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Dispersal Distances for Airborne Spores Based on Deposition Rates and Stochastic Modeling

First and third authors: Biosystems Department, Ris&ø National Laboratory, Technical University of Denmark, P.O. Box 49, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark; first author: National Veterinary Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Bülowsvej 27, DK-1790 Frederiksberg C, Denmark; and second author: IMFUFA, Department of Sciences, Roskilde University, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark.

A new modeling framework for particle dispersal is explored in the context of the particles being fungal spores dispersed within a field. The model gives rise to both exponentially decreasing and polynomially decreasing two-dimensional densities of deposited fungal spores. We reformulate the model in terms of time to deposition, and show how this concept is equivalent to the deposition rate for fungal spores. Special cases where parameter values for wind and gravitation lead to exponentially or polynomially decreasing densities are discussed, and formulas for one- and two-dimensional densities of deposited spores are given explicitly in terms of parameters for diffusion, wind, gravitation, and spore release height.

Additional keywords:dispersal gradient, power law.