This study presents a comprehensive assessment of Azerbaijan’s wind energy potential, using the Shorabad settlement in the Khizi district as a representative case study. The strategic importance of wind energy in the context of the global energy transition and climate change is highlighted, and the natural and geographical advantages of the area, as well as existing infrastructure opportunities, are examined. Analysis of long-term datasets from NASA POWER (1981–2024), the Global Wind Atlas, and local meteorological stations revealed an average annual wind speed of 5.46 m/s. This wind regime was further characterized using statistical modeling based on the Weibull distribution. The spatial variation of wind speed, land use, and proximity to the power grid was evaluated through GIS analysis. Energy yield modeling for the Vestas V90-2.0 MW turbine indicates an annual generation potential of 2.9–3.50 GWh, corresponding to a capacity factor (CF) of 0.20 under the prevailing wind conditions. Based on a conservative siting scenario (25 km² area, accommodating approximately 54 turbines with a total capacity of 108 MW), the annual energy production is estimated at 156.6–189.0 GWh/year, corresponding to approximately 0.55%–0.67% of Azerbaijan’s annual electricity generation. The findings indicate that Shorabad possesses favorable characteristics, including flat topography, limited vegetation, and proximity to existing infrastructure, which collectively render it a suitable location for a wind power project (WPP).
The study aims to identify the key barriers and drivers of artificial intelligence (AI) integration in geographical education through a comparative analysis of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, where digital transformation processes develop in parallel but differ in institutional and pedagogical orientation. A mixed-methods approach was applied, combining document analysis of national education digitalization policies with an online survey of 966 educators (471 from Kazakhstan and 495 from Uzbekistan), including schoolteachers, college instructors, and university lecturers. The analysis focused on levels of digital competence, institutional readiness, and practical integration of AI tools in teaching geography. The findings reveal notable cross-country differences. Kazakhstan demonstrates a practice-oriented approach emphasizing digital pedagogy, interactive mapping, and applied use of AI in spatial analysis. Uzbekistan, in contrast, prioritizes the development of academic infrastructure and research platforms for AI. Common barriers include weak Internet connectivity in rural areas, limited teacher training, lack of methodological frameworks, and psychological resistance to innovation. However, strong drivers are evident—state support for digital education, the spread of geospatial analytics, and the emergence of AI-based tools for spatial modeling and personalized learning. The study provides one of the first comparative assessments of AI adoption in geographical education across Central Asia. It conceptualizes AI not as a replacement for teachers but as an intelligent partner that enhances research thinking, spatial imagination, and cognitive autonomy, laying the foundation for sustainable digital transformation of geographical education.
This publication aims to raise awareness among geography teachers and students about the important role of cryosphere components in the climate system and the hydrological cycle, as well as the environmental, social, and economic consequences of global climate change. The following research methods were used: theoretical (from the abstract to the concrete); comprehensive (abstraction, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, partial modeling); and empirical (observation, comparison, measurement, and experimentation). In the educational process, glaciological studies may begin with the first occurrences of winter atmospheric phenomena—snow, hail, ice glaze, blizzards, or heavy snowfalls—in the context of understanding the impact of global warming and climate change on specific natural processes in Ukraine. Mountain glaciers in Iceland, Scandinavia, the Alps, and the Himalayas serve as indicators of climate change; their melting is altering the landscape, potentially leading to changes in the national borders of some countries. The article’s materials are intended to help students study the basics of glaciology in more detail, where the development of social skills, interaction, and independence is important. The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2025–2034 as the Decade of Action for the Cryosphere Sciences. The initiative aims to enhance monitoring and scientific research on glacier melting, permafrost, and snow cover. It also envisages support for the development of educational programs that will expand geography teachers’ capacity to help students better understand their natural and anthropogenic environments and act responsibly within them. To stimulate children’s interest in glaciological science, scientists need to develop creative, integrated content. The novelty of the study lies in developing methodological foundations for integrating contemporary glaciological issues into the educational process, thereby ensuring the active participation of teachers and students in implementing the Decade of Action for the Cryosphere Sciences (2025–2034).
