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A Comprehensive Assessment of the Ecological Situation in the Closed Administrative-Territorial Entities of the Russian Federation

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Abstract—

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive assessment of the ecological situation in closed administrative–territorial entities (CATEs) of the Russian Federation using the composite index of the ecological stress and cluster analysis. The work employs a database compiled by the authors based on open sources of the Federal Agency of Water Resources and Federal Service for Environmental, Technological, and Nuclear Supervision, atmospheric pollution EMEP models, and USGS satellite images. Two CATE typologies are constructed based on the level of the ecological stress using the cluster analysis. Specialization is shown to be an essential factor in formation of ecological situation in the CATE towns due to technological processes employed at the town-forming enterprises. CATEs are shown to affect mostly the water resources and radiation situation. The groups of towns with the highest ecological stress and areas of their concentrations are located in the Urals, European North of Russia, and Krasnoyarsk krai. A favorable ecological situation in the cities and towns is associated with the natural conditions and geographic position relative to the large polluting centers. The ecological situation is observed to be stable and favorable in a majority of Russian CATEs due to the absence of substantial pollution sources in the area. Of the CATE towns, ecological conditions are found to be most critical in Novouralsk.

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Notes

  1. Federal Law No. 3297-FZ On Closed Administrative-Territorial Entity (edition June 29, 2018, no. 171-FZ).

  2. Emission volume to the atmosphere from mobile sources. Database of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, Unified Interdepartmental Statistical Information System (UISIS), updated annually. https://fedstat.ru/indicator/42723. Accessed on February 24, 2021.

  3. Population size of the Russian Federation by municipal units as of January 1, 2019. Moscow: Federal Service for State Statistics, 2019.

  4. Population size of the Russian Federation by municipal units as of January 1, 2019. Moscow: Service for State Statistics, 2019.

  5. EMEP MSC-W modelled air depositions and concentrations // EMEP MSC-W at Norwegian Meteorological Institute. https://emep.int/mscw/mscw_moddata.html. Accessed on February 20, 2021.

  6. USGS EarthExplorer // United States Geological Survey. https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov. Accessed on March 15, 2021.

  7. EMEP MSC-W modeled air depositions and concentrations, EMEP MSC-W at Norwegian Meteorological Institute. https://emep.int/mscw/mscw_moddata.html. Accessed on February 20, 2021.

  8. Database of the Federal Agency of Water Resources of the Russian Federation, Unified Interdepartmental Statistical Information System (UISIS), updated annually. https://www.fedstat.ru/indicator/. Accessed on December 15, 2020.

  9. Radiation situation in the Russian Federation and adjoining states: annual edition (2009–2018). Obninsk: NPO Taifun.

  10. Database of the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological, and Nuclear Supervision of the Russian Federation, Unified Interdepartmental Statistical Information System (UISIS), updated annually. https://www.fedstat.ru/indicator/. Accessed on February 24, 2021.

  11. USGS EarthExplorer // United States Geological Survey. https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov. Accessed on March 15, 2021.

  12. In the article, the borders of Russia are considered in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation adopted by popular vote on December 12, 1993, with amendments approved during the All-Russian vote on July 1, 2020.

  13. Radiation situation in the Russian Federation and adjoining states: annual edition (2009–2018). Obninsk: NPO Taifun, 2011.

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Funding

The work was prepared under the state-ordered research theme of the Faculty of Geography, Moscow State University “Modern Dynamics and Factors of Socioeconomic Development of Regions and Cities of Russia and Countries of the Near Abroad” (no. 121051100161-9) and according to the Development Program of the Interdisciplinary Scientific and Educational School of Moscow State University “Future Planet and Global Environmental Change.”

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  1. Moscow State University, Faculty of Geography, Moscow, Russia

    V. R. Bityukova & O. E. Prusikhin

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  1. V. R. Bityukova
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  2. O. E. Prusikhin
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Correspondence to V. R. Bityukova or O. E. Prusikhin.

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Translated by E. Kuznetsova

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Bityukova, V.R., Prusikhin, O.E. A Comprehensive Assessment of the Ecological Situation in the Closed Administrative-Territorial Entities of the Russian Federation. Reg. Res. Russ. 12, 428–437 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970522700228

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