THE CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ON THE GLACIERS OF GEORGIA

The article reviews the changes of the glacier basins characteristics of Georgia glaciers due to the current climate change. Calculations show significant decrease of the area and number of the glaciers in Georgia over the last 50 years. This reduction is more intensive in eastern Georgia in comparison with the western part of the country. At the same time, some large glaciers complete melting dates are determined according to one of the basic scenarios of current climate change, namely the business as usual. Based on the calculations it is concluded that viewed large glaciers complete melting is not expected within this century even in this worst conditions scenario.The article reviews the changes of the glacier basins characteristics of Georgia glaciers due to the current climate change. Calculations show significant decrease of the area and number of the glaciers in Georgia over the last 50 years. This reduction is more intensive in eastern Georgia in comparison with the western part of the country. At the same time, some large glaciers complete melting dates are determined according to one of the basic scenarios of current climate change, namely the business as usual. Based on the calculations it is concluded that viewed large glaciers complete melting is not expected within this century even in this worst conditions scenario

River Terek Glacial Basin Degradation Dynamics on the Background of Current Climate Change

In Georgia, on the ridge of the Greater Caucasus, there are well-developed, rather high glaciers. The study of glaciers has gained more importance since the second half of the twentieth century due to the negative impact of current climate change, which has led to significant and rapid degradation of glaciers, exacerbating natural disasters of glacial origin. Due to the degradation of glaciers in the country, a change in the water balance and degradation of landscapes, an increase in the level of the Black Sea, and the growth of the natural disasters frequency and intensity of glacial origin are having a place. This poses a serious threat to the sustainable development of the country and, therefore, the study of glaciers has become a priority in the research program of Georgia. Using satellite remote sensing, GIS technologies, glacial catalogue, field ground observations and expert knowledge, the negative impact of modern climate change was revealed and, as a consequence, the dynamics of degradation of glaciers in the glacial basins of East Georgia was studied in detail. In this article, the dynamics of the degradation of glaciers in the glacial basins of River Terek is overviewed. For this purpose, a comparison is made of the state of glaciers (area and number) for three time periods. The initial state is taken to be the state of glaciers in this basin at the time of the finish of the glaciers researches (1960). The data gathered were published in several editions of the glacier catalogue. Subsequent states - middle (2015) and final (2020) are determined using high-resolution satellites. Technological and methodological research proved to be effective for studying the dynamics of glacier degradation based on innovative high-resolution satellite remote sensing since the best practices were used in conjunction with the methods developed by the authors. A comparison of these conditions showed that the area and number of glaciers are greatly decreasing due to climate change. It should be noted that the dynamics of glacier degradation is nonlinear, which makes the melting of glaciers in the second period more intense than in the first. This conclusion also confirms one of the main theses of the 6th IPCC report that the main problem is not climate change, but its speed

Satellite remote sensing outputs of the certain glaciers on the territory of East Georgia

The variations in glaciers are the important indicators of regional climate change. The glaciers play an important role in the regulation of water balance. In the conditions of global warming they recede and degrade that is expressed in the related changes in glacier runoff. The research of glacier melting is important for studies of sea/ocean level changes. The Caucasian glacial dimensions (area, volume, length) have been changed over the centuries. The scientific study of glaciers in the Caucasus was started during the first half of 18th century. In the last century the terrestrial observations on glaciers were carried out. Due to the difficulties of organization and conducting of field works the received observational data sets consists from different series of various temporal duration characteristics of glaciers. The data received contain uncertainties. From another hand carrying out of such field works are expensive. With the launch of the Earth’s satellites it was determined that satellite remote sensing is the best technology allowing to receive data with needed regularity in terms of both time and space resolution. Some uncertainties remain in the data as the observational tool is too far away from the Earth’s surface. So, the necessity for the strong quality assessment/quality control (QA/QC) remains. A lot of studies showed that the best method for investigation of glaciers is application of satellite remote sensing combined with terrestrial observations and expert knowledge of separate glaciers

Comparison of data from ground-based and satellite measurements of the monthly sum of atmospheric precipitation on the example of Tbilisi city in 2001-2020