The study of scientific schools occupies an important place in the history of geographical science. It has been proven that communities of leader-thinkers and followers have long been inherent in the scientific environment in general and in geography in particular, but it was only at the end of the 19th century that they became institutionalised in scientific schools. It has been determined that the formation of scientific geographical schools at Lviv University took place in the second half of the 20th century. The work of scientists researching the functioning of scientific geographical schools in the world and Ukraine has been analysed. A comprehensive list of publications on the study of scientific geographical schools at Lviv University is provided, and their content analysis has been carried out. The origins and characteristics of the initial stages of the functioning of scientific geographical schools at Lviv University are revealed: cartographic; complex territorial organisation of society; regional, ecological and engineering geomorphology; landscape studies; genetic soil science. It is substantiated that Lviv scientific geographical schools are branch-specific. The role of the founding leaders (O. Vashchenko, K. Gerenchuk, P. Tsys, S. Poznyak) in the formation and development of the university’s scientific geographical schools is summarised, the leaders-followers are identified, and the main achievements of the schools are analysed through the prism of monograph publications, scientific.
Atlases supports the educational process, scientific research, and broadens cultural horizons. The creation of thematic atlases, in particular historical ones, is receiving especial attention. They provide an understanding of a certain topic in a spatial and temporal context. They help to see history not only as a chronology of events, but as a living, changing picture of the world. Such atlases form a holistic view of the events of the past, stimulate interest in history and geography. Historical mapping is becoming particularly relevant in Ukraine, in the context of the awakening of national consciousness, the preservation of cultural heritage and collective memory, and the rethinking of historical processes. The purpose of the study is to analyze the general trends in historical mapping using the example of Ukrainian and Western European atlases. A new work is also presented — “Teacher’s Atlas of History” — a summary of thirty years of experience in historical mapping at the State Scientific and Production Enterprise “Kartographiia.” The connection of Ukrainian historical cartography with the Western European tradition, development trends, and classification of historical maps are considered. In the opinion of the compilers the main task of historical cartography is substantiated — coverage of political and military history. “Teacher’s Atlas of History” is the first publication in Ukraine, which presents the events of world history at a level higher than school. The atlas will not only help educators in mastering historical science, but will also strengthen the role of the teacher. In the opinion of the compilers the proposed format of the atlas, best combines its main tasks: pedagogical, self-educational and analytical. Forms of using the atlas are proposed.
An effective tool in combating Urban Heat Islands (UHI) manifestations is the development of urban blue-green infrastructure (BGI). BGI, through its functioning, provides various ecosystem services (ES), including heat reduction ES. This study aims to assess the heat-reduction ecosystem services provided by BGI and by specific urban green spaces (UGS) within the city. In this study, we employ a spatially explicit method for UHI assessment based on remote sensing of Land Surface Temperature (LST). We also use open data on Kyiv city’s urban green infrastructure (BGI), including the ESA WorldCover 2020 land cover map, the Copernicus Global Land Service Land Cover, and the OpenStreetMap database. The assessment involves modeling the cooling function, determining its effectiveness, translating this effectiveness into ecosystem service quantities, and exemplifying these with the case of the BGI of Kyiv. The study’s results reveal that BGI cools surfaces by up to 16°C. The least efficient green areas, occupying 23–29% of the polygon area and having a perforation of 70–80 km/km². Overall, Kyiv’s BGI provides heat reduction ES at average (33% of cases) and above-average (30% of cases) volumes. 16.7% of green spaces provide their maximum ES, while the rest require modifications to enhance efficiency.
Volcanic eruptions are significant contributors to atmospheric aerosols, affecting global climate by altering radiative forcing. In remote regions such as Antarctica, volcanic ash plumes from eruptions in the Southern Hemisphere have the potential to impact snow albedo, altering the region’s energy balance. This paper investigates the dispersion of volcanic ash from South American volcanoes over Antarctica using the HYSPLIT model and examines the effects of ash deposition on snow albedo using the SNICAR-Adv3 model. The study simulates various eruption scenarios and assesses how changes in snow’s optical properties, such as albedo, are influenced by different levels of volcanic ash deposition. The findings demonstrate that ash deposition is most significant in the lower atmosphere (0–4000 m) due to gravitational settling and proximity to the surface, with air concentrations decreasing with altitude. It was found that snow albedo could potentially decrease by 1% due to volcanic ash deposition. The results suggest that while plume dispersion and ash deposition over Antarctica are plausible under specific atmospheric conditions, the extent of ash’s impact on albedo varies significantly. This variability could accelerate snowmelt, influencing the Antarctic climate system and potentially altering the regional energy balance.
