Shulgan-Tash Cave equipping with autonomous monitoring system is being completed in Bashkiria

Analytical research aimed at preserving the drawings of primitive people has become more systematic with the help of new equipment. Continuous recording of such indicators as air temperature and humidity, the temperature of walls and grounds, infiltration waters and individual reservoirs, atmospheric pressure, and carbon dioxide concentration have begun in the Shulgan-Tash Cave.

According to the Scientific and Production Center for the Protection and Use of Immovable Cultural Heritage Sites of Bashkortostan, the creation of a modern electronic monitoring system of the monument has been carried out since 2017, as part of the cave promotion to the UNESCO World Heritage List. However, until recently, observations of some important geo-ecological indicators of the cave were carried out sporadically, in manual mode.

In 2020, due to the order of the Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov, the equipping of the cave with scientific devices is almost completed. Additionally, loggers were purchased and installed to automatically record changes in the level and total salinity of water, sensors for measuring the airflow speed, and equipment for measuring radon concentration in the cave atmosphere.

Besides, several Vaisala measuring systems were purchased for high-precision monitoring of the air's relative humidity and CO2 concentration. The complexes are installed near the Paleolithic drawings to prevent the danger of condensation corrosion of the images timely.

The long-awaited acquisition of scientists was route observation instruments. This is a professional thermal imager, an analyzer of hydrochemical parameters of natural waters, a portable complex for microclimatic observations, which can obtain short-term data series in the logger mode - which will be useful for assessing the impact, including anthropogenic one.

Soon, it is planned to install a small meteorological station near the cave. Data from surface stations will be compared with the results of microclimate monitoring of the cave as part of ongoing analytical work.

The largest world leaders producing reliable control and measuring equipment from Germany, Finland, and the USA were selected as equipment suppliers. Electronic systems are characterized by high accuracy, large data storage capacity, and are completely autonomous.