Monica Matei

Institutul Naţional de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Protecţia Mediului · Management

Hucho hucho habitats in the Răstoliţa River, Romania are under the pressure of anthropic activities, the most significant impact coming from hydrotechnical works implemented in the river started in the ‘80s. In the context of further development of the hydropower system, mitigation measures must be taken in order to ensure the conservation of ichth...

Aquatic ecosystems face increasing contamination from plastic pollutants, with Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) being one of the most prevalent. This study investigates the impact of ingested PVC powder particles on the body weight and length of O. niloticus (Nile tilapia), a commercially important fish species and a common inhabitant of freshwater systems...

Historical migration routes for anadromous sturgeons in the Danube River have been interrupted by transversal structures for hydropower use, from which the Iron Gates hydropower system represents the first significant barrier upstream Danube from the Black Sea. For the implementation of DALIA project, funded by Horizon Europe, the National Institut...

The European Union has marked out various targets to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, one of which includes reducing CO2 emissions and the impact of climate change, through a transition to green energy and contributing to the EU targets on the production of an annual hydrogen capacity of 1 million tons by 2025 and 10 million tons by 2030. In thi...

This research studied the morphological and elemental composition of roadside dust at an academic institution in Perlis using the Dust Fall Jar method. Samples were collected from three spots, two beside the main road near the academic institution and one in the control environment area, within a radius of 1000 meters as the control spot. Samples w...

The integration of monitoring systems in beekeeping has significant implications for the health and sustainability of honeybee colonies. These advanced systems, which include sensors for temperature, humidity, hive weight, and sound analysis, allow for real-time tracking of hive conditions, enabling beekeepers to respond promptly to potential threa...

Hydrogen production from renewable energy sources is a sustainable idea both in the field of energy storage and for environmental protection. Still, the fluctuations of production levels can become an impediment and may attract risks or additional production costs. In order to predict hydrogen production from such sources, an Artificial Intelligenc...

The three wild anadromous sturgeon species currently present in the Black Sea and Lower Danube are in a critically endangered state. Their population has been consistently declining due to a combination of various factors, both caused by human activity and natural phenomena. These factors include unsustainable exploitation and poaching, hydro-techn...

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been previously used as a tool for pathogen identification within communities. After the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) outbreak, in 2020, Daughton proposed the implementation of a wastewater surveillance strategy that could determine the incidence of COVID-19 (coronavirus diseas...

Wetlands are characterised by distinct hydrological regimes and have significant importance in the global carbon cycle, having the potential to reduce carbon emissions through long-term carbon storage in the soil. In this study, carbon dynamics were simulated using a process-based model DeNitrification-DeComposition (DNDC), for two locations along...

The present research was conducted within the framework of a broader investigation with the objective of identifying freshwater parasites and bacteria on national territory, with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of the relationships between parasites, hosts, and the environment, and to assess the potential detrimental effects of parasitic...

SARS-CoV-2 is a pathogenic strain of coronavirus which causes acute respiratory disease in humans. Community spread of COVID-19 was difficult to assess in the beginning of the pandemic, so new methods of detecting the virus had to be discovered. For this reason, national wastewater surveillance systems were implemented in order to detect the spread...

Anadromous sturgeon populations in the Lower Danube are in severe decline, and this is due to a combination of anthropogenic and natural factors that have a major impact on the life cycle of the species. Stationary swimming parameters, namely water temperature and depth, represent the starting point for developing the best procedures to identify br...

The LULUCF sector (land use, land use change and forestry) can act as a carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) sink, either by increasing the removal of greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere or by reducing their current emissions. This paper intends to analyze the results of the CO 2 monitoring methodology by the chamber method in order to estimate the effect of d...

On the basis of the in situ analysis of the sturgeon condition within the Lower Danube River, the aim was to carry out a research that would complement the results obtained from the monitoring and ultrasonic tagging methods. Thus, DNA samples were taken selectively from each ultrasonically tagged specimen in order to determine whether or not there...

A by-product of the mushroom industry, spent mushroom substrate (SMS) is primarily made of lignocellulosic agricultural waste. SMS contains cellulose (38–46.6%), lignin (25–34.5%), and hemicellulose (19–27.7%) and is nutrient-rich. The primary objectives of this study included the characterization of SMS, analysis of lignocellulosic content prior t...

The aim of this research was to evaluate the results obtained by ultrasonic tagging of sturgeon species and to collect field data for the period 2019-2021. Thus, an analysis was made of the information collected from the beginning of the period and also will be presented the migration capacity of sturgeons in the area of hydrotechnical arrangements...

Ecosystem-based approaches to climate change mitigation involves the use of ecosystems carbon storage and sequestration services. For this purpose, comprehensive CO2 efflux (Reco) measurements of the wetland and terrestrial ecosystems were performed in the adjacent area of Bucharest, by applying two complementary methods using close chambers: dynam...

One of the worldwide approaches for climate change mitigation is to act on reducing the anthropogenic contribution to the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. The terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are characterized by their natural exchange of GHGs with the atmosphere and also as a result of anthropogenic activities (managem...

