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The first international journal on
wind erosion research will begin publishing soon. Dust–soil eroded by the
wind–is a major problem for agriculture and public health. Photo
courtesy of the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
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New International Wind Erosion Journal Launched
By Don
Comis October 21, 2008
The first international journal focusing on wind erosion research will
begin publication in 2009.
Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) soil scientist
Ted M.
Zobeck is the president-elect of the newly formed
International Society for Aeolian
Research and co-editor-in-chief of its new quarterly Elsevier journal, "Aeolian Research."
Zobeck works at the ARS
Wind Erosion
and Water Conservation Research Unit in Lubbock, Texas. His colleague,
Jeff Lee
of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, is the
other co-editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed journal.
"Aeolian research" refers to winds' ability to shape the Earth's
surface. It comes from the name of the Greek god Aeolus, the keeper of the
winds. As obscure as the name sounds, aeolian research deals with the type of
problems exemplified by America's Dust Bowl days.
Dust storms occur regularly around the world and can affect people's
respiratory health and daily lives in many ways, including causing massive
traffic accidents by obscuring visibility. The sculpting of the earth by wind
is spectacularly visible in sand dune formations.
Aeolian research ranges from the study of dunes and dust emissions to
global soil transport, pesticide movement, desertification, global warming and
acid rain.
The first research paper on aeolian processes was written in 1646 to
investigate a dark-red rain that fell in Belgium.
Aeolian researchers include agricultural specialists and engineers,
soil and vegetation scientists, geographers and climatologists, among other
disciplines.
Zobeck announced the new society and journal at this month's joint
meeting of the Geological Society of
America, the Soil Science Society of
America, the American Society of
Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of
America, the Gulf Coast Association of
Geological Societies, and the Gulf Coast
Section of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists.
ARS is a scientific agency within the
U.S. Department of
Agriculture.
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