Dust devils are convective vortices with a vertical axis of rotation that made visible by entrained soil particles. These particles contribute to the atmospheric aerosol input, influencing Earth radiation budget. Quantifying this contribution requires reliable information about statistics dust devils, their formation process, and how they maintained. In past, was mainly derived from field exper...

We assessed four potential sources of error in estimating size of the population of Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis): net, time of day, diver, and order of diver. Experimental dives (3/day) were conducted during 4 days in July 2009. Effects of the four sources of error on estimates from dive surveys were analyzed using a split-split plot ANOVA. Diver and order of diver had no significa...

Immunoglobulins such as IgG and IgM have been shown to induce anti-tumour cytotoxic activity. In the present study we therefore explore total serum IgG and IgM expression dynamics in 23 known-aged Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) of which 9 where affected by Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD). DFTD is clonally transmissible cancer that has caused massive declines in devil numbers. Our an...

The fact that Tasmanian devils are prone to a bizarre type of contagious facial cancer disease was first noted in 1996 in the far north east of Tasmania, and since then, the disease has spread south and west and now affects devils in over 85% of their distribution territory [1,2]. The disease, termed devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), is spread by biting, causing the appearance of tumors on the...

Introduction: Recent explorations on the Martian surface have revealed an environment far more dynamic than previously believed. In particular, the atmosphere of Mars is very dynamic. Dust devils and clouds are dynamic atmospheric features that have been observed by the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). These high science value events have been the subject of considerable study. Both dust devil an...

The authors describe the design and performance of inexpensive and compact time-lapse cameras suitable for field deployment in remote locations for long periods and their application to studying two time-variable meteorological phenomena in arid regions: desert dust devils and transient flooding of playa lakes. The camera units (with a total parts cost of;$80) are based around commercial ‘‘poin...

To date, characterisation of dust devils by interpreting spectral measurements taken during a transit over a spectroscopic instrument has yet to be done and would provide valuable information of the physical size, dust load and internal structure of transiting dust devils. A Monte Carlo Radiative Transfer model (MCRT) was developed to investigate the spectral variations during a dust devil tran...