The Volga River flows entirely through Russia and the watershed includes three of the country’s ten largest cities. The river is the longest in Europe and western Russia’s principal waterway. The Volga River basin i...The Volga River flows entirely through Russia and the watershed includes three of the country’s ten largest cities. The river is the longest in Europe and western Russia’s principal waterway. The Volga River basin is home to approximately half of Russia’s population and occupies almost two-fifth of European Russia. It covers much of the Volga region and stretches 3530 kilometers from its source in the Valdai Hills to the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest inland water body. Its economic, cultural, and historic importance makes it one of the world’s greatest rivers. The Volga basin makes up 8 percent of the Russian territory. Stalingrad, located on the banks of the Volga River, has been described as the site of the greatest de-feat in the history of the German Army. It is often identified as the turning point on the Eastern Front of WWII, in the war against Germany, and in the entire WWII. The meeting point of the Eurasian Civilization was historically the Volga River. The river has some of the world’s largest reservoirs and is a major source of livelihood for millions of people. Many factories and cities empty their waste including sewage, industrial waste, fertilizers, and pesticides into the Volga River. Pollutants tend to settle in the reservoirs and contain several meters of heavily contaminated muck. The primary objectives are to assess lessons learned, manage, and restore the Volga River system lifeline in Russia.展开更多
Due to the regulation of the river Volga flow, expanding of the territories intended for construction and development of agriculture wetlands Volga-Akhtuba floodplain are being significantly transformed and are losing...Due to the regulation of the river Volga flow, expanding of the territories intended for construction and development of agriculture wetlands Volga-Akhtuba floodplain are being significantly transformed and are losing many of their qualities. Non-regulated loads lead to the break of natural physical and chemical characteristics of water bodies, loss of biodiversity, degradation of structure and functions of biological communities and, as a result, to decreasing of potential ecosystem services. Restoration of the lost qualities of water ecosystems is a key factor in increasing sustainability of reclaimed landscapes and creating comfortable conditions for living of locals and their economic activity. On the territory of the biosphere reserve “Nature park” “Volga-Akhtuba floodplain” a number of model sites were defined in order for research projects and practical work on restoration of degraded landscapes to be executed. The widest range of the lost ecosystem qualities is being restored during work on Lake Zapornoye. Restoration of ecosystem functions is being implemented according to the main economic activities carried out in this area. Ecosystem services of the area are specified in accordance with its functional purpose. The existing landscape and ecology conditions have been studied and estimated to see if the planned ecosystem services can be provided. The project suggests the following activities: restoration of hydro-morphological characteristics, reconstruction of habitats for biodiversity and their ecosystem services, improvement to restore and preserve recreational qualities of landscape. The project includes the monitoring the effectiveness of restoration. Monitoring program is based on indices of environmental assessment.展开更多
This paper synthesized the principal land denudation processes and their role in determining riverine suspended sediment yields(SSY) in two typical geographical environments of the Upper Yangtze River Basin in China a...This paper synthesized the principal land denudation processes and their role in determining riverine suspended sediment yields(SSY) in two typical geographical environments of the Upper Yangtze River Basin in China and the Volga River Basin in Eastern Europe. In the Upper Yangtze River Basin, natural factors including topography, climate,lithology and tectonic activity are responsible for the spatial variation in the magnitude of denudation rates.Human disturbances have contributed to the temporal changes of soil erosion and fluvial SSY during the past decades. On one hand, land use change caused by deforestation and land reclamation has played an important role in the acceleration of sediment production from the central hilly area and lower Jinsha catchment; On the other hand, diverse soil conservation practices(e.g., reforestation,terracing) have contributed to a reduction of soil erosion and sediment production since the late 1980 s.It was difficult to explicitly decouple the effect of mitigation