The purpose of the publication is to highlight the main scientific achievements of the Institute of Geography of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine on research work carried out in 2025. Particular attention is paid to the issues of environmental impact assessment, social transformations at all spatial levels, expansion of international cooperation and adaptation of European experience considering the realities of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The paper provides a quantitative assessment of the potential impact of operating an isolated salt-harvesting platform on the water–salt regime of the Kuyalnyk Estuary (Odesa region, Ukraine). A season (May-Oct) recurrent water–salt balance model with an explicit solid-salt reservoir was developed and parameterized using available observational data. The 10 ha platform is treated as a local evaporator (working depth 0,25 m) operated in two summer cycles; in each cycle the water level is lowered by hr = 0,02 m due to evaporation and then replenished with brine from the main basin through an open passage until levels equalize. Under the adopted scenario, the annual salt removal is ~11,0 kt, translating into an average salinity decrease of ~ 0.2‰ per year for the main water body given a cold-season seawater inflow of ~10 million m³. Post-cycle mixing does not, by itself, desalinate the estuary; the net effect is driven by removing precipitated solids. Practical recommendations for seasonal operation and risk minimization are proposed.
The article is devoted to identifying contemporary challenges associated with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and to evaluating their impact on the development of professional competencies in the training of students majoring in cartography and geoinformatics at institutions of higher education in Ukraine. To this end, the authors have examined existing classifications of AI tools based on various criteria and formulated a set of essential requirements that such tools must fulfill to effectively address industry-specific tasks. For the purpose of grouping AI tools applicable to professionally oriented tasks in cartography and geoinformatics, the authors adopted the criterion of their relation to the functionality of software products capable of automating various cartographic processes through the application of AI technologies. Three classes of AI tools were delineated: tools embedded within software products employing fixed algorithms that yield predictable results; tools integrated into software products capable of learning, thereby generating both predictable and unpredictable outcomes; tools independent of specific software products, which facilitate the processing of spatial data and produce outcomes that may be unpredictable. To identify the list of current challenges associated with the use of AI tools in cartography and geoinformatics, the general criteria for categorizing their impact on the higher education process (automation; opening up new opportunities; personalization; forecasting; and expanding the categories of applicants) were taken into account and subsequently adapted and expanded by the authors in accordance with the specific focus of educational and scientific tasks. Four principal groups of challenges pertaining to the deployment of AI tools in cartography and geoinformatics within Ukraine were identified: ethical, organizational, substantive, and technological challenges. The potential adverse effects of these challenges on the preparation of contemporary industry specialists were assessed by means of a normalized cumulative histogram. The assessment employed the following indicators: social segregation; insufficient development of emotional intelligence; decline in analytical thinking; concerns regarding the marginalization or replacement of professionals in performing specialized tasks; incomplete understanding of the nature and potential of AI tools; unpredictability of outcomes; excessive dependence on technological solutions; and the absence of robust mechanisms to ensure integrity, respect, accountability, and responsibility. Additionally, the questionnaire incorporated an item regarding the improbable negative impact of AI tools across the entirety of these indicators. The findings indicate that as practitioners gain experience in employing AI tools to address professional tasks, the associated negative effects are markedly diminished, and such tools become an integral component of the competency framework requisite for contemporary cartography and geoinformatics professionals. The objective of the study was attained through the application of an appropriate methodological framework comprising methods of analysis, synthesis, classification, induction, deduction, comparison, and evaluation, all of which were integrated within a systematic approach to facilitate a comprehensive examination of diverse aspects pertaining to the implementation of modern AI tools. The scientific contribution of this research consists of the fact that, for the first time, the contemporary challenges related to the utilization of AI tools have been systematized and classified in accordance with their relation to the functionality of software products designed to automate various cartographic processes within the context of training future specialists in cartography and geoinformatics in Ukraine.
The aim of the study is to develop a cartographic database of potential protected areas for their further conservation using the example of the Podilsko-Prydniprovskyi forest-steppe region. It is expected that such a database will be expanded nationwide in Ukraine. The demand for such a database stems from the need to expand the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine to 15% in accordance with Ukraine’s state environmental policy strategy for the period until 2030. That is more than twice the current state. This goal is consistent with the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 and the 2030 Targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, both approved under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Using connectivity and representativeness approaches to build a reserve network, 775 individual potential protected areas were selected within the Podilsko-Prydniprovskyi forest-steppe region with a total area of over 8832 km², which is more than 4 times larger than the area of the existing protected areas of the region. Potential and existing protected areas cover about 12% of the region. The connectivity of the proposed network was assessed. It is well-connected via corridors hundreds of kilometers long. Given that the considered region is among the most complex from a conservation perspective, the presented algorithm for developing a cartographic database of potential protected areas can be successfully applied to other natural regions and to Ukraine as a whole.
