History - major achievements
Department of Agrometeorology
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After the reorganization of the PINGW in
1950 research within the scope of meteorology was conducted at more
than one unit of the Puławy research centre. In the years between 1953
and 1956 it was confined mainly to the Laboratory of Local Climate and
Microclimate of the IMUZ. In 1957 the IMUZ moved from Puławy and at the
IUNG the Autonomous Laboratory of Agricultural Meteorology and
Climatology was created with dr. Henryk Mitosek as Head. As of 1962
Tadeusz Górski, MSc, became Head of the Laboratory. In 1966 the
Laboratory was changed into the Agrometeorology Department, headed by
dr. Tadeusz Górski. Initially the Department had 9 persons of staff: 2
scientific workers, 6 technicians and 1 hand. The activities were
focused on research methodology and problems within the scope of
microclimatology and agrohydrometeorology, for which empirical
materials were acquired from fields at Kępa and Osiny experimental
stations. Fixed fields of 1 hectare of area, cultivated according to
unchanging tillage practices were the experimental objects on which the
experiments begun by the earlier research units were continued, aided
with the current biometric, phonologic and physical agrometeorologic
information. Measurements of atmospheric pollution within the impact
range of chemical works in the Puławy region and in Sulphur Basin had
been conducted for a few years.
Owing to scientific and organizational
initiative of Prof. Tadeusz Górski the research area was broadened,
co-operation with other scientific centres was initiated and the number
of staff raised. Between 1971 and 1975 the research had been focused
mainly on climatic requirements of various crops and methods of
objective assessment of yield-effectiveness of the climate. The
agroclimatic valuation was elaborated at the Department as part of the
complex valuation of agricultural production space of Poland developed
by an inter-departmental team. For this achievement the team was
awarded the first degree State Reward. The actinometrical measurements
that had been previously conducted at Puławy for a long time were
expanded and large-scale research within the scope of photoecology was
begun; the latter was conducted at a laboratory founded in the Upper
Garden inside the Department's own means. In 1971, after many years of
research, the activities on the fixed fields had been finished and the
empirical materials acquired were taken over by dr. Zygmunt Jakubczak,
who moved with two other employees to the Department of Soil Science
and Recultivation of the IUNG.
Apart from a diverse scientific
programme at the Department standard measurements of weather elements
were carried out as well as special ones stimulated by the needs of
field experiments of the Institute. For this purpose, in early 70s, the
Meteorogical Service was created, supervised by Józef Wójcik. The
organizational structure of weather stations network of experimental
stations of the IUNG was established and the departmental data archive
was extended. In 1972 the XXII Agrometeorological Meeting was organized
on the occasion of the Centenary of Meteorology in Puławy. This
anniversary was mainly related to the functioning of the Puławy weather
station, which had been run by the Department of Agrometeorology, one
of only few stations in Poland of such long measurement series.
In late 70s the Department was in charge
of co-ordination of a nation-wide project concerning agrometeorological
basis of yield forecasting. Apart from that the research into climatic
requirements of maize production for different uses was conducted.
Furthermore, work on the methodology of loss assessment in plant
production as caused by precipitation deficiency was conducted. At the
end of 70s the number of staff at the Department reached 17 persons: 4
scientific workers, 10 technicians and 3 hands.
Between 1981 and 1990 the
Agrometeorology Laboratory, headed by dr. Gustaw Demidowicz, functioned
within the Department. Its team, numbering 8 people, conducted work on
climatic requirements of plants in which these properties had been
unknown before. The Laboratory also developed the agroclimatic
valuation to the scale of voivodship. Moreover, Prof. T. Górski, Head
of the Department, formed an informal small group to continue the
earlier research into variability of crop yielding and photobiology of
seeds and plants. The research into variability of climatic elements
and its description in probabilistic terms as well as refining methods
of determination the relationship between development and yielding of
plants and the weather was also going on. This research became the
information and methodology foundation for the Agroclimatic Atlas of
Poland, the elaboration of which was begun within a broad thematic
scope; the task was to crone the earlier achievements of the Department
in the field of agrometeorology.
In the 90s the development of the Atlas
was aided with computer technology. In addition, the research into the
impacts of climate change on plant production was conducted and
climatic index of water balance was constructed. The homogenization of
temperature and precipitation series of the length of over one century
from the weather station in Puławy was accomplished. In the field of
photoecology the research into exploiting the photoblastism of seeds in
weed control in crops was conducted as well as into photomorphogenetic
factors of habit and yielding formation of plants in stand. In 1992 the
Department of Agrometeorology hosted the III Nation-wide Scientific
Symposium "Climate of the Cultivated Field".
As of 1995 dr Gustaw Demidowicz became
Head of Department. In 1996 the anniversary of 125 years of
agricultural meteorology in Puławy was celebrated and on this occasion
the International Scientific Conference "Climatic Conditions of Plant
Poduction" and the International Seminar on Phytoactinometry were held.
The Seminars on Phytoactinometry have been organized at the Institute
for many years owing to a strong scientific position of the
photoecology team at the Department. The employees of the Department
took part in the realization of the commissioned research project
"Methodology of current and long-term forecasting of production volume
of staple crops in Poland". The statistical and empirical methods
developed within the project have been used since in the current
forecasting service run by the Department. In co-operation with the
Department of Applied Mathematics and Informatics the Agroclimatic
Atlas of Poland was finished in the form of computer programs
generating data for map creation.
Opr. Gustaw
Demidowicz