A Wind-tunnel Study on Dust-deposition Mechanics and Validation of Dust-deposition Schemes

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Yaping Shao
• Subject Area: Atmospheric Science
• Term: from 2009 to 2013
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 146762109

To understand the mechanisms of dust deposition and to develop the capacity for its quantification are important to a range of earth-environment research fields, including global nutrient cycle and global climate change. Dust models have been under active development since the 1980s. A major challenge facing the dust modeling community is how dust deposition can be parameterized. This is a complex dynamic process involving a number of environmental factors. The lack of high-quality dust-deposition measurements and well-tested dust-deposition schemes and the large uncertainties in the dust-deposition predictions have been a serious bottle neck to the development of the entire research field. In this project, we plan to carry out a wind-tunnel study on dust deposition mechanisms. Dust concentration and dust-particle velocity will be measured using laser-based instruments for various particle-size groups, flow velocities and surface conditions. The wind-tunnel experiments will produce a benchmark data set for testing dust-deposition schemes. We plan to use the measurements to calibrate two existing dust-deposition schemes and examine the performances of these schemes in a dust modeling system.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants