American Journal of Environmental Protection

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Research of Devdoraki Glacier Based on Satellite Remote Sensing Data and Devdoraki Glacier Falls in Historical Context

Received: 22 March 2015    Accepted: 27 March 2015    Published: 25 June 2015
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Abstract

The problem of the transportation safety for Mtskheta-Stepantsminda-Larsi road is overviewed. The scientific study of glaciers in the Caucasus started in the first half of the 19th century. From that time the terrestrial observations on glaciers were carried out. The outputs of terrestrial observations resulted in different series of various temporal duration characteristics of glaciers due to the difficulties of field works organization. The data received contain uncertainties and have no sufficient resolution in time and space. With the invention of the Earth’s satellites it was determined that satellite remote sensing is the best technology allowing to receive the data with needed regularity both in terms of time and space resolution. The results of various researches show that sometimes the satellite remote sensing data is difficult to interpret and determine needed glacier characteristics. In such cases the data of the terrestrial observations are used for validation of glacier characteristics along with the expert knowledge of corresponding glaciers. This complex approach gives the possibility to adjust glaciers contours and calculate more accurately various characteristics of a glacier. At present the main problem for the safety of the Georgian Military Road in the territory of Georgia is the glacial and hydrological disasters such as ice blocks falls from the Kazbegi glaciations accompanied with the debris, followed by the river bed blockage and natural dam formation, with a consequent break and pass of catastrophic mudflows. The glacial catastrophes of Kazbegi glaciers: Devdoraki, Mna, Gergeti, Abano and Chachi have great impact on Mtskheta-Stepantsminda-Larsi road safety on the territory of Georgia. The biggest catastrophes on the Georgian territory took place due to Devdoraki glacier fell in 1776, 1778, 1785, 1808, 1817, 1832. The Devdoraki glacier listed falls during those years were connected with the pulsation of the glaciers and their increase. In Kazbegi glaciation the environmental disasters occurred in 2002, 2007 and 2014 (twice). It was the result of ice layers movement. Based on the analysis, it was concluded that the creation of the May 17 and August 20, 2014 catastrophic mudflows was not connected with the glacier pulsation.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajep.s.2015040301.13
Published in American Journal of Environmental Protection (Volume 4, Issue 3-1, May 2015)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Applied Ecology: Problems, Innovations

Page(s) 14-21
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Remote Sensing, Glaciers, GIS, Melting & Accumulation, Climate Change

