Geoinformation Modeling Research Articles

Application of Wolfram Mathematica for Geoinformation Modeling
 of Forest Ecosystems

The aim of the work is to develop a methodology for partial automation of the process of building a geoinformation model of forest ecosystems using Wolfram Mathematica software for the analysis of forests using open satellite images. The article deals with the functionality of the Wolfram Mathematica software and the use of mathematical calculation functions when identifying trees and their species on the image. The main attention in the article is paid to the process of step-by-step construction of a 3D model of the forest area. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the complete technological cycle of work with the use of a single software tool for processing the generated geoinformation, using a specially developed functional and its algorithms for the analysis and segmentation of satellite images. As a result of the study, a step-by-step methodology and algorithms for solving the problem posed in the research with possible options for further improvement were formed.

Geoinformation modeling of potentially important territories for the brown bear's stay in the Transcarpathian region

Purpose. Search for important areas for the presence of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) within the Transcarpathian region using geoinformation modeling tools to optimize the boundaries of the structural elements of the econetwork. Methods. Geoinformation modeling, geospatial analysis, processing of stock materials of environmental protection services. Results. In order to delineate potentially important areas for the presence of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) within the Transcarpathian region, a comprehensive assessment of the natural environment was carried out using geoinformation modeling tools. This modeling involved a preliminary analysis of the suitability for the life of the species of the following five parameters: types of land cover, proximity of non-forest biotopes to forest, high-altitude bioclimatic zones, degrees of dismemberment of the terrain, distance from settlements and roads. As a result of the integral assessment of these parameters, a cartographic model "Integral suitability of biotopes for the presence of the brown bear (Ursus arctos)" was obtained, which also demonstrated the habitats recorded by experts and the places of registration of the species. It was established that the total area of territories that are potentially suitable for the brown bear (Ursus arctos) within Transcarpathian region is 574.6 thousand hectares, and covers about 45.1% of the territory of the region. The largest number of such habitats is concentrated in the mountainous southwestern part of the region within the orographic ecoregion of the elevated dissected highlands. The most suitable and suitable biotopes, formed as a result of modeling, are also found within the boundaries of Gorganska Verhovyna (on the border of Transcarpathian and Ivano-Frankivsk regions), which belongs to the ecoregion of elevated lowlands. The simulated territories correlate well enough with localities where real signs of the distribution of the species have been recorded. At the second stage of research, in accordance with the chosen methodology, a cartographic model of "Potentially important areas for the presence of the brown bear" was obtained, on which the population, reproduction and other areas, as well as key areas of the region's eco-network and nature protection areas were outlined. Spatial features of the location of population and breeding areas in other morphogenic ecoregions of the Carpathians were also characterized, natural and anthropogenic obstacles and threats to the species' migration and survival were identified. It is noted that the natural conditions of the border are favorable for the migration of mammals from Romania, Slovakia and Poland, which is also confirmed by monitoring studies conducted by environmental protection institutions, forestry and hunting management, etc. Conclusions. The Transcarpathian region has favorable conditions for the existence of the brown bear (Ursus Arctos), in particular, a large share of forest ecosystems, the presence of hard-to-reach areas, a decrease in the population of small mountain villages, etc. However, the constant development of recreational and energy infrastructure can lead to the fragmentation of the natural environment. Therefore, the areas outlined by us, which are important for the presence of the brown bear (Ursus arctos), can be the basis for optimizing the boundaries of the structural elements of the eco-network of the mountainous part of the Transcarpathian region. In the future, it is necessary to continue monitoring studies on the presence of the brown bear within the key territories of the Zakarpattia econetwork and to more clearly delimit ecological corridors with the implementation of measures to comply with the norms of environmental protection restrictions.

Применение геоинформационного моделирования и фрактального анализа при геоэкологической оценке урбогеосистем

The article tests modern methods of geo-ecological assessment of settlements, namely GIS modeling and fractal analysis. Recently, they have found wide application in quantifying both the infrastructural components of the urban environment – the street and road network, the density of buildings, the degree of transport accessibility, and the environment-forming ones, such as green zones. GIS modeling methods allow quantifying the distribution density of a certain component of the urban environment or calculating the degree of accessibility in the form of classification and visualizing the results on a spatiotemporal scale in a form convenient for perception. The paper evaluates the parameters of the density of the road network, the density of buildings and the degree of landscaping of the territory according to spectral indices – NDVI and NDBI. Fractal analysis evaluates the range of sustainability of the environment of settlements to factors of anthropogenic load and, thus, areas with varying degrees of severity of anthropogenic impact are identified by the indicator of fractal dimension. The methods of geoinformation modeling and fractal analysis complement each other in geoecological assessment and allow for a more objective assessment of the state of the urban area.

