Professor Joanna Bullard (Loughborough University)
- Date: Tuesday 8 February 2022, 14:00 – 15:00
- Location: Online
- Type: Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, Seminars, Earth and Environment
- Cost: N/A
Dust emission, transport and deposition in West Greenland – overview, seasonality, and implications for long-distance transport.
Speaker: Professor Joanna Bullard
Title: Dust emission, transport and deposition in West Greenland – overview, seasonality, and implications for long-distance transport.
Abstract: Estimates from field studies, remote sensing and modelling all suggest around 5% of global dust emissions originate in the high latitudes (≥50°N and ≥40°S), a similar proportion to that from the USA (excluding Alaska) or Australia. This dust can influence biogeochemical cycling as well as geomorphic, cryospheric and atmospheric processes. However, there are considerable uncertainties in this 5% estimate arising from the short-term, at-a-point nature of field studies, problems of viewing angle and cloud cover that limit remote sensing coverage, and assumptions incorporated in to models such as the impact of snow, ice and soil moisture on dust emissions. This talk will compare primary and secondary data relating to dust emissions from ice-free areas of Greenland. It will highlight what these data sources can tells us about contemporary dust emissions in this region but also consider their limitations. The relative importance of environmental drivers of dust emissions, such as wind speed, air temperature and sediment supply as well as the potential impacts and destinations (transport pathways) of the dust will also be discussed.
Bio: Joanna Bullard is Professor of Physical Geography at Loughborough University. Her main research focuses on sand dunes and dust storms in both hot (e.g. Australia) and cold (e.g. Greenland, Iceland) regions and she was the 2021 recipient of the European Geophysical Union Ralph Alger Bagnold Medal for geomorphology. She established the Leverhulme Trust-funded High Latitude Dust Network (2014-2018) and has recently completed a NERC-funded project examining the ecological effects of glacial dust deposition on remote Arctic lakes (2017-2021).