Restoring desert crusts may control dust pollution better than spraying water
The second most frequent cause of roadway accidents in Arizona is dust storms, while each year thousands of people get sick from wind-transmitted fungal infections. An ASU research team is working on advances in dust control methods to help reduce these threats to life and health, including testing ways to grow back the “skin” of desert soils, which can prevent winds from scooping up dust. Fulton Schools Professor Edward Kavazanjian, director of the Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics, is working on the project with Professor Matthew Fraser, a colleague in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, part of the Fulton Schools.