Ex. 3. Form the pairs of synonyms

a) accurate, modern, to make use of, apparent, predict, throughout, technique, inaccessible, involve, device, to define, section, specific, tiny, information, process, to estimate, current, feature

b) to identify, precise, present, part, up-to-date, obvious, forecast, over, remote (distant), include, data, element, instrument, to use, particular, small, to access, procedure, method

Ex. 4. Translate the following word combinations:

– resources are becoming more scarce;

– to make best use of the land and natural wealth;

– the advantage of collecting information;

– acquire a near-instantaneous “snapshot”;

– phenomena that change continuously over time;

– the only practical data collection method;

– the data in both digital and photographic images;

– minerals, petroleum and gas exploration;

– the management of a wide range of natural resources;

– to estimate forest losses; to monitor rangeland condition;

– the detection of changes in land use over time;

– to identify unrecorded property improvements;

– to provide valuable predictions of climate trends;

– most natural resources mapping; images are relayed to ground;

– a highly sophisticated technology; a variety of sensing equipment;

– to define a set of characteristics; to compare current production levels;

– to assess the existing forest resource; identification of details or small target;

– a valuable cost-effective means of acquiring information about earth resources.

Ex. 5. Give English equivalents to the following Russian word combinations:

собирать и анализировать информацию; без точной информации о земле; фотограмметрические методы; высокоточные технологии; получить снимок практически мгновенно; используя дистанционное зондирование; с развитием технологии дистанционного зондирования; природные явления, которые меняются постоянно; недоступные районы; средство быстрой съемки земли; датчик «видит» определенную часть поверхности земли; оценить наличие ресурсов; огромный массив данных; данные изображения сенсора (AVHRR); влияние деятельности человека на окружающую среду; за последние десятилетия.

Ex. 6. Complete the following sentences:

1. The world is becoming more crowded and resources…

2. Space technology is widely applied to…

3. Cameras are…

4. Remote Sensing is the technique of…

5. Remote Sensing techniques involve…

6. Satellite-based systems can measure phenomena that…

7. Remote Sensing is now being used as…

8. As a satellite revolves around the Earth, the sensor…

9. Three television cameras and a multispectral scanner simultaneously…

10. Each of the light bands identifies…

11. Earth resources satellites data are used for…

12. The analysis of the geology of a region is…

13. In agriculture the sensor’s AVHRR’S image data are used to…

14. Satellite-based earth observation provides timely…

15. Very detailed photographs taken from aircraft are…

16. Weather satellites provide…

17. Earth resources satellites data have been used to…

Ex. 7. Useful English (read, translate, learn):

– to make best use of the land and natural wealth;

– to make accurate measurements; in addition to;

– specific feature of; to locate natural resources;

– in a wide variety of ways; valuate predictions of climate trends.

– vast amounts of data; analysis of such data;

– very detailed photographs are useful for many applications;

– the technique of collecting information about objects and phenomena;

– over the past decades; at regular intervals; most of the earth’s surface;

– to collect and analyse information; the only practical data collection method;

Ex. 8. Answer the questions

1. What is important for making best use of the land and natural wealth?

2. Why are natural resources becoming more scarce?

3. Why is space technology very important throughout the whole world nowadays?

4. What is Remote Sensing?

5. What do remote sensing techniques involve?

6. Why is Remote Sensing a highly sophisticated technique?

7. What is the purpose of digital multispectral scanners (MSS)?

8. Why are satellite-based remote sensing systems so important?

9. What are earth resources satellites data used for?

10. In what way does a sensor (the Advanced very High Resolution Radiometer, AVHRR) help specialists in agriculture?

11. What purpose is the satellite-based earth observation used for?

12. Why are very detailed photographs taken from aircraft useful?

13. What types of data do weather satellites provide?

14. Why are satellite data important in oceanographic studies?

 

UNIT 10 – ECOLOGY

 

Ecology is a rather young science, but it is becoming more and more important every day. The word “ecology” means interrelations between man and nature. Ecological studies focus on the relationships between individual (отдельный) organisms and the physical and chemical features of the environment. An ecosystem (ecological system) is dynamic in that its various parts are always in a state of flux (постоянное движение). Since each member of the ecosystem belongs to the environment of every other part of that system, any change in one alters the environment for all the others. And as those components react to the alteration, they in turn continue to transform the environment for the others. The destructionof nature gradually led to the loss of the most essential element of existence, a healthy biological habitat (естественная среда, фауна).

The biosphere is made up of several components: the lower part of the atmosphere, natural waters, microorganisms, plants, animals and the upper part of the earth’s crust. All these components are interrelated and cannot exist without one another. The biosphere, therefore is a unified, complex self-regulating system and a disturbance in any one of its components entails changes¹ in all the others. For example, air pollution (загрязнение) may lead to climatic changes; the water pollution in some countries results in a drinking water shortage (дефицит), etc. Man’s activity, however, is unbalancing the set pattern (устоявшаяся структура) of the biosphere. The modern biosphere differs essentially from the course of natural processes which took shape before man appeared on Earth. The violations (нарушение) of natural processes are different. The circulation of substances and the flow of energy are radically accelerated and increased.

The air we breathe, the earth we live on and its rivers and seas are becoming polluted with ever more dangerous materials – by-products (побочный продукт) of man’s activities. Man depends for his life on what the biosphere provides: water, oxygen, food, etc. But the biosphere is strongly affected by all sorts of human activities. For example, man creates new compounds, new substances, pure chemical elements which are unknown to biosphere. They do not belong to the natural cycle of matter. They weaken the capacity of natural processes for self-regulation. Though not changing biologically, we change the environment in which we live. The science of ecology is closely connected with the environmental protection, which is now being recognized as an integral part of industrial processing². An ecologist should be familiar with the basic problems of physics, chemistry, biology, geology and other sciences.

The main directions of ecological study are chemical, noise and thermal pollution of water, air and soil, caused by industrial activity of man. Man uses natural resources as the material for his creative work³, and nature itself as his workshop. Since ancient times nature has served man, being the sources of his life. For thousand years people thought, that natural resources were unlimited. But with the development of civilization the ecological harmony is disturbed. Modern industry uses ever greater quantities of almost all minerals occurring in the earth’s crust. It is true that the natural resources will not last forever, while human needs know no limits. But it is not oil, coal and other natural resources as such that are important. The important thing is to what extent the main needs of human society for power, food, living space and so on are or will be satisfied (удовлетворять). It is often perceived by the public that control of these problems is the responsibility of governments and people in general are unaware of their input⁴ to the problem or their role in reducing them. For example, the amount of domestic waste⁵ is increasing due to higher living standards and consumption by the general public (население), but the disposal of which is perceived to be a government problem. The same applies to traffic congestion, litter, etc.

Environmental issues of concern⁶ to the general public mainly relate to:

1. municipal waste disposal;

2. environmental damage due to chemicals and emissions from industry⁷;

3. wastes from agriculture;

4. transport and energy production;

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