The data of ground-based (Prec_MS) and satellite (Prec_Sat) measurements of the monthly sum of atmospheric precipitation are compared using the example of Tbilisi in 2001-2020. In particular, the following results are obtained. In general, for all observational data (240 months), Prec_MS values vary from 0 to 267.3 mm, and Prec_Sat - from 3.0 to 184.0 mm. Their average values are 43.6 and 64.8 mm, respectively. Monthly mean values of Prec_MS vary from 16.7 mm (January) to 93.2 mm (May) and Prec_Sat values – from 32.5 mm (December) to 114.4 mm (May). Ground-based measurements are lower than satellite data for all months of the year. The difference between the average values of Prec_MS and Prec_Sat over 20 years varies from -8.8 mm (November) to -33.4 mm (March). Ratio between the average values of Prec_MS and Prec_Sat varies from 40.6 % (January) to 81.5 % (May). There is a direct linear correlation between the studied parameters. For all observational data (240 months) coefficient of correlation is 0.86 (high correlation), for separate month changes from 0.65 (July, moderate correlation) to 0.94 (April, very high correlation). Coefficient of correlation between average values of the studied parameters is 0.97 (very high correlation)

On the Representativeness of Data from Meteorological Stations in Georgia for Annual and Semi-Annual Sum of Atmospheric Precipitation Around of These Stations

Results of study of the representativeness of data from 39 meteorological stations in Georgia for annual and semi-annual sum of atmospheric precipitation around of these stations are presented. Period of observation – from 1936 to 2015. In particular, it was found that in general for the year data of meteorological stations on precipitations are representative around these stations on distance from 19 km (Mta-Sabueti, Kobuleti) to 46 km (Gori); in cold period of year - from 13 km (Mta-Sabueti) to 49 km (Zugdidi); in warm period of year - from 20 km (Chokhatauri) to 43 km (Pasanauri)

The Climate Change Impact on the Glaciers of Georgia

The article reviews the changes of the glacier basins characteristics of Georgia glaciers due to the current climate change. Calculations show significant decrease of the area and number of the glaciers in Georgia over the last 50 years. This reduction is more intensive in eastern Georgia in comparison with the western part of the country. At the same time, some large glaciers complete melting dates are determined according to one of the basic scenarios of current climate change, namely the business as usual. Based on the calculations it is concluded that viewed large glaciers complete melting is not expected within this century even in this worst conditions scenario

Preliminary Results of a Study of the Relationship Between the Variability of the Mean Annual Sum of Atmospheric Precipitation and Landslide Processes in Georgia

Preliminary results of the study of the relationship between the variability of the mean annual sum of atmospheric precipitation and landslide processes in Georgia for 32 years are presented. In particular, it was found that with an increase in the annual sum of atmospheric precipitation, the tendency of increase in the number of landslides is observed in accordance with a second power of polynomia

Research of snowfields existing in the territory of the autonomous republic of Abkhazia in the last decade under the impact of the current climate change based on satellite remote sensing

შესწავლილია აფხაზეთის ავტონომიური რესპუბლიკის თოვლნარები კატალოგის და 2010, 2015 და 2020 წლების თანამგზავრული მონაცემების მიხედვით. სტატიაში წარმოდგენილია თოვლნარებზე დაკვირვების შედეგები, მათი რაოდენობისა და დაკავებული ფართობების ჯამური მნიშვნელობები. გამოტანილია შესაბამისი დასკვნა, რომ კლიმატის მიმდინარე ცვლილების გავლენა თოვლნარების რაოდენობასა და ფართობებზე თვალსაჩინოა. კატალოგის მიხედვით აღრიცხულია 24 თოვლნარი, ხოლო 2020 წლის თანამგზავრული მონაცემებით მათი რაოდენობა 103-მდე გაიზარდა, შესაბამისად გაიზარდა დაკავებული ფართობიც 1.4 კმ2-დან 2.3 კმ2-მდე. ამ დროს 0.1 კმ2 მეტი ფართობის მქონე მცირე, საშუალო და დიდი მყინვარები სწრაფად დეგრადირდებიან, იკლებს მათი რაოდენობა და დაკავებული ფართობები.In the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazias’ glacial basins, snowfield dynamics under the impact of current climate change is studied based on High-resolution satellites data from 2010, 2015 and 2020. The analysis of the snowfields’ dynamics revealed that the impact of current climate change on the number and areas of snowfields is obvious. According to the catalogue, there were 24 snowfields and according to the data of 2020 SRS, their number has increased to 103, and accordingly the occupied area has increased from 1.4 2 to 2.30 to km2. At this time, small and medium-sized glaciers with an area of more than 0.1 km2 rapidly degrade and their number and occupied areas decrease, which automatically leads to an increase in the number and area of snowfields