An inductive approach to modeling (schematization) of the so called averaged region of contemporary Russia, of its main macrozones and of the late 19th century Russian Empire area roughly corresponding to the Russian Federation landmass are proposed and implemented. The key method is the averaging of statistical indicators and, whenever possible, of the spatial structures of 82 regions, similar to federal subjects, as well as of 47 guberniya level units (at the end of the 19th century), by six selected groups of features (properties): from the geographical shape and composition of the region’s external contour to the number and tracing of the transport arteries and natural watercourses. The results are visualized in the form of map-like schemes, or cartoids. The steps and techniques of filling by the content by groups of properties – the thematic layers of imageries – are described. For modern regions, the assessment of the degree of compliance with the model scheme by 24 properties is performed, and the cases of proximity to the model or strong deviation from it are revealed. Finally, some problems and application areas of the proposed idea are discussed, e.g. whether it may help to make regional (or national) typology more geographic.

Passenger air transport has become one of the most dynamic parts of integrated transport system both in Russia and around the world. It is the most important mode of transport on many mid-distance and long-distance routes. Its spatial structure is studied broadly in geography, but in this paper air transport is analyzed with parameters that are crucial for passengers: number of flights, flight time (all kinds of additional time loss are included), and weighted average fare for each direction. Because of the complexity of data gathering, investigation of passenger transport by this way has not received wide development, and present study aims to fill this gap. Spatial distribution of active airports in European Russia is analyzed. Typology of airline companies (that operate in European Russia) by weighted average fare level is suggested. Three dominant attraction centers for air passengers are determined: Moscow, St. Petersburg and Black Sea resorts. Airport classification is defined by three parameters integrated into a single methodology: number of flights, flight time and fare that are calculated for each route, which connects airport with dominant attraction centers. Airport class depends on its remoteness from dominant attraction centers, structure of airline companies, availability of alternative transport modes, average time loss during trip between center of city and its airport. The calculation by the proposed method showed that big cities in European Russia, some cities of European North and North Caucasus regions have best air transport accessibility while many cities in Central Russia have the worst air transport accessibility.

The analysis of the cyclone characteristics and their intra- and interannual variations obtained from a regional climate model simulation for the Arctic (HIRHAM) with spectral nudging in comparison with reanalyses with different spatial resolution (ERA-Interim and ASR) for the period 2000–2009 was carried out. It is noted that the cyclones characteristics in the Arctic, especially their spatial distributions, annual and interannual variations from model simulations are generally consistent with those obtained from different reanalyses data, including the Arctic reanalysis (ASR). Differences are noted for the cyclone frequency, which might be related with different spatial resolution and with differences in detecting small cyclones, including polar mesocyclones. Models with a higher spatial resolution and with an adequate description of mesoscale processes in the Arctic are required to reproduce small-scale mesocyclones.

The extent, causes and factors of local variations in biological productivity of zonal forest ecosystems are examined on a case study of the model area of subtaiga of the East European Plain (Ryazan oblast, the Meshchera lowland). It is established that in conditions of wide distribution of Pleistocene sands and lowcontrast relief of the Meshchera lowland the main limiting factor of the biological productivity is waterlogging.
In according with the classical concept of Russian regional landscape science (school of N.A. Solntsev), the leading role of relief (including the relict relief) and morphology of the bedrock surface in the biological productivity and dynamics of moisture is proved. It is noted that the dynamics of moisture in the landscape depends not only on the relief but also on the characteristics of the buried bedrock. Based on the analysis of geological history the genetic typification of morphostructures with the specific features of forest productivity is performed. It is identified that the most significant decline in biological productivity of tree species (up to 50–60% of zonal average) is observed in the contours of ancient erosive valleys. The regional maximum of forest productivity (up to 1.5 times higher than the average forest productivity in subtaiga of the East European Plain) is observed on the top of the buried pre-Jurassic erosive massif (outliers), composed of limestone.
Due to the high density of limestone (1.20–1.33 times higher than that of other bedrock, composing the territory), its local protrusions form a positive gravitational anomaly that stimulates dynamics of moisture and reduces the impact of waterlogging. The genetic link of landscape processes in the Pleistocene and Holocene and indicator role of the periglacial forms of morphosculpture are identified. The most productive forests correspond to relicts of polygonal forms and the flowing thermokarst, minimum productivity correspond to areal shape and shore bars. It is established that the efficiency of drainage melioration depends on the landscape structure and most visible near the top of the buried pre-Jurassic erosive massif, composed of limestone (growth of productivity of hydromorphic ecosystems up to 20%). The effect of drainage melioration in the contours of the ancient erosive valleys is insignificant.

