Determination of Water Resources in Rivers in the Bulgarian Basins of the Lower Danube

Author(s): Plamen Ninov,Tzviatka Karagiozova,Maya Rankova / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2017

Object of the study is surface water bodies from category “rivers” according to Water Framework Directive 2000/60/ЕС. Surface water assessment is important for number of activities such as: water management in the country, making reports to international agencies, determining the change of the resources in the light of upcoming climate changes. The determination of water resources is based on information of hydrometric stations from the monitoring network system in the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology — Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NIMHBAS) in which real ongoing and available water flows that are subject of management are registered. In the study a technology for surface water bodies in the Bulgarian basins of the lower Danube is applied which has been developed in the frame of cooperative project together with the Ministry of Environment and Water. This is absolutely true for the Bulgarian section of the Danube River basin which is expressed in big number and variety of hydrological homogeneous sections. The river flow is characterized with annual and inter-annual variability determined by climatic factors and anthropogenic influences. The main obtained results of the present hydrologic studies are the usage of transferred information from gauged to ungauged watersheds and the estimation of the surface water bodies’ resources using original regression relationships based on multiannual hydrological information from the NIMH-BAS monitoring network. The relationships delineate the hydrological homogeneous areas with similar conditions of flow formation. The estimated resources have significant usefulness for all State institutions managing the water in the Danube basin and have already been introduced in the operative and management practice.

Electrons or Protons: What is the Cause of Forest Fires in Western Europe on June 18, 2017?

Author(s): Milan Radovanović,João Fernando Pereira Gomes,Anatoly A. Yamashkin,Milan Milenković,Milan Stevančević / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

Forest fires in Portugal (June 17–24, 2017) destroyed 64 lives and caused considerable material damage. The coronal hole CH807 and the energy region S5710 were in the geoeffective position on the Sun immediately before the outbreak of fires. In the period that preceded it, as well as at the time of the fires, increased values of the solar wind (SW) parameters (temperature, speed and density of particles) were recorded. In addition, a geomagnetic disorder was recorded. The shape and size of the burning areas, as well as the low air pressure over Portugal indicate the possibility of the effect of positively charged particles that came from the area south, i.e. southwest of Portugal. Nevertheless, it is a specific case that would have to be investigated in more detail.

HYDROLOGICAL HERITAGE WITHIN PROTECTION OF GEODIVERSITY IN SERBIA - LEGISLATION HISTORY

Author(s): Sava Simić / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2011

The paper presents a summary of the history of development of legislation in the field of geodiversity in Serbia. An important segment of this theme is the relationship of man to the protection of water and its phenomena - hydrological diversity and hydrological heritage. Although the historical development of nature protection as complex, socially significant, professional and scientific field is relatively long and in a sense shows the constant progress, the fact is that today's legislation in this sphere unreasonably delays for the reality and needs, and this is especially noticeable when comes to protection of geodiversity and water phenomena - hydrological heritage. This paper, through the attempt of the representation of development of a broad field of the geodiversity and hydrological heritage protection in the light of its legal and institutional introduction into social frameworks, in particular points to the existing problems that are reflected in the current regulation - the Nature Protection Act.

GEOMORPHOLOGICAL SPECIFIC FEATURES OF TREBINJE AS TOURIST ATTRACTION

Author(s): Dajana Vukojević / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2011

The municipality of Trebinje is located in the Trebišnjica river basin in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Among Bileća, Ljubinje, Ravno, Herceg Novi, Dubrovnik and Nikšić a very specific and distinguishable karst countryside has developed which is made of karst polje in a debris, mountainous scope (Leotar, Bijela Gora, Zubačke mountains) and huge number of bare limestone hills and the surfaces with all micro shapes of holokarst. The author emphasizes the tourist attractions of the specific geomorphological shapes that can be valorized by the tourists in his works.

HYDROGEOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE ĐETINJA RIVER

Author(s): Ana Milanović / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2011

Vulnerability Assessment And Protective Measures For Natural Hazards

Author(s): I.S. Savisko,A.V. Buldakov,E.V. Buldakova,T.B. Minakova / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2013

The most promising area of research for assessment of vulnerability of territories from natural processes should be based on structural-dynamic concept of geosystems. Its essence consists in transition, under external influences, natural systems from a state of stable in an unstable. At the same time is not excluded the possibility of evaluation of vulnerability of the territory with the status of components of the environment and objects under the influence of the natural processes.

