IonicSporeTrap.net
The Ionic Spore Trap was born out of our need to assess airborne populations of Phakopsora pachyrhizi, the soybean rust pathogen, for disease forecasting and early warnings. This information was vital in our attempts to issue spray advisories. We found that existing technology was simply not satisfactory for several reasons. Traps that depend upon collection of particulate matter on adhesive tape did not provide adequate microscopic resolution to identify fungal species. After several years of experimentation and field testing, we developed the Ionic Spore Trap. This device captures airborne particulate matter after first charging (ionizing) particles in an electric field and then capturing them on a small plate (stub) that is of the opposite charge. In this way, spores, pollen and other particulates are forcibly attracted to the capture medium, and this allows the device to process air at flow rates exceeding 660 liters per minute (about 23 ft3 per minute) at a very high capture efficiency. In addition, samples can be viewed with a scanning electron microscope or a light microscope, or they can be processed for Real Time PCR.