Monitoring and inspection of apartment building facades with the help of thermography aims to identify and evaluate construction defects and their effects on thermal efficiency. The analysis of facade cracks is of great importance in the investigation of construction issues, especially in the rehabilitation processes of buildings. In this paper we...

Carbon sequestration proved to be one of the best strategies in climate mitigation processes and forest have the capacity to sequester and store important amounts of carbon. In this study the carbon sequestration capacity of a hardwood forest in Eastern Romania is analyzed by using the European Information Scenario Model through a business-as-usual...

Fisheries research has focused mainly on the dynamics of populations under exploitation in order to be able to inform what measures are needed for the sustainable harvesting of biological resources. A necessary tool for the successful achievement of this objective is to determine the age of the fish. Thus, this article will detail a method for iden...

Shortage of energy and pollution of water are two concern global issues. The treatment of polluted water usually requires a lot of energy. The demand for wastewater treatment and energy shortage has attracted the interest of research on converting pollutants to energy. Constructed wetland (CW) is environmentally friendly technology developed for th...

Monitoring and inspection of apartment building facades with the help of thermography aims to identify and evaluate construction defects and their effects on thermal efficiency. The analysis of facade cracks is of great importance in the investigation of construction issues, especially in the rehabilitation processes of buildings. In this paper we...

Carbon sequestration proved to be one of the best strategies in climate mitigation processes and forest have the capacity to sequester and store important amounts of carbon. In this study the carbon sequestration capacity of a hardwood forest in Eastern Romania is analyzed by using the European Information Scenario Model through a business-as-usual...

In big cities, certain meteorological phenomena can affect air quality even in cases where the main sources of pollution such as traffic have low intensity. The air pollution varies greatly, depending on the emission source and the type of pollutant. In addition, the dispersion of air pollutants is influenced by weather conditions, as well as other...

Pharmaceuticals are a major group of emerging pollutants frequently identified in surface waters. The occurrence of pharmaceuticals as environmental pollutants is a problem involving multiple aspects and continue to cause new and serious challenges to ecosystems and human health. For example, antibiotics exert a selective pressure on bacterial comm...

Atmospheric CO2 is rising rapidly. As forests cover some 43% of the Earth's surface, they are considered to be the largest terrestrial carbon sink on Planet Earth. Within this study, calculations of the most abundant tree species were conducted in the study area, which is situated in the Eastern region of Romania. Thus, the forest carbon balance fo...

Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases responsible for the effects of climate change. The soil respiration process is an important component of the carbon circuit in nature, through which carbon dioxide returns to the atmosphere. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is directly influenced by any change of carbon flow produced in soil,...

The effects of climate change are becoming more intense in the last decades. Moreover, according to many official reports, climate changes are directly affecting ecosystems and their services. To assess the impact of climate change on ecosystems, various methods are being used in order to identify changes and interactions with other pressures such...

Vegetables are a significant component of food strategies and an important source of vitamins through their content in mineral salts and their carbohydrate intake. In this paper are analyzed various factors that can affect the ability of certain vegetable crops from Romania to adapt to different conditions, including the climatic ones. Therefore, s...

Vegetables are a significant component of food strategies and an important source of vitamins through their content in mineral salts and their carbohydrate intake. In this paper are analyzed various factors that can affect the ability of certain vegetable crops from Romania to adapt to different conditions, including the climatic ones. Therefore, s...

The sturgeon species are a flagship species of the Danube River Basin that acts like an indicator of ecological health. They are protected by several international conventions (CITES, Habitats Directive, the Bern Convention and the Bonn Convention) and are assessed as endangered by the IUCN. Starting from 2011 the National Institute for Research an...

The activity of recovering the DKMR monitoring stations used by INCDPM to obtain unique results on the behavior of the anadromous sturgeons tagged with ultrasonic emitters. These results are necessary to determine the level to which the submerged hydrotechnical constructions do not cause the interruption of the migration routes of the sturgeon spec...

Unique results on the bevahiour of two Huso Huso sturgeons in the same area and period of time, while migrating in the Lower Danube (Presented at the Danube Commission Budapest, September 2019) Sturgeon migration /Romania https://www.facebook.com/100039054190117/posts/149244609720678?d=n&sfns=mo

Sturgeon behavior in Danube https://www.facebook.com/100039054190117/posts/131639401481199?sfns=mo https://www.facebook.com/100039054190117/posts/132180671427072?sfns=mo

Heavy metals are among the most common types of contaminants in agricultural soils, especially those bordering the cities, due to the uncontrolled use of sewage sludge, compost, mining waste and chemical fertilizers. Excessive accumulation of heavy metals, which do not degrade over time, adversely affects crop yields by decreasing microbial activit...

Despite their important role to offer multiple ecosystem services, throughout the history, wetlands were underestimated and were perceived as wastelands. Therefore, many wetland areas were drained and transformed into areas serving other purposes, e.g. farmlands, this process taking place even today. To assess the pressures exerted upon wetlands, t...