Geoinformation model of river meandering for predictive mapping

An algorithm for predictive monitoring of the development of "tortuosity" of riverbed, called the process of meandering, is proposed. The algorithm is based on the statement that the riverbed is displaced from its current position along the normal to the dynamic axis of the flow in the direction from the center of curvature in a given alignment, and the displacement is proportional to the curvature, but the proportionality coefficient is not known in advance and must be determined in the process of cartographic monitoring. When using the proposed algorithm, such a well-known phenomenon in hydrology as the emergence, formation and development of meanders, which give the rivebed bizarre shapes, naturally turns out. The numerical implementation of the proposed algorithm, supplemented by predictive mapping of the riverbed deformation in previous years, is able to predict the channel displacement for future periods of time.

Анализ подходов к образно-знаковому моделированию обстановки для решения специальных задач

The progress of computer technology has led to significant changes in the practice of spatial data graphical representation forming. The authors discuss the prospects of using cartographic animations to assess the situation on the ground, planning and managing the activities of operational services’ units in the course of solving special tasks, ways of increasing the automation level in the process of forming the situation’s spatial-temporal geo-information model. The goal is to solve a definite special problem due to the widespread use of the global navigation satellite systems consumer equipment, integrated with a wide range of onboard sensors (measuring instruments) in both stationary and mobile versions. It is justified that processing of point clouds obtained as a result of periodic measurements tied to a single time scale and spatial coordinate system will provide the management of operational services with a relevant geo-information model of the situation in the area of solving the mentioned matters. Various approaches to creating a figurative-sign model of the situation and formation of conventional signs used for its making are also considered. It is proposed to move from a traditional system of grouping spatial data in a geo-information model by thematic layers to an object-oriented hierarchy of spatial items, where the more global objects will be the "owners" of the constituent ones from the spatial or semantic point of view of the local features, that will provide increased flexibility of algorithms of automatic formation of a frame of cartographic animation due to application of recursive call of rendering methods for each component entering the hierarchy with arguments specific for each one.

Spatial Principles of Territories Selection for Priority Development of Agroforestry Complexes

The creation of protective forest plantations on agricultural land is a long-term and capital-intensive investment aimed at creating sustainable agroforest landscapes. The purpose of the ongoing scientific research was to identify areas and create protective plantings, which will bring maximum effects. The methodology for achieving this goal is based on cartographic methods. Modern means of geoinformation modeling of territories and remote data make it possible to identify and follow the components of landscapes to obtain their quantitative characteristics. The result of the work carried out is a cartographic model of the study area, which allows for the analysis of the sufficiency of the number of existing forest plantations to ensure a sustainable development of the territories. The theoretical basis for determining the sufficiency of the number of forest plantations is the idea of the optimal forest cover of the territories. A review and analysis of existing points of view on the issue of optimal forest cover made it possible to identify the minimum parameters of protective forest cover. For the region of research, it is equal to 3%. The actual average value of the indicator of protective forest cover, calculated on the basis of the area of the entire study area, is 0.8%. The search for factors that determine the high efficiency of agroforestry measures made it possible to perform a differentiated assessment of the need for agroforestry measures. The ability to identify priority sites for the creation of protective forest plantations in these areas will bring maximum effects. The main principles of the search for areas of priority development are taking into account the geomorphological features of the study area, as well as the differences in the forest-growing properties of soils. The range of protective forest cover values for six geomorphologically different parts of the study area is from 0.6% to 2.7%. An analysis of the mutual arrangement of protective forest plantations and soil contours made it possible to identify the localization of spatial areas. When planning the creation of new protective forest plantations, priority is given to the most fertile lands, the indicators of protective forest cover of which are minimal.

РАДИЭКОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ МОНИТОРИНГ И ГЕОИНФОРМАЦИОННОЕ МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЕ РАСПРЕДЕЛЕНИЯ 137CS НА ЛАНДШАФТНОМ УРОВНЕ В БРЯНСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ

The results of the landscape-radioecological monitoring and geoinformation modeling of the distribution of 137Cs in the Predpolesie landscapes (Vyshkov and Dubrovka sites), as well as in the Opolies (wide woodless plains) landscapes (Brakhlov and Kostitsa sites) in the Bryansk oblast are presented. The data on the radiation survey of arable lands in the Bryansk oblast carried out in 2017 at four test sites with different densities of 137Cs contamination are given. Based on the monitoring results, a data bank of the vertical distribution of 137Cs in the agrocenoses soils has been formed. The structure of the large-scale radioecological geoinformation system (RadGIS) comprises a digital terrain model based on the radar survey of the Earth topography from the SRTM shuttle. The second information layer contains the results of the aerial gamma (AG) survey performed in 1993 with a resolution of 100 m. A comparative analysis of the 2017 ground testing data with the results of the 1993 AG survey has allowed for assessment of the 137Cs radioactive contamination field transformation in various landscapes at four test sites. To assess the intensity of 137Cs lateral migration at the test sites, geoinformation modeling has been performed with the detection of surface flow streamlines.

Radioecological Monitoring and Geoinformation Modeling of 137Cs Distribution at the Landscape Level in the Bryansk Oblast

Radioecological Monitoring and Geoinformation Modeling of 137Cs Distribution at the Landscape Level in the Bryansk Oblast

Картографическая реконструкция природопользования на основе ретроспективных топографических карт

Taking the most developed part of the Baikal basin as example a digital cartographic reconstruction of the regional nature management of the early XX century is compiled; it enables establishing the physical and geographical characteristics of the territory economic use in the past. As a result of nature management objects retrospective layers vectorization and subsequent transformation of their shp files into the ArcGIS environment spatial object classes, two cartographic sets of such classes were formed. They characterize two types of regional nature use, traditional pastoral and invasive agricultural. As a result of layer-by-layer geoinformation modeling of cartographic sets on a modern topographic basis and a digital relief model, primary areas of settlement and economic use of the territory were established, and various mapping of spatial and temporal life support structures of nature management different types was performed. For operational digital visualization, a technological solution is proposed for storing and mapping sets of classes of spatial objects through arrangement of a file-based geodata of the ArcGIS information environment. Cartographic reconstructions of pastoral and agricultural nature management at the beginning of the XX century are presented, as well as its general cartographic reconstruction on landscape basis.

Особливості інтеграції геопросторових даних автомобільних доріг із застосуванням операції з’єднання (JOIN)

The purpose of the article is to research the integration of attributes of the set of geospatial data “Roads”, which was created on the basis of the topographic database of the Main State Topographic Map, and the geoinformation system of roads of the State Agency of Roads of Ukraine (hereinafter – Ukravtodor) for the creation and maintenance of core reference data of roads of the national spatial data infrastructure (hereinafter – NSDI) using an operation Theta-JOIN in object-relational database management systems (hereinafter referred to as DBMS). Method. The basis of the research is the analysis of the possibilities of applying the theory of spatial databases and knowledge bases, international and national harmonized standards in the field of Geographic Information/Geomatics to solve the issue of integration of spatial data using the Theta-JOIN operation in object-relational database management systems. The results. The article analyzes the geo-information model of the road, based on the data of which it is possible to make management decisions during planning, design, operation, management, organization of road safety, etc. The requirements for the presentation of this model are defined in the GDF 5.1 standard, which is used for modeling road infrastructure in a geographic information environment using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Model Management Architecture (MDA) technologies. This allows for data interoperability at different levels, for example, national and pan-European. The geoinformation model of a public road of state importance in the topographic database is a continuous feature that is an aggregation of the features of the road and transport network through which this model passes. Also, on the basis of regulatory and technical support, the geographic identifier of the highway was established – the road index, the structure and principles of which are defined in the draft of the national standard DSTU xxx:20xx “Geoinformation system of public highways. Part 1. Composition, content and requirements for the database”. Two sets of spatial data TDB of the Main state topographic map and GIS roads of Ukravtodor were combined using the theta-JOIN operation in the PostgreSQL/PostGIS. The scientific novelty and practical significance is in the fact that the integration of sets of core reference and thematic spatial data of roads was investigated using the theta-join operation of relational algebra, which is implemented in modern GIS and DBMS for the development of the national spatial data infrastructure. This will make it possible to expand the attributes of road features contained in TDB, due to the official data of Ukravtodor, joining these sets with a geographic identifier, road index.

