INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: DIFFUSION AND APPLICATION OF ICT
Chapter 2
2.3. Perspectives of Information Technologies Development
2.3.5. Information Technologies in Environmental Management
The soils of Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea and main rivers, as well as the atmosphere of the major industrial centers in Baku and Sumgayit are among the most polluted areas in the country. This ecological situation is mainly the result of dangerous environmental policies during the Soviet regime and, to a significant extent, due to the lack of adequate State policy on the protection of natural resources.
At present, new methods and technologies, including ICT, are being widely applied to deal with these ecological problems. New methods, such as automatic gas analyzers are being introduced, which make it possible to receive continuous analyses of air pollution and determine the maximum permissible concentrations of compounds, which may go undetected during periodical air sampling. Application of gas analyzers based on the use of absorption-spectral, flare-ionizing, hemi-luminescent, fluorescent, radiometric, gravitation, electro-chemical and other methods of analysis, enables the gathering of the most reliable data and the highest possible sensitivity and selectivity. Information obtained from stationary placed gas analyzers passes through automatic telephone network channels to a Collection Center where it is entered into an indication board and then processed via a special program. In such a manner, gas analyzers placed in individual locations of the region and united into a single network, provide the opportunity to describe the state of the atmosphere, on both local and regional scales. Global monitoring of air is being carried out primarily through sampling of the atmosphere, for which there are being applied optical and radio location devices, which identify pollution at various atmospheric altitudes.
In Azerbaijan, assessment of the quality of surface and ground waters, as well as the compositions of industrial and domestic sewage, is based on information collected by routine and special observations. Observations are carried out by stationary and mobile laboratories, equipped with routine devices for chemical and physical analyses, as well as by universal devices, such as chromatographs. Recently, automatic multi-component analyzers were introduced, which make it possible to define a wide spectrum of chemical substances. Installation of these devices in many locations will give the opportunity to unite them into a single network, and obtain quantitative and qualitative data on the state of water in each particular natural water body, region and the whole country. This is particularly important, as 75 percent of the surface waters of the Kur and Araz rivers originate outside the borders of Azerbaijan, and flow into the country in a very polluted state.
Modern methods of remote analysis are being widely used along with routine ones for studying processes at sea. These systems mentioned above and the methods of environmental monitoring contribute to the accumulation and analysis of information about the state of the natural environment. Data obtained with the use of these methods are being used to model the natural processes and set up scientifically sound forecasts, which serve as a basis for practical recommendations aimed at improving environmental protection.
Analysis of the accumulated information is carried out with the use of modern techniques of database management. Monitoring of the state of the environment takes place in real time-regime for processing and transition of data from stationary and mobile observation posts, applied packages of programs for making forecasts and identification of air venting.
Production activity is associated not only with air emissions and industrial/domestic discharges, but also with unused technological waste of industrial enterprises, agriculture facilities and municipal economy. Annually, an estimated 5 million cubic meters of solid domestic waste (SDW) are generated in cities and other settlements in Azerbaijan. The largest part of this waste is delivered to landfills/ polygons (there are more than 80 unorganized polygons in Baku alone and about 200 throughout the country). However, only 1 percent of the waste is processed by industrial methods. Currently only one experimental scrap processing plant with the capacity of 65,000 tons of SDW per year is operational.
The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, jointly with other branches of the Executive power, has been conducting wide-scale preparatory works to utilize the SDW. Criteria are being developed for choosing a technique and placing facilities in various regions, in reference to the type and class of SDW toxicity. The choice will be based on technological principles, incorporating mechanical, chemical, physical-chemical, thermal and biological techniques, and in line with the final goal of liquidation or utilization of the SDW.
Currently, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (ECO.gov.az) to bear the functions of developing and implementing the State Policy in the field of study, reproduction, use and protection of natural resources, and in providing environmental safety. In this Ministry, an Information Archival Fund has been established to accumulate all data from monitors related to both the qualitative and quantitative meteorological and physical parameters from automatic devices, for measurement of emissions carried out with the automatic devices, designed for background measurements, and mobile laboratories. The Information Base will also include data on water, subsoil, forests, flora, fauna, specially protected areas, and many other concerns.
The Ministry's policy in this field involves the following: (1) raising awareness on environmental activity through building an ecological information system with the use of modern automated equipment, aerospace control systems and ecological mapping; (2) stimulation of the introduction of new low waste, resource effective and clean technologies; (3) introduction of biotechnologies in environmental protection; (4) applications of alternative energy sources; (5) wide introduction of international strategies in nature conservation and (6) means for building and managing the natural technical geosystem that would provide for their operation with no disturbance for the mechanisms of self-regulation and natural balance of life-support systems of the biosphere. The activity of the State Land and Cartography Committee on lands assessment and mapping has been based on the modern technologies including ICT and remote sensing from space.
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