Our dust monitoring net work now consists of 15 individual stations that require our attention. Each location is chosen after a thorough discussion balancing science objectives (what do we learn) and servicing tasks (the battery needs to be changed every other day).
Eight stations monitor dust emission from the upper Mýrdalssandur, where water drainage systems fed by the glacier formed the landscape and deposited sediments ready to be blown away by wind. And in fact, further upstream water flows, further down stream, where – after last years experience – we installed the stations, dust was blowing.
Another seven stations were placed further to the south. First, to get an idea on something link a north-south transect assuming that the dust is blown towards the sea, and second, to investigate the spatial distribution of dust spots. Eventually, five stations were installed along the old N1, and one station on the sandy beach and one on the hilltop of Hjörleifshöfði. The brisk walk uphill every other day will keep us fit!