КОНЦЕПТУАЛЬНЕ МОДЕЛЮВАННЯ ДЛЯ ЗАВДАНЬ ГЕОІНФОРМАЦІЙНОГО ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ ЕКОЛОГІЧНОГО ТУРИЗМУ

The goal of the article is to define conceptual models in cartography. The conceptual model is a non-software description of a research field, describing its objectives, inputs, outputs, content, assumptions, and simplifications for the purposes of mapping or database creation. The article identifies the features of conceptual modeling in the process of creating and using maps for the organization of activities in the field of eco-tourism. It is emphasized that the creation of a conceptual model is associated with a set of ideas, beliefs, values, and worldviews (hidden picture of reality), formed by the researcher and the reader of the map. The article proposes a conceptual model of ecological tourism for geoinformation modeling tasks.

Four types of cultural landscape models within geoinformation modeling: challenges, opportunities, limitations

Geoinformation modeling has been used for a long time for inventory, mapping, typology, assessment of cultural landscapes in landscape planning procedures and the development of management regimes for territories of outstanding cultural and historical value. However, in the field of view of researchers there are still mainly structural models – cartographic representations of the basic elements of the cultural landscape, far from exhaustive contents of the concept of "cultural landscape" and not characterizing it as a space of residence, survival and experience. To solve this problem, fundamentally different models are needed – functioning models (reflecting the productivity of human-cultivated ecosystems), relationship models (describing the social structure of society and its interaction with the surrounding landscape), and metaphysical models that allowed a person to perceive the cultural landscape as a "world".

Geo-Information Modeling for Determining the Movement of Human Capital

The paper considers the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to assess the attractiveness of territorial entities of the Russian Federation in terms of the movement of human capital. The relevance of the study is because of the uneven distribution of human capital, the high rate of its migration from underdeveloped regions and municipalities, and the insufficient effectiveness of the policy pursued by regional authorities and local self-government. The purpose of the research is to develop a GIS monitoring of the socio-economic attractiveness of municipalities to determine the movement of human capital. The research methodology is based on the use of complex and statistical analyses, methods of geo-information modeling. The information basis of the study is the data of the regulatory legal framework of reference systems, official statistics of the Republic of Bashkortostan, and investment passports of municipal districts and cities of the region. The authors justify and formulate a list of requirements and limitations for the GIS software and tool complex. Also, the authors identified and disclosed the requirements for GIS information support: reliability, completeness, relevance, consistency, understandability (unambiguity). There have been generated major conditions for the correct operation of the GIS software for monitoring the attractiveness of municipalities, considering the limitations of the current legislation. The research developed and described the functional basis of the GIS, which includes two key components with corresponding structural elements and tools: an organizational block and a modeling and visualization block. The authors proposed a list of key statistical (attribute) and spatial data and the attractiveness coefficient of a municipality as a criterion for assessing the opportunities for the development of human capital in a particular territory. The authors developed the scheme of the algorithm for the functioning of GIS monitoring the attractiveness of municipalities of the Republic of Bashkortostan, as well as they introduced the interface and user tools. The proposed GIS allows users to search for the municipality with the subsequent output of information about it containing the values of demographic, migration, socio-economic and environmental indicators in tabular and graphical forms. The results of the research make it possible to predict the level of attractiveness of municipalities in the short and medium term, depending on the chosen governance strategy and also allow zoning of municipalities by groups. The authors conclude they developed GIS monitoring of socio-economic attractiveness of municipalities to determine the movement of human capital in the Republic of Bashkortostan can serve as the basis for creating a fully functional decision support system at the regional level in all subjects of the Russian Federation.

Towards Sustainable and Livable Cities: Leveraging Remote Sensing, Machine Learning, and Geo-Information Modelling to Explore and Predict Thermal Field Variance in Response to Urban Growth

Urbanization-led changes in land use land cover (LULC), resulting in an increased impervious surface, significantly deteriorate urban meteorological conditions compromising long-term sustainability. In this context, we leverage machine learning, spatial modelling, and cloud computing to explore and predict the changing patterns in urban growth and associated thermal characteristics in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Using multi-source earth observations (1990–2020), the urban thermal field variance index (UTFVI) is estimated to evaluate the urban heat island effect quantitatively. From 1990 to 2020, the urban area increased by ~90% at the expense of vegetation and barren land, which will further grow by 2050 (50%), as determined by the artificial neural network-based prediction. The land surface temperature in the summer and winter seasons has experienced an increase of 0.88 °C and ~5 °C, respectively. While there exists spatial heterogeneity in the UTFVI 1990–2020, the city is expected to experience a ~140% increase in areas with severe UTFVI in response to predicted LULC change by 2050. The study provides essential information on LULC change and UTFVI and puts forth useful insights to advance our understanding of the urban climate, which can progressively help in designing more livable and sustainable cities in the face of environmental changes.

