scholarly journals Large-Scale Atmospheric Dispersal Simulations Identify Likely Airborne Incursion Routes of Wheat Stem Rust Into Ethiopia

2017 ◽  
Vol 107 (10) ◽  
pp. 1175-1186 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Meyer ◽  
L. Burgin ◽  
M. C. Hort ◽  
D. P. Hodson ◽  
C. A. Gilligan

In recent years, severe wheat stem rust epidemics hit Ethiopia, sub-Saharan Africa’s largest wheat-producing country. These were caused by race TKTTF (Digalu race) of the pathogen Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, which, in Ethiopia, was first detected at the beginning of August 2012. We use the incursion of this new pathogen race as a case study to determine likely airborne origins of fungal spores on regional and continental scales by means of a Lagrangian particle dispersion model (LPDM). Two different techniques, LPDM simulations forward and backward in time, are compared. The effects of release altitudes in time-backward simulations and P. graminis f. sp. tritici urediniospore viability functions in time-forward simulations are analyzed. Results suggest Yemen as the most likely origin but, also, point to other possible sources in the Middle East and the East African Rift Valley. This is plausible in light of available field surveys and phylogenetic data on TKTTF isolates from Ethiopia and other countries. Independent of the case involving TKTTF, we assess long-term dispersal trends (>10 years) to obtain quantitative estimates of the risk of exotic P. graminis f. sp. tritici spore transport (of any race) into Ethiopia for different ‘what-if’ scenarios of disease outbreaks in potential source countries in different months of the wheat season.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliet Biggs ◽  
Atalay Ayele ◽  
Tobias P. Fischer ◽  
Karen Fontijn ◽  
William Hutchison ◽  
...  

AbstractOver the past two decades, multidisciplinary studies have unearthed a rich history of volcanic activity and unrest in the densely-populated East African Rift System, providing new insights into the influence of rift dynamics on magmatism, the characteristics of the volcanic plumbing systems and the foundation for hazard assessments. The raised awareness of volcanic hazards is driving a shift from crisis response to reducing disaster risks, but a lack of institutional and human capacity in sub-Saharan Africa means baseline data are sparse and mitigating geohazards remains challenging.


1997 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 476-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Camps ◽  
J. Massons ◽  
M. R. Soler ◽  
E. C. Nickerson

Abstract. A three-dimensional meteorological model and a Lagrangian particle dispersion model are used to study the effects of a uniform large-scale wind on the dispersion of a non-reactive pollutant in a coastal region with complex terrain. Simulations are carried out both with and without a background wind. A comparison between model results and measured data (wind and pollutant concentrations) indicates that the coupled model system provides a useful mechanism for analyzing pollutant dispersion in coastal regions.


1974 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 95 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Falvey

Atlantic-type continental margins are formed by rifting and subsequent breakup of continents by sea-floor spreading. Large scale horizontal displacements of continental blocks on lithospheric plates are well-described by current plate tectonic theory. However, the rifting process itself entails vertical tectonics which operate prior to breakup, and such processes are not well understood within the framework of plate tectonic theory.The qualitative models, at present described in the literature involve a sequence of events illustrated by type examples: the East African Rift; the ethiopian-Afar Rift; the Red Sea Rift; and the Gulf of Aden. The thinning and subsidence of the continental crust during rifting have been considered to be the result of crustal stretching. However the writer considers the evidence ambiguous and the theory inadequate. The model presented here involves the response of the crust and the lithosphere to thermal processes implicit in plate tectonic theory. Firstly, uplift is caused by thermal expansion and phase-boundary migration in the lithosphere. which leads to crustal thinning by erosion. Secondly, subsidence is caused by metamorphism in the deep crust. These events occur out of phase and result in two cycles of uplift/erosion/and subsidence during continental margin formation.From this generalised model, theoretical time-stratigraphic and structural cross sections may be constructed to suit the different continental margins. These cross sections are composed of different litho-tectonic elements, namely: pre-rift, rift valley, and post breakup, which are in general separated by two angular unconformities. These features may be readily identified on Atlantic continental margins with only a minimum of seismic and well control.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 9887-9898 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Rigby ◽  
A. J. Manning ◽  
R. G. Prinn

Abstract. We present a method for estimating emissions of long-lived trace gases from a sparse global network of high-frequency observatories, using both a global Eulerian chemical transport model and Lagrangian particle dispersion model. Emissions are derived in a single step after determining sensitivities of the observations to initial conditions, the high-resolution emissions field close to observation points, and larger regions further from the measurements. This method has the several advantages over inversions using one type of model alone, in that: high-resolution simulations can be carried out in limited domains close to the measurement sites, with lower resolution being used further from them; the influence of errors due to aggregation of emissions close to the measurement sites can be minimized; assumptions about boundary conditions to the Lagrangian model do not need to be made, since the entire emissions field is estimated; any combination of appropriate models can be used, with no code modification. Because the sensitivity to the entire emissions field is derived, the estimation can be carried out using traditional statistical methods without the need for multiple steps in the inversion. We demonstrate the utility of this approach by determining global SF6 emissions using measurements from the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) between 2007 and 2009. The global total and large-scale patterns of the derived emissions agree well with previous studies, whilst allowing emissions to be determined at higher resolution than has previously been possible, and improving the agreement between the modeled and observed mole fractions at some sites.


