title: Bioaerosol generation by raindrops on soil.
abstract: Aerosolized microorganisms may play an important role in climate change, disease transmission, water and soil contaminants, and geographic migration of microbes. While it is known that bioaerosols are generated when bubbles break on the surface of water containing microbes, it is largely unclear how viable soil-based microbes are transferred to the atmosphere. Here we report a previously unknown mechanism by which rain disperses soil bacteria into the air. Bubbles, tens of micrometres in size, formed inside the raindrops disperse micro-droplets containing soil bacteria during raindrop impingement. A single raindrop can transfer 0.01% of bacteria on the soil surface and the bacteria can survive more than one hour after the aerosol generation process. This work further reveals that bacteria transfer by rain is highly dependent on the regional soil profile and climate conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.|Division of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Sookmyung Women's University, 100, Cheongpa-ro 47-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Joung
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Zhifei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Cullen R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Buie
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols / Q000032:analysis*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism; D050296:Microbial Viability; D011891:Rain; D012987:Soil; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D012987:Soil