According to the Russian Population Census, the main changes in the settlement system of the urban population of modern Ukraine occurred in 1897. These changes reflected many interesting and important factors, such as urban size, urban settlement density, and urban population density. Trends in urban population density in Ukraine for the period 1989-2022 were analyzed separately. The study aimed to identify regional differences in Ukraine using indicators of urban network density, urban population density, and cities for the period 1897–2022. The study’s results are based on census and statistical data, which enabled the creation of 32 thematic maps. The series of maps enabled the identification of the main territorial changes in the dynamics of the urban network at the level of Ukraine’s administrative districts. Trends in changes in urban population density within Ukrainian cities for the period 1989–2022 were studied separately. The cartographic results obtained for each period enabled us to distinguish six types of territories (districts) based on the specific patterns of changes in urban population density over the study period.
The current state of territorial organisation and management, as well as spatial development planning, is characterised by the use of diverse geospatial data and geographic information systems. Ukraine’s National Geospatial Data Infrastructure (NGDI) plays a key role in ensuring transparency and efficiency in land resource management and urban development. This article analyses the current state and challenges related to the use of NGDI in regulating land relations, addressing applied tasks in land management, and organising urban planning, using the city of Kyiv as a case study. Particular attention is paid to problems in technical support, data quality, the institutional environment, and legal regulation. A structural-graphic model has been developed to highlight issues in the use of geospatial data in land management and territorial planning, based on the example of Kyiv. These problems are not unique to Ukraine; similar situations have been observed in other countries, including developed ones. Overcoming these challenges is crucial for the sustainable development of Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine, their recovery, and integration into the European geoinformation space.
In recent years, the use of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) technology in the mining industry has grown in popularity because of its many benefits, including non-contact measurement, high precision, rapid data acquisition, and large-scale coverage. This study provides a thorough overview of the application of the TLS method in underground, open-pit, and closed mines, using data from 56 publications over the past fourteen years, from 2010 to May 2024. The reviewed literature shows that the TLS approach can be applied in five main operations in mining areas, particularly for monitoring deformation, displacement, subsidence, and landslides, as well as generating maps, 3D models, and point clouds. The findings reveal that TLS is an excellent technology for multitasking in any type of mine. In addition, future development trends for the mining industry based on the integration of TLS with machine learning and AI technologies are also discussed in this study. The results of this study may suggest directions for creating the specifications required for TLS deployment on mine sites.
New model tools for geoinformation analysis of the anthropization of landscapes and physico-geographic taxa are proposed, including a unified categorical-classified scheme and a scale for quantifying such anthropization, as well as digital choropleths and quasi-spectra of the areas of land-use and/or land-cover systems. Using these tools and relevant spatial databases, a cause-and-effect analysis of the current state of land use and anthropization in the Poliskyi region was conducted. The best and worst physico-geographic areas and districts of the region have been identified. The conditionality of regional land-use effects is analyzed by estimating the relationship between areas and geoecologically favorable and unfavorable land-use systems. The results can be applied to regional environmental management schemes and projects to optimize them and implement effective ecological measures while accounting for the war’s environmental impacts.
The article examines the systemic impact of the full-scale war in Ukraine on the capacity of regional economic systems to engage the drivers of their development during the post-war recovery. A generalized assessment has been conducted of structural changes in the regions’ economies due to the war. Arguing that the construction of the spatial structure of the new economy will be subject to the impact of the objective characteristics of the current state of the territories, which will determine the allowable range of structural changes in the post-war period, the authors systematize the limitations for economic activity in certain territories, which influence the sectoral structure of regional economies, as well as the new resource opportunities, facing regions and communities and available to be involved in the construction of the new balanced sectoral and spatial structure of the economy. The category “economic landscape” is used to understand the interdependence between sectoral and spatial transformations. Assuming that sectoral and spatial heterogeneity of the economic landscape as a system predetermines the variability of its transformations, which are carried out under the impact of endogenous regularities of the development of the elements of this system, as well as of the exogenous effects, the authors ground the priorities of the strategy, which will promote creating the conditions for optimal engagement of the resource potential of the regions, considering its territorial distribution and spatial features. Such priorities include maximal inclusion of human capital of the territory in productive activity; involvement of new technologies to reveal the local resource potentials and to provide sectoral diversification of the drivers of regions’ economy development; practical elaboration and implementation of differentiated politics and instruments for territories, differentiated by levels of damage and security threats; and strengthening institutional and resource capacity and authority of local communities to create the conditions for local economies’ development.
