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Environment

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Volume XIV |
Environment

Analysis of nitrogen dioxide levels in the atmosphere of cities in the Moldova Region, Romania

1,, 2, 3, 4

Abstract: The novelty of this study consists in the spatio-temporal analysis of the annual, seasonal, daily and hourly concentration values of the chemical pollutant NO2 , in the 8 counties of the Moldova – Romania Region (24 stations), over a period of 14 years (2009 – 2022), in close connection with its emission sources and with the geographical factors that can amplify or diminish it. The study is representative through the temporal consistency of the data series, through their number, and by the fact that it integrates three different sub-intervals that influenced the levels of NO2: two without restrictions, in which human activity was carried out normally (2009 – 2020 and 2021 – 2022) and one pandemic (centered on 2020) in which the population’s activity was restricted. The average annual concentrations of the pollutant NO2 exceeded the limit values only at the IS-1 station (41.5 μg/m3), due to the intense road traffic on the Red Bridge, the railway traffic and the high degree of urbanization of the indicated perimeter. The effective monthly, daily and hourly average values of NO2 emissions fell within the specific quality indices of excellent, very good and good throughout the studied interval. The maximum values of the concentration of this gas (127 μg/m3 – IS-1 / 17.02.2017) were recorded in winter, due to the intensification of road traffic and the production of thermal energy for heating houses. The specific meteorological conditions (thermal inversions, fog, calm atmosphere) and the local configuration of the relief (the Bahlui valley with a depressional corridor appearance), favored the accumulation and stagnation of the pollutant, without it exceeding the limit values according to Law no. 104/15 June 2011 and without endangering the health of the population. The study provides both an overview and a detailed picture of the atmospheric distribution of NO2 in the eight counties of Moldova and can represent a reporting support for other studies to be carried out in the field of air chemistry at the base of the atmosphere.

Keywords: , , ,
Full article 10.5775/fg.2025.3742.dDates:
Received: 06-11-2025 Accepted: 15-12-2025 Printed: 30-12-2025 Online: 30-12-2025
Affiliations:
  • 1 Doctoral School of Applied Sciences and Engineering, Doctoral Field of Geography, 13 Universității Street, 720 229 Suceava, Romania & Applied Geography Research Center (GeA), 13 Universității Street, 720 229 Suceava, Romania and Gymnasium School "Ion Creangă " Suceava, 1 December 1918 Boulevard, 720262 Suceava, Romania
  • 2 Applied Geography Research Center (GeA), 13 Universității Street, 720 229 Suceava, Romania and Gymnasium School No 4 Suceava, 10 Zorilor Street, 720237 Suceava, Romania
  • 3 Doctoral School of Applied Sciences and Engineering, Doctoral Field of Geography, 13 Universității Street, 720 229 Suceava, Romania and Applied Geography Research Center (GeA), 13 Universității Street, 720 229 Suceava, Romania and Faculty of History, Geography and Social Sciences, Department of Geography, „Stefan cel Mare“ University of Suceava, 13 Universității Street, 720 229 Suceava, Romania
  • 4 Applied Geography Research Center (GeA), 13 Universității Street, 720 229 Suceava, Romania and Faculty of History, Geography and Social Sciences, Department of Geography, „Stefan cel Mare“ University of Suceava, 13 Universității Street, 720 229 Suceava, Romania
Corresponding author:
  • nistorbobo@yahoo.com
Author contributions: All authors contributed to the conceptualization, methodology, design, and writing of this paper. Data collection was performed by NA and NB, analysis was performed by NA, NB, and MD, and graphical representations were prepared by NA, NB, MD, and BPI. The first draft of the manuscript was drafted by MD and written by NA and NB, and all authors discussed and provided input. All authors reviewed the manuscript and ultimately agreed on the version submitted for review and publication.Declaration of interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Citation:
APA 6 | Harvard 2008 | Turabian 6 | MLA 7
RIS | BibTeX
Funding: This work was supported by a NetZeroCities grant - https://netzerocities.eu/the-netzerocities-project/. NetZeroCities is part of the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, in support of the European Green Deal. At the same time, two of the authors (Nistor Alina and Mihăilă Dumitru) participated in activities within the mobility project no. PN-IV-P2-2.2-MC-2024-0927 (Program 5.2 - Human Resources, Subprogram 5.2.2 - Mobilities Mobility projects for researchers, Competition 2024), by participating in the Czech University of Life Science, Prague, Czech Republic, entitled "Assessment of air quality in the Moldova - Romania Region, based on the principles and monitoring technologies used by the Hydrometeorological Institute in Prague, Czech Republic" (November 16 - December 1, 2024)Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to the environmental specialists from the County Environmental Protection Agencies in the Moldova – Romania (Suceava, Botoșani, Iași, Neamț, Bacău, Vaslui, Galați, Vrancea) for providing hourly data for the pollutant NO2 from the 24 APM stations used in this analysis. We express our sincere gratitude to the editor and reviewers for their support in reviewing and publishing this article.
Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Forum geografic.
Provided under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License.
Open Access article.
Volume XIV |
Environment, Human and economic geography

