Project КП06-Н76/1 from 5.12.2023 г., financed by National Science Fund-Ministry of Education and Science, titled “Integration of satellite derived and ground-based data for soil water balance components and crop cover into models for assessment of agroecological risks and agricultural practices for their mitigation”. Project leader Assoc. Prof. Gergana Kuncheva. Duration 3 years
The aim of the project is to assess the agroecological risks and the effectiveness of agricultural practices to mitigate their negative impacts by integrating the satellite and ground based data for the soil water balance components and vegetation cover in simulation models.
New approaches will be applied for deriving of high spatiotemporal resolution data for soil moisture, evapotranspiration and leaf area index from satellite products and unmanned aerial vehicle. A key requirement for applicability of the results at the field scale under different combinations of soil-plant-climate-agrotechnology, is the achievement of high accuracy of surface soil moisture and persistent accuracy of the soil moisture estimation in the plant root zone throughout the vegetation period, which will be verified against ground based data. The main hypothesis in the project is that the integration of satellite and ground based data into numerical simulation models (WOFOST, SWAT, WinIsareg) will supplement the missing information, increase the accuracy of the forecasts for crop development, yields, components of water and nutrient balances at the field scale
Project КП06-Н86/11 from 10.12.2024, financed by National Science Fund-Ministry of Education and Science, titled “Impact of microplastics on soil functions”. Project leader Prof. Milena Kercheva. Duration 3 years
The project has two main goals: 1. To adopt and apply methods for the detection and identification of microplastics in the soil in hot spots – along the floodplains of the Iskar River and in roadside sections; 2. To determine the effect of microplastic pollution on the soil processes and functions, such as habitat for soil microorganisms, biomass production, transformations and cycling of nutrients, carbon and water, maintenance of soil structure.
The main hypothesis of the project is that microplastics in the soil can have a specific impact on the soil characteristics, which is determined both by the type of pollutant and by the soil properties.