An attempt of geo-information mapping of lake-basin systems in the Polissia region of Ukraine for the needs of balanced nature management

Ukrainian Polissia is among the regions of Ukraine that have the biggest number of lakes. Lakes have a significant potential of water, organic-mineral, biotic and recreational resources. Lake reservoirs regulate the hydrological regime of the landscape, improve the microclimatic conditions of geo-complexes adjacent to the lake, accumulate surface water, and are a habitat for water organisms and waterfowl, etc. On the other hand, lakes are objects of economic activity, which requires cadastral accounting, thematic GIS mapping and substantiation of measures for balanced nature management. The purpose of the research is to develop a cartographic model of Lake Luka basin (Volyn Polissia, Ukraine) with the aim of landscape-geographic substantiation of the functioning of the the lake-basin system (LBS) in the context of balanced nature management. The bathymetric model of the lake, the map of the landscape structure of the natural-aquatic complex and the map of the land use of the catchment area were developed based on the results of field research, cameral processing of data, using the remote sensing data and QGIS software modules. The research included assessment of the morphological-morphometric and hydrological parameters of the LBS. The maximum depth of Lake Luka is 24.4 m, and the maximum depth of the lakebed, taking into account the depth of bottom sediments, is 32.3 m. The landscape structure of the natural-aquatic complex of Lake Luka is represented by a complex water tract, which includes the littoral-sublittoral (44.37% of the area) and profundal (55.63% of the area) aquatic sub-tracts, as well as six types of aquafacies. The research determined the ratio of anthropogenically transformed lands (ATL) to ecologically stabilizing lands (ESL) within the catchment area. The ratio is ATL – 9.8%, and ESL – 90.2%. The research identified that the structure of the catchment area land is optimal, and the indicator of economic development is low (0.11). The developed cartographic models and calculated morphological-morphometric and hydrological parameters of Lake Luka LBS are the basis for the development of the ecological passport of the lake. The developed model of land use allows optimizing nature management of the catchment area and taking preventive measures against geo-ecological risks, which meets the modern needs for the sustained development of such local territories as LBS.