Оцінка екосистемних послуг зі зниження рівнів пилового забруднення атмосферного повітря міста вздовж автошляхів

Air pollution by particulate matter PM10, PM2.5 is one of the aspects that determines the quality of the environment in cities. The general trend today is an increase in the share of road dust among anthropogenic sources of pollution. Removing dust from the air is one of the ecosystem services (ES) provided by urban green spaces (UGS). Currently, there is a lack of methods and technologies that would make it easy to determine the volume of ES both for a particular UGS and for the entire urban blue-green infrastructure (UGBI). The goal of the study is to develop a methodology for assessing of ES in reducing the levels of dust pollution in the city’s atmospheric air along roads. The assessment should take into account the condition of UGS and their effectiveness in air purification. The main factors that determine the differences in ES indicators are the power of the emission source, the specific features of PM redistribution in the air, and the characteristics of the green space. Therefore, the algorithm for assessing the volume of ES is to establish: the parameters of the primary pollution field PM2.5 and PM10; the effectiveness of the UGS in reducing pollution; and the volume of ES for air purification from dust. The main research method is geoinformation modelling, in particular, the processes of atmospheric dispersion of pollutants (based on LEDI). The source materials are: the boundaries of the UGS and roads extracted from the OpenStreetMap database; ESA WorldCover 2020 and Copernicus Land Cover, from which the qualitative characteristics of the UGS were obtained; aerological sounding data (University of Wyoming). A geodatabase was created in the study. The calculated indicators included in the database are the average annual values of PM10 and PM2.5 coming from roads, meteorological parameters of their redistribution, and the coefficient of air purification from dust (Idust_cleaning). The characteristics of the primary pollution field – Contpm10, Contpm2.5 and the efficiency of the function of reducing dust pollution of the UGS – Еdust_cleaning(2.5), Еdust_cleaning(10) were determined. Normalisation of efficiency values according to the Harrington desirability scale allowed us to calculate the volumes of the ES of cleaning urban air from dust (ESdust_cleaning). This assessment can become a tool for urban planning decisions, as it allows to identify the UGS that require priority actions to improve their dust removal capabilities.

Геоинформационное моделирование экосистем на основе бассейнового подхода

The basin approach is an effective tool for the organization and administration of environmental management at the regional and interregional levels. Statistical processing of basin information makes it possible to comprehensively assess the ecology of river catchment areas of different hierarchical levels. Assessing the state of unique natural characteristics for each basin and identifying relationships between them is a complex task that requires the use of various methods and technologies of geoinformation modeling using a variety of ground and satellite data. The elementary territorial unit in this work is the minimum watersheds of the pilot area of four watersheds in Eastern Siberia with an average area of about 1 ha. For each basin, a set of attributes of unique natural characteristics is formed, which are obtained on the basis of ground-based research and satellite data, as well as climate models. Such a set of attributes makes it possible to assess the state of the territory based on various methods of mathematical modeling, statistical and cluster analysis. Basin modeling of the territory was performed on the basis of a hydrologically correct digital relief model MERIT DEM Hydro. Based on Terra/MODIS satellite information, data on temperature, vegetation indices, and vegetation cover were obtained for each catchment area. According to the data of the NASA GPM and NCEP GFS reanalysis, data on accumulated precipitation were generated for all elementary watersheds. An analysis of the seasonal dynamics of surface temperature in the study area was carried out, and statistical distributions of changes in surface temperature during the year were obtained for each watershed. The sum of active air temperatures above 10°C was calculated. Statistical values and average annual characteristics of trends in the vegetation indices NDVI, SAVI and LAI for each basin were obtained. The created geoinformation model is a tool for ensuring the tasks of assessing the state of ecosystems based on the landscape-basin approach. The necessary methods and technologies for creating, storing and processing data for each watershed have been developed.

