The research on erosion, conducted in IUNG includes the entirety of issues, influencing the quality of the agricultural environment, including valuation of risk related to erosion, erosion mitigation techniques, rural development schemes etc.

 

Research issues:
- qualitative and quantitative characteristics of erosion processes influencing agri-ecosystems;
- criteria and ways of inventarisation and cartography of erosion for explanatory and utilitarian purposes;
- methods of anti-erosion meliorations on agricultural grounds, reclamation of erosional wastelands, especially gullies and suffosion pots;
- rules and patterns of complex management of agricultural areas, threatend by erosion;
- natural-utilitarian classification of erosion processes for polish geographical conditions, unification of definitions related to erosion and erosion control.

- spatial modelling and simulating of watershed processes related to erosion for the assessment of spatial management and environment protection.

 

Research methods: various, related to interdisciplinary character, wide range of research problems and issues. Research work is conducted in field and laboratory experiments, as well as behind desk (cameral) with use of modern spatial software and models.

Among field experiments:
- registering of erosion processes, mainly after storms, long rain and snow melting periods , on protected areas and experimental erosion control objects;
- continous measurements od sediment and surface water dynamics in fixed measure points on permanent and temporal stream lines of eroded microcatchments;
- nivelative and soil cross-sections for estimation of changes affecting soil morfology and properties;
- morfometric measurements of terrain relief, deformed by erosion;
- measurements of crop yields in various slope zones;
- establishing ofexperimental adn utilitarian objects with erosion control meassures.

Cameral methods:
- analyses and syntheses of field experiments;
- mapping of potential and actual erosion on maps of various scales and under various economic and natural conditions (schemes);
- simulations of erosion processes, valuation of their effects, verification of chosen mathematical models of soil loss in polish conditions using GIS technology;
- conceptions, programmes, technical projects in field of anti-erosion meliorations.........

Laboratory methods include mainly:
- physical and chemical properties of soil and sediments;
- stationary model experiments, including devices for water and rain simulations.

 

The main research goals for nearest future:
- estimation of rational dependences and indicators between erosion intensity, susceptibility of main polish soil kinds to erosion and soil-protective properties of basic crops - as a part of model verification;
- improvement of data collecting and processing, data bases of rural productive area;
- improvement of the rules and schemes of complex management of eroded lands, with special consideration of anti-erosion meliorations, land improvements on the basis of pilot studies;
- to create a field research and monitoring station in Bystra river catchment;
- integration of avaiable data collection (teledetection,field data etc.) and processing (spatial analyses, modeling) for erosion and erosion control assessment on various spatial scales.