A conceptual framework for connecting biology with meteorology in predicting atmospheric transport of biota

摘要

The aerobiology of the movement and dispersal of airborne organisms is positioned much like radar meteorology was 30 years ago. Remote sensing technologies under development several years ago are becoming available for routine measurements and may eventually be deployed in a network distributed throughout the Mississippi Flyway and along other "climatological" migratory pathways. In the not too distant future, aerobiologists using these technologies will routinely observe insect type, size characteristics, and direction and orientation of flight. These data, coupled with models of biota flight behavior in a thermally stratified atmosphere, will be linked with mesoscale numerical weather prediction models to produce accurate forecasts of location and timing of insect arrivals over agricultural lands.