References
[1] Abikh G.V. (1877). Neskolko slov o sostoianii v nastoiachee vremia Devdorakskogo lednika. – Izvestia Kavkazskogo otdela IRGO, t. V, 57-64 (in Russian).
[2] Zaporojchenko E.V., Chernomorets S.S. (2004). Istoria i izuchennost Kazbegskikh zavalov. // Vestnik Kavkazskogo gornogo obchestva, Piatigorsk, № 5, 33-54 (in Russian).
[3] V. Tsomaia (1983), Opasnye gidrometeorologicheskie javlenija na Kavkaze. L., 158-184 (in Russian)
[4] A. N. Bojinski, S.S. Chernomorets 2007). Modelirovanie Kazbekskikh lednikovikh zavalov XVIII-XIX vekov. Materiali gliatsiologicheskikh issledovanii, vip. 103, 91-95.
[5] Tavasiev R. A., Galushkin I.V. (2014). Kamenno-ledovi obval s gori Kazbek 17 Maia 2014 goda. Vestnik Vladikavkazskogo nauchnogo tsentra, tom 14 №2, 43-45.
[6] Chris R., Stokes V., Stephen D. Gurney, Maria Shangedanova, Victor Popovnin (2006). Late-20th century changes glacier extent in the Caucasus Mountains, Russia/Georgia. Journal of Glaciology, Vol. 52 No. 176, 99-109.
[7] Magnus Sylvén, Rasmus Reinvang, Žanete Andersone-Lilley (2008).Climate Change in Southern Caucasus: Impacts on nature, people and society, WWF Norway, WWF Caucasus Programme,10-31.
[8] [Von Ina Keggenhoff, Tatjana Keller, Mariam Elizbarashvili, Ramin Gobejishvili und Lorenz King (2011). Naturkatastrophen durch Klimawandel im Kaukasus? Hochwasser und Hanginstabilitaten in Georgien immer haufiger. Spiegel der Forschung, N2, 16-23.
[9] Shengelia L.; Kordzakhia G.; Tvauri G.; Davitashvili T.; Begalishvili N. (2012). Possibilities of the use of remote sensing technologies for the estimation of modern climate change impact on the Caucasus glaciers. Monthly Scientific-Reviewed Magazine of Georgian National Academy of Sciences ,,Metsniereba da Technologiebi” (Science and Technologies”), №4-6, 25-30, (in Georgian).
[10] Petri Pellikka, Gareth Rees W. (2010). Remote Sensing of Glaciers. Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK, 340.
[11] Bolch, T., and Kamp, U. (2005). Glacier Mapping in High Mountains Using DEMs, Landsat and ASTER Data, Grazer Schriften der Geographie und Raumforschung, In: Proceedings 8th International Symposium on High Moutain Remote Sensing Cartography, vol 41, 20-27 March 2005. La Paz, Bolivia, 13-24.
[12] Raup, B.H.; A. Racoviteanu; S.J.S. Khalsa; C. Helm; R. Armstrong; Y. Arnaud (2007). "The GLIMS Geospatial Glacier Database: a New Tool for Studying Glacier Change". Global and Planetary Change 56, 101-110.
[13] Kordzakhia G., Shengelia L., Tvauri G., Tsomaia V., Dzadzamia M., (2014). Satellite Remote Sensing Outputs of the Certain Glaciers in theTerritory of East Georgia. Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences. www.elsevier.com
[14] Tsomaia, V.S., Drobishev, O.A., (1977). Glaciers Catalog of the USSR, the North Caucasus, Leningrad,Gidrometeoizdat, Vol. 8. (In Russian), 71. G. Eason, B. Noble, and I. N. Sneddon, “On certain integrals of Lipschitz-Hankel type involving products of Bessel functions,” Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, vol. A247, pp. 529–551, April 1955. (references)
Author Information
  • Georgian Technical University, the Institute of Hydrometeorology, Tbilisi, Georgia

  • Georgian Technical University, the Institute of Hydrometeorology, Tbilisi, Georgia

  • I. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Nodia Institute of Geophysics, Tbilisi, Georgia

  • National Environmental Agency of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia

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    G. Kordzakhia, L. Shengelia, G. Tvauri, M. Dzadzamia. (2015). Research of Devdoraki Glacier Based on Satellite Remote Sensing Data and Devdoraki Glacier Falls in Historical Context. American Journal of Environmental Protection, 4(3-1), 14-21. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.s.2015040301.13

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    ACS Style

    G. Kordzakhia; L. Shengelia; G. Tvauri; M. Dzadzamia. Research of Devdoraki Glacier Based on Satellite Remote Sensing Data and Devdoraki Glacier Falls in Historical Context. Am. J. Environ. Prot. 2015, 4(3-1), 14-21. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.s.2015040301.13