measures in the Lower Jinsha River Basindue to the complexity associated with sediment redistribution within river channels(active channel migration and significant sedimentation). The whole basin can be subdivided into seven sub-regions according to the different proportional inputs of principal denudation processes to riverine SSY. In the Volga River Basin, anthropogenic sheet, rill and gully erosion are the predominant denudation processes in the southern region, while channel bank and bed erosion constitutes the main source of riverine suspended sediment flux in the northern part of the basin. Distribution of cultivated lands significantly determined the intensity of denudation processes.Local relief characteristics also considerably influence soil erosion rates and SSY in the southern Volga River Basin. Lithology, soil cover and climate conditions determined the spatial distribution of sheet, rill and gully erosion intensity, but they play a secondary role in SSY spatial variation.展开更多
The continuity of voice services, for many operators planning to start their LTE network, is one of the key requirements to cover back the cost of this expensive network. In this paper, we discuss and compare the poss...The continuity of voice services, for many operators planning to start their LTE network, is one of the key requirements to cover back the cost of this expensive network. In this paper, we discuss and compare the possible solutions to add voice services on an LTE network dedicated mainly for high-speed data transfer. By comparing advantages and inconvenient of the existing approaches, we conclude that the selection of the One Voice approach is obvious, especially for operators starting LTE deployments, the One Voice approach has the support of all the famous operators and vendors. Selecting the One Voice approach as a first alternative was evident, but the choice of CSFB as a mid-term solution or backup solution from many operators was not clear. As a key lesson can be learned from the existing technologies, CDMA and GSM, where the type of handset was one of the major factors of the GSM success;we prove in this paper that VOLGA approach is better than CSFB for many reasons: The VOLGA approach uses less complex and less expensive handset while it gives more comfortable user experience compared to CSFB approach, so operators should take into consideration these two points before selecting the second alternative.展开更多
The Caspian basin for a long time did not have a legal status, so the question of the division of the seabed was in question. In addition, international conventions such as MARPOL, UNCLOS, BWM did not have jurisdictio...The Caspian basin for a long time did not have a legal status, so the question of the division of the seabed was in question. In addition, international conventions such as MARPOL, UNCLOS, BWM did not have jurisdiction over Caspian waters. Due to the lack of general rules regarding the Caspian basin, the risk of pollution from ballast water and sewage discharges remains relevant due to the active shipping industry. But on August 12, 2018, the leaders of littoral states signed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, although the situation remains complicated. Thus, in the manuscript the authors provide the first insight into the issues of sewage and ballast water in the Caspian, and the role of oil and natural gas in the regional development.展开更多
文摘The Volga River flows entirely through Russia and the watershed includes three of the country’s ten largest cities. The river is the longest in Europe and western Russia’s principal waterway. The Volga River basin is home to approximately half of Russia’s population and occupies almost two-fifth of European Russia. It covers much of the Volga region and stretches 3530 kilometers from its source in the Valdai Hills to the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest inland water body. Its economic, cultural, and historic importance makes it one of the world’s greatest rivers. The Volga basin makes up 8 percent of the Russian territory. Stalingrad, located on the banks of the Volga River, has been described as the site of the greatest de-feat in the history of the German Army. It is often identified as the turning point on the Eastern Front of WWII, in the war against Germany, and in the entire WWII. The meeting point of the Eurasian Civilization was historically the Volga River. The river has some of the world’s largest reservoirs and is a major source of livelihood for millions of people. Many factories and cities empty their waste including sewage, industrial waste, fertilizers, and pesticides into the Volga River. Pollutants tend to settle in the reservoirs and contain several meters of heavily contaminated muck. The primary objectives are to assess lessons learned, manage, and restore the Volga River system lifeline in Russia.