Wavelet analysis of time series of surface air temperature and sums of precipitation in some cities of European Russia, with an estimate of the statistical significance of the obtained results is carried out with the purpose of identifying periodicities in the data of station meteorological observations. A cross-wavelet analysis was used to establish a link between variations in series of temperature and precipitation with important climate indices such as the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO), Atlantic multidecade oscillation (AMO) and Arctic oscillation (AO). A number of important cycles in different frequency ranges is identified. Cross-wavelet analysis of the NAO, AO with precipitation and temperature series showed a higher density of links compared to AMO. The strong link of high frequency oscillations in precipitation and temperature of the study area with fluctuations of the NAO, AMO and AO is established that can be determined not only by these climate indices, but the relationship of these Atlantic fluctuations with the El Niño phenomenon. Possibly, mid-frequency oscillations of meteorological data of the area with periods of 7–11 years are the evidence of the link with the fluctuation of the NAO. The established coherence of the index of the AMO and observational data is localized at time intervals before and after 1970, which is consistent with quasi-cyclic changes in the Earth’s climate.

The study showed that the conventional schemes of the exposition-dependent changes in plant communities and soils in the intermountain basins of North Ossetia do not meet their contemporary distribution.
Communities of mountain meadow steppes and subalpine meadows are located regardless of the climatic differences between the slopes of intermountain basins. Soil studies revealed the similarity of properties of soils of different slopes and clear evidences of long agricultural impact. However, buried soils, found in many soil profiles indicate a pronounced expositional differentiation of soils in the past. According to the history of land use, the studied grasslands have experienced a number of stages as agrolandscapes: centuries of agricultural use, subsequent decades of grazing load and weakening or termination of anthropogenic impact in the last 15–20 years. The observed reduction in diversity of ecosystems and their convergence is explained by initial stages of their formation after centuries-long unifying agricultural impact. Made based on satellite and ground-based measurements the assessment of contemporary climate changes in the investigated altitude range showed an increasing temperature and moisture. Improvement of vegetation conditions along with a reduction in anthropogenic load may contribute to the restoration of wood and meadow vegetation, and the gradual progradation of soils.

The aeolian accumulative complex Sarykum is the Russia’s largest and one of the highest in Eurasia sandy massif, which formed away from large deserts. It is located in the Terek-Sulak lowland at the foothill of northeastern mega-slope of the Greater Caucasus. Since the end of the 19th century until the present time the highest dune of the complex has reduced in the height more than by 16 m (since the middle of the 20th century – by 5.7 m) – from 262 to 245.8 m. According to the authors, the reduction was caused mainly by natural (first of all by climate) change in the region. So, the average annual number of moderate, strong and very strong winds had here reduced by 41% (from 1966–1986 to 1987–2015), especially at the summer (in the driest period with strongest deflation) and the winter seasons, and the average annual precipitation had increased by 25% between the same periods. The latter fact contributed to wide expansion of grass and shrub vegetation on the slopes of Sarykum and increased a deflation resistance of its sands. In addition, the strong earthquake (May 14, 1970) with the epicenter that located nearby the Sarykum could be the reason of the dune height reduction.
Against the background of the natural changes, the potential role of human activities is manifested through the sand quarrying in the early 20th century and the creation of protected (reserve) status within of the Great (West) Sarykum since late 1980s.

The results of applying the thermodynamic approach to study the functioning of geosystems based on remote sensing data of Landsat satellite for landscapes of the Northeastern Baikal region are discussed. It is demonstrated that the thermodynamic variables calculated using the multispectral scanner imagery reproduce well the types of geosystems allocated based on traditional landscape mapping and allow examining their functional characteristics. It is shown that in condition of continental climate the entropy and the increment of information, reflecting the self-regulatory possibility of geosystems, have the maximum variation during the time. This variation is primarily determined by a high sensitivity of geosystems to moisture fluctuations that are displayed in the far-infrared channels. The comparison of thermodynamic characteristics obtained for the study area with similar estimations for the Eastern European landscapes shows that under the general reproducibility of the result, the Baikal region has the specificity of the system response on weather conditions. It is determined by a complex combination of the orography, sharply continental climate and by the influence of the Baikal Lake.

The main purpose of the article is to assess the advantages and disadvantages developed in historical geography methods of time slices and temporal dynamics (the diachronic method). The results of the analysis of applying historical-geographical approach in modern studies of the sociogeographical field, published in the known geographical and regional Russian journals, are presented. It is concluded that studies fulfilled in socioeconomic geography, especially population geography, frequently rely on the diachronic method (the method of spatiotemporal dynamics). The examples of applying the diachronic method in geography of settlement pattern and ethnic geography of Northwestern Russia are given. This method is focused on describing the changes that have occurred in the geography of the region during the study time range. Thus, in the geography of rural settlement pattern in Northwestern Russia, the diachronic method made it possible to trace the processes of polarization of the population of the region, the greatest intensity of which occurred in the last fifty years. At the same time, there was an alignment of ethnic mosaic at the level of the lower administrative units of the region. Areas, which previously had a high share of non-Russian population (St. Petersburg and its surroundings), lost their ethnic diversity. Most areas of Novgorod and Pskov oblasts, which were almost exclusively Russian in the first half of 20th century, increased ethnic mosaic. The conclusion is made that the diachronic method based on cartographic analysis allows solving the traditional problems of social geography.
This includes the analysis of socioeconomic, demographic and sociocultural processes in a certain territory with the subsequent identification of spatial regularities in the development and the creation of scientific prerequisites for the geographical forecast.