tool packages. Other organizations (Moslesopark, MGTSSEN) do not have such software. Data integration into a single system occurs in two ways:
Based on converting data formats into a uniform format for the entire system;
Based on the selection of a single GIS software. The software package developed by Prima JSC, providing solutions to the problems of territorial branches of Moskompriroda or nature conservation committees of large and medium-sized cities, performs the following functions:
Formation and maintenance of environmental information databases on territories, enterprises, environments (air, water, soil);
Maintaining a database of regulatory and legislative documents in the field of ecology;
Maintaining a database of standards for the content of pollutants in air, water, soil and food;
Maintaining a database of environmental control devices.
In addition to maintaining databases, work on modeling and obtaining thematic maps is provided. In particular, the system performs the following types of calculations: calculation of payments for the use of natural resources and calculation of fields of concentration of pollutants in the atmosphere, water and soil.
The environmental monitoring system provides for the exchange of data between its participants. Therefore, one of the main requirements for the software of all subsystems is the ability to convert data files into standard formats (dbf for database files and DXF for graphic files).
When creating the Moscow environmental monitoring system, we used unified coordinate system for all environmental monitoring departments. All geoinformation (including environmental) data must have a single coordinate reference, and then no problems arise when exchanging information in digital form.
The scale of maps on which different environmental monitoring subsystems operate can be different: from 1: 2,000 for the territorial branches of Moskompriroda to 1: 38,000 for the top level of the system.
In the organization of environmental monitoring in Moscow, geographic information technologies form the basis, since they provide solutions to the problems of environmental monitoring in Moscow.
Introduction
1.1 Habitat degradation
1.2 Pollution
1.3 Protected areas
1.4 Unprotected areas
1.6Monitoring
2.2 System functionality
2.3 Methods for obtaining a comprehensive assessment
Conclusion
Literature
geoinformation map oil and gas monitoring
Introduction
All over the world, environmental problems are now receiving increased attention. And this is not surprising. The rapid development of human economic activity has created all the prerequisites for the real possibility of an environmental crisis. In this regard, the direction associated with the quantitative assessment of anthropogenic impacts on the environment, the creation of systems for a comprehensive assessment of the state of the environmental situation, as well as modeling and forecasting the development of the situation is becoming of great importance. The creation of such systems is currently impossible without the use of modern computer tools. One of the important tools is GIS technologies.
Assessing the state of complex natural objects in the environment involves a comprehensive analysis of the impact of various factors. Obtaining complex assessments is complicated by the variety of object characteristics and the diversity of available information, which increases the relevance of the task of ensuring metrological comparability of heterogeneous data.
1. The role and place of GIS in environmental activities
1.1 Habitat degradation
GIS has been successfully used to create maps of key environmental parameters. In the future, when new data is obtained, these maps are used to identify the scale and rate of degradation of flora and fauna. When inputted from remote sensing data, particularly satellite data, and conventional field observations, they can be used to monitor local and large-scale anthropogenic impacts. It is advisable to overlay data on anthropogenic loads on zoning maps of the territory with highlighted areas of particular interest from an environmental point of view, for example, parks, reserves and wildlife sanctuaries. An assessment of the state and rate of degradation of the natural environment can also be carried out using test areas identified on all layers of the map.
1.2 Pollution
Using GIS, it is convenient to model the impact and distribution of pollution from point and non-point (spatial) sources on the ground, in the atmosphere and along the hydrological network. The results of model calculations can be superimposed on natural maps, such as vegetation maps, or on maps of residential areas in a given area. As a result, it is possible to quickly assess the immediate and future consequences of such extreme situations as oil spills and other harmful substances, as well as the impact of permanent point and area pollutants.
1.3Protected areas
Another common application of GIS is the collection and management of data on protected areas such as game reserves, nature reserves and national parks. Within protected areas, it is possible to conduct full spatial monitoring of plant communities of valuable and rare animal species, determine the impact of anthropogenic interventions such as tourism, laying roads or power lines, and plan and implement environmental protection measures. It is also possible to perform multi-user tasks, such as regulating livestock grazing and predicting land productivity. GIS solves such problems on a scientific basis, that is, solutions are selected that ensure a minimum level of impact on wildlife, maintaining the required level of cleanliness of air, water bodies and soils, especially in areas frequently visited by tourists.
1.4Unprotected areas
Regional and local governing structures widely use the capabilities of GIS to obtain optimal solutions to problems related to the distribution and controlled use of land resources, and resolving conflict situations between the owner and tenants of land. It is useful and often necessary to compare the current boundaries of land use areas with land zoning and long-term plans for their use. GIS also provides the ability to compare land use boundaries with wildlife requirements. For example, in some cases it may be necessary to reserve migration corridors for wild animals through developed areas between nature reserves or national parks. Constant collection and updating of data on land use boundaries can be of great assistance in developing environmental protection measures, including administrative and legislative measures, monitoring their implementation, and timely making changes and additions to existing laws and regulations based on basic scientific environmental principles and concepts.
1.5Habitat restoration
GIS is an effective tool for studying the environment as a whole, individual species of flora and fauna in spatial and temporal aspects. If specific environmental parameters are established that are necessary, for example, for the existence of any type of animal, including the presence of pastures and breeding grounds, appropriate types and reserves of food resources, water sources, requirements for the cleanliness of the natural environment, then GIS will help to quickly find areas with a suitable combination of parameters within which the conditions for the existence or restoration of the population of a given species will be close to optimal. At the stage of adaptation of a resettled species to a new area, GIS is effective for monitoring the immediate and long-term consequences of measures taken, assessing their success, identifying problems and finding ways to overcome them.
1.6Monitoring
As environmental protection activities expand and deepen, one of the main areas of application of GIS is monitoring the consequences of actions taken at the local and regional levels. Sources of updated information can be the results of ground surveys or remote observations from air transport and from space. The use of GIS is also effective for monitoring the living conditions of local and introduced species, identifying cause-and-effect chains and relationships, assessing the favorable and unfavorable consequences of environmental measures taken on the ecosystem as a whole and its individual components, making operational decisions to adjust them depending on changing external conditions .
2. Comprehensive assessment of the natural environment
2.1 Basic principles of the integrated environmental assessment system
The geographic information system for integrated assessment, modeling and forecasting of the state of the natural environment (GIS) is based on a topographic basis with a unified coordinate system, on databases that have a unified organization and structure and are a repository of all information about the analyzed objects, on a set of software modules for obtaining assessments according to previously developed algorithms. The system allows:
· collect, classify and organize environmental information;
· explore the dynamics of changes in the state of the ecosystem in space and time;
· build thematic maps based on the results of the analysis;
· simulate natural processes in various environments;
· assess the situation and predict the development of the environmental situation.