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 18417-18478 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. E. Fuelberg ◽  
D. L. Harrigan ◽  
W. Sessions

Abstract. The Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) mission was a multi-aircraft project whose major objective was to investigate the factors driving changes in the Arctic's atmospheric composition and climate. It was conducted during April and June–July 2008. The summer ARCTAS deployment was preceded by a week of flights over and around California to address state issues of air quality and climate forcing. This paper focuses on meteorological conditions during the ARCTAS Spring and Summer campaigns. We examine mission averaged large-scale flow patterns at the surface, 500 hPa, and 300 hPa and determine their departures from climatology. Results from runs of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model are used to describe meteorological conditions on individual days. Our WRF configuration included a nested grid approach that provided horizontal spacing as small as 5 km. Trajectories calculated from the WRF output are used to determine transport pathways to the Arctic, including their origins and the altitudes at which they reach 70° N. We also present backward trajectories from selected legs of individual ARCTAS flights. Finally, the FLEXPART particle dispersion model, with the high resolution WRF data as input, is used to determine the paths of anthropogenic and biomass burning-derived CO. Results show that there was frequent and widespread transport to the Arctic during both phases of ARCTAS and that the three ARCTAS aircraft sampled air having a multitude of origins, following a myriad of paths, and experiencing many types of meteorological conditions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milan Lazecky ◽  
Yasser Maghsoudi Mehrani ◽  
Scott Watson ◽  
Yu Morishita ◽  
John Elliott ◽  
...  

<p>Looking Into the Continents from Space with Synthetic Aperture Radar (LiCSAR) is a system built for large-scale interferometric processing of Sentinel-1 data. LiCSAR automatically produces geocoded wrapped and unwrapped interferograms combining every acquisition epoch with four preceding epochs, and complementary data (coherence, amplitude, line-of-sight unit vectors, digital elevation model, metadata, and atmospheric phase screen estimates by the Generic Atmospheric Correction Online Service, GACOS).</p><p>The LiCSAR products are generated in frame units where a standard frame covers ~220x250 km, at 0.001° resolution (WGS-84 coordinate system). Frames are continuously updated for tectonic and volcanic priority areas. In 2020, the LiCSAR system covered about 1,500 global frames in which we have processed over 89,000 Sentinel-1 acquisitions and generated over 300,000 interferograms. Among these, 470 frames cover 1,024 global volcanoes. We aim to cover the global seismic mask defined by the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), but focus initially on the Alpine-Himalayan belt and East African Rift.</p><p>We serve the products as open and freely accessible through our web portal: https://comet.nerc.ac.uk/comet-lics-portal and aim to provide them to shared infrastructures as the European Plate Observing System (EPOS). We also generate rapid response coseismic interferograms for earthquakes with moment magnitude (Mw)> 5.5  a few hours after the postseismic data become available, and we update frames covering active volcanoes twice per day.</p><p>Our products can be directly converted to displacement time series and velocities using  the LiCSBAS time series analysis software. We present solutions implemented in LiCSAR, and show several case studies that use LiCSAR and LiCSBAS products to measure tectonic and volcanic deformation.</p><p><img src="https://contentmanager.copernicus.org/fileStorageProxy.php?f=gnp.1c122b867cff59390830161/sdaolpUECMynit/12UGE&app=m&a=0&c=02895a62108de9393057db6a355e3b06&ct=x&pn=gnp.elif&d=1" alt=""></p>


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 15891-15957 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Vigouroux ◽  
F. Hendrick ◽  
T. Stavrakou ◽  
B. Dils ◽  
I. De Smedt ◽  
...  

Abstract. Formaldehyde (HCHO) columns have been retrieved from ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) campaign measurements in 2004 and 2007 and from UV-Visible MAX-DOAS measurements in 2004–2005 at the NDACC site of Réunion Island (21° S, 55° E). The FTIR and MAX-DOAS daily mean formaldehyde total columns are intercompared in their common measurement period, from August to October 2004. The ground-based data are also compared to correlative SCIAMACHY data. The comparisons account for the vertical sensitivity differences of the data sets, by including their respective averaging kernels. Complete error budgets are also presented. The FTIR and MAX-DOAS daily mean total columns agree very well: no significant bias is observed and the standard deviation of the comparisons is only 8%. Both FTIR and MAX-DOAS HCHO total columns are in good agreement with SCIAMACHY values in the 2004–2005 period, with standard deviations of 21% and 31%, respectively. The same seasonal cycle is observed by the different instruments, with a minimum in austral winter and a maximum in February–March. The FTIR and MAX-DOAS data are confronted with HCHO columns calculated by a global CTM, the IMAGES model. The model underestimates the HCHO columns by 23–29% in comparison with FTIR, and by 15% in comparison with DOAS. This bias might have multiple causes, including an underestimation of OH concentrations in the model (as indicated by a sensitivity study using prescribed OH fields) and/or an underestimated contribution of large-scale transport of HCHO precursors from Madagascar. The latter hypothesis is comforted by the large observed day-to-day variability of HCHO columns, and by the observation that the peak values of FTIR columns can often be associated with free tropospheric transport patterns from source regions over Madagascar to Réunion Island, according to simulations performed with the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1599-1649 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Inghilesi ◽  
L. Ottolenghi ◽  
A. Orasi ◽  
C. Pizzi ◽  
F. Bignami ◽  
...  

