SOME RESULTS AND PROSPECTS OF LANDSCAPE MAPPING OF RUSSIA
S.V. Solodyankina1, A.V. Koshkarev2, K.S. Ganzei3, G.A. Isachenko4, A.V. Lysenko5, V.T. Starozhilov6, A.V. Khoroshev7, D.V. Chernykh8
1V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk, Russia
2Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
3Pacific Geographical Institute, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia
4St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
5North-Caucasus Federal University, Stavropol, Russia
6Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia
7Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
8Institute for Water and Environmental Problems, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Barnaul, Russia
Keywords: landscape maps, emergent properties of geosystems, metadata, web mapping services, geoportals
Abstract
The focus of this research is on the inventory of landscapes maps of Russia compiled at various scales including individual cartographic products, maps in scientific papers, and comprehensive scientific-reference atlases as well as digital spatial data on landscapes. The paper provides a review of data sources for landscape-cartographic studies on the territory of contemporary Russia since 1959 till the present and the results of searching for landscape maps on the Internet. Taking into consideration the difficulties in searching for analog and digital landscape maps, and sets of spatial data on landscapes in libraries, bibliographic publications and databases, it is proposed to create a metadata base and provide free access to it on the “Landscapes of Russia” geoportal. It is aimed at disseminating existing Russian and foreign data sources, integrating geosciences data based on geoportal technologies and web mapping tools. The current state of landscape mapping of the terrestrial and aquatic areas of Russia (Far East, southern Eastern Siberia, Altai, North Caucasus, and the north, north-west and center of European Russia) is illustrated by some regional case studies (totaling about 60 names) differing in the degree of cartographic knowledge. The prospects for advancements in landscape mapping include a further improvement of methods and technologies of using remote sensing data as well as identifying emergent properties of geosystems. The principles of organizing landscape maps and legends to them are formulated with due regard for the system properties of the research object (a special subject of landscape science, which is not limited only to the synthesis of information from geology, geomorphology, pedology, botany, etc.) and practical needs of nature management.
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