Head of Laboratory – PhD in Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Agronomy Field – Senior Researcher (Grade I)

Dr. Sorina Iustina DUMITRU
Email: sorina.dumitru@icpa.ro

1. Sustainable Management of Soil and Land Resources
   • Pedological characterization for the purpose of restructuring agricultural land use, land consolidation, and resource conservation at different levels: local, regional, and national;
   • Soil quality assessment and establishment of measures for its protection, conservation, and improvement;
   • Development of methodologies for assessing the sustainable use of soil and land resources;
   • Land evaluation/bonitation; provision of information and services necessary for the implementation of European and national agricultural policies and for sustainable land use planning;
   • Monitoring the effect induced by natural disasters; drought, floods, etc., to characterize the vulnerability of land units;
   • Study of the effect of global climate change on agroecosystems through predictions at different time and spatial scales;
   • Consultancy and specialized assistance;
2. Characterization and Quantification of Natural Resources and the Environment
   • Complex characterization and quantification of the natural capital associated with soil;
   • Soil classification;
   • Complex research on main pedological processes and soil genesis;
   • Indirect methods for estimating pedotransfer functions using standard soil mapping data;
   • Application of advanced methods and theories to soil and landscape description;
   • Assessment of soil vulnerability to erosion and other degradations and development of prevention, control, and restoration measures;
3. Inventory and Monitoring of Natural Resources and the Environment
   • Basic maps of Romania’s soils at different scales;
   • Maps for land evaluation/bonitation in Romania at different scales and corresponding characterization data;
   • Thematic soil maps;
4. Soil Data and Information
   • Development of procedures and methods in accordance with the principles of the INSPIRE Directive for data collection, transfer of data from paper to geo-referenced electronic databases, quality assessment and control, harmonization of pedological information, data storage and management;
   • Collection and centralization of specific soil and land data from the territory;
   • Databases on soil/land resources and the environment necessary for design, implementation, and operation;
   • GIS for sustainable management of soil/land and environmental resources, processing of spatial data, including remote sensing data;
   • Development and application of simulation models for soil processes, mass and energy transfer in agricultural and forestry systems;
   • Expert systems and decision support systems for sustainable land evaluation and management, land use planning, technological recommendations, land sensitivity to various stress factors;
5. Harmonization of Soil Measurements, Methods, Methodologies, and Indicators
   • Classification and correlation of soils at national (SRCS-SRTS) and international (WRB-SR – FAO; USDA-ST) levels;
   • Methodologies for land evaluation/bonitation;
   • Methodologies for developing pedological studies;
   • Interpretive classification systems for soils/lands for irrigation, prevention and control of soil erosion, soil tillage, agricultural uses, fruit growing, viticulture, pastures and meadows, soil vulnerability to drought, floods, etc.;
   • Ecological classification systems for soils/lands;
6. Urban Waste Management
   • Agricultural use of urban sludge;

What We Offer

• Collection of soil samples for determining the physical, hydrophysical, and chemical properties of soil types;
• Methods for assessing the impact of anthropogenic activities on soil resources;
• Optimization of methods for adapting N, P, and K fertilization to crop needs, including for degraded soils;
• Approval of pedological and agrochemical studies developed by County Pedological and Agrochemical Offices;
• Preparation of opinions regarding agricultural potential at the farm level for sub-measures 4.1 – Investments in agricultural holdings; 6.1 – Support for the establishment of young farmers; 6.3 – Support for the development of small farms;
• Interpretation of soil analyses, development of soil-land maps, correlative and interpretive maps;
• Creation of thematic maps and management of geodatabases;
• Management and updating of the database with pedotransfer rules;
• Transfer of soil information in digital format;
• Geo-spatial modeling, maps, indicators, and risk analyses based on scenarios that include the effect of global changes on the main soil threats defined by the Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection (erosion, decrease in organic matter content, compaction, salinization/alkalization, land sealing, contamination, loss of biodiversity, and desertification);
• Creation of geodatabases associated with monitoring systems;

• ArcGIS for Desktop Standard Software;
• ArcGIS Spatial Analyst Extension;
• ArcGIS Geostatistical Analyst Extension;
• ArcGIS Data Interoperability Extension;
• Océ CS4136 Scanner;
• Canon Plotter;
• GNSS Tablet PC;

Services Provided by the Laboratory