The article discusses the problem of identifying the subject of geographical science, which allows to display the fundamental properties of geographical research: spatiality, systemacity, complexity, constructiveness, interdisciplinarity, uniqueness, environmental conditionality and relativity, concreteness, comparability, internal unity and the through study of differentquality territorial objects as systems of various kinds (polysystems, metageosystems). The problem is solved in a hierarchy of specially organized knowledge by levels of representation and generalization of scientific information: invariant indicators, empirical and calculated data, conceptual knowledge and models, system theories, metatheories and mathematics. Geography can exist independently only at the metatheoretical level on a par with the philosophical, logical and mathematical analysis of information, based on the procedures of stratification (bundle, fibration) on the manifolds of the connection of the characteristics of the Earth’s space and the space of data and knowledge into disjoint sets (layers, fibers) of various kinds. In a generalized sense, manifolds as bases of fiber bundle are considered as landscapes of the geographical environment, usually hidden from direct observation. Geography is similar to other sciences, but its methods mainly investigate unique phenomena, which at the metatheoretical level is expressed in the study of specific objects through taking into account the originality of the geographical environment. Mathematical theories, models and methods of implementation of procedures for multilevel stratification of geographical knowledge and their logical interpretation are proposed.

The “geocomponents” as the classical concept of physical geography is rethought from the standpoint of existential topology (one of the concepts of modern poststructuralism). A geocomponent can be represented not only discursively by physical, physicochemical models, categories, concepts, but also purely topologically with the help of certain geometric images. This presentation is non-trivial and is carried out using a special line called ogive. It allows visualize a geocomponent as a multiple type. The hydrocomponent is visualized using a smooth curve, the atmocomponent is a dotted line, the lithocomponent is a polyline with obtuse and acute angles, the technogenic components are visualized by a right angle and a circle, the biota is a graph, the biosocial component is handwriting, the pedocomponent is a composite ogive composed of a horizontal closed contour and a vertical profile. The combination of contour and profile in the soil ogive is provided by its existential properties - care (cultivation) and gift (harvest). The compound character of the soil ogive precedes the physical and metaphysical representation of landscape.

The northern and arctic regions generate about a quarter of Russia’s GDP at the expense of large commodity corporations, while the territory is characterized by unfavorable natural conditions. For many years, the question of the prospects for the development and diversification of the economy of these regions through new non-primary businesses has been discussed. The purpose of the study is to identify the features and opportunities for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the northern and Arctic regions of Russia using cartographic and econometric methods. The article shows that the costs for small businesses in the Arctic and the North are indeed higher, but not only because of natural conditions, but also because of institutional features: “northern allowances” and a less favorable business climate. This leads to a truncated development of entrepreneurial networks, low density and insufficient diversity of small business, weak interaction, its greater dependence on large companies and the state. Such entrepreneurial ecosystems are more vulnerable to crises, and their recovery, on the contrary, is delayed. However, in monopolized local markets with high consumer demand, the productivity and profitability of existing (surviving) enterprises may be higher than the Russian average; especially the rate of return is high in large corporations. In conclusion, some public support measures and prospects for the development of northern entrepreneurship are described.

The article presents the results of the analysis of climate change in the Сentral Highlands of Sri Lanka for the long-term period of observation (1866–2021). The values of average seasonal air temperatures indicate a high degree of uniformity of the temperature regime of the tested area during the year. The coefficients of variation characterizing the temporary heterogeneity of the temperature during the observation period depend on the altitude above sea level and varied from 1.6–2.1% (477 m) to 3.1–5.6% (1880 m). It is established that the seasonal average air temperature in most part of the tested area (670–1880 m above the sea level) has been significantly increased at a rate of 0.007–0.014°C/year, but at an altitude of 477 m (Kandy) had no significant differences throughout the entire observation period (112 years). It is shown that the dynamics of the average seasonal precipitation sums was characterized by a much higher degree of heterogeneity: the coefficients of variation of this indicator varied from 28 to 46%. The most significant changes in precipitation sums in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka relate to the southwest monsoon season (May–September). During the southwest rainy season at an altitude of 477 m (Kandy) and 1880 m (Nuwara Eliya), precipitation sums have decreased linearly at a rate of –2.2 ± 0.4 and –3.44 ± 0.54 mm/year respectively. A significant decrease in precipitation was also detected during the northeast monsoon season (December–February) at an altitude of 670 m (Badulla).

The influence of weather conditions on the formation of the thermal structure of a small polymictic lake in the temperate zone during the open water period was investigated on the basis of an analysis of the data of daily long-term (2007–2020) field measurements. It is shown that during the spring-summer heating of the Lake Vendyurskoe (Karelia) from May to the first half of August, the temperature of the upper water layer (2 m) is mainly influenced by synoptic air temperature variability. At medium depths (6 m), the influence of synoptic fluctuations in air temperature on water temperature significantly decreases, while the role of seasonal changes in heat accumulation increases. In the bottom layer (11 m), fluctuations in water temperature are mainly determined by episodes of complete mixing of the lake water mass during the passage of cyclones, that is, they depend on the intensification of winds, leading to the complete destruction of stratification. During the cooling period of the lake from the second half of August to the ice cover formation (November–December), against the background of a decrease in the role of synoptic variability, the influence of seasonal air temperature variability on water temperature increases. Fluctuations in air temperature explain more than 50% of the dispersion of epilimnion water temperature during the spring-summer heating and all layers of the water column during the autumn-winter cooling. An empirical model of the dependence of water temperature at different depths of the water column on synoptic and seasonal changes in air temperature for open water period has been developed. The model does not take into account heat exchange with bottom sediments, since in the period of open water surface, it is 1–2 orders of magnitude less than the total heat exchange with the atmosphere.