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Countries in Eastern Africa and the Middle East are affected by outbreaks of desert locust swarms, creating significant threats to food security in these regions. Advance knowledge of where a given swarm might go, and/or where it might have come from, can aid efforts to mitigate the devastating impacts caused by these voracious pests. Locusts are believed to be relatively passive fliers, with movements primarily influenced by the wind. They also fly together in a swarm, making them ideal candidates for simulation using HYSPLIT’s air trajectory modeling capabilities. ARL’s innovative web app allows users to specify takeoff and landing times (e.g., relative to sunset and sunrise) and flying height(s) to create forward or backward simulations from identified swarm locations. A batch input functionality is also available, enabling the user to upload data for up to 100 swarms simultaneously and generate corresponding results with the singular push of a button.

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Modified: February 14, 2022
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