EXTREME PRECIPITATION INDICES IN VOJVODINA REGION (SERBIA)

Author(s): Slavica Malinović-Milićević,Dragutin Mihailović,Milan Radovanović,Nusret Drešković / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

The evolution of daily extreme precipitation from 1966 to 2013 in Vojvodina Region (Serbia) was investigated. We calculated trends of ten precipitation indices and tested their corresponding significance using the Student’s t-test for seven locations. The obtained results suggest that the climate of the northern and central parts of Vojvodina region becomes wetter in terms of precipitation magnitude and frequency, reflecting the characteristic of the central European regime, while the southernmost part of the region is drier, reflecting the characteristic of the Mediterranean regime. In addition, the results indicate an increase in the amount of precipitation in short time intervals. Positive annual trends are strongly influenced by the significant increase of autumn frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation. According to the correlation between extreme precipitation indices and atmospheric teleconnection patterns, it was found that the NAO has the strongest influence on precipitation intensity indices in spring and winter, while during winter it also affects the frequency of dry conditions. The EAWR pattern has a strong influence on the statistically significant positive autumn trends.

SPATIAL-TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF AIR TEMPERATURES IN SERBIA IN THE PERIOD 1961–2010

Author(s): Boško Milovanović,Phillip Schuster,Milan Radovanović,Christopher Schneider,Milovan Milivojević / Language(s): English,Serbian Issue: 2/2018

The aim of this paper is to examine the spatial and temporal variability of the average monthly, seasonal and annual air temperatures in Serbia. Therefore, data from 64 climatologic stations were analyzed in the period from 1961 to 2010. Based on the data, on the position of the stations (their latitude, longitude, altitude), and the characteristics of the terrain in their vicinity (inclination and terrain exposure in a radius of 10 km around the station), a regression model was constructed based on which air temperatures are interpolated for the territory of Serbia. The rootmean- square error (RMSE) of the regression model ranged from 0.2 ºC in January, February and November to 1.1 ºC in August. Spatial distribution of air temperatures is shown (maps of mean monthly, mean seasonal and mean annual air temperatures are made), and the Sen's procedure was used to calculate trends of air temperatures (maps of average monthly, mean seasonal and mean annual trends of air temperatures). The Mann-Kendall test was used to test the significance of air temperature trends. Apart from the southeast, the whole territory of Serbia has practically experienced a statistically significant rise in the average annual air temperature, with the highest increase in the summer and winter months.

THE CLIMATE OF A LARGE CITY AND ECOCLINE ORDINATION OF ITS VEGETATION COVER

Author(s): Volodymyr Kycheryavyj,Vasyl Popovych,Volodymyr Kycheryavyj S. / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2018

Large cities generate their own climate, which influences the distribution of vegetationcover and individual species population into separated ecological phytocoenotic zones ecoclines.By the example of urban ecology research conducted in the city of Lviv with a population of aboutone million inhabitants, the nature of this ecocline ordination has been revealed. It is the result ofaction of vertical and horizontal gradients on woody plants phytovitality. The manifestation ofthese changes is increasing scarcity in phytocoenotic structure of vegetation, water deficit in theleaves, ratio distortion of the pigment composition. There are proposed certain methods forassessing the phytovitality of the introduced species. In the I EPhZ suburban forest we deal withthe “new” climatope and edaphotope. In the II EPhZ — the park, there is a forest-steppe climatopeand edaphotope due to the thin vegetation and a larger area of open spaces. In the III EPhZ — inpublic gardens where open insolated spaces dominate — there is steppe climatope and edaphotope. In IV EPhZ, where the high dryness of air and soil in streets and squares prevails, there is a desertclimatope and edaphotope. In the I, II and III EPhZ soil temperature is always lower than thetemperature in the crown, which corresponds to the physiological needs of plants. In IV EPhZ thesoil temperature around the tree trunk is higher than the air temperature in the tree crown.