Towards inclusive mechanization in rice farming: lessons from Central Vietnam

1,, 2, 2

Abstract: This study aims to analyze the benefits and barriers to mechanization application in rice farming in central Vietnam. A mixed methods approach was employed, based on 279 semi-structured interviews with rice farmers, four focus-group discussions and related secondary information. The study used the Perception Index formula and Likert scale items to compare large-scale rice farmers and small-scale rice farmers in relation to their mechanization activities and the associated perceptions. A gap exists between the demand for mechanization and its actual implementation, which comes from different benefits and barriers in rice farming. The differing Perception Index scores on benefits and barriers between two rice farmer groups suggest that production scale plays a crucial role in shaping the level of mechanization, as well as farmers’ perceptions of its advantages and barriers. The differences in rice farmers’ characteristics, habits, customs, and rice farming features have introduced new benefits and barriers to mechanization.

Keywords: , , , , ,
Full article 10.5775/fg.2025.3728.dDates:
Received: 30-07-2025 Accepted: 07-10-2025 Printed: 30-12-2025 Online: 30-12-2025
Affiliations:
  • 1 Nguyen Chi Thanh Political School, 266 Dien Bien Phu street, Hue City, Vietnam & University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University, 102 Phung Hung street, Hue City, Vietnam
  • 2 University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University, 102 Phung Hung street, Hue City, Vietnam
Corresponding author:
  • nguyenvanchung@hueuni.edu.vn
Author contributions: Theoretical framework and methodology, H.T.D and C.V.N.; data collection, H.T.D, C.V.N. and S.T.H.L; formal analysis, H.T.D and C.V.N.; original draft manuscript, H.T.D and C.V.N; finalizing the manuscript, H.T.D, C.V.N. and S.T.H.L.Declaration of interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Citation:
APA 6 | Harvard 2008 | Turabian 6 | MLA 7
RIS | BibTeX
Funding: This research is funded by Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED), under Grant number 504.05-2023.02.Acknowledgements: This work was partially supported by Hue University, under the Core Research Program, Grant number NCTB.DHH.2025.03
Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Forum geografic.
Provided under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License.
Open Access article.
Volume XIV |
Climatology, Environment

Rainfall deficit and excess within Oltenia region, Romania (1961-2020)

1,, 1, 2,

Abstract: Temporary rainfall deficit and excess impact both the natural environment and economic activities. Although rainfall does not display significant upward or downward trends in Central and Eastern Europe, global warming is expected to increase variability and associated risks. Thus, determining the annual and seasonal deviations of precipitation amounts at local scale is important in order to establish accurate trends of precipitation deficit and excess. We used 60-year time series (1961-2020) for 15 meteorological stations and a shorter series for one station (i.e., Slatina). The Standardized Precipitation Anomaly (SPA) indicates a predominance of normal years (32-50%), followed by dry and humid years, without an obvious latitudinal and altitudinal differentiation, while De Martonne aridity index (IaDM) emphasizes a latitudinal pattern: predominance of semi-humid years in the southern plain area, humid years in the northern plain area and the Getic Piedmont, very humid years in the Subcarpathians and extremely humid years in the mountains. Water deficit (IsDM < 20mm/°C) mainly affects the plain area during summer and autumn (50-60% of the seasons are arid and semiarid), but also the piedmont, where the share varies between 30 and 35%. Mann-Kendall (MK) test reveals the same pattern for annual values, namely, predominantly negative trends (statistically significant in the southwestern part of the region), which indicate an increase of both aridity and drought, including the higher hilly and mountain area. At seasonal level, autumn is the only period with positive, but not statistically significant trends, while in winter, spring and summer, trends are negative and statistically significant at certain stations. Consequently, drought-associated risks are projected to increase in the near future.

Keywords: , , , , ,
Full article 10.5775/fg.2025.1.3690Dates:
Received: 17-03-2024 Accepted: 28-04-2025 Printed: 30-06-2025 Online: 27-07-2025
Affiliations:
  • 1 University of Craiova, Faculty of Sciences, Geography Department, A. I. Cuza Street, no. 13, Craiova, 200585, Dolj, Romania
  • 2 Oltenia Regional Meteorological Center, National Meteorological Administration, Brestei Street, no. 3A, Craiova, 200581, Dolj, Romania
Corresponding author:
  • alina.vladut@edu.ucv.ro
Author contributions: All authors contributed to the conceptualization, methodology, design, and writing of the present paper. Data collection was performed by C.D.B. and F.I.D., analysis was performed by A.Ș.V. and the graphic representations were elaborated by M.L. The first draft of the manuscript was written by A.Ș.V., then all authors discussed and provided input. All authors reviewed the manuscript and agreed to its published version.Declaration of interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Citation:
APA 6 | Harvard 2008 | Turabian 6 | MLA 7
RIS | BibTeX
Funding: This research received no external funding.Acknowledgements: We express our cordial gratitude to the editor and reviewers, for their assistance in improving the manuscript. The authors are grateful to the National Meteorological Administration, for providing the site-specific mean monthly climatic data used for the present analysis and to the researchers at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, for providing the MAKESENS template for data processing.
Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Forum geografic.
Provided under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License.
Open Access article.
Volume XIV |
Environment, GIS and Remote Sensing

