Assessment of the Lands of Agricultural Zones of the Tomsk Region Based on the Results of Modeling the Moisture Scale

Abstract

The scientific novelty of the relevance of this study is caused by the fact that for the effective development and use of space, an integral criterion is needed, calculated on the basis of spatially distributed data, characterizin the local hydrological and climatic conditions of growth, formed under the influence of landscape conditions. The aim of the work is to develop and verify a method for assessing the quality of land based on the results of hydrological and climatic modeling of the stages of humidification by L. G. Ramensky. The lands with moisture scale 55-70 were accepted as the most suitable for agroindustrial use. The studied territory, even within the same agricultural zone, is very heterogeneous, with a mosaic distribution of moisture levels. Unfavorable technological properties of land – high waterlogging, small-contour fields increase the cost of their processing, making agriculture in modern conditions low-profitable. For agricultural zones of the Tomsk region, according to the described method, the calculation of moisture scale was performed. A comparison of the estimates of land suitability based on the results of hydrological and climatic modeling of moisture scale with those previously obtained for agricultural zones of the Tomsk region showed good convergence for 8 zones out of 10. This allows us to consider the calculation of L. G. Ramensky's moisture scale as a working tool for optimizing land management. It should be noted that the use of the SRTM-height matrix, due to its inherent disadvantages, does not allow performing a fully adequate on-farm land assessment. It is necessary to use better digital terrain models. The received assessments of the quality of land resources confirm that high-quality land resources in the Tomsk region are very limited and appropriate efforts should be made to preserve them. In particular, the least productive arable land should be transferred to hayfields, and distant unused agricultural land to forest plantations with valuable tree species.