ARS | Publication request: SOIL TEXTURE AND CARBONATE EFFECTS ON SUSPENDED DUST

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: November 1, 1999
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Dust aerosols produce adverse effects on human health and air quality. The development of control measures requires an understanding of the dust aerosols and how they are related with their source sediments. In this study we relate physical characteristics of the dust with the source samples. A Dust Generation, Analysis and Sampling System recently developed dwas used in this study. The system embodies a dust aerosol generating tube a laser particle size analyzer in the suspended dust transport section, and a dust settling chamber where dust plumes are monitored and sampled with different devices. In a first experiment the effect of soil texture, soil aggregate size, soil sample size and air flow on laboratory generated suspended dust from cropland soils was determined. The concentration of particulate matter with aerodynamics diameters less or equal to 10 microns (PM_10) was proportional to the sample size, was very different for the various aggregates sizes tested, and was extremely sensitive to the air flow. In a second experiment the effect of soil texture and soil carbonate content on dust aerosols was quantified. Visual analysis of the results indicates a significant variation in PM_10 concentration was produced by both the soil carbonate content and the soil texture.