Boyko Berov, Antoaneta Frantzova, P. Ivanov, N. Dobrev, M. Krastanov, Rosen Nankin
{"title":"Risk assessment of landslides: Low probability scenario for the town of Kavarna, northern Black Sea coast of Bulgaria","authors":"Boyko Berov, Antoaneta Frantzova, P. Ivanov, N. Dobrev, M. Krastanov, Rosen Nankin","doi":"10.3897/jbgs.e116695","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/jbgs.e116695","url":null,"abstract":"As part of the Reimbursable Advisory Services on Accelerating Resilience to Disaster Risks, the World Bank worked with the Interior Ministry of Bulgaria to develop a proposal for the National Disaster Risk Profile of Bulgaria. The purpose of this document, which is the fourth technical annex to the proposal for the National Disaster Risk Profile, is to provide particular conclusions, information, and techniques that were utilised to evalu-ate the risk of landslides in Bulgaria. For the first time at the national level, landslide risk assessment procedures based on ISO/IEC 31010:2019 Risk assessment techniques are being developed and applied in Bulgaria. The five primary categories in which the results are presented are physical safety, economic security, social well-being, environmental security, and security of tangible assets and critical infrastructure. The uncertainty (confidence) parameter is utilised, and it is subdivided into the following three basic categories: low uncertainty, medium uncertainty, and high uncertainty. The produced results demonstrate consistent applicability to empirical data analysis and real-world situations.","PeriodicalId":493011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society","volume":"12 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141265564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Spatial analysis of transportation infrastructure distribution in Adamawa State, Nigeria: A location quotient perspective","authors":"O. Anjorin","doi":"10.3897/jbgs.e115392","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/jbgs.e115392","url":null,"abstract":"Transportation constitutes one of the pivotal systems crucial to the advancement of so-cioeconomic conditions. However, numerous communities, particularly in Nigeria, face a multitude of transportation challenges. The primary objective of this study is to examine the spatial arrangement of transportation facilities in Adamawa State, Nigeria, with the intention of identifying spatial-related challenges confronting the transportation sector and the socioeconomic development of the state. During the period spanning 2018 to 2019, an investigation into the spatial distribution pattern of transport facilities within the state was conducted. To gather data pertaining to the geographical concentration and developmental trajectory of the transportation system in the state, the ArcGIS 10.5 Length Calculation Module, Google Earth Pro, and questionnaire administration were employed. Data were subjected to inferential statistical analysis, results were tabulated, and maps were generated. The findings unveiled three distinct modes of transit, namely road, water, and air, with roads emerging as the most prominent option. Furthermore, the state exhibited a higher prevalence of paved (engineered but untarred) roads compared to tarred roads. Moreover, an analysis of the spatial pattern encompassing the state’s population and road network revealed that the length and density of tarred roads were greater in less populated Local Government Areas as opposed to the more populated ones. Ultimately, the road network pattern has yielded negative consequences for the state’s development. In light of these findings, the study puts forth recommendations that emphasize the urgent need to tar the numerous paved roads within the state in order to enhance connectivity with markets and other urban-centric facilities.","PeriodicalId":493011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society","volume":"7 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141266224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"State of the surface waters in the Mesta River basin, after the reclamation of the Eleshnitsa uranium deposit","authors":"Nadezhda Nikolova","doi":"10.3897/jbgs.e114156","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/jbgs.e114156","url":null,"abstract":"In the period from 1955 to 1992, uranium ore was mined and processed in the Mesta River basin around the village of Eleshnitsa, region of Razlog. The ore processing plant was built and a tailings storage facility was built next to it. In the period 2002–2006, the tailings storage was reclaimed, and in 2011–2012 the ore mines were also reclaimed. For the treatment of drainage water, a treatment plant was built in the valley of Valchoto Dere River, a left tributary of the Mesta River. The radiological monitoring carried out by the Basin Directorate “West Aegean Sea Region” reveals a generally good quality of the surface waters in terms of the content of uranium and radium (226Ra) outside the area of the former uranium mining and the tailings storage facility. In this area, in some years a high content of natural uranium was found, with concentrations from 0.54 to 67.40 mg/l on average per year. The values significantly exceed (by 1.8 to 224.6 times) the norm regulated in the regulation for radiation protection and safety from the liquidation of the consequences of uranium mining. The spread