History and Objectives

            The Research Center of Applied Geography has been recognized and authorized by the National Council of Scientific Research in Academic Education since 2005, grouping researchers in physical and human geography, chemistry and geology from the “Ştefan cel Mare” University of Suceava and the Agency of Environment Protection Suceava.

            The research performed within this center focuses on theoretical problems and practical applications regarding: environmental geomorphology, natural and anthropic hazards, aspects of the changes of geographical landscapes, topoclimatology, natural resources, mountain landscapes, human impact on the geographical environment, geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, and geovisualization. The researches can be applied in the administrative management of the degraded fields, in the reclamation work on the rivers and lakes, in the ecological reconstructions, and  land susteinable uses.
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Main Research Themes

 Hazards and Risks

Both natural and human hazards are taken into consideration, analyzing their effect in time. The studies focus on: the irrational use of lands, artificial lakes silting and their effects on the environment, models of gully development, experimental researches in the small catchments, the problem of sediment delivery ratio, river channel changes, measurements of sediment magnetical susceptibility, drawing maps for different types of risks (geological, geomorphological, hydrological, climatic etc.).

The Dynamics of Geographical Landscapes, GIS and Planning

        The main topics in this section are related to the environmental history of the geographical landscape, where the climate global change and human factor play an important part in the evolution of the geographical landscape. Taking this into consideration, we may say that we are interested in the following aspects: the emphasing of the threshold effect in the landscape development, in case of  rivers, the environmental history for last 140 years, with special view on the human impact, environmental diagnosis on the basis of the global sediment dynamics, optimization of the projects of degraded land mitigation works, the influence of dams in relief dynamics, the geostatistical analysis of the river bed facies, geographical mapping using advanced techniques (especially, G.I.S.), hillslope models, hydro-geological maps, other effects caused by the anthropic impact on the environment components (river gravel explotation, environmental effect of ice jams, emplacement studies for small hydroelectric power plants etc).

Environmental Studies

A special attention is paid mainly to the effect of ore exploitation upon the environment in Suceava County and in the Siret drainage basin. The different perimeters for the mechanisms and the dynamics of the processes that can influence the environment are monitored. A special activity was related to the improvement of and extension of the European Fish Index and on the effect of the ice jams along the Bistrita River and its tributaries. The soil, water, air and rock samples complete the information obtained from different areas and help us find solutions regarding environment protection.

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