Evolution of the geoecological state of the Otkaznensky Reservoir in the Stavropol Territory

Abstract

This study was conducted to monitor and assess the environmental status of the Otkaznensky Reservoir of the Stavropol Territory from 1978 to 2018 and is mainly based on the analysis of satellite remote sensing data using GIS technology, archives materials and information from open sources of information. Anthropogenic activity of the second half of the twentieth century for the North Caucasus, it was accompanied by significant regulation and changes in river flow, the creation of a powerful artificial hydrographic network, changes in trophic state and hydrochemical regime of water bodies. By the beginning of the 1970s, the hydrographic network was replenished with a water management complex consisting of main canals, for example, the Greater Stavropol and Tersko-Kumsky. The total length of all channels was 4000 km (for comparison, the length of the Kuma River is ~ 800 km, the Kalaus River is ~ 400 km). The volume of annual water transfer through canals reached 2500 mn m3, and up to 90 % is the water of the Kuban River. Data from satellite remote sensing made it possible to establish the features of the environmental status, including long-term and seasonal dynamics of the area and other morphometric characteristics of the plain reservoir for the entire period of operation. Analysis of publications on the topic of remote monitoring and assessment of the dynamics of the state of water bodies and hydrographic networks in general has shown the high efficiency and prospects of using remote sensing methods. They provide multiscale and multi-time study. Ecosystems of water bodies are perfectly manifested in satellite images, they are not hidden in any way, they are single-tier, they are well decrypted both in texture and in spectral characteristics.