Institute of Hydrometeorology

The project leader Giorgi Kordzakhia, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Hydrometeorology of the Georgian Technical University and at the same time an advisor to the Head of the Hydrometeorology Department of the National Environmental Agency of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia. Dr. Kordzakhia is the author of more than 150 scientific articles and co-author of six monographs.He has extensive experience in leading or being a member of both national and international projects. He has participated in international symposia and seminars. He is a member of working groups of various international organizations. At the same time, he is the Vice President of the Ecological Academy of Georgia. It is important that he has presented the results of many years of scientific research on Georgian glaciers at a number of international scientific forums, including the World Meteorological Organization’s Summit on High Mountain Regions in Geneva in 2019, Springer conference in Tunisia (2022), the Barcelona (2023), Paris (2024) and other international conferences. G. Kordzakhia is the author of the chapters on glaciers in “Georgia’s Fourth and Fifth National Communications to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change”, which present the current knowledge gained from complex studies on glaciers based on high-resolution satellite and ground-based observations.

Project coordinator Larisa Shengelia, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, is a senior scientist at the Institute of Hydrometeorology of the Georgian Technical University. She has many years of experience in the field of satellite meteorology. Under her leadership, the following Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation projects were implemented: 2009−2011. Grant project GNSF/ST/5-432 “Creation of a system for the use of satellite information for maritime transportation and marine ecological safety in Georgia” (researchers: Giorgi Kordzakhia and Genadi Tvauri), 2012 State Scientific Grant Competition “Research with the Participation of Students” project SC/3/9-101/12 “Study of individual glacier areas of the Caucasus against the background of modern climate changes based on satellite data” and 2014−2017. Grant project FR/586/9-110/13 “Study of glaciers of Georgia based on satellite remote sensing” (researchers: Giorgi Kordzakhia and Genadi Tvauri). It was also funded in 2012−2014. He is the scientific supervisor of the projects of the Institute of Hydrometeorology of the Georgian Technical University: IHM-14-20 2437 “Assessment of the Impact of Climate Change on Caucasus Glaciers Using Remote Sensing Technologies”, 2015−2017. IHM-17-35-CO-3692 “Study of the Evolution of Georgian Glaciers Based on Satellite Remote Sensing Methodologies and Ground-Based Observation Data Against the Background of Modern Climate Change” and 2018−2020. “Study of the Degradation of Georgian Glaciers and Forecasting Their Melting Due to Modern Climate Change”. In the last three projects, Dr. Giorgi Kordzakhia is the responsible executor.

The main executor of the project is Genadi Tvauri, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. A research fellow at the Andronikashvili Institute of Physics, who worked for years as a senior research fellow at the Space Research Center of the M. Nodia Institute of Geophysics of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, where his duties included processing satellite data for remote sensing of the Earth. Dr. Tvauri has a high qualification in the field of satellite remote sensing. He actively participated in the 2012 State Scientific Grant Competition of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation “Research with the Participation of Students” project SC/3/9-101/12 “Study of Separate Glacier Areas of the Caucasus Based on Satellite Data in the Context of Modern Climate Change”. He participated as a main executor in the projects of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation: 2009−2011. Grant project GNSF/ST/5-432 “Creation of a system for the use of satellite information for maritime transportation and marine ecological safety in Georgia” and 2014−2017 Grant project №FR/586/9-110/13 “Research of glaciers of Georgia based on satellite remote sensing” In 2009−2010, he led the grant project GNSF-CNRS 09/559 “Determination of seasonal precipitation amounts for landslide-prone zones based on satellite data” and is the main executor of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation project FR-19-8190 “Assessment of landslide and mudslide hazard for the territory of Georgia using stationary and satellite precipitation data”.

The main executor of the project is the young researcher Giorgi Guliashvili, a Master of Geography. Since 2014, he has been working as a senior specialist in the Disaster Management Expedition Division of the Hydrometeorology Department of the National Environmental Agency of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture. As a glaciologist, in addition to scientific activities, he actively participates in monitoring work on glaciers. During his student years from 2012 to 2015, he was the Chairman of the Student and Young Scientists Council of the Geography Department of Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. From 2013 to 2017, he has systematically participated in scientific projects of young scientists. He has participated in 7 conferences of young scientists and has received prizes as the author of the best report. Since 2019, she has been participating as a hydrologist in the United Nations Development Program “Strengthening Climate Change Adaptation Capacities in Georgia” and since 2021 as a glaciological research specialist. She prepared a doctoral thesis on the current state of Georgia’s glaciers.

The main executor of the project, young researcher Sofio Beridze, is a Master of Geography and GIS Technologies. In 2019, she completed a study tour to the Netherlands on “Nature Based Solutions to Climate Change Problems”. In the same year, she participated in the annual glaciological expedition to monitor glacier mass balance on the glaciers of the Svaneti Caucasus. In 2020, she became a fellow of the International Center for Education and a visiting specialist at the World Glacier Research Center − WGMS, Zurich, Switzerland. She completed a course on glacier mass balance, both through field observations and remote sensing, at the Department of Geography of the University of Zurich. She has undergone training on geoinformation technology systems and programs. Sofio Beridze prepared her doctoral thesis on the issues of the degradation of Georgian glaciers under the influence of modern climate change.

The team united in the project (G. Kordzakhia, L. Shengelia, G. Tvauri, expert glaciologist Murman Dzadzamia) has extensive experience of working together. They have published 30 articles in local and international scientific journals as co-authors on research on glaciers in Georgia by the SRS until 2021, including in highly rated international journals, and since 2022, within the framework of the grant project FR-21-1996 - Research on the degradation of glaciers in Georgia in recent decades and the creation of an electronic atlas of glaciers in Georgia, 24 papers have been published in highly rated and refereed scientific journals with young scientists Giorgi Guliashvili and Sophio Beridze.

The main results of the research have been used in Georgia's first biennial transparency report and Georgia's fifth national communication under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will be published in Georgian and English in 2025. The research results have been reported at 21 international and local conferences and seminars in Georgia and abroad. At international conferences: Springer conference in Tunisia (2022), in Barcelona, Spain on September 23, 2023, Paris France on September 25-26, 2024 and others. The reports read by the grant leader, Giorgi Kordzakhia, earned the status of the best reports at both international conferences.