The dry-steppe subzone of Ukraine is characterized by a pronounced distribution of closed depressions of exogenous origin—depression morphosculptures. The formation of such depressions is primarily due to the spread of loess and loess-loamy rocks, but other factors also play a role. Closed depressions are especially developed on the territory of the loess plateau in the Dnipro-Molochna interfluve and on the territory of the Left bank of the Lower Dnipro, including the territory of the Oleshkivskі Sands. The closed depressions of the dry steppe subzone of Ukraine have been studied for almost a hundred years, and a particular conceptual and terminological apparatus has already been formed regarding them, with attempts at classification and typification. However, not all types of depressions in this region are identifiable; accordingly, there is an urgent need for their proper identification and general typology. The author identified different types of depression based on many years of field research and through the analysis of departmental and published materials. The results of such activities were maps compiled by the author (geomorphological, halogeochemical, and landscape), published scientific articles, three monographs, and the author’s version of the typology of depressions with the corresponding conceptual and terminological apparatus. In the presented typology, depressions in the dry steppe subzone of Ukraine are classified into two types: padynas in loess-loam deposits transformed by gley processes and swales in sandy, spatially unstable, low-thickness loess-loamy deposits. In the circle of padynas, depending on the regions of the dry steppe subzone, 10 types of depressions are distinguished, and among the swales, 13 types of depressions. For each type of depression, definitions are provided, and specific examples of their spatial manifestation are presented.
From a philosophical perspective, it is considered how a person ascribes meaning to their living space, transforming it into a life-world. The study aims to identify the philosophical foundations of toponymy by clarifying the significance of the concepts of “life-world” and “life space” for the formation of a geographical approach to describing the world. The research methods are social phenomenology (understanding of the life-world in the philosophy of Edmund Husserl, Alfred Schütz, and Bernhard Waldenfels) in combination with neo-institutionalism (Douglas North’s concept) and the philosophy of performativity (John Austin, John Searle, and Hans Ulrich Humbrecht): people establish toponyms according to the principles of intersubjectivity in establishing meanings, striving to achieve higher performing skills to create an everyday value-normative basis. The concepts of “life-world,” “life forms,” and “life space” constitute a conceptual framework for a geographical approach to toponymy. Topology systematically explains and organizes various systems of toponymy, which are special linguistic means by which topological scientists record how humanity inhabits its environment and explores and changes it. In cases of interpretive conflict when establishing toponyms, the selection criterion is the greater performativity of specific toponymic means. As a result, specialists employ institutionalized terminology that ensures the perception of geographical objects as problem-free in explanations. In the modern, globalized world, toponymy reflects how several life-worlds coexist within a single living space, thereby realizing the anthropological need of people to freely and relentlessly expand their mastery of the world without entering into conflict with it or among themselves.
More than 50% of the world’s population lives in cities that occupy only 3% of the Earth’s surface, while about 10% of the population of the Republic of Azerbaijan resides in cities covering 4% of the Kura-Aras plain. Since 30% of the republic’s population is concentrated in the capital, the populations of other cities are relatively small. Nevertheless, the population density in Shirvan, located within our study area, is twice as high as in Baku. Assessing the urban quality index is therefore an important issue for densely populated cities, and this research is devoted to that topic. The geographical conditions of the cities were analyzed using satellite imagery processed with Geographic Information Systems, while the ecological situation was examined through statistical methods. The findings demonstrate that the natural conditions of these cities significantly influence their socio-economic development. Their location at the intersection of major transport routes and along the banks of the country’s two largest rivers has played a decisive role in their growth and formation.
The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the potential of geohistorical and geocultural approaches for the analysis of the spatial development of regions in Ukraine. In the modern context of geopolitics and geoeconomics, these approaches provide a basis for forming a new image of areas and their territorial structures, considering geographical, linguistic, cultural, and religious characteristics, as well as specific regional identity. The novelty of the study lies in its analysis of strategies for analyzing regional systems, the ratios of regional to national values, and the formation of regional identity through the use of geohistorical methodological concepts. It has been shown that, under conditions of awareness of their regions’ self-sufficiency and capacity for self-development, geocultural approaches are no less effective than geoeconomic ones, providing an understanding of the uniqueness of the country’s cultural space, regional personality types, and communication methods. In the context of modern transformations of globalization, geohistorical and geocultural approaches to the study of spatial specificity are gaining momentum and offer opportunities to develop cultural and mental models of space and to interpret territory as a sociocultural integrity with its own unique pace of development.
