Transcript Atmospheric Aerosols as Indicators of Global

Atmospheric Aerosols as
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Indicators of
Global
Biogeochemical
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Rudolf
Husar
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Washington University
St. Louis, USA
Draft Presentation Prepared for the Induction into the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Budapest, June 23, 1998
The Physiology and Health Care
the Master
Earth System
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The physicians evaluate a patient’s health by measuring the
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temperature, pulse
rate, the cholesterol
level and other vital signs.
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For diagnosis, doctors
use many
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ultrasound scans, usually
in combination.
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The Earth is also like a living organism. According to the British
scientist James Lovelock, it has become necessary to monitor the
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health of planet Earth. The reason is that the physical and chemical
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state of the Earth’s –environment
is constantly changing.
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The Earth is physically• aging,
and at the same
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time evolution is changing– the
biosphere.
Some
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of the changes occur slowly in» aFifth
steady
and they are foreseeable. However, many biogeochemical changes occur quickly,
unexpectedly, and they unevenly distributed in
space and time. From human point of view,
many of these changes are catastrophic events.
Some of the changes, short and long term, are caused by human
activites and therefor can be influenced by control actions
Human Sensory-Motor Response to Changes
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Regardless whether the Earth is considered ‘healthy’ or ‘sick’, the
inevitable and unforeseeable environmental changes require the
following major steps:
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Decision making, action (management)
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Reasoning and
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explaining
(sciences)
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Sensing and recognition (monitoring)
The above three steps are the necessary conditions for sustainable
development. This is logical since all living organisms use this type
of sensory-motor feedback to maintain their existence.
DigitalEarth
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Sensing and Monitoring
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Today’s earth scientists evaluate the physiology of planet earth also
by monitoring•the
temperature,
dioxide,
biomass,
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cloudiness, and many other paramters as the vital signs of the
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interconnected Earth System.
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The observational instruments
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earth sciences include
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thermometers, chemical sampling
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Level of air, land and water, as
well as earth observing satellites.
Dust storms, forest fires, volcanic emissions and anthropogenic fuel
combustion are major biogeochemical processes that are visualized
by aerosols.
Major Biogeochemical Processes Visualized by Aerosols
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Dust storms •
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Fires
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Volcanoes
Anthropogenic pollution
These processes are producing visible aerosols in form of dust, smoke, and
haze. The quantity and spatial-temporal distribution of dust and smoke and haze
can be used to characterize the flow of substances through the atmosphere.
Satellite Detection of Aerosols
Just like the human eye, satellite sensors
detect the total amount of solar radiation that
is reflected from the earth’s surface (Ro) and
backscattered by
the atmosphere
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aerosol, pure air, and clouds. A simplified
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Leveldetected
expression for the relative
radiatioin
by a satellite sensor (I/I• o)Third
is: Level
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I 
   
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H  CLevel
DPS
Height Type Size Angle Shape
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-
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I / Io = Ro e + (1- e ) P
where  is the aerosol optical thickness
and P the angular light scattering
probability.
Today, geo-synchronous and polar
orbiting satellites can detect different
aspects of aerosols over the globe daily.
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dHdCdDdPdS
Explaining Change
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The basic elements of life including carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus,
calcium are in constant circulation between the earth’s major
environmental compartments: atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere,
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and biosphere. These earth’s compartments remain in balance as long
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as the rate of flow –ofSecond
matter and
energy in and out of the
compartments is unchanged.
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Changes in the environmental
compartments will occur if the» Fifth Level
circulation (in and out flow) of the
substances is perturbed. For example,
the concentration of atmospheric
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has
been increasing because the rate of
input is larger than the rate of output
from the atmosphere.
Recommendations: Global Aerosol Watch with GAIN
We recommend the establishment of an internet-based global aerosol watch system,
where a few experienced observers distributed all over the world would monitor the
daily aerosol pattern for interesting dust, smoke, or haze aerosol events. They would
utilize the publicly available on-line satellite, surface monitoring, and meteorological
modeling data provided by many countries.
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When an interesting event
would occur,
the relevant science and management
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communities would be alerted through a Global Aerosol Information Network
• communities
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(GAIN). Given the alert the
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and/or prepare the public for the– developing
risks. The GAIN system would also be
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internet-based
information resources.
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GAIN
Global
Aerosol
Information
Network
Biomass burning - biogeochemists
Aeolian dust - geologists
Vulcanologists
Radiative effects-Climate Change
Pollution monitoring- Control
Health effects