Dust Emission, Effect Assessment and Control in Degraded Drylands of East Asia

Dust emissions and sandstorms are international desertification problems. They cause damage to drylands, including those in Mongolia and China, and Japan is affected by Asian dust. The goal of this project is to assess the dust effects on human health and environments, to elucidate the dust emission and sandstorm mechanisms, and to develop mitigation techniques.

Dust Emission Group

1．Gain a deeper understanding of the aerodynamic and physical influences on grassland vegetation during wind erosion and dust emission processes
2．Conduct vegetation modeling of seasonal growth and decay and of the impact of grazing
3．Scale known relationships upwards to create a regional model
4．Quantify the critical parameters affecting dust emissions by using remote-sensing techniques
5．Conduct integrated wind-erosion modeling that incorporates a grassland aeolian database and a vegetation model

Effect Assessment Group

1．Study the effects of dust on human health
*Effects in Japan (allergy, microorganisms)
*Effects in source areas (long-term effects of Asian dust storms in Mongolia)
2．Analyze the effects of dust on human activity
*Chronic effects of dust on animals
*Livestock poisoning related to desertification in Mongolia
3．Evaluate the effects of dust on ecosystems (with the DSS Control Group)
4．Study the effects of dust on agriculture and livestock farming in dust source areas
*Effect of dust on agriculture and livestock farming
*Effect of climate change (drought) on agriculture and livestock farming

Dust and Sandstorm(DSS) Control Group

1．Review measures to reduce wind erosion and evaluate the effects of measures (with the Dust Emission Group)
2．Develop sustainable measures to control dust and sandstorms
*Evaluate the restoration of original vegetation
*Develop effective planting technologies for native plant species
3．Assess the effect of dust on natural ecosystems (with the Effect Assessment Group)

Project Leader: Norikazu YAMANAKA (Dust and Sandstorm Control Group)
Project Sub-leader: Masato SHINODA (Dust Emission Group)

Research Group (group leader *)

Dust Emission Group

Masato SHINODA * (Professor, ALRC, Tottori University)
Reiji KIMURA (Associate Professor, ALRC, Tottori University)
Masao MIKAMI (Director, Meteorological Research Institute,  Japan Meteorological Agency)

Effect Assessment Group

Youichi KUROZAWA * (Professor, Faculty fo Medicine, Tottori University)
Shinji OTANI (Visiting Associate Professor, ALRC, Tottori University)
Atsushi TSUNEKAWA (Professor, ALRC, Tottori University)

Dust and Sandstorm(DSS) Control Group

Norikazu YAMANAKA * (Professor, ALRC, Tottori University)
Takeshi TANIGUCHI (Assistant Professor, ALRC, Tottori University)
Dai NAGAMATSU (Associate Professor, Faculty of Regional Sciences, Tottori University)
Fukuju YAMAMOTO (Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University)
Toshihiko KINUGASA (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University)