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    AMA Style

    G. Kordzakhia, L. Shengelia, G. Tvauri, M. Dzadzamia. Research of Devdoraki Glacier Based on Satellite Remote Sensing Data and Devdoraki Glacier Falls in Historical Context. Am J Environ Prot. 2015;4(3-1):14-21. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.s.2015040301.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajep.s.2015040301.13,
      author = {G. Kordzakhia and L. Shengelia and G. Tvauri and M. Dzadzamia},
      title = {Research of Devdoraki Glacier Based on Satellite Remote Sensing Data and Devdoraki Glacier Falls in Historical Context},
      journal = {American Journal of Environmental Protection},
      volume = {4},
      number = {3-1},
      pages = {14-21},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajep.s.2015040301.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.s.2015040301.13},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajep.s.2015040301.13},
      abstract = {The problem of the transportation safety for Mtskheta-Stepantsminda-Larsi road is overviewed. The scientific study of glaciers in the Caucasus started in the first half of the 19th century. From that time the terrestrial observations on glaciers were carried out. The outputs of terrestrial observations resulted in different series of various temporal duration characteristics of glaciers due to the difficulties of field works organization. The data received contain uncertainties and have no sufficient resolution in time and space. With the invention of the Earth’s satellites it was determined that satellite remote sensing is the best technology allowing to receive the data with needed regularity both in terms of time and space resolution. The results of various researches show that sometimes the satellite remote sensing data is difficult to interpret and determine needed glacier characteristics. In such cases the data of the terrestrial observations are used for validation of glacier characteristics along with the expert knowledge of corresponding glaciers. This complex approach gives the possibility to adjust glaciers contours and calculate more accurately various characteristics of a glacier. At present the main problem for the safety of the Georgian Military Road in the territory of Georgia is the glacial and hydrological disasters such as ice blocks falls from the Kazbegi glaciations accompanied with the debris, followed by the river bed blockage and natural dam formation, with a consequent break and pass of catastrophic mudflows. The glacial catastrophes of Kazbegi glaciers: Devdoraki, Mna, Gergeti, Abano and Chachi have great impact on Mtskheta-Stepantsminda-Larsi road safety on the territory of Georgia. The biggest catastrophes on the Georgian territory took place due to Devdoraki glacier fell in 1776, 1778, 1785, 1808, 1817, 1832. The Devdoraki glacier listed falls during those years were connected with the pulsation of the glaciers and their increase. In Kazbegi glaciation the environmental disasters occurred in 2002, 2007 and 2014 (twice). It was the result of ice layers movement. Based on the analysis, it was concluded that the creation of the May 17 and August 20, 2014 catastrophic mudflows was not connected with the glacier pulsation.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Research of Devdoraki Glacier Based on Satellite Remote Sensing Data and Devdoraki Glacier Falls in Historical Context
    AU  - G. Kordzakhia
    AU  - L. Shengelia
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    AU  - M. Dzadzamia
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajep.s.2015040301.13
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    JF  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JO  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
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    SN  - 2328-5699
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.s.2015040301.13
    AB  - The problem of the transportation safety for Mtskheta-Stepantsminda-Larsi road is overviewed. The scientific study of glaciers in the Caucasus started in the first half of the 19th century. From that time the terrestrial observations on glaciers were carried out. The outputs of terrestrial observations resulted in different series of various temporal duration characteristics of glaciers due to the difficulties of field works organization. The data received contain uncertainties and have no sufficient resolution in time and space. With the invention of the Earth’s satellites it was determined that satellite remote sensing is the best technology allowing to receive the data with needed regularity both in terms of time and space resolution. The results of various researches show that sometimes the satellite remote sensing data is difficult to interpret and determine needed glacier characteristics. In such cases the data of the terrestrial observations are used for validation of glacier characteristics along with the expert knowledge of corresponding glaciers. This complex approach gives the possibility to adjust glaciers contours and calculate more accurately various characteristics of a glacier. At present the main problem for the safety of the Georgian Military Road in the territory of Georgia is the glacial and hydrological disasters such as ice blocks falls from the Kazbegi glaciations accompanied with the debris, followed by the river bed blockage and natural dam formation, with a consequent break and pass of catastrophic mudflows. The glacial catastrophes of Kazbegi glaciers: Devdoraki, Mna, Gergeti, Abano and Chachi have great impact on Mtskheta-Stepantsminda-Larsi road safety on the territory of Georgia. The biggest catastrophes on the Georgian territory took place due to Devdoraki glacier fell in 1776, 1778, 1785, 1808, 1817, 1832. The Devdoraki glacier listed falls during those years were connected with the pulsation of the glaciers and their increase. In Kazbegi glaciation the environmental disasters occurred in 2002, 2007 and 2014 (twice). It was the result of ice layers movement. Based on the analysis, it was concluded that the creation of the May 17 and August 20, 2014 catastrophic mudflows was not connected with the glacier pulsation.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 3-1
    ER  - 

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