Some of the work was carried out jointly with the Neva-Ladoga Basin Water Administration, whose coverage area extends to the North-Western region and includes St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, the Novgorod and Pskov regions, the Republic of Karelia and the Kaliningrad region. Accordingly, all information has been collected and systematized for this region. The topographical basis of the integrated assessment system serves to visualize research results and spatial analysis (Fig. 1).
Rice. 1. Topological basis of the comprehensive assessment system.
The main information unit of the topographic base is sheets of digital maps at a scale of 1:200,000. The topographic base is a set of terrain data structured in the form of separate layers: rivers, lakes, roads, forests, control posts, etc.
The comprehensive assessment system database includes:
· database of control measurements results;
· base of characteristics of natural objects;
· base of characteristics of pollution sources;
· regulatory framework.
The control measurement base is the basis of the environmental monitoring system, which allows you to quickly assess the environmental situation in a given area and present it on a map.
The system allows you to study the dynamics of pollution in space and time, including:
· carry out analysis at a given point for selected indicators according to observation dates (time analysis);
· receive standardized assessments;
· generate average estimates for a given indicator based on the list of control posts (spatial analysis) and build thematic maps (Fig. 2);
· calculate integral estimates.
Rice. 2. Spatial analysis of the state of the water body.
2.2 System functionality
A unified database of natural objects and sources of pollution provides the ability to model the distribution of harmful substances in the air and water environments in order to study the current situation and develop recommendations for eliminating the consequences of crisis situations and for rational environmental management. Models for the distribution of pollutants in water and air take into account the technological characteristics of enterprises (environmental passport), geographic location, and meteorological conditions.
A model for the distribution of impurities in the air, based on the GGO technique, called OND-86, has been implemented. The result of the model is a concentration field presented as a GIS layer (Fig. 3).
Rice. 3. Modeling the distribution of impurities in the air.
For watercourses, a model of convective-diffusion transport of pollutants has been implemented. Modeling of the distribution of pollutants is carried out from a group of water outlets within a site or an entire water basin, taking into account their specifics (Fig. 4). The maximum permissible discharge of wastewater into water bodies is calculated. The result of the model is also a concentration field imported into the GIS.
Rice. 4. Modeling the distribution of impurities in a watercourse.
A comprehensive assessment of the state of complex natural objects is based on the results of monitoring characteristics in various environments (measurements of radiation levels, concentrations of harmful substances, contamination area, etc.), the results of surveys and examinations, as well as the results of modeling various situations of man-made or natural origin. This increases the relevance of the task of combining quantitative and qualitative characteristics and compliance with the requirements of uniformity of measurements.
2.3 Methods for obtaining a comprehensive assessment
The created system solves the problem of combining heterogeneous data to obtain complex assessments of the state of environmental objects on a unified metrological basis. Methods have been developed for constructing standardized scales in order to combine various assessments, taking into account the characteristics of the reliability and degree of participation of each factor. A scale with equal segments and conditional ratios is taken as a normalized scale: 0-1 – significantly below the norm (ZNL); 1-2 – below normal (NN); 2-3 – norm (N); 3-4 – above normal (VN); 4-5 – significantly above normal (ZN).
To assess the quality of the results of control measurements, standardization relative to the maximum permissible concentration (MAC) is used. The plane of correspondence between the normalized values of control measurements and qualitative assessments is shown in Fig. 5.
Rice. 5. Plane of correspondence between normalized values and qualitative assessments.
Each measurement result is a random variable, the true value of which is in the interval x*=x’± ks. In this case, the acceptance of a particular value of a controlled quantity on a normalized scale of qualitative relationships can be defined as the probability of finding the value of the measured quantity in the corresponding interval of concentration values. The probability of accepting a particular quality value can be defined as:
The choice of limit values (C i) depends on the hazard class of the substance and the region of the survey, which is explained by the specific environmental situation and the existing regulatory framework.
In the case when complex characteristics are used to evaluate individual objects of safety and security, the value of a certain generalized indicator determines the qualitative value of the controlled characteristic. The difficulty is that quality scales are different for different environments and techniques. In this case, the task of normalizing complex assessments comes down to bringing such scales to a normalized one.
The software system implements algorithms for obtaining qualitative estimates based on the results of control measurements, taking into account existing standard methods for air and water environments (Fig. 6). Various qualitative scales were brought to a standardized scale.
Rice. 6. Assessment of the state of the aquatic environment.
Due to the paucity of chemical analysis data, the results of surveys, surveys and expert assessments are often used, along with the results of control measurements. A module has been created in the software system that implements the receipt and processing of expert assessments.
When processing survey results, the value of each value, as well as the results of control measurements, determines the degree of contamination of the object and can be associated with the normalized characteristics of the object. The results of processing expert assessments are summarized on a standardized scale. In this case, the assessment corresponding to each characteristic must be reduced to the normalized characteristic å p k =1. The results are georeferenced and can be plotted on a map (Fig. 7).
Rice. 7. Expert assessments.
A comprehensive assessment of the state of fire protection facilities is obtained by combining data of different types (results of control measurements in different environments, modeling results, surveys and expert assessments). In this case, the problem of unification turns into the problem of summing up the characteristics of various assessments on a normalized qualitative scale.
It should be taken into account that if a comprehensive assessment is determined by combining a large number of assessments that have different distributions on a normalized scale, then as a result of combining such assessments there is a high probability of obtaining a uniform distribution, in which it is impossible to make a judgment about the qualitative assessment of the condition of the object.
In this regard, it is proposed to use the following method of combining similar estimates. For each group of assessments collected, for example, by media (air, water, soil) or by the type of their receipt (control measurements, expert assessments, modeling results), sorting should be done in accordance with the maximum value of each quality and the most critical assessments should be selected. At the same time, depending on the task at hand, the algorithm for selecting critical assessments can also be different. For example, to assess an emergency situation, you should select indicators for which the maximum assessment takes on the value of the ZVN (significantly higher than the norm); for normal conditions, you should select indicators with a maximum in the range from N (norm) to the ZVN.
Complex assessments of the state of environmental objects can be obtained by combining different types of data, for example, the results of control measurements and visual inspection of the coastal area. When forming such estimates, it is necessary to take into account the importance of each characteristic used.
Such assessments represent a complex characteristic obtained by summing up simple assessments taking into account their properties within impact groups, that is:
where: * is the summation operator, x i * is a simple assessment included in the set of important characteristics of I s, pdi is an assessment of the degree of trust and g уi is an assessment of the degree of participation of x i *.
The degree of confidence characterizes the reliability of the assessment used and depends on the method of obtaining it. The degree of participation determines the weight of the characteristic used when forming a complex assessment of the quality of an ecosystem object. The use of the participation coefficient eliminates the possibility of obtaining an equally probable characteristic of the result in the case of summing up a large number of characteristics and allows the expert to obtain different estimates depending on the task.
A comprehensive assessment of the state of fire safety objects is a characteristic obtained by summing up simple and complex assessments taking into account their properties
where: * is the summation operator, x i * is a simple estimate included in the set of important characteristics of I 0, S i * is a complex estimate obtained based on the use of standard methods for combining data of the same type or according to formula (2) for data of different types.