Abstract. The aim of this study was to determine the dispersion of passive pollutants associated with the Tiber discharge into the Tyrrhenian Sea using numerical marine dispersion models and satellite data. Numerical results obtained in the simulation of realistic discharge episodes were compared with the corresponding evolution of the spatial distributions of MODIS diffuse light attenuation coefficient at 490 nm (K490), and the results were discussed with reference to the local climate and the seasonal sub-regional circulation regime. The numerical model used for the simulation of the sub-tidal circulation was a Mediterranean sub-regional scale implementation of the Princeton Ocean Model (POM), nested in the large-scale Mediterranean Forecasting System. The nesting method enabled the model to be applied to almost every area in the Mediterranean Sea and also to be used in seasons for which imposing climatological boundary conditions would have been questionable. Dynamical effects on coastal circulation and on water density due to the Tiber discharge were additionally accounted for in the oceanographic model by implementing the river estuary as a point source of a buoyant jet. A Lagrangian particle dispersion model fed with the POM current fields was then run, in order to reproduce the effect of the turbulent transport of passive tracers mixed in the plume with the coastal flow. Two significant episodes of river discharge in both Winter and Summer conditions were discussed in this paper. It was found that the Winter regime was characterized by the presence of a strong coastal jet flowing with the ambient current. In Summer the prevailing wind regime induces coastal downwelling conditions, which tend to confine the riverine waters close to the shore. In such conditions sudden wind reversals due to local weather perturbations, causing strong local upwelling, proved to be an effective way to disperse the tracers offshore, moving the plume from the coast and detaching large pools of freshwater.


2000 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 675-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. K. Bailey ◽  
J. D. Collier

AbstractItalian carbonatites form part of a suite with melilitites, normally an association characteristic of continental interiors; the perfect analogue of the Italian suite being the kamafugites (from the type area in SW Uganda, where the western branch of the East African Rift Zone cuts across the craton). The latter are commonly attributed to plume generation, whereas the Italian carbonatites, strung along the Appennine front, are usually linked to subduction. Evidently these two mechanisms are not essential, since neither can apply in both provinces. This conclusion is re-inforced by the related magmatism registered in both provinces in the Cretaceous. Phlogopite is ubiquitous in the mantle debris, and compositions from the two provinces overlap. Xenolithic phlogopites are distinct from cognate micas in the lavas, and from the carrier melt compositions, with similar distribution patterns in both suites. Kamafugitic magmas must be products of exceptional conditions, and added to the many near-identical magmatic features, the Italian and Ugandan volcanoes have sampled similar mantle conditions. Although the large scale geodynamic regimes are in total contrast, as are the deep mantle tomographic structures, the crucial common factor at the igneous province level is extensional tectonics. Extension, promoting release of volatiles (esp. CO2), is the vital trigger for this small volume, primary magmatism.


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (24) ◽  
pp. 9523-9544 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Vigouroux ◽  
F. Hendrick ◽  
T. Stavrakou ◽  
B. Dils ◽  
I. De Smedt ◽  
...  

Abstract. Formaldehyde (HCHO) columns have been retrieved from ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) campaign measurements in 2004 and 2007 and from UV-Visible MAX-DOAS measurements in 2004–2005 at the NDACC site of Réunion Island (21° S, 55° E). The FTIR and MAX-DOAS daily mean formaldehyde total columns are intercompared in their common measurement period, from August to October 2004. The ground-based data are also compared to correlative SCIAMACHY data. The comparisons account for the vertical sensitivity differences of the data sets, by including their respective averaging kernels. Complete error budgets are also presented. The FTIR and MAX-DOAS daily mean total columns agree very well: no significant bias is observed and the standard deviation of the comparisons is only 8%. Both FTIR and MAX-DOAS HCHO total columns are in good agreement with SCIAMACHY values in the 2004–2005 period, with standard deviations of 21% and 31%, respectively. The same seasonal cycle is observed by the different instruments, with a minimum in austral winter and a maximum in February–March. The FTIR and MAX-DOAS data are confronted with HCHO columns calculated by a global CTM, the IMAGES model. The model underestimates the HCHO columns by 23–29% in comparison with FTIR, and by 15% in comparison with DOAS. This bias might have multiple causes, including an underestimation of OH concentrations in the model (as indicated by a sensitivity study using prescribed OH fields) and/or an underestimated contribution of large-scale transport of HCHO precursors from Madagascar. The latter hypothesis is comforted by the large observed day-to-day variability of HCHO columns, and by the observation that the peak values of FTIR columns can often be associated with free tropospheric transport patterns from source regions over Madagascar to Réunion Island, according to simulations performed with the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART.


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