BIODIVERSITY OVERVIEW OF SODA PANS IN THE VOJVODINA REGION (SERBIA)

Author(s): Bojan Gavrilović,Miloš Ćirić,Aleksandra Vesić,Danijela Vidaković,Boris Novaković,Milica Živanović / Language(s): English,Serbian Issue: 2/2018

Due to their specific physical and chemical properties of water and soil soda pans of the Vojvodina region represent a unique type of habitats. Salinity is a major structuring factor which strongly affects species richness. Many halotolerant, alkalotolerant and halophilic organisms, together with numerous eurytopic elements inhabit these kinds of ecosystems. In this review wetried to compile the biodiversity information from various literature sources and give the best representation of what can be expected to be found in these shallow, temporary and intermittent aquatic environments. Only a few groups of organisms are fairly well studied, while many other sare insufficiently investigated or the knowledge of them is lacking altogether. Best investigated are certain groups of algae and birds. Bacterial communities, as well as many invertebrate groups, are poorly studied or not investigated at all. Characteristic elements of flora and fauna, together with growing anthropogenic pressures make soda pans prime targets for protection.

AESTHETIC PROPERTIES OF GEOLOGICAL HERITAGE LANDSCAPES: EVIDENCE FROM THE LAGONAKI HIGHLAND (WESTERN CAUCASUS, RUSSIA)

Author(s): Dmitry A. Ruban / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2018

Beauty adds value to unique geological features because the former is important for tourist emotional satisfaction. Aesthetic properties of geological heritage landscapes (landscapes dominated by unique geological phenomena) should be distinguished from their aesthetic attractiveness. Field studies permit ranging all basic aesthetic properties according to their local importance. The same information allows realizing appearance of the properties, which can be either positive or negative. The aesthetic properties of a world-class geosite representing ancient carbonate platform and diverse karst features, namely the Lagonaki Highland (western part of the Greater Caucasus Mountains) are examined. It is established that the Lagonaki Highland has physical parameters that determine a specific set of aesthetic properties. Three most important aesthetic properties of the studied object are openness, pattern, and uniqueness. These properties match the expected tourists’ idea of beauty, and, thus, the geological heritage landscape of the Lagonaki Highland is characterized by significant aesthetic attractiveness, which is important for tourism development.

CUBE ONLINE ANALYTICAL MODEL (COLAM) IN THE RIVER SHIPPING LOGISTIC FORECASTING

Author(s): Natalia Verbitskaya,Darko B. Vuković,Andrey Mehrentsev,Dejana Jakovljević,Aleksandra Vujko / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2018

In this paper authors developed Cube Online Analytical Model (COLAM) which should anticipate various restrictions and hazards in river transport system. The aim is to construct at heoretical model which will predict certain delays in transport time caused by topographic and hydrographic constraints, natural hazards (such as ice, floods and droughts), economic and political constraints (tariff barriers between the countries, operating costs, terminal costs and sanctions, the threat of war, etc.) and different technical accidents. COLAM integrates hydroinformatic and hydrologic base of knowledge with real time and gives possibility to provide information for economic queries with different hierarchy of time. COLAM is methodological and practical instrument for this challenge. It integrates hydroinformatic and hydrologic base of knowledge with real time. The model in each concrete case is created to receive information about possible changing of navigation periods on the base of multi-dimension all of three groups of risks(natural hazards, social and technical hazards) as also their combinations.

AN EVALUATION OF SUMMER DISCOMFORT IN NIŠ (SERBIA) USING HUMIDEX

Author(s): Milica Lukić,Milica Pecelj,Branko Protić,Dejan Filipović / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

The bioclimatic analysis of the central area of the city of Niš conducted in this paper is based on the use of the bioclimatic index Humidex, which represents subjective outdoor temperature that one feels in warm and humid environment. The purpose of this research is to observe the index change on a daily basis during the hottest part of the year (June, July, and August) over the period from 1998 to 2017. For the purposes of this analysis, hourly (7:00, 14:00), maximum and mean daily values of meteorological parameters (air temperature and relative humidity) were used, for the period of 20 years (1998-2017), which were measured at Niš weather station (43°19'N, 21°53'E, at an altitude of 202 meters). The findings indicate a gradual change in the bioclimatic characteristics of this area during this period, especially over the last decade. After 2007 there has been a decrease in the total number of the days described as “comfortable”. However, there has been an increase in the index values in all the other heat stress categories characterized by a higher or lower degree of thermal discomfort. The years 1998, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2015, and 2017 stand out as adverse years.