文摘Due to the regulation of the river Volga flow, expanding of the territories intended for construction and development of agriculture wetlands Volga-Akhtuba floodplain are being significantly transformed and are losing many of their qualities. Non-regulated loads lead to the break of natural physical and chemical characteristics of water bodies, loss of biodiversity, degradation of structure and functions of biological communities and, as a result, to decreasing of potential ecosystem services. Restoration of the lost qualities of water ecosystems is a key factor in increasing sustainability of reclaimed landscapes and creating comfortable conditions for living of locals and their economic activity. On the territory of the biosphere reserve “Nature park” “Volga-Akhtuba floodplain” a number of model sites were defined in order for research projects and practical work on restoration of degraded landscapes to be executed. The widest range of the lost ecosystem qualities is being restored during work on Lake Zapornoye. Restoration of ecosystem functions is being implemented according to the main economic activities carried out in this area. Ecosystem services of the area are specified in accordance with its functional purpose. The existing landscape and ecology conditions have been studied and estimated to see if the planned ecosystem services can be provided. The project suggests the following activities: restoration of hydro-morphological characteristics, reconstruction of habitats for biodiversity and their ecosystem services, improvement to restore and preserve recreational qualities of landscape. The project includes the monitoring the effectiveness of restoration. Monitoring program is based on indices of environmental assessment.
基金support for this study was jointly provided by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. ZCX2-XB3-09)the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. 2011BAD31B03)
文摘This paper synthesized the principal land denudation processes and their role in determining riverine suspended sediment yields(SSY) in two typical geographical environments of the Upper Yangtze River Basin in China and the Volga River Basin in Eastern Europe. In the Upper Yangtze River Basin, natural factors including topography, climate,lithology and tectonic activity are responsible for the spatial variation in the magnitude of denudation rates.Human disturbances have contributed to the temporal changes of soil erosion and fluvial SSY during the past decades. On one hand, land use change caused by deforestation and land reclamation has played an important role in the acceleration of sediment production from the central hilly area and lower Jinsha catchment; On the other hand, diverse soil conservation practices(e.g., reforestation,terracing) have contributed to a reduction of soil erosion and sediment production since the late 1980 s.It was difficult to explicitly decouple the effect of mitigation measures in the Lower Jinsha River Basindue to the complexity associated with sediment redistribution within river channels(active channel migration and significant sedimentation). The whole basin can be subdivided into seven sub-regions according to the different proportional inputs of principal denudation processes to riverine SSY. In the Volga River Basin, anthropogenic sheet, rill and gully erosion are the predominant denudation processes in the southern region, while channel bank and bed erosion constitutes the main source of riverine suspended sediment flux in the northern part of the basin. Distribution of cultivated lands significantly determined the intensity of denudation processes.Local relief characteristics also considerably influence soil erosion rates and SSY in the southern Volga River Basin. Lithology, soil cover and climate conditions determined the spatial distribution of sheet, rill and gully erosion intensity, but they play a secondary role in SSY spatial variation.
文摘The continuity of voice services, for many operators planning to start their LTE network, is one of the key requirements to cover back the cost of this expensive network. In this paper, we discuss and compare the possible solutions to add voice services on an LTE network dedicated mainly for high-speed data transfer. By comparing advantages and inconvenient of the existing approaches, we conclude that the selection of the One Voice approach is obvious, especially for operators starting LTE deployments, the One Voice approach has the support of all the famous operators and vendors. Selecting the One Voice approach as a first alternative was evident, but the choice of CSFB as a mid-term solution or backup solution from many operators was not clear. As a key lesson can be learned from the existing technologies, CDMA and GSM, where the type of handset was one of the major factors of the GSM success;we prove in this paper that VOLGA approach is better than CSFB for many reasons: The VOLGA approach uses less complex and less expensive handset while it gives more comfortable user experience compared to CSFB approach, so operators should take into consideration these two points before selecting the second alternative.
文摘The Caspian basin for a long time did not have a legal status, so the question of the division of the seabed was in question. In addition, international conventions such as MARPOL, UNCLOS, BWM did not have jurisdiction over Caspian waters. Due to the lack of general rules regarding the Caspian basin, the risk of pollution from ballast water and sewage discharges remains relevant due to the active shipping industry. But on August 12, 2018, the leaders of littoral states signed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, although the situation remains complicated. Thus, in the manuscript the authors provide the first insight into the issues of sewage and ballast water in the Caspian, and the role of oil and natural gas in the regional development.