Studying pedestrian flows to improve the Rostov-on-Don’s intelligent transport system

The study included survey of signal-controlled pedestrian crossings throughout the whole city of Rostov-on-Don, a geoinformation model was built, field surveys of pedestrian traffic intensity at signal-controlled pedestrian crossings were conducted in order to identify zones of highest concentration of pedestrian flows, as well as to develop the city’s Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and mitigate conflict situations at the city’s crossings.

Геоинформационное моделирование индекса человеческого развития стран ОЭСР и их регионов

The article is devoted to the development of the Human development Index (HDI) in the framework of inter-territorial comparisons of the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and their regions. The processes of creating a basic cartographic basis for conducting geoinformation modeling of the human development index at the country and regional levels at the same time are considered. New features of the mathematical-cartographic modeling apparatus are revealed, the main conceptual difficulties of developing the thematic content of such modeling are described. Based on the analysis of the international and Russian versions of the human development index, the concept of thematic content of this index is proposed to ensure inter-territorial comparisons. Within the framework of geoinformation modeling, the results were obtained from the standpoint of general ideas about the differentiation of territories according to the values of the human development index. An approach to the integration of evaluation and typological models is proposed, which allowed not only to consider the typology of territories according to the degree of intensity of the values of the human development index indicators, but also to consider them in conjunction with the entire variety of index values within this type, which made it possible to give a comprehensive characteristic of the territory. The analysis made it possible to consider the territory from the standpoint of public health, the effectiveness of the system of secondary specialized and higher education, as well as to assess the size of the territory’s economy in relation to the population. On the basis of this, a number of the main problems of the territories were identified from the standpoint of the components of the human development index and a number of recommendations were given to those making managerial decisions within the framework of national and regional policy.

Geoinformation search methods for increased risk areas for the spread of socially significant infections in metropolitan cities (through TB as an example)

Methods of related sciences can be applied to study the spread of tuberculosis. Cartography may act as an inte-gration science, the methods of which can be used in the organization of epidemiological work. Purpose: Use GIS methods to conduct a geospatial analysis of medical statistics’ data, and then create a geoinformation model of the spread of the disease. Materials and methods. A spatial study of retrospective information about the places of residence of patients in two megacities was conducted. Methodological solutions for data prepara-tion, analysis and visualization have been proposed. The software tools from the QGIS open source software were used in the work. The research uses such methods as the method of aggregating data to individual houses, the method of constructing regular grids, methods of cluster analysis (k-means) and the construction of KDE maps. Re-sults. Spatial analysis methods have established that in large megacities there are territories in which there is a long-term stable reproducibility of cases of the disease. The data aggregation method determined that 41.5% of all cases of tuberculosis were registered in 3.8% of all resi-dential buildings in St. Petersburg, and 19.7% of all cases of tuberculosis were registered in 1.4% of the residential buildings in Yekaterinburg. According to the results after constructing regular grids, it was revealed that the aver-age number of patients in certain territories was many times higher than the average for the city. In St Peters-burg, there are from 34.2 to 40.3% of territories where cases of tuberculosis were previously reported, and in Yekaterinburg — from 31.3 to 34.1%. Conclusion. Long-term spatial data, which was analyzed for the first time in two megacities of Russia, allow us to take a diffe rent look at the problem of the distribution of registered cases of tuberculosis at different scales: from the city as a whole to a separate building, which in turn gives new knowledge for the development of evidence-based anti-epidemic and preventive measures

Geoinformation modeling of socio-ecological safety of rural areas on the example of settlements of the Belgorod region

In the course of the study, geoinformation resources were created for the rural areas of the Belgorod region. The created GIS consists of a system of hierarchically subordinate sections of rural territories of the Belgorod region - agrolandscapes of Strigunovsky (Borisovsky district), as well as Obukhovsky (Starooskolsky urban district) and Dolgopolyansky (Starooskolsky district) rural settlements. The results of ecological and geochemical studies were used as databases and thematic cartographic tools reflecting the natural resource potential, socio-economic and ecological-hygienic situation. The study of the spatial and temporal characteristics of the degree of anthropogenic pressure in rural areas of the Belgorod region on the example of Strigunovsky (Borisovsky district), Obukhovsky (Starooskolsky urban district) and Dolgopolyansky (Starooskolsky district) rural settlements, as well as adjacent agricultural landscapes using Earth remote sensing materials, made it possible to differentiate studied territories. 4 zones are identified - high anthropogenic load (residential and outbuildings of a rural settlement), medium anthropogenic load (agricultural land and other anthropogenic objects), natural frame (territories occupied by green vegetation), water bodies.