A spatial analysis of intra-regional transport accessibility using the GIS network analysis: the case of Anabar and Nizhnekolymsky districts)

Abstract

A spatial analysis of intra-regional transport accessibility of settlements in the Arctic districts of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) by GIS is an urgent task and can become a necessary support for the processes of decision-making and planning of sustainable development of these territories. The purpose of the study is to perform a spatial analysis of intra– regional transport accessibility of settlements in remote Arctic regions of Yakutia on the example of Anabarsky and Nizhnekolymsky districts. On the basis of the GIS network analysis and calculated coefficients of density of the transport network, the assessment of transport accessibility of the study areas according to winter and summer scenarios was carried out. The automobile and river networks were built on the basis of data from open cartographic sources: OpenStreetMaps and Google Earth Engine, the atlas of highways of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). On the basis of satellite images of Landsat 5, 8 and Sentinel 2, non-official (informal) roads that play an important role in communications between settlements were decrypted and digitized. QGIS and ArcGIS programs were used to perform network analysis and build a map of time availability of the settlements using isochronous method. The created maps clearly show the availability of settlements by time interval. The conducted research made it possible to determine that remote sensing and geoinformation systems are key tools for a spatial analysis of transport infrastructure. Using this tools, it is possible to conduct network analysis of various levels of complexity, as well as build graphs of the transport network, greatly simplifying the counting procedure. The paper tested a method that allows to identify unofficial roads in the Arctic, and the presented methods of GIS analysis and modeling that can be used for further deeper network analytics and graph theory to improve the methodology for studying the transport accessibility of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).