METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF DETERMINING ADMISSIBLE RECREATIONAL LOADS USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE CRIMEAN MOUNTAINS)
Geographic information systems (GIS) have become one of the main tools of research in recreational geography.The definition of recreational pressure on the landscape (in particular the allowable) is an important area of GIS application.The problem of optimization of recreational load on nature areas is becoming more acute because of the growing scope of tourist activities.The purpose of this article is to study the methodological aspects of determining allowable recreational loads with the help of geographic information systems on the example of the Crimean mountains and the compilation algorithm such studies. The article were specified the term «admissible recreational load».To determine the allowable recreational loads with the help of GIS it is necessary to perform two stages of research: 1. Field research (obtaining source data for the GIS processing); 2. Work in GIS. The phase of the field research should include a number of sub-steps: 1. The allocation of object boundaries to determine the recreational load. 2. The development of topographic maps of recreation areas on the basis of space images, topographic maps previously developed, own field research. 3. The definition of the type of landscape, its morphological units and their degree of sustainability. 4. The definition of the stages of recreational digression within the study area. Stage of work in the GIS should include the following sub-steps: 1. The choice of the program, which will define the allowable recreational load.The program of the American company ESRI - ArcGIS is best suited for this purpose. 2. Creating a polygon layer of the sustainability of the landscape in the selected program. 3. Creating a polygon layer stage of recreational digression of the territory. 4. The creation of an ArcGIS model that performs a geometric intersection of the two layers (the sustainability of the landscape and recreational digression) and determines allowable recreational load. Scientific results were obtained during the implementation of the academic mobility on the basis of the Russian state agrarian University (Moscow, Center «GEO - and HYDROINFORMATICS») within the Network of academic mobility «GIS-Landscape - Technologies and methods for the formation of geoportals modern landscapes of the regions».