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ographic 
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ed image 
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(2) 
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If typical 
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Table 1. Hypothetical parameters of topographic monitoring in the High Arctic 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Scale Required accuracy, m Detailedness, m Rate of change v at Required interval AT 
I'M Elanimetric elevation A scale /: M, mm/a between surveys, ys 
1:1 000 000 200 — 500 50 — 100 200 0.01 — 0.05 15 - 25 
1:500 000 100 — 250 25 —50 100 0.02 — 0.1 10 — 15 
1:200 000 40 — 100 15-25 40 0.05 — 0.3 7—10 
1:100 000 20 — 50 10 — 20 20 0.1-0.5 5-7 
1:50 000 10-25 5-10 10 0.2 — 1.0 3-5 
1:25 000 5-10 25-5 5 0.4 — 2.0 1-2 
  
  
  
2.3 Details of the study region and data set 
The study region comprises the whole territory of the high- 
latitudinal Franz Josef Land (FJL) archipelago. FJL represents an 
isolated group of large and small islands in the northeastern part 
of the Barents Sea, which is about 800 km from the nearest 
points on the Eurasian continent and 900 km from the North 
Pole. It is regarded as the northernmost part of the European 
Arctic and is administered by the Arkhangelsk Region of the 
Russian Federation. On 23 April 1994 FJL was officially 
designated a Federal Nature Reserve by decree of the Russian 
government. Those interested in detailed physical-geographical 
description of this region are referred to some other 
comprehensive publications (Grosswald et al. 1973, Barr 1995). 
Thorough analysis of existing topographic maps and literature on 
FJL reveals many uncertainties and uncertainties persisting in 
today's topographic knowledge of the archipelago in regional 
and local aspect. Different authors frequently report different 
with regard to the general topographic characteristics of FJL, 
thus, indicating the lack of reliable measurements, methodical 
variations and mistakes, and, of course, real environmental 
changes (Table 2). Relevant data on topographic changes in the 
region, however, are still very scarce and represent rather modest 
results achieved without any reliable ground control (Koryakin 
1988, Dowdeswell 1994). 
Table 2. General topographic characteristics of FJL 
  
Value (Source) 
16,133.9 (Vinogradov, Psaryova 1965) 
Total land area, | 16,134 (Grosswald et al. 1973) 
km? 16,274 (Soyuzmorniiproject 1983) 
16,334 (Koryakin 1988) 
16,135 (Barr 1995) 
16,069 (Yagodnizyn 1996) 
128 (Shumskiy 1949) 
Number of | 132 (Kraemer 1960) 
islands 285 (Vinogradov 1963) 
187 (Govorukha 1964) 
191 (Vinogradov, Psaryova 1965) 
360 x 230 (Vinogradov, Psaryova 1965) 
Extent, km x km | 375 x 234 (Grosswald et al. 1973) 
366 x 233 (Topographic map 1989/90) 
620 m, Peak Parnas (Top.map 1989/90) 
Maximal height, | 670 m, Wullerstorf Mountains 
m (Grosswald et al. 1973, Barr 1995) 
900 m (Yagodnizyn 1996) 
800 m, British Channel (Top.map 1963) 
Maximal depth, | 608 m, Backs Channel (Top.map 1989/90) 
m 650 m (Matishov 1993) 
13,734.8 (Vinogradov, Psaryova 1965) 
Total area of | 13,735 (Grosswald et al. 1973) 
glaciation, km' 13,505 (Koryakin 1988) 
13,700 (Barr 1995) 
Parameter 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
13,730 (Kostka 1997) 
  
According to present knowledge Franz Josef Land (FJL) has the 
highest index of glaciation of all Arctic lands: about 85% of the 
land surface is covered by glaciers, and the ice shore extends 
over 2.650 kilometers, which is 59.4% of the total coastline 
(Atlas of the Arctic 1985). However, neither the current glacier 
extent nor the total land area of the archipelago is exactly known 
at present. The exact number of islands and the extent of the 
archipelago as well as locations and values of the maximum 
heights and depths in this region still remain uncertain. 
The scattured structure of the study region, including nearly 200 
islands separated by numerous straights, requires several typical 
key sites of the archipelago to be selected for detailed 
investigation. In our case, the most interesting key-sites were 
situated on 5 large islands of FJL. In Figure 3 the location of 
several test areas on Hall, Hayes and Komsomol'skiy islands is 
indicated by triangles. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Fig. 3. Contemporary topographic map showing the outline of 
several key-sites in the central part of FJL 
The local geodetic net of this area was constructed on the basis 
of 12 astronomic stations, which also provided the horizontal 
control for aerial surveying in 1952-1953 and 1958. The 
incorporation of the local insular geodetic net into the Russian 
state triangulation net was performed twice - during the periods 
of 1961-1967 and 1974-1977 - by establishing an intermediate 
Intemational Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXII, Part 7, Budapest, 1998 203