Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2025, V. 22, No. 5, pp. 435-443
Conducting a socio-ecological assessment of the territory of the Khatanga rural settlement area using UAVs as part of a comprehensive expedition “Arctic. General Cleanup” of the Russian Geographical Society in 2023–2024
Ya.O. Lebedev
1, 2, 3 , D.A. Kobets
4 , K.D. Skobelev
1, 2 , A.E. Gnedenko
5 , G.D. Ponomarev
6 1 Research Institute “Environmental Industrial Policy Center”, Mytishchi, Moscow Region, Russia
2 MIREA — Russian Technological University, Moscow, Russia
3 RUDN University, Moscow, Russia
4 Space Research Institute RAS, Moscow, Russia
5 Institute of Geography RAS, Moscow, Russia
6 Minin Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Accepted: 23.09.2025
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2025-22-5-435-443
The article presents the results of work in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (using the example of the village of Khatanga) carried out as part of a comprehensive expedition of the Russian Geographical Society in 2023–2024. Climate change and anthropogenic pressure on the fragile ecosystems of the Arctic are leading to an active transformation of the territory, creating new challenges for both ecosystems and the population living in these territories, including small indigenous peoples, which inevitably affects, among other things, their traditional activities. Updating the cartographic basis (creation of new cartographic material based on orthophotoplans of territories) allows one not only assessing the scale and speed of ongoing transformations, but also refining on the ground the data obtained by satellite monitoring. Such updated materials are necessary when conducting comprehensive field studies, socio-economic and strategic socio-environmental assessment of territories. It is noted that the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in the Arctic zone makes it possible to refine information products based on remote sensing data, update and detail cartographic information during comprehensive environmental and socio-economic research, partially leveling the inaccessibility of the area.
Keywords: Arctic, UAV, Khatanga, orthophotoplane, riverbed processes, erosion processes
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