Geography and Geoecology of Russia in the Mosaic of River Basins

Abstract

For the first time, an electronic vector map of small river basins and their interfluves with a regional level of spatial detail (1 : 1 000 000) has been created using GIS technology for the territory of mainland Russia with a total area of almost 17 million km². The GMTED2010 global model is used as a digital elevation model. The total number of basin geosystems is 388 627 and their area averages 47.8 km². The selected basin geosystems are used as operational–territorial units, in relation to which the geodatabase was created, characterizing the natural resource potential and geoecology of Russia. The open access River Basins of European Russia geoportal was created for a large part of the country, where all information thus obtained is posted. The article provides examples of solutions based on the previously formed GIS and the basin approach. A digital mosaic of small river basins makes it possible to “collect” territories of different scales (from local to transregional) and different taxonomies (from catchments of large rivers to federal districts of Russia) for geographical analysis. Such examples are given with the creation of specialized GIS for the great rivers of Siberia: the Ob and Lena, and a number of federal districts: the Volga and Siberian districts. Based on the map thus created of basins and GIS, a number of major geographical and geoecological problems are solved: the evaluation of current intensity of soil erosion, density of gully erosion, modeling of river runoff and anthropogenic impact on basin geosystems.