The interpretation of high-resolution satellite images (0.5–3 m) of three time slices (1964, 2009, and 2017) allowed us to identify the areas of activation of modern relief-forming processes. The outlines of outcrops were made by visual analysis of multi-temporal images, by brightness quantization, and by calculation of the vegetation index. The results were compared with the thermal survey data and verified in the course of geomorphological field studies and UAV surveys. The methodology for mapping the dynamics of slope processes based on the interpretation of multi-temporal images over a time interval of more than 50 years was tested in two key areas characterized by diverse and different-scale manifestations of exogenous geological processes. Calculations made on the basis of the image interpretation made it possible to determine that the last two large landslide collapses in 2007 and 2014 sharply reduced the area covered by vegetation: from 70 to 7

Вулканически и сейсмически активные регионы нередко испытывают значительные изменения рельефа как эндогенной, так и экзогенной природы, что делает актуальным мониторинг земной поверхности в таких районах.Обнаружение поднятий и опусканий возможно дистанционно применением метода дифференциальной интерферометрии.Несмотря на то, что метод уже уверенно себя зарекомендовал в решении ряда задач наук о Земле, разработка вопросов его применения на труднодоступных для регулярного мониторинга территориях не теряет актуальности.В настоящей работе мы провели эксперимент по определению смещений в Узон-Гейзерной вулкано-тектонической депрессии по недавним радиолокационным съёмкам Sentinel-1A, руководствуясь схожим опытом, полученным почти 20 лет назад по данным Radarsat-1.Особое внимание уделено вопросам выбора данных с учётом особенностей местности, параметров съёмки и погодных условий во время её выполнения, которые оказывают влияние на конечный результат.По 25 снимкам было сформировано 260 интерферограмм и столько же изображений когерентности, охватывающих временной интервал с 2017 по 2022 г.Анализ метеорологических данных на моменты съёмок и оценка состояния местности сократили число пригодных для обработки интерферометрических пар до 15.Сформулированные в процессе работы критерии выбора оптимальных условий съёмки этого района для определения многолетних смещений земной поверхности по паре снимков определили выбор одной

The analysis of a large amount of data–satellite images, UAV surveys, meteorological observations of polar stations, and archival data made it possible to establish the shoreline retreat rates of Ushakov Island. The island is entirely covered by a glacial dome formed above Late Cretaceous and Quaternary rock formations. The ice/rock interface is partially located below sea level. Ushakov Island is located in the northern part of the Central Kara Upland; it was discovered in 1935 by a Soviet sea expedition and visited by scientific expeditions extremely rarely. For a long time, Ushakov Island was maintained under a slightly negative (up to 1

In the geothermal zones of modern volcanic areas, geomorphological processes are considerably influenced by numerous gas-hydrothermal outcrops, which may dramatically change rock properties and, consequently, denudation peculiarities and rates. The activity of processes on the slopes of Kamchatka river valleys under conditions of gas-hydrothermal occurrences (Geysernaya river valley) and without them (Shumnaya river valley) has been studied and comparatively analyzed. For the most correct separation and comparison of the valley regions which differ in the conditions of development of the modern slope processes, ArcticDEM digital elevation model and a series of morphometric maps (slope steepness, exposition, elementary watersheds) built on its basis, as well as geological maps, results of thermal survey of different detail level and field observation data were used. Interpretation of high spatial resolution images (0.5–5 m) for the mid-1960s (KeyHole-4 CORONA) and modern images for the period 2016–2021 from different survey systems was carried out. As a result of decoding, quantitative assessments of slope conditions within the selected valley fragments selected on the basis of morphometry were obtained for two time slices separated by 55 years. It is established that under conditions of gas-hydrothermal manifestations development, the share of the total area of the slope’s sections affected by active processes, with other conditions being equal, is significantly higher than the same in the areas without gas-hydrotherms. For 55 years the share of the areas with slope processes activation on the background areas practically has not changed, and on the territories affected by gas-hydrothermal influence has increased by 10–17 %. The conducted studies allow us to conclude that gas-hydrothermal manifestations are the most powerful driver of modern geomorphological processes on slopes in the studied region.

