Agricultural Meteorology

Weather is closely related to agriculture, and agricultural disasters can occur due to high and low temperatures, strong winds, and long rains. To prevent and mitigate such damage, Kusaka Laboratory conducts research on agricultural weather.

Specifically, they focus on "white head," an agricultural disaster that causes rice plants to turn white and die due to high temperatures and strong winds during the summer, resulting in reduced yield and quality. Asano and Kusaka (2021) conducted simulations using the numerical weather model WRF for cases of white ears in the Shonai region of Yamagata Prefecture, and found that the white ears that occurred in 2004 and 2018 were caused by foehn wind around Mt. Chokai. Chokai, were caused by hot dry winds due to a foehn. We also clarified that in this foehn, the airflow descended to go around Mt. Chokai.

Photograph of (left) white heads in Yamagata prefecture and (right) rice without disease.
from Asano and Kusaka (2021)

(a) White head damage (red squares) and land use distribution, (b) simulated white head risk on 6-7 August, 2018.
from Asano and Kusaka (2021)

(Written by: Kakeru Konnai; Edited by :Thisara)

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