Applying impervious indices using Sentinel-2 data in semi-arid land (North-East Algeria)

1,

Abstract: The urban area estimation in dry and semi-dry climate, is still a difficult. Therefore, identify a reliable impervious index is critical. For that reason, Ain Azel city that located in semi-arid land of North-East Algeria, was the area of test of three impervious indices, namely: the Built-up Area Index (BAI), the Normalized Impervious Surface Index (NISI) and the Urban Area Index (UAI). These indices were derived from Sentinel-2 data and subjected to the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification method, to extract built-up area class. The accuracy assessment results showed that the Overall accuracy (Oa) of the NISI index achieved 92,67 %, which is a little less compared to the (Oa) of UAI index which is about 93.67 %. Based on this, the both indices provided satisfactory result, although the UAI index, relatively, overestimated the built-up area. However, the BAI index that use the Blue and Near-Infrared bands is sufficiently discriminative between highly similar of buildings materials and dry soil; the BAI index produced the accurate built-up mapping with well detection of road networks with (Oa) achieved 95.67% and the highest kappa coefficient which is about 86.54 %. This is due to BAI band’s degree of sensitivity and their high spatial resolution of 10 m. Consequently, the SVM segmentation-based BAI index worked well and the result is promising for accurate modeling of cities with same environment condition, for its sustainable development. However, the performance level evaluation of indices applied in this study, should be retested over different regions in dry land.

Keywords: , , , , ,
Full article 10.5775/fg.2025.1.3688Dates:
Received: 28-01-2025 Accepted: 21-06-2025 Printed: 30-06-2025 Online: 27-07-2025
Affiliations:
  • 1 École Normale Supérieure Messaoud Zeghar-Sétif, Teacher Education College of Setif Messaoud Zeghar, B.P.N 556 El Eulma 19600, Setif, Algeria
Corresponding author:
  • k.rouibah@ens-setif.dz
Declaration of interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Citation:
APA 6 | Harvard 2008 | Turabian 6 | MLA 7
RIS | BibTeX
Funding: This research received no external funding.Acknowledgements: I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their highly constructive comments that greatly improved the manuscript.
Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Forum geografic.
Provided under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License.
Open Access article.
Volume XIV |
Environment, Regional geography

Peasant perception of the importance of forests and local strategies for protecting forest spaces. Case study Central-West region of Burkina Faso

1,, 2

Abstract: Forest resources are subjected to various pressures that threaten their existence. This necessitates the development of a management policy to enhance their sustainability. The objective of this study was to contribute to the development of a sustainable forest management policy based on endogenous practices. Data were collected from 201 households living near these forests through survey questionnaires. The chi-square statistical test was used to determine the relationship between each sociodemographic variable and their perception of forest-related issues, and the Kramer’s V contingency coefficient was used to evaluate the intensity of this relationship. The results of these analyses provided a range of indicators of the importance of the studied forests as perceived by peasants, with the most significant factors being flora and fauna conservation and improvement of rainfall. Furthermore, the results revealed relationships between peasant perception and certain sociodemographic variables, ranging from weak to strong levels. Additionally, this study highlights strategies such as self-awareness, individual plantations within concessions, and the maintenance of forest firebreaks undertaken by these households to protect the forests they live nearby. One limitation of this study is the lack of investigation into the effectiveness of these strategies proposed by the residents of the studied forests. Therefore, it is recommended that the forest authorities conduct a study to assess the effectiveness of these strategies, which would lead to the popularization of proven approaches.

Keywords: , , , , ,
Full article 10.5775/fg.2025.1.3680Dates:
Received: 12-06-2023 Accepted: 22-04-2025 Printed: 30-06-2025 Online: 27-07-2025
Affiliations:
  • 1 Laboratory of Human and Social Sciences, Department of Geography, Norbert ZONGO University, Koudougou, Burkina Faso and University Center of Gaoua/ Nazi University BONI, Burkina Faso
  • 2 Laboratory of Human and Social Sciences, Department of Geography, Norbert ZONGO University, Koudougou, Burkina Faso
Corresponding author:
  • tiamiyukasimou@gmail.com
Author contributions: Conceptualization: Kasimou TIAMIYU and Isidore Pawendkisgou YANOGO; methodology: Kasimou TIAMIYU; formal analysis: Kasimou TIAMIYU; investigation: Kasimou TIAMIYU; writing— original draft preparation: Kasimou TIAMIYU and Isidore Pawendkisgou YANOGO; writing—review and editing, Isidore Pawendkisgou YANOGO. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.Declaration of interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Citation:
APA 6 | Harvard 2008 | Turabian 6 | MLA 7
RIS | BibTeX
Funding: This manuscript did not receive any external funding. The authors have personally covered the costs.Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank the municipal authorities of the study sites and the decentralized state services for their accessibility and support in providing data. They also express their gratitude to all the local communities living near the study forests for their sincere collaboration.
Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Forum geografic.
Provided under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License.
Open Access article.
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