Dr. Katalin Somfalvi-Tóth - MATE Research
Overview
Katalin Somfalvi-Tóth is a meteorologist at the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Institute of Agronomy, Department of Agronomy at Kaposvár Campus.
Her research focuses firstly on the impact of climate change on the production environment and crop productivity, secondly on modelling the spread of invasive pests based on environmental factors, thirdly on the integration of advanced mathematical techniques into agricultural research, and lastly on modelling of severe wet snow accretion on overhead transmission lines. Her expertise lies in agrometeorology, agroclimatology, big data analysis, advanced mathematical and statistical methods and modelling.
Katalin Somfalvi-Tóth's work contributes to questions of how the consequences of climate change influence agricultural production in the past and the future.
Her theoretical work examines how plants respond to biotic and abiotic stressors like heat and water stress and physical damage due to pest activity. Furthermore, she models the environmental factors in global and regional climate models using different climate scenarios to study those challenges that must be faced in future agricultural production. Katalin Somfalvi-Tóth has collaborated with Weather Intelligence for Renewable Energies (WIRE), Action ES-1002 of European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST – ES1002) and Measuring and forecasting atmospheric icing on structures, Action 727 of European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST-727) research groups across Europe and worldwide, and she has successfully applied for the ÚNKP-20-4-II. research grant nationally. She won the prestigious Róna Zsigmond Youth grant and was awarded the Young Meteorologist of the Year in 2022.
She is an Associate Editor of the Légkör, Quarterly Journal of the HungaroMet Kft. (formerly Hungarian Meteorological Service).
Research keywords:
Publications
Somfalvi-Tóth K., Jócsák I., Pál-Fám F. (2024): Verification study on how macrofungal fruitbody formation can be predicted by artificial neural network. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 14 (1): 278. doi: https://10.1038/s41598-023-50638-8
Somfalvi-Tóth K., Hoffmann R., Jócsák I., Pitz A., Keszthelyi S. (2024) Comparison of Juvenile Development of Maize and Sorghum in Six Temperate Soil Types under Extreme Water Regimes. AGRONOMY, 14 (4): 862. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14040862
Pónya Zs., Somfalvi-Tóth K. (2022): Modelling biophoton emission kinetics based on the initial intensity value in Helianthus annuus plants exposed to different types of stress. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 12 (1): 2317. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06323-3
Keszthelyi, S., Fehér, B., Somfalvi-Tóth, K. (2019): Worldwide distribution and theoretical spreading of Trichoferus campestris (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) depending on the main climatic elements. ENTOMOLOGICAL SCIENCE, 22: 339–352. https://doi.org/10.1111/ens.12375
Keszthelyi S., Kazinczi G., Somfalvi-Tóth K. (2022): Geographical dispersion of ragweed leaf beetle (Ophraella communa) based on climatic and biological characters in the Palearctic habitats. AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST ENTOMOLOGY, 25(2): 165-185. https://doi.org/10.1111/afe.12541
Projects
GINOP-2.3.4-15-2016-00005 project, “Development of agricultural technologies adapted to the climatic changes among intensive production to achieve sustainable agriculture and food production"
Climate change poses significant challenges to the domestic agricultural sector. Its medium- and long-term effects are difficult to predict but definitely threaten the safe and profitable production of food raw materials. Consequently, it was imperative to develop crop, livestock and feed technologies and technological variants that could be applied in the context of rapidly changing climatic conditions. It was imperative to examine the entire production chain, from farm to fork, to identify critical points and guarantee the quantity and quality of plant and animal products produced in a manner that ensures food and feed safety. https://palyazatok.uni-mate.hu/web/mate-p%C3%A1ly%C3%A1zatok/GINOP-2.3.4-15-2016-00005
EFOP 3.6.2-16-2017-00018, “Let’s Produce with nature − agro-forestry as a new break-through opportunity"
Agroforestry systems represent a form of farming wherein the cultivation of woody vegetation, agricultural crops, and the rearing of livestock are interlinked in time or space. For nearly three decades, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) has been engaged in research on a diverse range of agroforestry issues. The project facilitated the domestic adaptation of agroforestry systems.
https://projektek.uni-sopron.hu/efop-362-018
Weather Intelligence for Renewable Energies (WIRE), Action ES-1002 of European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST – ES1002)
Due to climate change and shrinking fossil resources, the transition to more and more renewable energy shares is unavoidable. But, as wind and solar energy is strongly dependent on highly variable weather processes, increased penetration rates will also lead to strong fluctuations in the electricity grid which need to be balanced. this Action will have two main lines of activity: first develop dedicated post-processing algorithms coupled with weather prediction models and measurement data especially remote sensing observations; second investigate the difficult relationship between the highly intermittent weather dependent power production and the energy distribution towards end users.
https://www.cost.eu/actions/ES1002/
