The variations in glaciers are the important indicators of regional climate change. The glaciers play an important role in the regulation of water balance. In the conditions of global warming they recede and degrade that is expressed in the related changes in glacier runoff. The research of glacier melting is important for studies of sea/ocean level changes. The Caucasian glacial dimensions (area, volume, length) have been changed over the centuries.The scientific study of glaciers in the Caucasus was started during the first half of 18th century. In the last century the terrestrial observations on glaciers were carried out. Due to the difficulties of organization and conducting of field works the received observational data sets consists from different series of various temporal duration characteristics of glaciers. The data received contain uncertainties. From another hand carrying out of such field works are expensive.With the launch of the Earth's satellites it was determined that satellite remote sensing is the best technology allowing to receive data with needed regularity in terms of both time and space resolution. Some uncertainties remain in the data as the observational tool is too far away from the Earth's surface. So, the necessity for the strong quality assessment/quality control (QA/QC) remains. A lot of studies showed that the best method for investigation of glaciers is application of satellite remote sensing combined with terrestrial observations and expert knowledge of separate glaciers. Ó 2015 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

The article reviews the changes of the glacier basins characteristics of Georgia glaciers due to the current climate change. Calculations show significant decrease of the area and number of the glaciers in Georgia over the last 50 years. This reduction is more intensive in eastern Georgia in comparison with the western part of the country. At the same time, some large glaciers complete melting dates are determined according to one of the basic scenarios of current climate change, namely the business as usual. Based on the calculations it is concluded that viewed large glaciers complete melting is not expected within this century even in this worst conditions scenario.

The problem of the transportation safety for Mtskheta-Stepantsminda-Larsi road is overviewed. The scientific study of glaciers in the Caucasus started in the first half of the 19th century. From that time the terrestrial observations on glaciers were carried out. The outputs of terrestrial observations resulted in different series of various temporal duration characteristics of glaciers due to the difficulties of field works organization. The data received contain uncertainties and have no sufficient resolution in time and space. With the invention of the Earth's satellites it was determined that satellite remote sensing is the best technology allowing to receive the data with needed regularity both in terms of time and space resolution. The results of various researches show that sometimes the satellite remote sensing data is difficult to interpret and determine needed glacier characteristics. In such cases the data of the terrestrial observations are used for validation of glacier characteristics along with the expert knowledge of corresponding glaciers. This complex approach gives the possibility to adjust glaciers contours and calculate more accurately various characteristics of a glacier. At present the main problem for the safety of the Georgian Military Road in the territory of Georgia is the glacial and hydrological disasters such as ice blocks falls from the Kazbegi glaciations accompanied with the debris, followed by the river bed blockage and natural dam formation, with a consequent break and pass of catastrophic mudflows. The glacial catastrophes of Kazbegi glaciers: Devdoraki, Mna, Gergeti, Abano and Chachi have great impact on Mtskheta-Stepantsminda-Larsi road safety on the territory of Georgia. The biggest catastrophes on the Georgian territory took place due to Devdoraki glacier fell in 1776, 1778, 1785, 1808, 1817, 1832. The Devdoraki glacier listed falls during those years were connected with the pulsation of the glaciers and their increase. In Kazbegi glaciation the environmental disasters occurred in 2002, 2007 and 2014 (twice). It was the result of ice layers movement. Based on the analysis, it was concluded that the creation of the May 17 and August 20, 2014 catastrophic mudflows was not connected with the glacier pulsation.

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