The Mitsui & Co. Environment Fund
Introduction to Grant Projects
Faculty of Environmental Science, Nagasaki University Associate Professor Kazuaki Kawamoto
Assessing the impact of the precipitation, etc., of "yellow sand" originating from East Asia on marine production processes
Research grant
- Project Description
One of the first places in which aerosols (colloids of fine solid particles or liquid droplets in air or other gas) originating from continental Asia affect Japan is on the seas off and around the islands of Nagasaki. In our study of the environmental impact of such substances, we first turn our attention to physical circulation of those seas. First, making use of ground/satellite data and the output of numerical modeling, we estimate atmospheric deposition by means of meteorological field analysis. Then, based on onsite marine measurements, we examine how such aerosols are transported and the manner in which they interact with the meteorological field. From there, we quantitatively estimate their impact on the primary production capacity of those waters.
- Fields
- Climate changeMarine resources/food
- Grant year
- FY2009 Research Grants
- Grant term
- 3 years
April 2010 - March 2013
- Grant amount
- 17,968,200 yen
- Activity region
- East China Sea in the vicinity of Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
Overview of the Organization
- Representative
- Associate Professor Kazuaki Kawamoto
- Profile
- Specialist fields
Atmospheric physics, satellite climatology
Affiliated academic societies
The Meteorological Society of Japan; American Geophysical Union
Background
Completed a Ph.D. physics (University of Tokyo) in 1999. Became a Research Scientist at NASA Langley Research Center, and took a position as Assistant at The Research Institute for Humanity and Nature. In 2002 became an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Environmental Science, Nagasaki University - WEB site
- http://www.env.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/
- Collaborating researchers
- Yu UMEZAWA, Associate Professor, Nagasaki University; Hideaki NAKATA, Professor, Nagasaki University
- Research record
- Observational study of cloud/aerosol interaction and its effect on climate
- (1) Kawamoto, K., T. Hayasaka: Geographical features of changes in surface shortwave irradiance in East Asia estimated using the potential radiative forcing index, 2010, Atmospheric Research 96 (2010), pp. 337-343. DOI information: 10.1016/j.atmosres.2009.09.016.
- (2) Kawamoto, K., Effect of precipitation on water cloud properties over China, 2008, Geophysical Research Letters, 35, L20811, doi:10.1029/2008GL035052.
- (3) Kawamoto, K., and T. Hayasaka, Relative contributions to surface shortwave irradiance over China: A new index of potential radiative forcing, 2008, Geophysical Research Letters, 35, L17809, doi:10.1029/2008GL035083.