Based on the database of spatial thematic data sources for the Geysernaya River valley (Kamchatka), the work was carried out to identify the areas of the greatest activation of modern exogenous processes and the manifestation of endogenous processes over the maximum possible time interval (more than 50 years). Space images of high spatial resolution (0.5–3 m), received from Key-Hole-4 (1964), GeoEye (2009), Pleiades-1A/1B (2013, 2016), WorldView-2 (2017) satellites, results of field survey and UAV imagery in 2021, literature and archive materials were used as sources. The developed interpretation technique included both sequential interpretation of preliminary geometrically coordinated multi-temporal images and their digital processing: brightness quantization, calculation of vegetation index NDVI, formation of color multi-temporal composite, which allowed to separate vegetation-covered and bare slope areas by formal features and increased the overall reliability of interpretation. Calculations based on the interpretation results determined that the proportion of the total valley area affected by modern slope processes was 10.5 % in 1964, 14.8 % in 2009, and 13 % in 2017. In the process of images interpretation, it was established that slope processes dominated on the left bank of the Geyser River, where more than 75 % of the area of all outcrops (or 10.2 % of the total studied area of the valley) was concentrated, which is apparently caused by confinement of this valley side to the caldera limiting circular fault, which preserves its activity, and also by the presence of the area of modern uplift there. On the right bank of the river, large areas are occupied by ancient large gravitational shifts, possibly associated with collapsing edges of extrusive massifs. Landslides-slides and erosion in the groundwater outlets are predominant among the modern processes here. The right bank accounts for less than 25 % of the area of all outcrops (or 3.3 % of the total study area).

Второе издание учебного пособия (первое – в 2004 г.) подготовлено в соответствии с программой курса «Дешифрирование аэрокосмических снимков» для бакалавров, обучающихся по специальности «Картография и геоинформатика». Учебник переработан и дополнен с учетом существенных изменений, произошедших в количестве и качестве доступных для пользователей материалов космических съемок и методах их анализа в последнее десятилетие. Рассмотрены факторы, влияющие на формирование аэрокосмического изображения, основные виды материалов съёмок (полученных в оптическом, тепловом инфракрасном и радиоволновом диапазонах), дешифровочные признаки, методы визуального и компьютерного дешифрирования природных и антропогенных географических объектов на снимках в разных спектральных диапазонах, использования разновременных снимков при изучении динамики, вопросы оценки качества дешифрирования. Учебник предназначен для студентов географических специальностей университетов, а также специалистов смежных отраслей знания. Он может быть также полезен для специалистов, применяющих аэрокосмические снимки для решения научных и практических задач, в географических исследованиях и при создании карт.

The analysis of a large complex of materials – satellite images, UAV surveys, meteorological observations of polar stations, and archival data made it possible to establish the shoreline retreat rates of Ushakov Island. The island is entirely coved by the glacial dome formed above the late Cretaceous and Quaternary rock formations. The ice/rock interface is partially located below sea level. lying on the Ushakov island is located in the northern part of the Central Kara Upland and was discovered in 1935 by Soviet sea expedition visited by scientific expeditions extremely rare. For a long time, Ushakov Island was maintained by slightly negative (up to 1% volume annually) ice balance, a short ice-free period, and protected from storm waves by fast ice. At the beginning of the XXI century, the situation changed – the air temperature began to increase noticeably, the area of sea ice decreased, and the wave activity increased during the warm season. The edges of Ushakov ice dome began to break off and float into the sea as icebergs evenly around the perimeter with an increasing rate: from 10.9 m/year in 1954–2011, up to 27.3 m/year in 2011–2019. The area of the island decreased in 2002–2019 by 230.8 ha/year, in 2015–2019 – up to 294 ha/year. The glacier surface around the polar station has decreased by 15 m in 65 years. A monument of science and technology - the polar station (built in 1954, 800 m from the edge of the glacier) was washed away to the sea in 2018. The subtype of ice shores has changed from ice barriers up to 3 m high (low cliffs of floating ice) to ice walls up to 45 m and more.

Satellite images of the Earth acquired in the thermal infrared range contain valuable information about the properties of objects on the Earth's surface, the significance of which increases in the context of climate change. To make this information accessible to many people including laymen, it is necessary not only to extract it from images, but also to present it in an obvious visual form. The goal of this research is to identify the thermal radiation generated by rail transport, assess the stability of this radiation through the seasons, and develop a method for visualizing thermal anomalies generated by rail transport in the places where it accumulates. The technique is based on TIRS Landsat 8 images use, acquired in different seasons. The images for 18 selected transport nodes were used firstly to calculate surface temperature for each period. The resulted images of a thermal field were combined with the corresponding high-resolution images to determine objects that contribute to the high-temperature anomalies at the nodes. The stability of thermal anomalies for each node was estimated by summarizing the raster thermal maps of different seasons. The comparative analysis of preprocessed thermal images of transport nodes, located in different climatic and economic conditions, shows that the thermal effect is much more evident if a node is located outside a city, whereas the latitudinal position of a node has a significantly smaller effect. Finally, the selected transport nodes were classified according to the degree of intensity and permanency during a year.

Despite more than 30-year history of acquisition and application the radar images of the Earth are not so widely used for thematic mapping as images in the optical range. This fact is explained by their less availability until recently, and the complexity of visual analysis and processing. The rapid increase of the open radar data amount after the launch of Sentinel-1 satellites determines the timeliness of studies aimed at developing the techniques of radar data use for thematic mapping. The results of studies carried out recently at the Laboratory of Aerospace Methods involving the radar data from the Radarsat-2 and Sentinel-1 satellites are presented. Several case studies covering different territories and areas of research, such as agricultural lands in the Volga River delta, dynamics of relief of the Tolbachinsky Dol (Kamchatka), modern natural-territorial complexes of the Kotelny Island (the New Siberian Islands), demonstrate the possibility of obtaining new characteristics of the objects. The variety of radar data types, including multipolarization and multi-temporal, as well as interferometric data, makes it possible to use the variability of objects state and the geometric properties of the surface for describing and mapping of territories. Techniques for radar data processing have been developed, aimed at creating the thematic maps. The possibility of creating maps on the basis of proposed methods is validated.