SPATIAL PATTERNS OF PRECIPITATION IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Author(s): Tatjana Popov,Slobodan Gnjato,Davorin Bajić,Goran Trbić / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2019

The paper investigates the spatial distribution of the seasonal and annual precipitation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The mean monthly precipitation data from 40 meteorological stations covering the standard climatological thirty‐year period (1961−1990) were used for the analysis. Seven precipitation‐based parameters were used to regionalize climate in Bosnia and Herzegovina by using the Principal Component Analysis and clustering techniques. The spatial patterns of precipitation were determined by using the R‐mode principal component analysis with varimax rotation. The first two principal components, which describe 97.60% of the total variance, were taken into consideration. The varimax rotated scores were subjected to the Cluster Analysis in order to identify homogeneous precipitation regions over the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The agglomerative hierarchical clustering identified three sub‐regions with different precipitation regimes. The complex orography, i.e., the influence of the Pannonian Basin, the Dinaric Alps, and the Adriatic Sea, is one of the most decisive factors that affect spatial patterns of precipitation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF ANNUAL PM2.5 CONCENTRATIONS AND POPULATION EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT IN SERBIA FOR THE PERIOD 2001–2016

Author(s): Gorica Stanojević,Dragana Miljanović,Dejan Doljak,Nina Ćurčić,Milan Radovanović,Slavica Malinović-Milićević,Olena Hauriak / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2019

The long-term exposure to PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm) is the leading global health risk factor. The spatio-temporal variability of annual values of the total PM2.5 concentrations in Serbia is analyzed using the high-resolution (0.01° × 0.01°) gridded data set V4.EU.02 for the period 2001–2016. Population counts and density data were used to calculate the population exposure while the urban land cover data were used to estimate the relations between the size of urban area and the concentration of PM2.5. The mean annual values vary in the range 13.93 μg/m3–28.91 μg/m3. The regional differences exist, but the highest values were obtained for urban environments (> 22.5 μg/m3). Negative trend of annual PM2.5 is present in most of the parts of the Serbian territory, especially in the eastern parts reaching –0.37 μg/m3 per year (p ≤ .05). More than 99% of the territory of Serbia has the mean annual values under the national safe limit established by regulation (25 μm/m3), but comparing to the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline (10μm/m3), all the territory is above the safe level. In line with the trend of urbanization, there is a clear upward trend in the number of population exposed to the higher concentrations of PM2.5. The share of the population exposed to values higher than 25 μg/m3 increased from 6.65% in 2005 to 11.40% in 2015, while comparing to WHO standard, the total population in Serbia is exposed to the values higher than the safe one.

THE IMPACT OF LAND USE DYNAMICS ON THE SOIL EROSION IN THE PANCHNOI RIVER BASIN, NORTHEAST INDIA

Author(s): Monoj Kumar Jaiswaj,Nurul Amin / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

Land use (LU) dynamics and its relation to the accelerated soil erosion phenomenon in two broad geomorphic divisions of the Panchnoi River basin of Northeast India have studied. The present study was based on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). To measure the impact of the LU dynamics on soil erosion, the basin was divided into two broad geomorphic divisions, i.e.,plain zone and hilly zone, and the rate of soil erosion has been estimated separately for both of the geomorphic divisions. It has been found that in the plain zone, LU dynamics significantly accelerated soil erosion—from 0.52 ton/ha/yr in 1990 to 0.94 ton/ha/yr in 2015. Similarly, the vegetation density decreased significantly in the mountainous and hilly zone as the mean Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) value changed from 0.45 in 1990 to 0.35 in 2015, which accelerated soil erosion from 12.06 ton/ha/yr to 18.30 ton/ha/yr from 1990 to 2015. The study indicates that soil erosion may give rise to a severe environmental as well as economic problem in the Panchnoi river basin, which may trigger issues related to the soil fertility of the basin area.

