The article is devoted to the general information about clay rocks and their resource potential in the Chechen Republic (CR). It analyzes the classification of clay formations by various characteristics - mineral and chemical composition, physical properties, genesis, color, etc.; the conditions of formation, propagation (under marine conditions, below the level of wave action, due to weathering of previously formed igneous and metamorphic rocks, weathering of alkaline rocks, under conditions of high humidity, the destruction of acidic rocks in a dry environment); and their specific properties (adsorption, impermeability, fire resistance, plasticity, etc.). We consider clay as confining beds and in the role of adsorbents (Antonov). The genetic types of the latter and the conditions of their formation are listed. The raw material potential of clays and prospects for the discovery of new deposits and manifestations of clays in the territory of the CR are estimated. It is noted that in the recent years, on the basis of the results of research and exploration works in the territory of the CR, there have been identified 15 areas, potential homes to clay deposits, mainly brick and tile; the tables provide the basic information on the clay deposits: location, useful thickness, reserves, anf the area of use.

Large-scale inventory maps of soil and vegetation cover are important for protected areas, especially in the context of increasing technogenic pressure. The purpose of our research was to map the soil and vegetation cover in Yakutsk Botanical Garden on a landscape basis using GIS technologies to ensure environmental management and monitoring of the ecological status. Today, the use of GIS technologies makes it possible to implement integrated mapping of biodiversity through the creation of a large-scale coordinated series of landscape and thematic maps of soil and vegetation cover. The use of GIS technology allowed us to produce maps describing basic natural conditions of the landscape-typological structure of the soil and the vegetation in the scale 1:10 0 00. The methodology for the creation of cartographic models was based on the analysis of the composition and structure of soil-plant complexes within the boundaries of landscape contours, pre-selected topographic map scale 1:2 000. The basic landscape map allows displaying more general patterns at the level of groups of types of tracts. The establishment of a landscape base at this level allows for the generation of various thematic maps, both for the assessment of land cover structure and for the assessment of the environmental situation in general. The compilation of a soil map on a landscape basis involves the development of a parallel comparative scheme of typological landscape units and typological units of the structure of the soil cover. Cartographic models of vegetation cover, created on the principle of mapping the distribution of vegetation complexes, which refers to the combination of phytocenoses and groups of plants, coexisting in the boundaries of landscape contours of a certain dimension. On the basis of practical application of GIS-technologies regularities in spatial distribution of landscapes, soils and vegetation were revealed. The developed maps of soil and vegetation cover allow analyzing and evaluating of the environmental value and biogeographic specificity of the territory of Yakutsk Botanical Garden, to determine the priority and effectiveness of the protection of individual species and ecosystems, to plan environmental activities

In order to preserve the historical and cultural heritage for the sustainable development of the territories of indigenous peoples of the North in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), the GIS “Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Indigenous Peoples of the North in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)” was compiled. The created project provides a solution to the problems of preserving, visualizing and providing access to information on historical and cultural heritage sitesfor further research, research projects and ethnological examination in the areas where the indigenous peoples of the North live. The presence of various thematic layers in the GIS allows us to identify places where the interests of the indigenous population and industrial companies coincide. Thematic maps compiled on the basis of a spatial analysis of the current state of the monuments can be used not only when developing programs for a set of measures for the socio-economic and ethnocultural development of districts, but also as cartographic support for ethnological expertise to provide compensation payments.

