SCIENTIFIC EDUCATIONAL CENTER science idea

< Back

Scientists of the St. Petersburg Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg FITZ RAS) have launched a new interdisciplinary scientific direction - aerolimnology. Within its framework, researchers propose an approach for studying internal reservoirs (for example, lakes and reservoirs), which comprehensively combines classical methods of limnology, methods of collecting information using drones and sensor systems, as well as processing large amounts of data based on artificial intelligence technologies. The information obtained using aerolimnology methods can be used, in particular, to study bottom landscapes, aquatic organisms (for example, such as the Ladoga ringed seal or hydrobionts) and to search for minerals in hard-to-reach areas of water areas. The concept of the new research direction is presented in the scientific journal Informatics and Automation.

Water covers about 70% of the Earth's surface, in addition, it plays a crucial role in the functioning of society, being a source of water supply, irrigation and irrigation of territories, ensuring the work of industry. Fresh water is one of the most valuable resources of mankind. Other mineral and biological resources contained in freshwater reservoirs may be of great interest to science and economics. According to geophysical data, ore-bearing structures can be traced in the water area of reservoirs, promising for the identification of new mineral deposits, which is of strategic importance for the development of the extractive industry.

Over the years of studying reservoirs, several disciplines have developed (limnology, hydrology, bottom geomorphology, etc.) and approaches to monitoring the ecological state of water bodies, which attract methods, approaches and technical solutions from younger scientific fields, such as, for example, aerology or artificial intelligence technologies, to improve the efficiency of solving specific tasks. However, complex concepts linking together the methods of classical limnology and the latest achievements in the areas of application specifically of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and automated systems for collecting and processing a large array of data did not exist before.

"The study of reservoirs, which has been conducted in our center in recent years, shows that the transition of these studies to a qualitatively new level requires updating methods and approaches in an interdisciplinary manner. In response, we have developed a new scientific direction – aerolimnology. Its task is to conduct research at the junction of limnology (the whole spectrum of classical methods of studying reservoirs), robotics – the use of sensor systems for analyzing water bodies, UAVs for obtaining information during aerial surveys and measurements, as well as artificial intelligence technologies for solving problems quickly when processing a large amount of information," says the Candidate of Biological Sciences, researcher at the Laboratory of Hydrobiology INOZ RAS – SPb FIT RAS Dina Sergeevna Dudakova.

To collect a large amount of information in automatic mode, researchers suggest using complexes created in St. Petersburg by the FIT RAS, consisting of unmanned aerial vehicles with a payload, means for their delivery to a reservoir, and means of ensuring functioning. The payload can include various sensors: high-resolution video cameras, multispectral and infrared cameras, thermal imagers, spectrometers and magnetometers. Verification and detailing of the obtained data in the bottom part is possible with the use of an unmanned underwater vehicle "Limnoscout" created in INOZ RAS – SPb FIT RAS, provided with similar sensors.

The information collected with the help of such robots can be processed using artificial intelligence and data visualization systems. Thus, it is possible not just to map reservoirs, but also to build functional digital models (orthophotoplans) of the bottom and coastal zone relief, temperature regimes, geological structures of shallow water, including potentially ore-bearing ones. To work with such geoinformation systems in St. Petersburg, the FIT RAS created the "North-Western Center for Monitoring and Forecasting the Development of Territories", which operates in the format of a center for collective use. So, with its help, scientists have already developed maps of the typification of the shores and geomorphology of Lake Ladoga, which is one of the most important reservoirs of the North-West of Russia.

Aerolimnology methods also make it possible to track the distribution and migration of aquatic flora and fauna with high accuracy, in particular, the "blooming" of blue-green algae that cause serious environmental problems and deterioration of water quality. In addition, a digital model of any reservoir can take into account information about historical events related to it, information about the anthropogenic settlement of various coastal territories and how this affected the state of the water area.

"Aerolimnology is of great interest to hydrobiologists, geologists, geophysicists, geomorphologists and many specialists in many other fields. Simultaneous data collection during aerial surveys of the water area and coastal territories, automated processing of large amounts of information allow us to implement a comprehensive, more accurate and effective approach to limnological research and find new knowledge at the junction of various scientific disciplines," says Vladimir Mikhailovich Anokhin, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, leading researcher at the Laboratory of Geography and Hydrology.

In the next field season, it is planned to carry out large–scale work on Lake Ladoga - the largest of the European great lakes - as part of the development of aerolimnology using UAVs created in St. Petersburg by the FIT RAS. In the course of these works, methodological approaches will be developed to use artificial intelligence technologies to process the received complex data on the state of the reservoir.

 

The MAIN PHOTO is a digital geomorphological map of Lake Ladoga

Information and photos provided by the press service of St. Petersburg FIT RAS

The information is taken from the portal "Scientific Russia" (https://scientificrussia.ru/), posted by Irina Usyk