Project number: PG/30/9-101/12

Funding organization: Shota Rustaveli National Science Fundation

Project title: GIS of Dzama, Tana, Tedzami river basins for analysis of interaction between environment and social processes

Start and end dates: 2012-2013

Principal investigator: Mariam Tsitsagi

Key personnel: Mariam Tsitsagi

Project Summary: In recent years, the process of evaluating and utilizing the touristic-recreational potential of our country is actively underway, and accordingly, the attention towards such facilities is increasing day by day. The mentioned river basins are quite rich with such facilities and have great prospects in case of proper management. For this, it is necessary to have databases, which we will use taking into account the specifics of the research, the databases are constantly updated, which makes the research process more flexible. That is why our goal was to create a geo-information system of the Dzama, Tana and Tedzami river basins, where information about the geographical and tourist-recreational facilities in the river basins would be placed in a digital format, which would allow the interested parties to promptly receive comprehensive information and analyze it.

Achieved results: At the initial stage, the existing material was processed. Based on the existing large-scale (1:50,000) topographic maps, creating the basis of the geo-information system of the study river basins, for which a digital elevation model and corresponding layers will be created in the Arcmap program, where the available information about all the nature components of the study region will be placed. Later, using GPS in the field, the exact coordinates of the geographic and tourist-recreational facilities in the three river basins were determined, which were also placed on the digital model. All geographic and tourist-recreational objects were depicted in digital format. An electronic database with the following content was created for the geographical objects of the given river basins: geographical name; status, geographic location on the index and coordinate grid (latitude, longitude); parameters (altitude, length, area); Special attention was paid to the architectural monuments (in addition to the existing monuments, we included the temples under construction, the abundance of which is particularly notable in the Dzama River valley. Local clergy refer to some of them by the names of the churches in the historical Tao-Klarjeti, for example: Bana, Shatberdi, Tbeti), the state of groundwater detailed study (their chemical composition is also mentioned in the database) and accordingly placement on the digital model. Here is the noteworthy text material and related photographs. Much attention was paid to settlements, which was also reflected in the corresponding thematic layer. e.g. Many villages are now inhabited. Names have been specified. In addition, we have included the optimal access roads and routes to the main tourist facilities. As a result, we have a digital model of the Dzama and Tana Tedzami river basins with databases of the main geographic and tourist-recreational facilities. The obtained results will provide the greatest help to the people interested in the general geographical or historical-geographical study of the region, as well as those who wish to develop the tourism industry of the region. The digital model will help specialists in a separate field of geography (eg, soil scientists, hydrologists, landscape scientists, geomorphologists, etc.) to research the region from an appropriate angle, while significantly reducing the time spent on research preparatory work. The information included in the system will be constantly updated, which will contribute to the research of the region with modern methods.