The information environment for obtaining a comprehensive assessment ensures the integration and use of distributed information, and GIS technology ensures its processing in accordance with geographic or administrative reference (Fig. 8).
Rice. 8. Information environment for obtaining a comprehensive assessment.
To form complex estimates based on data of the same type, the appropriate layer (with the required area and parameters) is selected and the data is processed in accordance with standard methods. In the case when a complex estimate is obtained by summing up data of different types, a project is formed from several layers. Each layer is assigned a participation rate and complex scores are generated. The resulting complex estimates are also a GIS layer. By forming projects from simple and complex estimates, as well as modeling results, estimates can be obtained for media (air, water, soil, etc.), which are also GIS layers. By combining assessments by environment into a single project, we will obtain a comprehensive assessment of the condition of the object based on heterogeneous data.
3. Using GIS technologies to solve environmental problems in the oil and gas industry
Realizing the potential environmental hazards of oil and gas enterprises, Russian oil companies in particular have declared the preservation of environmental balance in the areas of operation of their enterprises as one of their priorities. However, to truly improve the environmental condition in the territory where the oil and gas complex (OGC) operates, huge investments are required in the technological complex of oil production, primarily for the introduction of environmental technologies. In this regard, modern means of geoinformation technologies can be successfully applied to optimize the economic costs of oil and gas enterprises. Below we outline the experience accumulated at the Tomsk Scientific Center of the SB RAS in the development and use of GIS for the computer selection of environmentally acceptable environmental technologies based on an analysis of the state of the environment.
The developed GIS includes the following components:
· database on environmental status,
· database of environmental technologies,
· a set of software tools for analyzing the state of the territory and selecting environmental technologies.
The task of a comprehensive analysis of the state of the natural environment and the selection of environmental technologies based on this analysis is aimed at achieving the standard quality of the natural environment. The software package for analyzing the state of the environment makes it possible to identify territorial zones of pollution and predict the dynamics of changes in the boundaries of these zones based on the analysis of scenarios for the economic development of enterprises. The results of calculations of air pollution zones are clearly illustrated on computer maps (Fig. 9) using GIS tools. At the same time, to calculate the values of ground-level concentrations of harmful substances in the atmospheric air contained in emissions from enterprises, the well-known OND-86 methodology was used. The calculation is made for the most unfavorable meteorological conditions. The initial data for forecasting air pollution and identifying areas of increased pollution were environmental passports of enterprises and other information materials from environmental authorities.
Fig.9. Forecast of an increase in the area of the air pollution zone from the flaring of associated gas with an increase in production volumes.
The developed GIS technology tools make it possible to achieve the standard quality of the natural environment in the territory of the oil and gas complex by modeling changes in its condition through the use of modern environmental technologies selected from the GIS database. Consequently, the use of GIS technologies makes it possible to select environmentally acceptable and economically feasible environmental technologies based on a comprehensive analysis of water, air and soil pollution. Below (Fig. 10) is an example of computer modeling that illustrates the possibility of selecting suitable wastewater treatment technologies from a GIS database in order to improve the quality of river water in oil fields.
Fig. 10. The initial state of pollution of rivers in the territory of oil fields due to wastewater discharges.
The prospects for the expanded use of GIS technologies to solve complex environmental problems in the oil and gas industry are associated with the development of the proposed approach to improving the environmental condition of the territory based on the use of aerospace information.
Conclusion
Thus, we can safely say that GIS has certain characteristics that rightfully allow us to consider this technology as the main one for the purposes of information processing and management. With the advent of GIS, the possibility of solving such a problem as the analysis of remote data for their full use in everyday life has become a reality, since this technology allows us to collect together and analyze various, at first glance, little related information, and obtain a generalized view based on mass factual material on it, quantitatively and qualitatively analyze the mutual relationships between the parameters characterizing it and the processes occurring in it. GIS has been successfully used to monitor the state of the environment, as well as to create maps of key environmental parameters.
The geoinformation system for integrated assessment, modeling and forecasting, developed on the basis of ArcGIS ArcInfo 9.1, serves as the basis for the construction of multi-level information and measurement systems (IMS) and can be used in the design of territories and for making management decisions on environmental protection and rational use of natural resources.
The prospects for the expanded use of GIS technologies to solve complex environmental problems in various industries are associated with the development of the proposed approach to improving the ecological state of the territory based on the use of information obtained using modern technologies, in particular using aerospace information.
Literature
1. Alekseev V.V., Kurakina N.I. IIS monitoring. Issues of a comprehensive assessment of the state of the environmental protection system based on GIS // GIS-Review magazine.-2000.-No.19.
2. Alekseev V.V., Gridina E.G., Kulagin V.P., Kurakina N.I. Assessing the quality of complex objects based on GIS // Collection of proceedings of the International Symposium "Reliability and Quality 2003". - Penza 2003.
3. Alekseev V.V., Kurakina N.I., Zheltov E.V. System for modeling the distribution of pollutants and assessing the environmental situation based on GIS // magazine "Information Technologies for Modeling and Management", No. 5(23), Voronezh, 2005.
4. Alekseev V.V., Kurakina N.I., Orlova N.V., Geoinformation system for monitoring water bodies and regulating environmental load // ArcReview magazine.-2006.-No. 1(36).
5. Alekseev V.V., Gridina E.G., Kurakina N.I. Issues of ensuring the uniformity of measurements in the formation of complex assessments // Collection of proceedings of the International Symposium "Reliability and Quality 2005". - Penza 2005.
6. Edition Date+ ArcReview. - http://www.dataplus.ru.
Under conditions of increasing anthropogenic impact on the natural environment, the task of analyzing and assessing the state of the components of the natural environment becomes especially acute. The situation is aggravated by the inadequate response of various ecosystems and landscapes to the influx of products of human activity. Existing traditional methods of analyzing the environmental situation (statistical, simulation modeling) in the context of the synergy of numerous environmental factors often do not give the desired effect or cause great technical difficulties in their implementation.
The use of an information approach based on new information technologies (geographic information and expert systems) allows not only to quantitatively describe the processes occurring in complex eco- and geosystems, but also, by modeling the mechanisms of these processes, to scientifically substantiate methods for assessing the state of various components of the natural environment.
The most pressing tasks in this area include, first of all, the task of creating something new and/or adapting
software existing in other fields of knowledge (geographic information, information advisory and expert systems), which allows processing huge flows of information, assessing the real state of ecosystems and, on this basis, calculating the optimal options for permissible anthropogenic impact on the environment for the purpose of rational environmental management.
Analysis of environmental information includes |Yu.A. Israel, 1984]:
Analysis of the effects of various factors on the environment (identification of critical impact factors and the most sensitive elements of the biosphere);
Determination of permissible environmental impacts and loads on environmental components, taking into account the complex and combined impact on the ecosystem;
Determination of permissible loads on the region from an environmental and economic perspective.
