Analyzing the Environmental Impact of Water Bodies in Russia
By using GIS in analyzing the environmental impact on water bodies, such as lakes, rivers, and bays researchers can improve on human living and their impact on the water bodies. GIS has been used to pinpoint areas of a river, for example, that has hazardous substances and can then be assessed and monitored.
Researchers at a University in Russia have used GIS to study a body of water and discover the pollutants found in a given location and it's source. Their mission was to determine how much of the industrial enterprises have contributed to the pollutanting of the natural body of water and what exactly is located in each location of water.
The process of which they obtained data using GIS is as follows:
- Assess water body quality
- Review activity of water users
- Rank water users by the degree of their impact on the environment
- Evaluate environmental load on a water body taking into account a basin-based approach
- Produce reports
They researched Neva River, as it includes various lakes that are apart of the region's aquatic system. They knew that this river was affected by the industrial system, as it is used by chemical plants for wastewater discharge from "wastewater treatment plants." They then used GIS to map out the area of study then obtained information from samples of water as to what chemicals where being found in each area of water located on the map created. They then created a GIS layer to pinpoint where each "polluter" was dumping off waste water into the Neva River. With the information discovered and processed they were able to map out how far and where these chemicals were going and what the potential affects they would have on the environment. Through the use of GIS the researchers discovered areas of high concentrations of chemicals that well exceeds the legals limits given to an industrial company. They were also able to create a table labeling each body of water to a degree of contamination and show that it is harmful to the environment and it's surrounding ecosystems.
Jeff Romine
This is a a really interesting application. It can be used to stop a lot of future health problems that are associated with contaminated water.
ReplyDeleteHopefully in the future this research will allow those in charge of water pollution in Russia and other countries to pinpoint which plants or industrial systems are releasing the most chemicals and how they can redirect the pollution so it does not contaminate all bodies of water.
ReplyDeleteAs the world becomes more populated, this is going to become more common. It is becoming common to track various environmental changes and what better way than through GIS. They have a way of displaying information that is much easier to understand. It's to bad it being used for pollution but this way everyone will be able to understand it and maybe make a change.
ReplyDeleteThese small steps are what we need to better control our waters and pollutants that are harming them. The problem is only going to get worse so if we can get a cap on them now and try to prevent the sites where the pollutants are starting, it would be a big help to our environment!
ReplyDelete