Agriculture & Horticulture

Biography

Biography: Lorenzo Labrador

Abstract

The World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) Programme coordinates high-quality observations of atmospheric composition from global to local scales with the aim to drive high-quality and high-impact science while co-producing a new generation of products and services. Exposure to atmospheric ozone is a major factor in crop yield  losses in many countries, resulting in billions of US $ in losses and having implications for future food security. Likewise deposition of excess atmospheric nitrogen can result in eutrophication of freshwater bodies, with potential impacts on the health of  water bodies  used for irrigation. Conversely, agriculture is the single largest contributor of ammonia pollution as well as emitting other nitrogen compounds, some of which can make it into the atmosphere and be deposited, potentially affecting crops elsewhere. To better understand and address the issues posed by deposition of atmospheric pollutants, WMO has a mandate to produce global maps of wet, dry and total atmospheric deposition for important atmospheric chemicals to enable research into biogeochemical cycles and assessments of ecosystem, food security and  human health effects. The most suitable scientific approach for this activity is the emerging technique of measurement-model fusion for total atmospheric deposition. This technique requires global scale measurements of atmospheric trace gases, particles, precipitation composition and precipitation depth, as well as predictions of the same from global/regional chemical transport models. The fusion of measurement and model results requires data assimilation and mapping techniques.