The solution of preserving and restoring the soil fertility problem of agricultural lands in the process of economic activity is one of the main tasks in achieving global food security. Implementation of a complex of soil protection measures, as a rule, ensures the preservation and even growth of soil fertility. Therefore, the purpose of the article is to determine the economic efficiency of introducing soil protection measures in the use of agricultural land. For this purpose, the following tasks were set and solved: the analysis of the current state and trends of the land resources use in agriculture; to investigate the tendencies of carrying out measures on preservation of soil fertility and prevention of its degradation; to substantiate scientific and methodical estimation principles of economic efficiency of introduction of soil protection measures in the conditions of Ukraine. The following basic methods were used to solve the research objectives: monographic analysis – when developing scientific publications on environmentally friendly use of agricultural land; comparative and statistical analysis – in studying the dynamics of the structure of the land fund of Ukraine by main types of land and economic activity; system-structural analysis and grouping – in the study of the nature and content of ecological and economic consequences of soil degradation, as well as approaches to assessing the economic effectiveness of soil protection measures; economic analysis and calculation of relative indicators – to evaluate the economic efficiency of soil protection measures in the process of agricultural land use; abstract-logical method − for theoretical generalizations and conclusions formation, etc. Established that soil degradation is now one of the most important industrial and environmental issues, which is the main reason for the inability to achieve high rates of environmental and economic efficiency of land use in the future. It was also substantiated scientific and methodical approach to determining the economic efficiency of soil conservation measures in the current market conditions, which is based on the additional income that is received as a result of increase crop yields on protected lands. It is established that effective protection of soils from degradation is possible with the systematic implementation of soil protection measures complex, developed taking into account the specific natural and economic conditions of each region or agricultural enterprise. The priority directions of realization measures on land protection are given.

One of the main groups in agriculture is plant cultivation. The crop production combines growing of grain, cotton, vegetable, viticulture, tobacco cultivation, etc. One of the main factors in the activities of plant-growing as well as in grain-growing is the efficient using of land. Agriculture is characterized by number of specific socio-economic, natural and technological characteristics. Unlike other sectors of the economy, the main means of production is land. Land differs from other agricultural production facilities. Land is not a product of human activity, it is the product of nature. The land area cannot be increased nor decreased as other means of production, its natural fertility and productivity can be increased. Land area has been divided into zones according to its location, quality and rating. Agricultural farming on unfavourable land areas requires more funds than on favourable land plots. In the article, using grain crops efficiency data, increase of soil fertility and issues in the direction of increasing productivity facing entrepreneurial farms were studied.

Analysis of the condition of the Agila Dune is presented in this Article. The analysis is based on data collected during accurate geodetic measurements using LIDAR technology. The current state of the Agila Dune was compared to the data of the previous year's LIDAR points in order to ensure the reliability and value of the research. In the course of the study, eleven cross sections were compared by height differences with previous year‘s measurements. The condition of the Agila Dune was found to be the worst in three cross sections. First cross section‘s erosion measured at 13,98 meters, erosion in the fifth cross section – 9.90 meters, and erosion in the eighth cross section – 11.34 meters. The main reasons for the deterioration of the natural values of the Kursiu Nerija National Park are climate, wind, high visitor flows and the persistent failure to carry out comprehensive research. Therefore, in order to preserve these unique natural values, it is important to collect large-scale and high-precision data on the status of these values, to systematize, to analyse and take appropriate protective measures.

The conservation and renovation of biological diversity of territories are of vital importance in Ukraine. The concept of ecological networks has laid the foundation of these issues. In Ukraine, the law “On the ecological network” was adopted, and ecological networks were developed at the regional level. However, most developments do not fully take into account the location of reserved territories and places of concentration of valuable flora and fauna, and also often do not correspond to the principle of formation of a holistic system, which significantly reduces their environmental significance and the expediency of practical implementation. The authors of the article consider that one should estimate the natural potential of the territories in detail and objectively, as well as provide recommendations for practical actions for the renovation of biological and landscape diversity. One can do it in the process of the development of local ecological networks (at the level of separate administrative regions and territorial communities). One has developed the structure of the ecological network on the example of Stryi district of Lviv region and determined the estimation of the spatial connectivity of its crucial elements. The problem is that most of the connecting territories are formed from semi-natural and unnatural lands (hayfields, pastures, arable lands), which complicates the practical side of the project implementation. One needs to develop an effective mechanism to encourage landowners and land users to carry out environmental activities; to increase investments in re-naturalization of lands; to conduct environmental education and environmental public awareness campaign; to provide local government and other stakeholders with consulting services for the development of ecological network development programs at the local level in Ukraine.

As result of land reform in Russian Federation the public administration of agricultural land has been totally transformed. Land reform was carried out in order to solve problems in the sphere of agriculture, housing construction, ecology, creating a plurality of land ownership forms, introducing land use payments, etc. The decision to cancel monopoly of state ownership in land and to create institution of private property was made. The land redistribution projects for each farm were made, where stock of shares, stock of land redistribution and stock of land administered by previous soviet village councils was represented. The example of the Samara region was used to develop mechanisms for transfer of public land to private ownership. Currently, the situation with use of the land in many agricultural enterprises can be considered as unsatisfactory due to unsystematic economic activity − there are no or are not implemented scientifically based crop rotations, natural soil fertility is not taken into account, there is no modern cartographic material indicating the size of the fields, degree of slope and degree of erosion. Significant deterioration of the agro-ecological situation and the spread of negative processes on arable land require changes in national land policy and development of comprehensive measures to organize rational use of land. In the near future, a significant modernization of national and federal land legislation is planned, which will affect all subjects of the Russian Federation in terms of the management and use of agricultural land.

