A recent caller asked about dust and other pollutants in the atmosphere. Believe it or not, there is actually a branch of science that specifically studies these phenomena. Koniology is the study of atmospheric dust and other suspended impurities such as germs, pollen, mold spores, etc. Instruments used include the koniscope which indicates particles in the atmosphere and konimeter which, with the aid of a microscope, identifies the particle content in a sample of air. The research could help determine the impacts of air pollution or the pathways for the spread of disease. It could also help determine how much particulate material was added to the atmosphere by the recent winds.
Mary Knapp, Weather Data Library
mknapp@ksu.edu