Stages of information analysis of environmental information include the following stages:
1) collection of information on the state of the environment: expeditionary research; inpatient research;
aerovisual observations; remote sensing; space and aerial photography; thematic mapping; hydrometeorological observations; monitoring system; literary, stock and archival data;
2) primary processing and structuring:
information coding; conversion to machine form; digitization of cartographic material; image processing; data structuring; bringing data to a standard format;
3) filling out the database and statistical analysis: choosing a logical organization of data; filling out the database and editing; interpolation and extrapolation of missing data; statistical data processing; analysis of patterns in data behavior, identification of trends and confidence intervals;
4) modeling the behavior of ecosystems;
the use of increasingly complex models; varying boundary conditions; imitation of ecosystem behavior under single impacts; cartographic modeling; study of response ranges under various influences;
5) expert assessment:
assessment of ranges of changes in impacts on ecosystems; assessment of ecosystem behavior under various impacts based on the “weak link” principle;
6) uncertainty analysis:
input data; model parameters; modeling results; values of expert assessments;
7) identifying patterns and predicting environmental consequences:
development of possible ecosystem behavior scenarios; forecasting ecosystem behavior; assessing the results of different scenarios;
8) making decisions to limit impacts on the natural environment:
development of “gentle” (saving) strategies to reduce impacts on the environment; justification of the chosen solutions (environmental and socio-economic).
Expert-modeling geographic information system (EM GIS) is a combination of a common GIS user interface with an expert system shell and a mathematical modeling block.
Kriti h loads (KL) on ecosystems- this is “the maximum loss of acidifying compounds that does not cause harmful effects on the structure and functions of these ecosystems over a long period.” Critical loads are an indicator of the stability of ecosystems. They provide the value of the maximum “permissible” pollutant load, at which practically does not destroy the biogeochemical structure of the ecosystem. The sensitivity of an ecosystem, for example, to acid deposition can be determined by measuring or estimating certain physical or chemical parameters of the ecosystem; this way, a level of acid deposition that has no or very little effect on this sensitivity can be identified.
At the moment, environmental GIS are complex information systems, including a powerful operating system, user interface, systems for maintaining databases and displaying environmental information. The requirements for environmental GIS are consistent with the requirements for an ideal GIS proposed in the work
1) the ability to process arrays of component-by-component heterogeneous spatially coordinated information;
2) the ability to maintain databases for a wide class of geographic objects;
3) the possibility of an interactive user mode;
4) flexible system configuration, the ability to quickly configure the system to solve various problems;
5) the ability to “perceive” and process the spatial features of geo-ecological situations. Of great importance is the ability of modern GIS to transform existing environmental information using various models (the ability to synthesize).
The fundamental difference between GIS and environmental databases is their spatial nature due to the use of a cartographic basis [VKh. Davydchuk et al., 1988]. Therefore, in tasks of assessing the state of the natural environment, a transition using GIS is necessary from the biogeoenotic level of consideration of the problem to the landscape level. At the same time, as basics GIS uses a landscape map, which is used to automatically build a series of private maps characterizing the main components of the landscape. It should be emphasized that environmental mapping is not limited to component-by-component mapping of the natural organization of a region and the distribution of anthropogenic load. One should also not think that environmental mapping is a set of maps based on the LDC values of various pollutants. Environmental mapping primarily refers to a method of visualizing the results of an environmental assessment carried out using qualitatively new approaches. Therefore, the synthesizing role of this method of presenting information is very important.
The use of GIS technologies in ecology implies the widespread use of various types of models (primarily those with an environmental focus). Since environmental mapping of the natural environment is based on an understanding of the biogeochemical basis of the migration of pollutants in natural environments, when creating a GIS for these purposes, along with environmental models, it is necessary to build models implemented on the principles and approaches of geographical sciences (hydrology, meteorology, landscape geochemistry, etc. ). Thus, the model part of the GIS is developing in two directions:
1) mathematical models of the dynamics of matter migration processes;
2) algorithms for automated presentation of model results in the form of thematic maps. As an example of models of the first group, we note models of surface runoff and washout, infiltration recharge of groundwater, channel processes, etc. Typical representatives of the second group are algorithms for constructing contours, calculating areas and determining distances.
Using the described methodology, we developed the concept of environmental GIS, which was tested at two scale levels: local and regional. The first was used to process and visualize information stored in an environmental monitoring data bank for the Moscow region. This served BASIS OF DESIGN*
secretly, then expert-modeling GIS to determine the parameters of environmentally permissible impact on agricultural landscapes of the Moscow region.
The performance of environmental GIS at the regional level was demonstrated by mapping critical loads of sulfur and nitrogen on the ecosystems of the European part of Russia and assessing the resistance of ecosystems and landscapes of Thailand to acid deposition.
The task of quantitative assessment of environmental factors when analyzing environmental monitoring materials has the following features:
1) information of an areal nature (polygons and associated attributes) is preferred. Information associated with point objects is used as auxiliary information;
2) an assessment of the errors of the stored data is necessary. Along with relatively accurate cartographic data, there are results of measurements at various points (usually on a non-regular grid), the values of which are not accurate;
3) both precise mathematical models that allow making forecasts based on solving grid equations and vague expert rules built on a probabilistic basis are applicable;
4) it is unknown how many thematic attributes a specialist expert will need to conduct factor assessments. It is possible that you will not need all the information stored in the database, but in return it is preferable increase request execution speed;
5) database queries V mainly of two types (give a list of attributes that characterize a given point on the map; highlight areas on the map that have the necessary properties).
Based on these features, a modular system was developed, the core of which was a cartographic database. An interface was provided that allowed both a specialist user and an expert modeler on the construction site to work with the system. The latter is necessary for two reasons. Firstly, in order to use spatial information to model the processes of transport of pollutants (pollutants) using models that are not directly included in the developed system. Secondly, to use expert assessments to compensate for the incompleteness, inaccuracy and inconsistency of environmental monitoring results. The structure of the developed logical model for the cartographic database is characterized by the following features:
1. Any map can be represented as a package of transparent sheets, each of which has the same coordinate reference. Each of these sheets is divided according to one of the mapped features. One sheet shows, for example, only soil types, another - only rivers, etc. Each of these sheets in the database corresponds to a class of data aggregates, where each object of this class describes one specific area with an attribute assigned to it. So way, the database at the top level is a tree, the top nodes of which represent classes, and the bottom nodes represent concrete objects of classes. At any time, you can add or remove one or more data aggregate classes from the database. From the point of view of the model - insert or remove one or more sheets from the bag.
2. The database responds to both types of required queries. The types of requests are easy to visualize using the illustration of the clear sheet pack. A query about point attributes matches "piercing" package in the required place and considering where each sheet is pierced. The interpretation of the second type of request is also obvious. The peculiarity is that the result of executing a request to find regions is a full-fledged class, i.e., another transparent sheet of the package of sheets that forms the map. This mine* This allows expert add-ons to treat Kapi layers obtained after executing a query in the same way as simple layers.
