Rain – UAV’s
ambience: UAV launch, motor
Voice: You’re ready?
We’re on an airstrip in Blacksburg, Virginia, where they’re launching an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle as part of study which may revolutionize our understanding of the weather. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.
Schmale: So I increase throttle to full power during take off, then during flight I’m decreasing to about a half.
My laboratory conducts research in the field of aerobiology, which is the study of the flow of life in the atmosphere.
David Schmale is an Associate professor in the Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology and Weed Science at Virginia Tech.
Schmale: One of our main research interests is understanding how microorganisms are transported over long distances in the atmosphere, and we use a variety of unique tools and technology particularly unmanned aerial vehicles or UAV’s. They’re equipped with microbe sampling devices. These devices allow us to actually collect samples of microorganisms from the lower atmosphere during flight.
The atmosphere is teeming with microbial life. Think about it. Every breath you take, you’re actually breathing in loads of microorganisms. Now, some of these microorganisms that are in the atmosphere are actually doing things there. They’re not just being transported from one place to another. It appears that some of these microorganisms are actually contributing to weather.
Schmale: There are these bacteria and also fungi that enable water to freeze at higher temperatures and thus have been implicated in a phenomenon known as bioprecipitation in other words, rain driven by a biological organism.
An increased understanding of the role of microbes in modulating weather could ultimately help us have better predictions of weather.
We’ll hear more about rain in future programs. Pulse of the Planet is made possible in part by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.