The analysis of the structural and functional features of natural landscapes, as well as the analysis of their anthropogenic transformation, continue to be relevant tasks of modern geography. On the example of the object of study - the central part of the Volga River delta - the main directions of the research are shown. The first issue raised in the article is the analysis of factors determining the natural territorial complexes, namely: soil, relief, vegetation, lithogenic basis. Then, the main criteria for modeling natural geosystems, namely step- by-step algorithms for obtaining and overlaying individual parameters, which, against expert evaluations of the result, allow to isolate optimal sets sufficient to visualize the spatial location of natural territorial complexes are considered.Abrief summary of mathematical formulas for determining the degree of anthropogenic transformation of geosystems based on the analysis of the works of Russian-speaking and foreign authors is presented. Methods for calculating the degree of anthropogenic transformation of territories are briefly described. The main focus is on the demonstration of the geographic information method and the method of remote observation. The basic data of Earth remote sensing, used to study the characteristics of anthropogenic transformations of the central part of the Volga river delta, are described, namely: optical and SAR data from the Landsat 8, Sentinel 2, Sentinel 1. Some materials of the remote sensing data are presented on the example of areas analysis land development, water object analysis based on water indices. The materials obtained provide a basis for further research in identifying the degree of anthropogenic influence on natural territorial complexes; they are an informative source for applied research in various fields.

The article discusses the features of forest fires in Russia and Yakutia, their role in global climate warming, factors affecting forest fires, suggests a GIS structure for monitoring forest fires. The source material was satellite images of different spatial and spectral resolution (Landsat 5, Modis TERRA, GMTED2010, VIIRS), vector data (NextGIS), various meteorological data (WORLDCLIM), the results of expeditions and surveys of the local population. For the first time, a structure and a GIS database of fires for 2001-2018 were developed for the territory of Yakutia, which contains information about the relief, climate, combustible materials, and anthropogenic activity. For the first time, based on an analysis of literary sources and world experience of assessing the risk of forest fires, a method was developed for determining macroeconomic and microscale factors influencing fire risk as well as a method for determining this risk in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) using artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The paper discusses the method of constructing maps of gold provenance areas within Sokhatinoe Au-polymetallic deposit (Erikit metallogenic zone). In order to find the provenance areas, the ESRI ArcGIS software application and ArcGIS Spatial Analyst, ArcGIS 3D Analyst software were used to perform spatial analysis of raster data (cell-based). To solve the problem, the Surface group of tools was used to quantify and display the forms of the relief of the studied area. At the initial stage, a raster surface was constructed using the Topo to raster tool on the digitized topography of Sokhatinoe deposit. Subsequently, we calculated the Exposure from the resulting relief surface - to determine the slope exposure relative to the sides of world and Slope - to determine the slope (gradient or steepness) for each cell on the raster surface. As a result of the mathematical processing of the raster of the surface of the relief around the deposit, the areas that were certified during field studies were outlined. To calculate the tracks of removal on the surface of the relief, the Create Steepest Path tool was used. The output of this procedure is a graphic 3D line on the map. In the place where the convergence of the removal tracks was observed, an area for detailed search works was selected. During the field verification of the selected area, with digging 30-40 cm in depth, fragments of a carbonate vein were found with visible sulfide mineralization, represented by pyrite and copper greens, in which the content of Au in the amount of 89 ppm was determined according to laboratory research results.

The article presents the results of the water bodies research such as rivers, springs and lakes of Central Yakutia during a field trip of the Branch of the Russian Geographical Society in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) “The floating university on the Lena River - 2018”. Complex scientific research of the environment and ecological condition of the Lena River basin was the main goal of the field trip. Others objectives were to conduct a research of natural and anthropogenic landscapes en-route of The Floating University and to develop recommendations on the rational use of natural and resource capacity of the studied territory. Despite abundance of sources of fresh drinking water in Central Yakutia, due to current changes in the environment and an anthropogenic pressure, the quality of drinking water is a serious challenge in each settlement. The local population takes drinking water from the Lena River and its inflows, in the period of the high water - from small rivers or flowing lakes, underground sources are rarely used. Within the studied areas, dumping of sewage is carried out, including superficial water bodies, with biological sewage treatment being done only in the towns of Lensk and Pokrovsk. During the navigation period, frequent cases of dumping bilge water from vessels are noted. Geological works, mining, industrial development of fields lead to changes in the regime of water bodies, and pollution by various harmful substances. Due to these reasons, the water quality fails to conform to the water management standards; nevertheless, it is used for water supply of the population, agricultural purposes and fishing. That is why the research of an ecological status of water bodies in Central Yakutia conducted by the Floating University is very relevant.