Open Day at the FGBNU AFI

     An open day was held at the Agrophysical Research Institute on April 28. The Institute was visited by both leading researchers and students. The guests enjoyed an extensive program with visits to laboratories and master classes. A detailed acquaintance with the institute's works in a popular scientific style allowed some to open up new opportunities for cooperation, and others to find a potential place for future scientific work. The staff of the AFI Federal State Budgetary Budgetary Institution reacted with great enthusiasm to the open day and were glad to meet new colleagues from the Central Museum of Soil Science named after V.V. Dokuchaev, the A.F. Ioffe Institute of Physics and Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.

     The tour began with a welcoming speech by N. P. Buchkina, Deputy Director for Scientific Work. Employees of the Department of Physics, Physico-Chemistry and Biophysics of Soils, A.V. Dobrokhotov and D. P. Mukhina, introduced visitors to energy and mass transfer monitoring methods in an agricultural field, demonstrated an AMPAK device, a quadcopter with a thermal imaging camera and a stomatal conductivity measuring device. Kostetsky D. M. He conducted master classes on determining the concentration of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide in air samples using a gas chromatograph and on determining the sorption moisture of soils using a psychrometer. Moiseev K. G. spoke about determining the main hydrophysical characteristics of soils - the dependence of soil moisture on moisture pressure – on membrane presses

At the agroklimate laboratory, G.B. Ostapchuk introduced the guests to the work of computer geoinformation systems and radar methods used at the Institute to identify various components of closed drainage systems and to detect problem areas.

                  Visitors saw the UAVs available at the Institute and learned about the possibilities offered by their use in conjunction with hyperspectral cameras from Novikov AI

          In the Department of Plant Light Physiology and Agroecosystems Bio-productivity, a molecular genetic laboratory equipped with advanced equipment, which was toured by Brazhnik E. A., interested students as a promising place for industrial practice and further jobs. The X-ray method demonstrated by N. S. Paladkin allowed the guests to look "inside the seed" of various grain crops, cruciferous and walnut. The visitors got acquainted with the agrobiopoligon and a wide variety of crops grown on it: lettuce, tomatoes, watermelons, wheat and even exotic pepino. Panova G. G. spoke about the technologies of year-round highly productive cultivation of plants. Kuleshova T. E. and Karmanova O. I. were shown the possibilities of modeling sunlight for plants and creating bioelectrochemical systems, including amazing "electric flowers".

At the Laboratory of Biochemistry of soil and plant systems, Vertebny V. E. spoke in detail about the analytical methods and instrumentation of the institute, which allows analyzing a wide range of chemical, agrochemical, biochemical, and physical characteristics soils, plants, grains, fertilizers, water and feed.