3. Information about point measurements is stored in the database in the form of relationships “coordinates -attribute", but when used in a specific application is converted to polygon form by interpolation, e.g. based on Voronoi mosaics.
4. Information about strictly point objects - triangulation marks, wells, etc. stored in data aggregates with a fixed number of possible thematic attributes.
5. Line objects are stored as a network with a description of the network topology.
Thus, the database is focused primarily on economical storage and efficient processing of data of a polygons(regions). Because each tile is mapped on only one attribute, it is split into fairly large chunks, which speeds up the type 1 queries that are typical for grid-based numerical simulations.
Separately, it is worth mentioning about entering cards. Digitizing maps using a digitizer gives very high accuracy and is the most common method in environmental research to date. However, this method requires significant time and money. Recent practice shows that for digitization purposes it is more convenient to use a scanner. The images received from the scanner are digitized using the mouse cursor on the computer screen. This method allows you to:
Allow the end user to determine the required accuracy of image digitization, since a high-resolution scanner allows you to display a highly enlarged image of a digitized image on the screen, which makes it possible to ensure almost the same accuracy as when making a card; - reduce the complexity of image input associated with the need to remember , what part of the image has already been digitized.
Environmental information should be structured like this. so that it is convenient to use both for analyzing the current situation environmental situations, and for making decisions and issuing recommendations for the implementation of these decisions for the purpose of rational environmental management. Structured information forms the basis of information support, which is integrative and consists of the following blocks:
A block of data on the natural organization of the territory, containing information about the soil-geological, hydrochemical, hydrogeological, plant characteristics of the territory, the local climate, as well as an assessment of the factors of self-purification of landscapes;
Block of data on technogenic flows in the region, their exude and kah, the nature of interaction with transit and depositing environments;
A block of regulatory information containing a set of environmental, environmental-technical, sanitary and hygienic standards, and as well as standards for the location of polluting industries in natural systems.
These blocks form the framework of a regional data bank necessary for making environmentally sound decisions for the purposes of rational environmental management.
The described information support blocks, as noted, include tens and even hundreds of parameters. Therefore, when developing regional GIS, where the number of ecosystem types is hundreds and even thousands, the dimension of information arrays increases sharply. However, simply increasing the volume of stored data does not create such difficulties as expanding the thematic content of the data. Because the information Since GIS is stored in a unified information environment, which presupposes a commonality of search and data retrieval processes, any inclusion of new thematic data involves restructuring of information, including classification, determination of interdependence, hierarchy, and spatiotemporal scale of parameters of various components of ecosystems.
It was previously noted that environmental databases form the basis of modern GIS, and such databases contain both spatial and thematic information. The multi-purpose purpose of GIS imposes a number of requirements on database construction methods And management systems for these databases. The leading role in the formation of databases is given to thematic
maps Due to the specifics of the problems being solved and the requirements for the detail of the issues being studied, the databases are based on medium- and large-scale maps, as well as their thematic content.
The need to solve various problems of environmental regulation and soil-ecological forecasting, including the study of the migration of pollutants in all natural environments, requires the collection and entry into a data bank of information on all components of the natural environment. This is the traditional way of building modern GIS, where all information is stored in the form of separate layers (each layer representing a separate component of the environment or its element). The basis of such GIS is, for example, a relief map [V, V. Bugrovsky et al., 19861, on top of which is built a system of maps of individual components (soil, vegetation, etc.). At the same time, individual components cannot give a complete picture of the nature of the region. In particular, a simple combination of various component maps does not provide knowledge about the landscape structure of the region. Attempts to construct maps of geosystems or landscape maps by combining individual parts of maps inevitably encounter the difficulty of interconnecting and mutually agreeing the contour and content of individual maps, which are usually made on different principles. Naturally, automating such a procedure faces a lot of difficulties. Therefore, for the formation of data banks in the GIS structure, where the diversity of ecosystems and landscapes plays a decisive role in studying the dynamics of natural processes and phenomena, It is advisable to choose as the basis for the formation of GIS landscape a model of the territory, which includes blocks for individual components of ecosystems and landscapes (soil, vegetation, etc.).
This approach was used to create a GIS on the territory of the Kiev region [V.S. Davydchuk, V.T. Linnik, 1989]. In this case, the landscape GIS block is given leading importance in the GIS organization.
The landscape map complements a number of component maps (lithology, vegetation, etc.). As a result, there is no need to reduce component maps to a single contour and content basis, and instead of a number of component maps, sometimes only one landscape map is entered into the data bank, which significantly saves preparatory work on entering the map into a computer and the size of disk memory for digitized data.
A landscape map gives only a generalized idea of the structure of geosystems and its components. Therefore, depending on the nature of the problems being solved, other thematic maps are also used, for example, hydrological, soil. Landscape GIS block in this
ical structure, i.e. all incoming new cartographic information must be “packed” into the structure of the identified ecosystem contours. This ensures that different component maps can be used consistently.
A special place in GIS is given to the digital terrain model (CMM). She happens to be basis not only for geodetic control, but also for adjusting the content of the maps used, taking into account the landscape structure of the region. Purpose landscape block is not only to display the component and spatial structure of geosystems, but also to act as an independent source of interrelated information about various natural processes. Thus, on the basis of a landscape map, it is possible to construct rachlic central night maps for individual components (for example, maps of the influence of vegetation cover on aeolian transport) and integral ones characterizing certain properties of geosystems as a whole (for example, the migration ability of radionuclides in various types landscapes).
The proposed principles for organizing information support made it possible to develop a methodology for assessing critical loads based on the use of expert modeling geoknformadnokih systems (EM GIS) for the specific conditions of Russia, where huge spatial areas are characterized by an insufficient degree of information saturation. Involvement of EM GIS implemented on modern computers, allowed quantitatively implement the methodology in practice. EM GIS can operate with databases and knowledge bases related to territories with a high degree of spatial heterogeneity and uncertainty of information support. As a rule, such systems include a quantitative assessment of various parameters of migration flows of the studied elements in selected representative key areas, the development and adaptation of an algorithm that describes these flows and cycles, and the transfer of the obtained patterns to other regions that have similar characteristic features to the key areas. This approach, naturally, requires sufficient cartographic support, for example, maps of soil cover, geochemical and hydrogeochemical zoning, maps and charts of various scales are needed to assess the bioproductivity of ecosystems, their stability, self-cleaning ability, etc. Based on these and other maps, as well as databases generated in key areas, and using expert modeling geoinformation systems, a correct interpretation is possible for other less studied regions. This approach is most realistic for the specific conditions of Russia, where detailed ecosystem studies have been carried out, as a rule, in key areas, and large spatial areas are characterized by an insufficient degree of information saturation.