of uranium is limited to a small area shortly downstream from the sources of contamination, but the potential risk to the local ecosystem should not be neglected. Radium, in contrast to uranium, has concentrations below the permissible limits in the twelve years studied. Its content varied from 0.025 to 0.11 Bq/l on average annually. The results show that the Mesta River near the border with the Republic of Greece is not contaminated with the studied radionuclides.","PeriodicalId":493011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society","volume":"30 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140727098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Spatio-temporal distribution of renewable freshwater resources and their availability in Kosovo—an analysis from the Eastern Region","authors":"Valbon Bytyqi, Tropikë Agaj","doi":"10.3897/jbgs.e115814","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/jbgs.e115814","url":null,"abstract":"The study aims to analyze the availability of renewable freshwater resources and their spatiotemporal distribution in the Eastern Region of Kosovo (ERK). As a crucible resource for agricultural, industrial, and commercial activities, water scarcity will lead to water shortages. Kosovo is a landlocked country, and ERK is the most important region for industrial activities (coal, mines) and agricultural use (plains). Located in continental climate conditions, surrounded by middle to high-altitude mountains, the region does not have a favorable spatio-temporal distribution of freshwaters. The determination of the water resources is based on the amount of surface runoff, which being divided per capita, gives indications of the water resources of a region (catchment). For our aims, main river discharge and population statistics are used to analyze the spatiotemporal distribution and availability of renewable freshwater in ERK. Falkenmark Freshwater Indicator with 1.483 m³/capita/year shows that ERK lies under water scarcity, and existing water reservoirs offer low security for water withdrawals, and further reservoirs would prevent water scarcity in the region.","PeriodicalId":493011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society","volume":"18 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140745319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Valentin Kotsakov, V. Marinov, Mariana Atanassova Assenova, Rumen Minkovski
{"title":"Dimensions of employability in the hospitality industry at destination level—the case of a spa destination in Bulgaria","authors":"Valentin Kotsakov, V. Marinov, Mariana Atanassova Assenova, Rumen Minkovski","doi":"10.3897/jbgs.e113933","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/jbgs.e113933","url":null,"abstract":"The paper presents the results from the application of the holistic approach to employability based on secondary data and a questionnaire survey of the human resources employed in the hotel and restaurant sector (198) and semi-structured interviews with tourism sector employers (11) in the municipality of Devin, Bulgaria. The results outline some of the dimensions of employability, existing problems of employability and their potential solutions. It is typical for the municipality of Devin that a large part of the local population in the region is directly dependent on tourism. This leads to relatively low staff turnover and high motivation to offer a quality tourism product. Respondents exhibit a high self-assessment of their own knowledge, skills and attitude in terms of development of tourism, but this does not correspond to the real situation given their activities to improve their own skills during the pandemic period closure. Recommendations are proposed for upgrading the qualification of staff at municipal and enterprise level.","PeriodicalId":493011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society","volume":" 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140214437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Influence of atmospheric conditions and solar activity on the underground karst system of the Ponor Mountain","authors":"Tsvetan Parov","doi":"10.3897/jbgs.e114034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/jbgs.e114034","url":null,"abstract":"This study focuses on the meteorological parameters of the near atmosphere, the surface of the Earth and karst areas, such as temperature of water and air, relative humidity, and wind speed. These parameters are significantly influenced by solar activity, which in turn affects the temperature distribution in karst underground cavities, specifically in the “Kolkina Dupka” cave located within the Ponor Mountain of the Western Balkan Mountains range in Bulgaria. This is the deepest and longest cave in Bulgaria with a length of more than 20 km and a calculated depth of 800 m. Meteorological data within the cave was collected using data loggers, while surface weather data was sourced from National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology of Bulgaria. Solar activity information was obtained from the website of the Royal Observatory of Belgium. The impact of solar activity on karst regions is substantial and affects temperature, precipitation, and atmospheric circulation. Changes in solar radiation can alter heat absorption on the surface of the Earth, leading to shifts in temperature and precipitation patterns. We performed statistical