Yes. These are big marbles frozen in the shape of the collector trough. Inside that ice coating the marbles is the #dust that's part of our #SourceToSink research as part of the #CriticalZone Collaborative Network.

More about this instrument, the array of passive dust collectors we maintain, and beautiful views of #Utah and #Nevada in our video series The Collectors Tour: https://bit.ly/CollectorsTourPlaylist

#FieldworkFriday

The Collectors Tour

20 sites all around the Southwestern United States collect dust samples used by members of the Critical Zone Collaborative Network's Dust^2 Cluster. Travel a...

YouTube

Dust 6 Has been added to The Collectors Tour playlist.

See one of the longest-term sites in our long term research array.

#CriticalZone #EnvironmentalScience #Dust #SourceToSink #FieldworkFriday

https://bit.ly/CollectorsTourPlaylist

The Collectors Tour

20 sites all around the Southwestern United States collect dust samples used by members of the Critical Zone Collaborative Network's Dust^2 Cluster. Travel a...

YouTube

Just published in the Bulletin of the American #Meteorological Society.

Fascinating #dust #SourceToSink research from Lucia Mona, et. al.

"This paper provides an overview of the current dust observation capabilities considering the provision of user-oriented dust products and existing gaps focusing on the region of Northern Africa, the Middle East and #Europe."

#CriticalZone #EnvironmentalScience

https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/aop/BAMS-D-23-0005.1/BAMS-D-23-0005.1.xml?tab_body=pdf

OBSERVING MINERAL DUST IN NORTHERN AFRICA, THE MIDDLE EAST AND EUROPE: CURRENT CAPABILITIES AND CHALLENGES AHEAD FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF DUST SERVICES

Abstract Mineral dust produced by wind erosion of arid and semi-arid surfaces is a major component of atmospheric aerosol that affects climate, weather, ecosystems, and socio-economic sectors such as human health, transportation, solar energy, and air quality. Understanding these effects and ultimately improving the resilience of affected countries requires a reliable, dense, and diverse set of dust observations, fundamental for the development and the provision of skillful dust forecasts tailored products. The last decade has seen a notable improvement of dust observational capabilities in terms of considered parameters, geographical coverage, and delivery times, as well as of tailored products of interest to both the scientific community and the various end-users. Given this progress, here we review the current state of observational capabilities including in-situ, ground-based and satellite remote sensing observations, in Northern Africa, the Middle East and Europe for the provision of dust information considering the needs of various users. We also critically discuss observational gaps and related unresolved questions while providing suggestions for overcoming the current limitations. Our review aims to be a milestone for discussing dust observational gaps at a global level to address the needs of users, from research communities to non-scientific stakeholders.

AMETSOC

#Wind is such an important driver in the #SourceToSink movement of #dust in the #CriticalZone.

#Venti journal recently dedicated an entire issue to wind, filled with artistic interpretations of the study of #wind. Including this #Spotify playlist.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2jySXsyMqUwkg9TdndpUaW

Wind (Venti Journal, vol. 2, iss. 3)

Wind (Venti Journal, vol. 2, iss. 3) · Playlist · 22 songs

Spotify

#Drought is one of the ways more soil is exposed to air, which leads to #dust #transportation, exactly what we study in our #dust #SourceToSink research. (It's the source part.)

Find out more about drought and in Developing a Tool to Help Decision-Makers Navigate Complex Drought Scenarios, a Case Study by CART

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/29c00c82e2f146c5a01a7ebe489cf5c9

Developing a Tool to Help Decision-Makers Navigate Complex Drought Scenarios

Developing a Tool to Help Decision-Makers Navigate Complex Drought Scenarios

Esri

"Here, we present records of the...composition of sediments from...over the past ∼25 thousand years."

Fascinating paper from June 2023 by Wenfang Zhang, et. al.

This is #SourceToSink research in the #CriticalZone in #China and aligns with some of the the early findings from our Cluster projects.

#EnvironmentalScience #ScienceCommunications

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023GL103633

Great #dust research happening at #Yale is happening right alongside our work here in the Cluster.

"To understand the climate impact of airborne dust, she says scientists need accurate, location-specific data about the mineral composition of sand and dust across desert regions."

#CriticalZone #SourceToSink

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/07/scientists-investigate-the-climate-impact-of-airborne-dust/

Scientists investigate the climate impact of airborne dust

They’re using data from a high-tech instrument mounted to the International Space Station.

Yale Climate Connections

#Dust is one thing. Fugitive dust is something else, and something that the city of Albuquerque takes seriously and pays attention to, sometimes issuing shutdown notices for businesses and contractors generating dust due to poor air quality conditions.

Our #SourceToSink study of the movement of dust through the #CriticalZone helps local, state, and national governments plan and implement these public health warnings.

https://www.cabq.gov/airquality/air-quality-monitoring/trends/health-alert-information

Shutdown Notice and Health Alert Information

Information on what you can do if a Shutdown Notice or a Health Alert is called.

City of Albuquerque

#SourceToSink movement of #dust in the #CriticalZone is what we study every day. This recent paper from Tomonori Totani describes the research possibility in source to sink transport of dust through space.

"Grains ejected by asteroid impacts from exoplanets in the Milky Way and then travelling to the Solar System" could provide evidence of #extrasolar life.

We're always fascinated by the many ways dust influences the human experience.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369465042_Solid_grains_ejected_from_terrestrial_exoplanets_as_a_probe_of_the_abundance_of_life_in_the_Milky_Way

I'm starting an expedition thread on our MUDBENCS project, an oceanographic expedition to collect marine and fluvial mud, suspended sediment, and water from the Amazon River and coastal areas of Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana. I will add to this thread from time to time, so please #boost it freely if you think others would be interested in participating virtually in an oceanographic expedition.

Tonight, the ship R/V F. G. Walton Smith pushed off the dock in Miami heading to St. Thomas, to Trinidad, and the to Cayenne. The scientific party was not on board. Most will join it in about 13 days in Cayenne. I will lead a small party of us to transport frozen Amazon samples over land from Macapá, Brazil, through the savannas and rain forest of the Amazon basin to Cayenne, French Guiana. We will board the ship to begin our work on June 3.

#MUDBENCS
#CarbonCycle
#oceanography
#SouthAmerica
#Amazon
#ResearchVessel
#expedition
#ClimateChange
#RiverOceanTransport
#SourceToSink