The information contained on the Internet allows a fairly objective assessment of the current state of GIS applications in the field of ecology. Many examples are presented on the websites of the Russian GIS Association, the DATA+ company, and numerous websites of Western universities. The main areas of use of GIS technologies to solve environmental problems are listed below.
Habitat degradation. GIS has been successfully used to create maps of key environmental parameters. In the future, when new data is obtained, these maps are used to identify the scale and rate of degradation of flora and fauna. When inputted from remote sensing data, particularly satellite data, and conventional field observations, they can be used to monitor local and large-scale anthropogenic impacts. It is advisable to overlay data on anthropogenic loads on zoning maps of the territory with highlighted areas of particular interest from an environmental point of view, for example, parks, reserves and wildlife sanctuaries. The state and rate of degradation of the natural environment can also be assessed using test areas identified on all layers of the map.
Pollution. Using GIS, it is convenient to model the impact and distribution of pollution from point and non-point (spatial) sources on the ground, in the atmosphere and along the hydrological network. The results of model calculations can be superimposed on natural maps, for example vegetation maps, or on maps of residential areas and a given area. As a result, it is possible to quickly assess the immediate and future consequences of such extreme situations as oil spills and other harmful substances, as well as the impact of permanent point and area pollutants.
Protected areas. Another common application of GIS is the collection and management of data on protected areas such as game reserves, nature reserves and national parks. Within protected areas, it is possible to conduct full spatial monitoring of plant communities of valuable and rare animal species, determine the impact of anthropogenic interventions, such as tourism, laying roads or power lines, and plan and implement environmental protection measures. It is also possible to perform multi-user tasks - regulating livestock grazing and predicting land productivity. These GIS problems are solved on a scientific basis, i.e. solutions are selected that provide the minimum
level of impact on nature, maintaining the required level of cleanliness of air, water bodies and soils, especially in areas frequently visited by tourists.
Unprotected areas. Regional and local governing structures widely use the capabilities of GIS to obtain optimal solutions to problems related to the distribution and controlled use of land resources, and resolving conflict situations between the landowners and land tenants. It is useful and often necessary to compare the current boundaries of land use areas with land zoning and long-term plans for their use. GIS also provides the ability to compare land use boundaries with the requirements of nature. For example, in some cases it may be necessary to reserve migration corridors for wild animals through developed areas between nature reserves or national parks. Constantly collecting and updating data on land use boundaries can be of great assistance in developing environmental protection measures, including administrative and legislative ones, monitoring their implementation, and timely making changes and additions to existing laws and regulations based on basic scientific environmental principles and concepts.
Habitat restoration. YEW is an effective tool for studying the habitat as a whole, individual species of flora and fauna in spatial and temporal aspects. If specific environmental parameters are established, necessary, for example, for the existence of any kind of animal, including the presence of pastures and breeding grounds, appropriate types and reserves of feed resources, water sources, requirements for the cleanliness of the natural environment, then GIS will help to quickly find areas with a suitable combination of parameters within which the conditions for the existence or restoration of the population of a given species will be close to optimal. At the stage of adaptation of a resettled species to a new area, GIS is effective for monitoring the immediate and long-term consequences of measures taken, assessing their success, identifying problems and finding ways to overcome them.
Interdisciplinary research (ecology and medicine/demography/climatology). The integral functionality of GIS is most clearly manifested and favors the successful conduct of joint interdisciplinary research. They provide the combination and overlay of any type of data so that it can be displayed on a map. Such studies include, for example, the following: analysis of the relationships between population health and various (natural, demographic, economic) factors; quantitative assessment of the influence of environmental parameters on the state of local and regional ecosystems and their components; determining the income of landowners depending on the prevailing soil types, climatic conditions, distance from cities, etc.; identification of the number and density of distribution areas of rare and endangered plant species depending on the height of the area, the angle of inclination and exposure of the slopes.
Environmental education. Since the creation of paper maps using GIS is greatly simplified and cheaper, it becomes possible to obtain a large variety of environmental maps, which expands the scope and breadth of environmental education programs and courses. Due to the ease of copying and producing cartographic products, it can be used by almost any scientist, teacher or student. Moreover, standardization of the format and layout of base maps serves as the basis for the collection and display of student data, the exchange of data between educational institutions, and the creation of a unified database across regions and national scales. You can prepare special maps for landowners to familiarize them with planned environmental measures, schemes buffer zones and ecological corridors that are being created in the area and may affect their land plots,
Ecotourism. The ability to quickly create attractive, colorful and V At the same time, high-quality, professionally produced maps make GIS an ideal tool for creating promotional and overview materials to engage the public in quickly developing the field of ecotourism. A characteristic feature of the so-called “ecotourists” is a deep interest in detailed information about the natural features of a given area or country, about the processes occurring in nature related to ecology in a broad sense. Among this fairly large group of people, scientific and educational maps created with the help of GIS, depicting the distribution of plant communities, individual species of animals and birds, endemic areas, etc., are very popular. Such information may be useful for environmental education purposes or for travel agencies to obtain additional funds from project funds and national programs that encourage the development of travel and excursions.
Monitoring. As environmental protection activities expand and deepen, one of the main areas of application of GIS is monitoring the consequences of actions taken at the local and regional levels. Sources of updated information can be the results of ground surveys or remote observations. The use of GIS is also effective for monitoring the living conditions of local and introduced species, identifying cause-and-effect chains and relationships, assessing the favorable and unfavorable consequences of environmental measures taken on the ecosystem as a whole and its individual components, making operational decisions to correct them depending on external conditions.
Now let's turn to specific implemented environmental projects using GIS technologies. All examples below are taken from online reviews, conference proceedings, and other publications.
Environmental monitoring and control of the Russia oil pipeline - China(S. G. Korey, E. O. Chubai RAO ROSNEFTEGAZSTROY). As the authors correctly noted, the construction of a pipeline entails an impact on the state of the environment, flora and fauna, but literate and a rational approach to routing and construction itself change ecosystems can be minimized. A Fundamental Aspect of Sustainable Design oil pipeline consists in mitigating the impact on geosystems and using special technical techniques to stabilize their condition at some acceptable level. With properly carried out surveys, a sufficient database of spatial data, competent engineering and geological forecasts, as well as good organization and execution of work using GIS technologies, negative phenomena can be minimized. Therefore, it is important to carry out all stages of environmental surveys, forecasts and monitoring.
As is known, GIS technologies are used to solve problems of constructing multi-level information databases of spatial data that provide access to the entire complex of resources in an effective and visual way. This allows you to generalize information to successfully solve problems of oil pipeline management, its inventory and monitoring of condition and resource. In addition, GIS have proven to be highly effective in solving various operational problems during the operation of an oil pipeline, including in emergency situations. Based on this, already at the first stages of designing the Russia-China oil pipeline, a GIS analysis was carried out, allowing us to understand the patterns and mutual relationships of theographic data and objects. The results of the analysis allow us to gain insight into what is happening in a given place, coordinate actions and choose the best solution. The combined use of GIS and remote sensing data dramatically increases the efficiency and quality of decisions aimed at eliminating accidents and minimizing their consequences.
