Field Data for Assessing the Factors of Ponds Silting: The Example of Forest-Steppe Agrolandscapes (Central Russian Upland)
Description
Belgorod Oblast is implementing the "Our Rivers" regional program, which includes scientific research to substantiate water body cleanup measures. Over 100 water bodies (ponds and river sections) in the region have already been cleaned of bottom sediments, removed tough vegetation, and other measures. In 2022–2024, the authors of this study carried out field surveys of 23 ponds within Belgorod Oblast, within the framework of this program. All the surveyed ponds were built between 1970 and 1990. The studied ponds are located in the western part of the region: 3 of them belong to the Vorskla River basin, 11 to the Seversky Donets River, and 9 to the Psel and Seym rivers.
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The pond siltation is influenced by hydrological characteristics (average and maximum pond depth), morphometric features of the pond catchment (average slope, vertical dissection of the relief, average water runoff), as well as natu-ral and anthropogenic conditions (forest cover and soil plowing). A combined analysis of these factors allows to identify ponds with varying degrees of siltation and classify them into one of four types, and also makes it possible to solve the practical issue of cleaning ponds from sediments based on cartographic data. Further research will be useful for determining the catchment areas of all ponds in Belgorod Oblast and implementing the typification system pro-posed in this paper when selecting ponds for treatment within the framework of the regional program "Our Rivers."
Institutions
- Belgorodskij gosudarstvennyj nacional'nyj issledovatel'skij universitet