New satellite radar system Sentintel-1 implements observation of polar regions with high frequency providing an opportunity of regular monitoring of these remote and poorly studied territories.A large amount of information obtained during the first years of this system exploitation allows estimating its value for characterization of these regions.We have examined a time series of Sentintel-1A/C-band SAR (synthetic aperture radar) backscatter coefficient for the period between November 2014 and November 2016 to assess their potential for detecting major seasonal changes of the surface within Kotelny Island (New Siberian Islands archipelago).Temporal backscatter signatures of ten test sites located within the typical landscapes of the island were analyzed.A set of additional information sources about the area (maps, optical images, meteorological data) used for radar images interpretation allowed revealing the main factors influencing the backscattering signal.The largest backscatter variations observed within the studied sites are associated with the processes accompanying the periods of established negative (freezing of active layer, snowfall) and positive (thawing of snow cover and active layer, vegetation growth) temperatures.Differences of backscatter within each image are related to peculiarities of the relief, soils, the type and density of vegetation, amount of standing water.A good separability of Arctic landscapes based on SAR backscatter trends makes it promising to use multitemporal radar data for landscape types classification and mapping.

Radar data is of primary importance for Arctic regions study and mapping. Kotelny Island was selected as an area of interest due to well-defined landscapes diversity and abundance of Sentinel-1 radar data. The study based on multi-temporal and multi-polarization images acquired by Sentinel-1A at a period from October 2015 to September 2016. The ways of modified radar images creation are proposed, which aimed at their adaptation for visual and automated interpretation. The main factors influencing the backscatter values and its dynamics are revealed based on additional data sources. The main result of the research is a map of natural landscapes of Kotelny Island at a scale 1:750 000. Spatial and temporal variations of backscattering coefficient allowed semi-automatic delineating the boundaries of landscapes which are characterized by different combination of the relief, vegetation and soils. Table legend of the map contains information both on landscapes features and respective annual backscatter behavior.

The article is dedicated to the field training in geodesy, topography and field thematic imagery interpretation, which is learned by the 2nd term cartography students of the Faculty of Geography of Lomonosov Moscow State University. The aims and objectives of the training are outlined, alongside with its relationship to higher geographic education. We demonstrate the scope and diversity of works performed, and set out the organizational structure of training. Two stages of the training are discussed: topo-geodetic and thematic field image interpretation. Their features, methodological and technical base, geography and themes of work, approaches to the generation of reports are outlined. It is shown that the tasks solved by students can be not only educational in nature, but also can be motivated by derivation of cartographic and topo-geodetic materials of real practical importance, demanded by specialists who carry out research at the training sites. The material presented in the article can be useful in organizing field trainings and developing educational programs by the geographical faculties of universities.

Рассмотрены возможности и особенности использования современных космических радиолокационных съемочных систем для сельского хозяйства. Систематизированы параметры радиолокационной съемки, важные при наблюдении сельскохозяйственных угодий, и характеристики объектов, оказывающие влияние на особенности изображения. Исследованы возможности практического применения спутниковых радиолокационных данных на примере оценки состояния заброшенных и обрабатываемых сельскохозяйственных земель в дельте реки Волги с использованием данных Radarsat-2

The new European space satellites Sentinel-1A and 1B with C-band radars on board, launched in 2014 and 2016 respectively, provide regular radar data on the Earth’s surface with high temporal resolution. These new non-commercial data provides extensive opportunities for research of remote Arctic territories, poorly supplied with optical images due to cloud conditions. Difficulties in recognizing objects on radar images can be compensated for by the possibility of using multiple repeated surveys, which make it possible to identify areas of the terrain which are similar in character of changes. In the study, four Sentinel-1A images of the largest from the New Siberian islands – Kotelny – were used, which were acquired during the summer period from July 3 to August 20, 2015. After preprocessing aimed at improving the visual properties and coregistration of the multitemporal images, an automated clustering of the multitemporal image set was carried out. Clustering results were analyzed on comparison with additional sources of spatial information. Both specialized software for Sentinel-1 radar data processing - SNAP, and the GIS software complex ArcGIS were used. The latter provided the creation of the spatial data base for comparing the results of radar data processing and cartographic sources. The map of the territory zoning was obtained as clustering results which is based on the changes in the normalized radar cross section (sigma nought) over the summer period, and the approximate correspondence of the areas to the main types of the relief and landscapes of the island was established.