HYDROLOGICAL DROUGHT ASSESSMENT OF THE TISZA RIVER

Author(s): Igor Leščešen,Dragan Dolinaj,Milana Pantelić,Tamás Telbisz,György Varga / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

Drought is a natural phenomenon that occurs when the availability of water is significantly below the normal levels during a shorter or longer period of time and cannot meet the necessary demand. This study focused on hydrological drought assessment of the Tisza River on four gauging stations: Vásárosnamény, Szolnok, Szeged, and Senta for the period 1964–2018. An effective Streamflow Drought Index (SDI) has been recently proposed and widely used for determining hydrological droughts. Both long-and short-term droughts have very severe impacts on the investigated locations. Two drought periods can be singled out: the first period was from 1983 to 1993, with the exceptions in 1985 and 1987. This period is characterized by higher absolute SDI values on Vásárosnamény (–0.84) and Szolnok (–0.87) than on Szeged (–0.29) and Senta (–0.40) stations. The second period was more severe and lasted from 2011 to 2015, with an average SDI value of –1.32 on Vásárosnamény, –1.08 on Szolnok, –0.53 on Szeged, and –0.57 on Senta station. The Mann-Kendall test results indicate that there is no trend indicating transition from humid towards more arid condition over the investigated period.

SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION OF URBAN HEAT ISLAND INTENSITY IN BELGRADE (SERBIA)

Author(s): Boško Milovanović,Milan Radovanović,Christopf Schneider / Language(s): English,Serbian Issue: 2/2020

The aim of this study is to quantify the intensity of the urban heat island in Belgrade through the seasons. Air temperature observations from 23 meteorological stations in Serbia in the period 1949–2008 were analyzed. Using cluster analysis, we identify the group of stations which the data from the meteorological station Belgrade are the most similarto. It has been shown that, through all the seasons, air temperatures in Belgrade are significantly higher than the average in the wider surroundings. The greatest difference is in winter (1.4 °C), and the smallest is in summer, when it is 0.9 °C. It is greater in fall (1.2 °C) than during spring months, when it is 1.0 °C. Although the contribution of air temperatures in Belgrade to the increase of the averagevalue of air temperature in its cluster is statistically significant, it is without any practical significance.

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF SPECIFIC RUNOFF IN SERBIA BASED ON RAINFALL-RUNOFF RELATIONSHIP

Author(s): Marko Urošev,Dragoljub Štrbac,Jelena Kovačević-Majkić,Jasna Plavšić,Stanislav Yamashkin / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2020

One of the indicators of water potential and water resources is specific runoff. Specific runoff for the whole territory of Serbia was obtained using the exponential relation between depth of runoff Y(mm) and precipitation P(mm). This relation is obtained on the basis of the mean annual amount of precipitation and annual water discharge, namely the depth of the runoff for 69 basins for the period 1961–2010. Coefficient of determination (R²) of relation between the depth of runoff and precipitation is 0.72. The differences between measured and modeled values of specific runoff vary from basin to basin, but at the level of the whole Serbia it is 3.5%. More precisely, The measured specific runoff amounts 5.6 l/s/km2, and the modeled specific runoff is 5.7l/s/km2. The verification was done by applying the model to 11 large river basins in Serbia. Spatial distribution of the modeled specific runoff is presented by a digital map of specific runoff with pixel resolution 100 ×100 m which enables the estimation of mean annual water discharge in any ungauged basin in Serbia.

ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY DURING THE FLOODS IN MAY 2014, SERBIA

Author(s): Dejana Jakovljević / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2020

Floods are considered to be the most common natural disaster which causes more destructive effects than other natural disasters including loss of human life, property and infrastructure damage, as well as a negative impact on social and economic development. Besides these consequences, floods also affect water quality. The aim of this paper is to present water quality impairment caused by the floods in Serbia in May 2014. The parameters of water quality were measured 13 times in 2014 (12 ordinary monthly measurements and one extraordinary measurement during the flood) in hydrological stations Ostružnica and Šabac (on the river Sava) and Badovinci (on the river Drina). The Canadian Water Quality Index (CWQI) was used for water quality assessment. This method calculates the overall water quality and the water quality for specific conditions and purposes including: drinking, aquatic habitats, recreation, irrigation, and livestock. Water quality decline was recorded in all the stations in overall water quality as well as for specific uses. Turbidity and heavy metals values were tens of times higher than normal ranges. The most drastic example was Al with the values which were thousand(s) of times higher than the objective.