Biological Ice Nucleators in the Atmosphere, 2007 International Union on Geodesy and Geophysics General Assembly; Perugia, Italy; July 2-13, 2007

自从发现某些常见细菌是强大的冰核(IN)以来，已经有30多年了。有两个因素使这对大气具有潜在的重要性：(I)这些细菌可以在零下2摄氏度的温度下活动，因此比大多数其他自然发生的物质更活跃。(Ii)IN活性细菌大量存在于植物体内，并可能进入空气中。对于生物冰核对大气过程的总体贡献，没有可靠的估计。鉴于冰相在云和降水过程中的重要性，增进对这一要素的了解是非常可取的。该项目将提高人们对生物成因冰核在大气中的作用的认识，并导致新的研究活动。它将为与会者组织和参加题为“大气中的生物冰核--在物理和生物学的十字路口”的会议提供支持，该会议是作为国际大地测量和地球物理联合会大会的一部分组织的。会议将于2007年7月2日至13日在意大利佩鲁贾举行。预计计划召开的会议和加快生物源IN研究的更广泛影响将是澄清生物圈-大气之间的一种重要联系，并为跨学科研究开辟新的机会。关于生物IN的知识也对医学领域(器官保存)、农业(防霜)、疾病控制(害虫的冬季生存)、食品工业(控制谷物虫害)和生态学的许多方面感兴趣。

It has over 30 years since the discovery that certain common bacteria are potent ice nuclei (IN). Two factors make this of potential importance for the atmosphere: (i) These bacteria can be active at temperatures up to -2 degrees Celsius, thus more active than most other naturally occurring substances. (ii) The IN active bacteria occur in high abundance on plants and may become airborne. There are no reliable estimates of the overall contribution of biogenic ice nuclei to atmospheric processes. In view of the importance of the ice phase in cloud and precipitation processes, increased understanding of this element is highly desirable. This project will increase awareness and lead to new research activity about the atmospheric role of biogenic ice nuclei. It will support organization of, and travel for participants to attend, a session titled "Biological Ice Nucleators in the Atmosphere - at the Crossroads of Physics and Biology" that has been organized as part of the General Assembly of the International Union on Geodesy and Geophysics. The meeting is to be held in Perugia, Italy, July 2-13, 2007. The broader impact of the planned meeting and of the acceleration of research on biogenic IN is expected to be the clarification of an important biosphere-atmosphere linkage and the opening of new opportunities for interdisciplinary studies. Knowledge about the biogenic IN are also of interest to the medical field (organ preservation), to agriculture (frost prevention), desease control (winter survival of pests), the food industry (control of grain infestation) and many aspects of ecology.