Funding organization: Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia

Start and end dates: 2022-2025

Principal investigator: Mariam Tsitsagi

Key personnel: Mariam Tsitsagi, Nana Bolashvili, Zaza Gulashvili

Foreign consultant: Prof. Dr. Michael Leuchner, RWTH Aachen, Department of Physical Geography and Climatology, Aachen, Germany

Project Summary

 Soil erosion and dealing with it is a significant challenge for modern society. Many factors influence it, and therefore this topic has a prominent role in interdisciplinary research. The rainfall-runoff erosivity (R) factor is one of the factors affecting soil erosion. Its definition is vital for a specific geographical environment when assessing soil erosion and runoff, determining the future impact of climate change, etc. The present study aims to evaluate the R factor on the territory of Georgia for the study period 1930-2020. Calibrate the models and determine which model will be acceptable for a particular type of climate on the territory of Georgia to calculate the R factor based on the daily precipitation data. Compare the R factor obtained using rain gauge and radar-based precipitation. Determine how the R factor changed in space and time during the study period. Based on the obtained results, compile a digital isoerodent map and prepare a web portal for calculating the R factor with different time resolution data is crucial. The project results are essential for Georgia and other countries with similar climate conditions. The digital isoerodent map prepared within the project will be the most important achievement for the country. The critical contribution of the project will be the monograph in Georgian, where many concepts and terms will be stated in Georgian for the first time. The project is enhanced by international cooperation, facilitating a high level of research and capacity building. The project's strength is the participation of early career researchers who desire to generate high-quality scientific products and fill a gap in the Georgian scientific literature. The findings of this study will be applied in many future projects.