In this research, six different types of rice husk ash (RHA) were developed through various synthesis methods, in order to obtain a high concentration of silica for future applications in zeolite synthesis processes as a silicon base. The as-synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to calculate the elemental composition, b...

Considering the continued increase in demand for mining products used in industry along with the limitations of the existing resources, a possible solution is to capitalize mining residues and recover useful elements. Besides the economic aspect that arises with the recovery of secondary raw materials, the potential impact of these residues on the...

The Romanian wetland protection represents a priority confirmed by the Ramsar Convention signed in 1971, which came into effect from 1975. In order to develop the monitoring capacity, assessment and capitalization of natural resources offered by Romanian wetlands a pilot model was developed and implemented in the Danube Delta region. An important c...

Water shortage is encountered for increasing number of cases, due to climate change phenomena, population growth and urbanisation. Agriculture is the one of the main water use sector, which is why improving the efficiency of irrigation can be a sustainable solution. In this paper are presented the results of the statistical analysis performed with...

Biometrical data of the migrating population of Pontic shad Alosa immaculata Bennet from the Romanian sector of the Lower Danube is analysed. The surveys were done by the National Institute for Research and Development in Environmental Protection-Bucharest between 2011 and 2018 during the spawning migration. In total, 286 individuals have been exam...

In the Northern hemisphere, the interaction between warm air from medium latitudes and polar cold air largely determines the weather regime throughout the year. In recent years, the European continent has been affected by extreme phenomena, such as severe floods or prolonged droughts. In Romania, the heating phenomenon follows the same trend of evo...

Currently, the construction and demolition wastes are recovered and recycled in a reduced proportion. An efficient and easy approach to recover this waste is to embed it in inorganics binders. Considering that bricks represent porous ceramic bodies, the incorporation of the powders resulted from brick milling into cements could influence the water...

The National Institute for Research and Development in Environmental Protection Bucharest (INCDPM Bucharest), organized in the period of 11th-16th of July, 2018, under the aegis of the Ministry of Research and Innovation, the Expert Committee Meeting for validating the database collected by INCDPM Bucharest regarding the monitoring of sturgeon spec...

Ultrasonic tagging procedure of sturgeon used by INCDPM Team

Sturgeon monitoring system used in Danube by INCDPM Team

This paper attempts to determinate the optimal tilt angle and azimuth angle of an 100 kW photovoltaic power plant for a Bucharest region. Simulations were made with PVsyst V6.39 for south-east orientation (100; 450) and south-west orientation (100; 450), for the tilt angle the simulations were made at 100, 150, 370, 600 and 900. The simulation on 1...

Sturgeon are cartilaginous bony fish species appeared more than 200 million years ago. Four of this species are still found today in the Black Sea and the Danube River. Historical data and archaeological discoveries show that fishing for this species dates back more than 5000 years along the Danube. However, a multitude of anthropogenic factors has...

Considering that the wetlands represent valuable water resources, functioning as authentic natural filters for water decontamination; and improve local air quality; it can also constitute important reserves of vegetable biomass, fish, timber, firewood, etc., being thus essential the protection of the wetlands of international importance. Another va...

The ongoing project aims to create a national database on secondary reserves of mining waste materials, as mining residues are of interest due to their negative impact on the environment as evidenced by the formation of acid waters, pollution with heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg) and metalloids (As, Sb), mechanical instability phenomena, blocking...

This paper aims to assess the role of the snow water equivalent (SWE), on the genesis of the spring high waters within the S , us , it , a catchment (370 km2), located in eastern Romania, between Carpathian mountains and Romanian Plain. The analysis is performed with HEC-HMS software by using Soil Moisture Accounting (SMA) loss method coupled with...

https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2018/EGU2018-17918.pdf https://egu2018.eu/home.html

At the XVIth edition of PRO INVENT 2018, the INCDPM team presented 4 inventions (two in the field of renewable energy, one for the diagnosis of alkali-aggregate reactions in concrete and one for the redistribution of river flows between the river and its distributary) and a procedure for the monitoring of sturgeons by ultrasonic tagging.

Tourism suitability refers to a certain touristic potential development regarding an area, considering the natural environment resources, the existing infrastructure and the number of tourists that visit the area for a certain amount of time. Tourism suitability also indicates how tourism resources can be exploited in a given area. To determine tou...

This article presents the DROUGHTSAT project and its preliminary results related to the soil moisture accounting based on self-calibrated Palmer drought severity index and water use for irrigation in the main agricultural areas. The used data and methods consist in monthly temperature and precipitation amounts, from ECAD database covering 27 meteor...

Within this paper are evaluated some climatic factors which impact the hydrological responses in Susita catchment area. The Susita River is located in the Eastern part of Romania, between the Curvature Carpathians and the Lower Siret Plain, covering a surface of 370 km². The data used in this paper were provided by specialised institutions, such as...

The sewage network acts like a physical, chemical and biological reactor whe