• Site map
• About us
• K-State photo services
• Stock photos
• Inclement weather policy

 

 

Join us on facebook

 

 

Media Relations
Kansas State University
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6415
media@k-state.edu

Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

Source: Clenton Owensby, 785-532-7232, owensby@k-state.edu

Thursday, April 17, 2008

AGRICULTURAL ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION EXPERT TO PRESENT K-STATE'S KLING ANDERSON LECTURE

MANHATTAN -- Joseph Vaughan, an expert in the atmospheric transport of pollutants, will deliver Kansas State University's 17th annual Kling Anderson Lecture at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 23, in 1014 Throckmorton Hall.

His lecture, "Operational Near-/Real Time Atmospheric Dispersion Modeling for Scheduling Agricultural Field Burning in the Inland Northwest of Washington and Northern Idaho," is free and the public is welcome.

Vaughan is an assistant research professor of civil and environmental engineering in Washington State University's College of Engineering and Architecture. His current research on atmospheric transport of pollutants, at Washington State's Lab for Atmospheric Research, has an emphasis on such particulates as smoke and dust and includes air quality modeling, an air quality forecasting system, the ClearSky system for management of agricultural burning smoke, and remote sensing for regional air quality applications.

"The importance of grassland burning in the Kansas Flint Hills and the need to maintain high air-quality standards make Dr. Vaughan especially suited to deliver our annual Kling Anderson Lecture," said Clenton Owensby, K-State professor of agronomy.

Vaughan's lecture will discuss the ClearSky system for management of agricultural smoke, which is a near-real time atmospheric dispersion modeling system supporting scheduling of agricultural field burning in eastern Washington and northern Idaho.

With the ClearSky system, meteorological forecasts produced nightly using a weather model help predict the likely dispersion of field-burning smoke and the likely surface level of certain pollutant concentration. The ClearSky system also uses models to simulate the dispersion of smoke for field-burn scenarios, providing guidance for the next day's field-burning decisions. In addition, research at the Lab for Atmospheric Research also is working to incorporate the atmospheric pollutants from agricultural burning and from wind-blown dust, largely from agricultural soils, in its daily air-quality forecast.

The Kling Anderson Lectureship was created to honor the memory of longtime K-State agronomy professor Kling L. Anderson. Among his many accomplishments was pioneering research on fire effects in grasslands that served as a model for later research by hundreds of scientists. The lectureship was established to enhance training in range and forage management at K-State, providing the opportunity for students and faculty to interact with outstanding scholars.