Research Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences
University of Utah
Bio:
Derek is a Research Professor at the University of Utah's Department of Atmospheric Sciences. The general theme of Derek’s research is to better understand the fundamental processes that drive wildfire behavior, and exceptional air quality events, including wind-blown dust. Derek is particularly interested in developing tools to improve the short- and long-range predictability of wildfires and dust. Wildfires and wind-blown dust are societally relevant challenges with far-reaching impacts. Climate change is poised to fuel more intense wildfires and increase the frequency of wind-blown dust events in the coming decades. Land and water management issues, such as those seen with the Great Salt Lake, also pose significant challenges, particularly in the context of dust. Derek has been working on issues associated with the Great Salt Lake for almost a decade and was a recipient of the Friends of Great Salt Lake’s Doyle W. Stephens Scholarship in 2016.
Title: A user-friendly tool for estimating Great Salt Lake dust exposure for communities across Utah
Abstract: Dust from the shrinking Great Salt Lake (GSL) is a major concern for communities across northern Utah. Over the past 2 decades, GSL water levels have steadily declined exposing large areas of erodible lake bed to the atmosphere. The Wasatch Front is directly downwind of the GSL and is exposed to dust emitted from the dry shoreline. GSL water levels will continue to decline without strategic reductions in human and agricultural consumptive water use. There is a significant need for a tool that can estimate dust exposure from the GSL and identify target lake levels that yield the largest reductions in dust. The “Great Salt Lake Basin Dust Exposure Modeling Tool” estimates dust exposure from the GSL for various water level scenarios. This tool combines an atmospheric transport model with a dust emission algorithm that is constrained by measurements collected around the GSL. This tool simulates dust exposure for all communities in northern Utah and can estimate the fraction of dust originating from the GSL for any lake level between 4182 to 4203 ft. Dust from the GSL is often highest on the western sides of the Salt Lake, Davis, and Weber Counties, with PM2.5 concentrations reaching ~34 μg m-3, on average. Contributions of PM2.5 and PM10 from the GSL during dust storms can exceed 50% in many locations along the Wasatch Front. Dust exposure estimates for northern Utah are publicly available on a user-friendly, interactive webpage. This webpage was developed and continues to be supported by the University of Utah’s Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy.