The main objective of this study is to review and evaluate three common interpolation methods namely: Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW), Radial Basis Function (RBF) and Ordinary Kriging (OK), and generate maps of soil pH using these methods. The accuracy and efficiency of the generated maps have been examined as well as the most fitting technique for estimating spatial distribution of soil pH in the study area is identified. Studies were conducted within the limits of land use of RUP “Uchkhoz BGSHA” (Republic of Belarus, Mogilev region, Goretsky district). The total area of the surveyed territory is 3197.89 hectares. For the analysis data is used about pHKCl of soil solution obtained from materials of an agrochemical survey executed in 2014. Forecasting and visualization of the spatial distribution of pH sub(KCl) was carried out using the Geostatistical Analyst module of the ArcGIS software. The experimental anisotropic variograms were calculated to determine the possible spatial structure of soil pH. Based on cross-validation results, a polynomial function was identified as the best variogram model. The model created by the method of radial basis functions turned out to be the most suitable for forecasting purposes (the value of the root-mean-square error was 0.763). In terms of interpolation accuracy, the investigated deterministic and geostatistical methods are located in the next descending row: RBF greater than IDW greater than OK.

Nowadays, surveys using unmanned aerial vehicles are becoming popular. The resulting orthophotomap is the final product for creating digital plans and cardboard. The objectives of the study are to study the possibilities of obtaining orthophotomaps from survey materials using unmanned aerial vehicles based on the results of the experiment. The article describes various types of aerial photography. Some types of unmanned flying vehicles to conduct aerial photography for the purpose of monitoring, engineering surveys, inventory of agricultural land, and crop forecasts are considered. A description of aerial photography surveying is given on the example of the city of Dzerzhinsk, Minsk Region, which is performed taking into account the unmanned flying vehicles of GeoScan 201 and the Republican agricultural aero-geodesic unitary enterprise BelPSHAGI. A description of the GeoScan Planner software and basic pre-flight preparation is given. The stages of the preparatory work before the aerial photography, the creation of the planning and high-altitude geodetic justification, the implementation of aerial photography procedures, the steps of the aerial photograph anchorage procedure are considered. Agisoft Photoscan, which allows to get clouds of points, surfaces, 3D models and orthophotomaps using digital raster images are presented. The map of heights (DEM) of the terrain and the orthophotomap was made on the basis of a dense points cloud. According to the results of the research, a conclusion was made on the possibility of using aerial photography materials obtained using unmanned flying vehicles to get orthophotomaps of the required accuracy.

In order to evaluate the accuracy of the local geodetic network of Jurmala City, in research, comparison of fortyseven selected polygonometry network point coordinates with the obtained data was made by performing measurements by real time cinematic (RTK) method in LatPos base station system. Points were chosen so in order to cover evenly the entire territory of the city. At present, gradual renewal and improvement of the local geodetic network takes place in Jurmala. In Jurmala City, obtaining of data by GNNS data receivers is encumbered by large density of trees. Therefore the local geodetic network in city has very important role in order to ensure performance of geodetic measurements of high quality in the territory of the city. Aim of the research is to evaluate the accuracy of the local geodetic network of Jurmala City. The following tasks have been set for achieving the aim: research of the given problem, visit of the local geodetic network points, performing control measurements, data processing and analysis.

The result of the long existence of legal restrictions on the agricultural land market in Ukraine was the formation of a specific leasehold system of land use. Agricultural enterprises and farms do not have land owned. Instead, the peasants who became owners of land during the distribution of collective farms, mostly do not process these parcels of land on their own, but also deprived of the right to alienate them (to sell, give, change). The study shows the development of leased land use of agricultural enterprises in Ukraine, which currently covers 16.8 million hectares of private land and about 1 million hectares of state-owned land. Since 2003, the civil law of Ukraine permitted to apply not only the lease of agricultural land, but also the emphyteusis right (the alienated right to use someone’s land for agricultural purposes), the process of transformation of lease into emphyteusis was started, especially in large agricultural holdings. The main advantages of emphyteusis as a substantive law and its attractiveness for agribusiness are considered. The suggestions on improving the legal regulation of land use under conditions of emphyteusis are given.

Some tasks require identification of landmarks in districts beyond the reach of existing optical observation facilities. The accuracy of their determination significantly affects the effectiveness of the use necessary equipment during the task. In the paper an algorithm to determine the object parameters using a flying platform is offered. An observation point is installed which is equipped with a navigation system to solve this task. This ensures its orientation and positioning. From the observation point an aerial observation point is displayed. It is suggested to use a flying platform. The coordinates of the flying platform are determined relative to the observation point; the coordinates of the landmarks are determined relative to the flying platform. The mathematical model of the estimation error determination of object coordinates with the help of a flying platform is proposed. The analysis of errors in determining the parameters of the object using a flying platform is conducted. Analysis of the results of mathematical modelling is conducted using the package of applications Mathcad. The dependence of these parameters on the relative position of the observation point, platforms and object is examined. It is shown that the main contribution to the error of determining the coordinates of the landmark is given by the errors of determining the observation point location and measuring the range. An analytical correlation is obtained, which allows to estimate the errors of determining the coordinates of the landmark using the flying platform with known errors in determining the observation point coordinates and the range determination of the range finder.