analysis and modeling to understand the complex interactions between Earth's near atmosphere, the karst system of the Kolkina Dupka cave, and the role of air and water flows in regulating cave temperatures. Results showed a significant negative correlation between air temperatures in the deep underground airflows (at a depth of 130 m below the surface) and temperatures at the cave entrance (at a depth of 40 m during the winter months. Conversely, during spring and summer, an intriguing reversal occurs where higher external temperatures are linked to increased air temperatures at the cave entrance, accompanied by lower temperatures in the deeper zone. Furthermore, by employing “lagged correlations” in result analysis, investigating correlations between internal temperatures and external temperatures over the preceding and subsequent seven days, cyclic variations in heat exchange between the near-surface atmospheric layer and the underground temperatures within the karst system were observed. Specifically, a consistent temperature elevation was noted at the cave entrance three days prior to an increase in external temperatures during the spring-summer season. This temporal relationship was also observed in the solar activity data, where an increase in temperature at a depth of -40 m was registered three days prior to the escalation of solar activity within the measured range of 2800 MHz. The obtained results formed the basis for the development of new theories in solar-terrestrial physics. In summary, there is a connection between solar activity and Earth's climate, but it is not a direct and simple correlation, and it is just one piece of the larger puzzle that shapes temperature variations of the Earth. Climate science involves studying these interactions over extended periods to gain a more comprehensive understanding of ","PeriodicalId":493011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society","volume":"73 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138586976","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meryem Koncak Doğruer, Mustafa Kahraman, Mesut Doğan, Aigul Yeginbayeva
{"title":"Spatial variation of agricultural land in Turkey using CORINE data","authors":"Meryem Koncak Doğruer, Mustafa Kahraman, Mesut Doğan, Aigul Yeginbayeva","doi":"10.3897/jbgs.e113364","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/jbgs.e113364","url":null,"abstract":"Detection of the exchange and distribution of agricultural lands allows many projects and plans to be made and interpreted correctly, such as food safety, planning, and environmental risk analysis. From this point of study in the spatial changes and distribution of agricultural land in time across Turkey were examined. CORINE Land Cover (CLC) data was used to identify agricultural land and examine changes over time. As a result of the study, it was observed that agricultural lands increased slightly from 1990 to 2018, but this increase has not always been in the form of preserving existing agricultural lands and adding existing agricultural lands. While some areas have lost their agricultural land characteristics, some areas have become agricultural land. New agricultural areas are usually realized by the transformation of forests and semi-natural areas while the agricultural areas that disappear are provided from heterogeneous agricultural areas. The Central Anatolia region stands out in the distribution of agricultural areas by region. The region with the highest concentration of agricultural land in terms of both proportion and area is the Central Anatolia region. Also, the Central Anatolia region is the region with the most intensive Non-irrigated agriculture. The area where irrigated agriculture is proportionally most made is the southeast Anatolia region. According to province-based, the provinces with more than 40% of the provincial surface area are Kırıkkale, Kırşehir, Nevşehir, Aksaray in the Central Anatolia region, Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa in the Southeastern Anatolia region, Edirne and Tekirdağ in the Marmara region. The provinces of Artvin, Tunceli, Bingöl, and Hakkari are the provinces where the percentage of agricultural land is below 10%.","PeriodicalId":493011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society","volume":"38 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138600569","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Public inertia towards the new toponymic landscapes in Vinnytsia, Ukraine","authors":"Oleksiy Gnatiuk, Kateryna Pisotska, Viacheslav Polhun, Viktoriia Zapototska","doi":"10.3897/jbgs.e113331","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/jbgs.e113331","url":null,"abstract":"The paper focuses on the practices of everyday use of street names after the massive toponymic cleansing under the frameworks of decommunisation and de-Russification in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. Employing a mixed method approach, which includes a social experiment with the passersby on the streets of the city, analysis of the real estate advertisement and a series of interviews with the citizens, the authors reveal various practices of everyday use of new and old street names as a public response to the officially imposed city-text. The findings indicate that the transition from the old to the new toponymic system after the ideologically-driven toponymic cleansing does not