Research to assess the environmental impact of the designed oil pipeline included the following stages:
Analysis of the state of the territory that may be affected by the planned activity;
Identification of possible environmental impacts;
Assessment of environmental impacts;
Identification of measures that reduce, mitigate or prevent negative impacts;
Assessment of the significance of residual environmental impacts and their consequences;
Development of an environmental monitoring and control program at all stages of implementation of the planned activities.
To carry out work to assess the environmental situation of the Russia-China oil pipeline, a multilateral analysis was carried out information. An environmental monitoring system has been developed for the successful implementation of large volumes of complex construction work under the conditions of legislative restrictions established in relation to the natural environment.
The natural monitoring system contains information about the current state of the ecosystem and interacts with the predictive modeling system For assessment of different scenarios for the construction of an oil pipeline in order to achieve the most economical solution, taking into account environmental criteria.
Considering that the basis for the work of a regional environmental GIS is a digital elevation model (DEM), The construction of the DEM was carried out taking into account the main geographical patterns. In addition to contour lines and elevation marks, rivers, small lakes, bathymetry of large lakes, water edge marks, etc. were taken into account.
Work using GIS to analyze real and hypothetical situations that may arise during the operation of an oil pipeline was carried out using the ArcVicw Spatial Analyst and 3D Analyst functions. Based on the constructed DEMs of watersheds, the directions of watercourses were determined, and the length, area and volume of an oil spill in the event of an accident were calculated. This made it possible to adjust the oil pipeline route to bypass the most vulnerable areas. A mathematical terrain model (MTM) was built on the basis of a high-resolution DEM and a number of thematic layers. Using it, you can automatically identify drainage basins for each point on the surface, calculate flood zones (pollution in the event of an oil spill), the range of spread of pollution, taking into account soil cover, vegetation, soil granulometric composition, temperature parameters (air and soil), and the presence of precipitation in moment of emergency, amount of snow cover, etc. This approach to route selection makes it possible to minimize risks and significantly reduce the scale of negative consequences of possible man-made disasters in the area. Considering the high seismicity of the region, this approach is practically the only possible one.
GIS V decision radiation problems of the Kola Peninsula . As correctly noted by the authors, to carry out work to assess the radiation risk of the region, a qualitative analysis of the available information and characteristics about radiation hazardous objects (RHO) is necessary. Modern methods of working with spatially distributed data sets, primarily GIS, can help solve the problem. Work using GIS to analyze real and hypothetical situations arising at ROOs has been carried out for several years, including in our country. At the Kola Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences and, in particular, at the Seier Institute of Industrial Ecology of the KSC RAS, the environmental aspects of radiation problems of the Kola Peninsula and the region are being studied. Basic the tasks are as follows:
Using GIS, to make open data on the regional environmental protection more visual and convincing, and the problem more understandable;
Increase stakeholder access to this data;
Based on the results of computer modeling of emergency situations at radioactive sites and GIS analysis of the radiation risk of territories execute construction of appropriate electronic maps;
To facilitate the creation of a common language, a communication interface for domestic and international stakeholders at all levels, with the aim of productively discussing the problem and searching for means and ways to solve it.
Currently, the structure and some preliminary blocks of the GIS of the region have been developed, corresponding to the range of issues under consideration. The main goal of the development is to create an information module based on GIS technology in order to:
Systematize and structure information on regional educational organizations;
Analyze radiation problems in the region;
Prepare initial data for mathematical modeling of atmospheric transfer of radionuclides and risk assessment in areas where nuclear power plants (NPPs) are located.
Its application areas include; regional radiation monitoring systems and automated systems (local, regional) to support decision-making in the event of an accident at nuclear facilities.
Information support:
Environmental protection enterprises and organizations of the region;
Research projects and design and survey work;
State supervisory authorities and emergency departments.
The GIS database will include features grouped into several layers. At the first stage, those objects were selected and to the extent that were provided by open sources of information: nuclear power plants, sunken ships with solid radioactive waste, sites of flooding of nuclear reactors, sites of nuclear explosions, sites of incidents with nuclear submarines, sites of spacecraft launches in the region (cosmodromes). Source information for the databases was obtained from published sources and Internet searches. The following products from ESRI, Tps were used in the GIS design robot:
- Arclnfo- to create layered maps (with built-in world map V Robinson projections as a cartographic basis);
AML language - for developing an interface to the database;
ArcExplorer I.I - for presenting maps on a personal computer.
Below are brief descriptions of the selected objects.
Nuclear power plant reactors. The GIS database for nuclear power plant power units includes data on 21 units of 12 stations, including the Bilibino NPP and the Norilsk Experimental Reactor.
The preliminary version of the GIS being developed is currently being constructed as a local information and reference module on radiation-hazardous objects. More promising is the use of GIS in regional automated systems for monitoring the radiation situation and decision support systems in the event of radiation accidents. The Institute for Problems of Industrial Ecology of the North is currently using individual applications of GIS technology to create a local Automated system for monitoring the radiation situation at the Kola NPP.
GIS is increasingly being used to analyze the radiation risk of a region. This is due to the fact that the models used must take into account large arrays of important spatially distributed parameters. Merging mathematical modeling with GIS requires either the creation of a standard interface between models and GIS, or the development of mathematical models within the framework of GIS technology. Implemented in Arclnfo (starting from version 7.1.2), the Open Application Development Environment (ODE) allows you to combine the functionality of Arclnfo and other application programs through specially created interfaces using standard programming environments. ODE has enabled the inclusion of many applications in the GIS technology space. In the product family ESRI Inc there are other modules required for the class in question tasks. TO These include spatial data servers, Internet/Internet map servers, a module for embedding maps and GIS functions into your own applications, and modules for modeling the natural environment.
According to the authors, the use of GIS will help to successfully begin solving the problems of inventory, accounting and monitoring the state of radiation-hazardous objects and the territory of the region itself, as well as mathematical modeling of related situations.
