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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

An investigation of widespread ozone damage to the soybean crop in the upper Midwest determined from ground-based and satellite measurements by Jack Fishman et al.,

Atmospheric Environment, 44(18) (2011) 2248-2256; doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2010.01.015 



An investigation of widespread ozone damage to the soybean crop in the upper Midwest determined from ground-based and satellite measurements

Jack FishmanaCorresponding Author Contact InformationE-mail The Corresponding AuthorJohn K. CreilsonabPeter A. ParkercElizabeth A. AinsworthdG. Geoffrey ViningeJohn SzarkaeFitzgerald L. Bookerf and Xiaojing Xua
a Science Directorate, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
b Dept. of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
c Systems Engineering Directorate, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
d USDA-ARS Photosynthesis Research Unit and Dep. of Plant Biology, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
e Department of Statistics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ., Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
f USDA-ARS Plant Science Research Unit and Dept. of Crop Science, North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Received 16 November 2009;  
revised 13 January 2010;  
accepted 14 January 2010.  
Available online 20 February 2010.


Abstract


Elevated concentrations of ground-level ozone (O3) are frequently measured over farmland regions in many parts of the world. While numerous experimental studies show that O3 can significantly decrease crop productivity, independent verifications of yield losses at current ambient O3 concentrations in rural locations are sparse. In this study, soybean crop yield data during a 5-year period over the Midwest of the United States were combined with ground and satellite O3 measurements to provide evidence that yield losses on the order of 10% could be estimated through the use of a multiple linear regression model. Yield loss trends based on both conventional ground-based instrumentation and satellite-derived tropospheric O3 measurements were statistically significant and were consistent with results obtained from open-top chamber experiments and an open-air experimental facility (SoyFACE, Soybean Free Air Concentration Enrichment) in central Illinois. Our analysis suggests that such losses are a relatively new phenomenon due to the increase in background tropospheric O3 levels over recent decades. Extrapolation of these findings supports previous studies that estimate the global economic loss to the farming community of more than $10 billion annually.

2 comments:

10in10Diet.com said...

This made me wonder if there's good ozone up high, protecting us from UV light and bad ozone close to the ground, interfering with plant growth. Sure enough: http://www.epa.gov/oaqps001/gooduphigh/

Tenney Naumer said...

Yes, this is true.