represent an immediate and a single-step action, and should be considered a long-lasting, protracted and multi-staged process that requires several years or even decades. The gradual introduction of a new place name into various spheres of public life represents a kind of heterochronic coevolution driven by the collision of top-down vs. bottom-up interests. Another finding is that public inertia towards the new toponymic landscapes may be driven almost totally by motivations that have no relationship to ideology and politics. Also, it has been found that the actual communicative practices after the renaming depend on a variety of predominantly local factors and actors, including the specific place, place name, communicative situation and characteristics of the interlocutors. The findings are discussed in the framework of social sustainability, pointing at the need for clearly articulated and coherent municipal politics aimed at familiarising the community with newly introduced place names.","PeriodicalId":493011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society","volume":"73 4","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135584451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Assessing temperature warming and cooling rates using simple statistical analysis: The case study of Jalingo metropolis","authors":"Patrick Sunday Asa, Ambrose Audu Zemba","doi":"10.3897/jbgs.e110454","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/jbgs.e110454","url":null,"abstract":"Urban climatologist particularly those interested in Urban Heat Island (UHI), require some form of explanations to UHI variations at both spatial and temporal scales in cities. Temperature cooling and warming rate can be use as a form of explanations for spatial and temporal variations for UHI intensity characteristics of an area. This study therefore, assessed variations in temperature warming and cooling rates in Jalingo. The study used temperature data collected at six locations representing six different thermal climate zones in the study area. Temperature data were collected for the period of 90 days thirty days in each of rainy season, dry season, and hamattan period. Simple statistical analysis was performed to determine the warming and cooling rates. The results indicate that temperature warm and cool differently in the study area. The results also revealed that general warming in the area within the study period begins at 8:00 h local time (GMT +1) with warming rate ranging from 0.94°C to 1.75°C across locations with a mean of 1.30°C. Cooling starts at 15:00 h ranging from -0.88°C to -1.84°C with an average of -1.48°C. It is recommended that environmental planners particularly the urban planners and Architectures should take into considerations the warming and cooling rates in their building design and also embrace appropriate landscaping to improve thermal comfort.","PeriodicalId":493011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society","volume":"62 38","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135863631","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bilyana Borisova, Maria Glushkova, Stoyan Nedkov, Miglena Zhiyanski, Vanya Stoycheva
{"title":"Habitat maintenance assessment and mapping as priority ecosystem service in mountain protected areas","authors":"Bilyana Borisova, Maria Glushkova, Stoyan Nedkov, Miglena Zhiyanski, Vanya Stoycheva","doi":"10.3897/jbgs.e109172","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/jbgs.e109172","url":null,"abstract":"Habitat maintenance as an ecosystem service (ES) is essential for the protection of natural capital, however, it is among the most challenging services for definition and evaluation. The present study is focused on assessing and mapping habitat maintenance ecosystem service in Rila and Pirin Mountains in Bulgaria for strategic planning purposes by better understanding the link between the potential of providing this ecosystem service and biodiversity in five protected areas (PAs). An integrated approach for the assessment of the condition of ecosystems in PAs and their potential to provide ecosystem services was applied and further developed in the present study. The results showed that the conservation regime allowed the territories to preserve a high degree of naturalness in a very good ecological condition – 96477 ha (73%) of the total case-study area, and 33078 ha (77%) of the target PAs, respectively. The potential of ecosystems to provide habitat maintenance ES is high to very high for 84% of the total studied area (81258.9 ha) and for 96.4% (31906 ha) of the area of the target PAs. A current assessment and mapping show the role of protected areas as spatial natural capital assets that purposefully and actively support their prioritized habitat maintenance functions as spatial guarantors for the sustenance of rich packages of material, regulating, and cultural functions in significant geographic areas. The results demonstrate the importance of protected site management in mountain areas in ensuring sustainable cooperation and consumption of ecosystem services in peripheral mountain communities of the European Union highly dependent on available natural capital.","PeriodicalId":493011,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society","volume":"77 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134948099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}