Environmental GIS and environmental monitoring system in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (O. Rozanov, Environmental Monitoring Department State committee on protection environment of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug). The regional GIS was based on an electronic scale map I: 200 000, digitized in the Arclnfo system V Gauss-Krugsr projection on Krasovsky's ellipsoid in the 1942 rectangular coordinate system, after which the digitization accuracy was assessed, which confirmed the correspondence of the metric information to the accuracy of the original cartographic materials. The number of map layers and their saturation fully correspond to each edition of the map. As the GIS developed, the map was supplemented with objects of deposits, license areas, specially protected areas (sanctuaries, nature reserves), and infrastructure. This information was collected and is still being collected today from various sources and translated into Arclnfo coverages. The latest information on updating the theme of maps was received in the department from the Resurs-01 satellite. The first stage of processing the received information consists of viewing the image, georeferencing by orbital elements, cutting out useful fragments, correcting the georeference by reference points on the image, saving selected fragments and export to source forms. The second stage of image processing is the process of thematic decoding. Practical skills were acquired in the field conditions of the Purovsky district at the Pogranichnoye and Vynaggurovskoye fields. Image processing work was carried out using the Maplnfo software product. The first results of working with raster images in Maplnfo showed efficiency and sufficient simplicity in determining the perimeter and areas of objects highlighted in the image (flood zones, burnt areas, etc.), as well as in drawing certain areas of the relief and man-made disturbances that are of particular interest to regulatory services. This is where the work at Maplnfo ended. Then the problems started
transforming images into a Gauss-Kruger projection and exporting it to the ArcView system for working with a vector map. Some help in transforming images was obtained when working with the Image Transformer program developed at ITC Scanex, However, with the release of the ArcView Image Analysis (ERDAS) module, work has accelerated significantly.
The ecological GIS of the city of Salekhard was based on an electronic map of a scale of 1: 10,000, supplemented by digitizing tablets of a scale of 1: 2000. When constructing the thematic layers of the map of the city of Salekhard, the latest data on the city's development were used, which were most often provided in the form of sketches, plans and tablets. The ArcView Image Analysis module was successfully used to transform and link scanned images into map coverages. This module was also tested to combine a raster image of a satellite image of the flood zone during the flood period on the Ob River with a vector map at a scale of 1:200000. Thanks to the successful compatibility of the module with the Arc View G1S system, positive results were obtained in creating thematic digital maps based on images and updating them. Thus, aerial photography materials containing information about anthropogenic disturbances outside the administrative boundaries of the city of Salekhard were digitized. These are under development V present and old unreclaimed quarries, soil storage areas, unregistered dirt roads and trails. The use of reference information on the transformed area of the terrain made it possible to significantly improve the accuracy of the geometric transformation without additional interpolation of the brightness of the pixels in the image.
The work carried out in the department on the use of received satellite information in the GIS of the region is of practical interest both for the control services of the committee and for other interested structures. Joint work is planned with the Hydrometeorological Service and navigation services for ice and meteorological conditions in the Northern Seas.
Due to the variability of weather conditions in the Far North, rapidly changing Arctic cyclones and, as a consequence, a small number of clear days, and the impracticality of receiving optical images in the dark months of the year, data from satellites with side-looking radars (SAR), such as TRS and RADARSAT. And the advent of the powerful remote sensing data processing system ERDAS Imagine allows the environmental monitoring department of the State Committee for Environmental Protection of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug to initiate the widespread use of remote sensing methods in the district.
System for making management decisions in the field of ecology using GIS technologies(WITH. AND, Kozlov, Center for Environmental Safety of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Administration). The author has formulated the main tasks facing the regional information and analytical system for supporting management decision-making in the field of ensuring the environmental safety of the region:
Preparation of integrated information on the state of the environment, forecasts of the likely consequences of economic activities and recommendations for choosing options for the safe development of the region;
Simulation modeling of processes occurring in the environment, taking into account existing levels of anthropogenic load and possible consequences of management decisions and possible emergency situations;
Accumulation information by time trends parameters environment for the purpose of environmental forecasting;
Treatment And accumulation of local results in databases And remote monitoring, aerospace image data and identification of natural objects, exposed the greatest anthropogenic impact;
Exchange of information on the state of the environment (import and export of data) with environmental information systems of other levels;
Issuance of information during environmental assessment and impact assessment procedures on environment (EIA);
Providing information required FOR control over compliance with environmental legislation, for environmental education, for the media.
When implementing various environmental projects And For their information support, the environmental service of the regional administration requires the availability of exchange formats used in various organizations and the coordination of classifiers, available environmental and related information. This work is coordinated by the Center for Environmental Safety (CES), created as part of the environmental service of the administration of the Nizhny Novgorod region in 1995 with the aim of operating an automated environmental monitoring system, introducing GIS technologies into the activities of environmental organizations in the region, and information support for solving the problem of ensuring the environmental safety of the region.
Currently, the process of initial data accumulation has been completed, most of the thematic layers have been formed and the GIS operates in “hotline” mode in the network of the Nizhny Novgorod region administration. However, the work to maintain 370
The relevance of information and the formation of new thematic layers is constantly ongoing. Digitized materials, when ready in an agreed form, are submitted on electronic media to the environmental safety center for systematization and, in processed form, are presented to environmental service units and other organizations. Existing and created layers reflect almost all aspects related to environmental safety. For illustration, the following large blocks of layers can be distinguished (currently, more than 350 thematic layers have been created as part of the GIS).
1. Topographic basis, i.e. layers containing information about the geographical location of the territory, natural conditions, relief, etc. The basis for this block is a topographic map at a scale of 1: 1,000,000, prepared by the Verkhne-Volzhsky AGP, and larger-scale maps of the largest cities in the region. To solve a number of problems, maps of larger scales are needed; in this regard, active work is currently underway to move to scales of 1: 500,000 and I: 200,000 for the entire territory of the region.
2. Data on sources of emissions and discharges, placement waste. This group includes layers created on the basis of information about natural resource users and statistical reporting forms. GIS technologies make it possible to analyze pollution caused by these numerous sources in relation to specific natural objects or their parts (for example, to individual sections of rivers).
3. Information about sources of increased danger and objects of environmental risk. The composition of the layers of this block depends on the specifics of a particular region and the amount of available information on specific objects.
4. Information about engineering and transport infrastructure. The layers included in this group are often interesting not on their own, but in combination with information about karst phenomena, floods and other natural phenomena that can lead to an emergency situation,
5. Information on the distribution, dynamics and levels of environmental pollution. This block contains the most variable layers containing environmental monitoring data with an update period of one day. Based on these data, the main analytical work takes place. It is these layers, being superimposed on other layers and long-term background monitoring data, that make it possible to most accurately and quickly assess the environmental situation in the region.
6. Radiation situation. Information from these layers makes it possible to assess the radiation situation both as a whole and in individual areas.
7. Sanitary and epidemiological situation and distribution of morbidity in the region. Spatiotemporal analysis of this data, imposed on operational monitoring information, allows in some cases not only to see the relationships, but also to predict the possible development of events.
8. Fauna and flora, biodiversity, specially protected natural areas. The set of these layers was created jointly with the Dront environmental center.
9. Subsoil and geological knowledge. The layers were created by order of the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Natural Resources.
It should be noted that the GIS of the environmental service has come close to the moment when the quantity of information turns into quality, which, in turn, can lead to the manifestation of hidden, encoded V form spatial relationship relationships.
In addition to the briefly described projects, there are many sites on the Internet related to one degree or another With application of GIS to environmental problems. Examples of the use of GIS technologies in ecology can be found in numerous links on the site www.csri.com. including in the proceedings of the annual conferences of ESRI, Inc.