Dynamic Variability of Wind Erosion Climatic Erosivity and Their Relationships with Large-Scale Atmospheric Circulation in Xinjiang, China

Abstract

Xinjiang has a serious wind erosion problem due to its fragile ecological condition and sensitivity to climate change. Wind erosion climatic erosivity is a measure of climatic factors influencing wind erosion; evaluating its spatiotemporal variations and relationship with the large-scale circulation pattern can contribute to the understanding of the climate change effect on wind erosion risk. Thus, this study quantified the wind erosion climatic erosivity and examined the connections between climatic erosivity and climate indices using trend analysis, geo-statistical analysis, and cross-wavelet analysis based on the observed daily meteorological data from 64 weather stations in Xinjiang, China during 1969–2019 (50 years). The results indicated that the climatic erosivity showed a significant downward trend at seasonal and annual scales over the past 50 years. Strong seasonality in the C-factor was found, with its highest values in the spring and summer and its lowest values in the winter. The average climatic erosivity was weaker during El Niño events than during La Niña events. The impact of El Niño events on climatic erosivity in Xinjiang continued from the beginning of the event to two months after the end of the events. The La Niña events had a lag effect on the climatic erosivity in Xinjiang, with a lag period of 4 months. From a statistical perspective, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and Arctic Oscillation (AO) indices showed relationships to the climatic erosivity in Xinjiang in terms of their correlation and periodicity. The relationships between the climatic erosivity and ENSO were not clearly positive or negative, with many correlations advanced or delayed in phase. The NAO and AO indices showed a consistent in-phase relationship with climatic erosivity on significant bands, whereas the profound mechanisms involved in this require further study. The results of this study provide a preliminary perspective on the effect of large-scale atmospheric circulation on wind erosion risk in arid and semi-arid regions.

Spatial and Temporal Variation Characteristics of Wind Erosion Climate Erosivity in the Arid Desert Region of Northwestern China

“…Relevant research shows a high correlation between regional meteorological elements and the factor index of wind erosion erosivity. In the study on the influence of climate conditions on the wind erosion erosivity in Xinjiang (Wang et al, 2022b), it is found that the meteorological elements that influence the C value are wind speed, temperature, precipitation amount, and relative humidity in descending order of influence degree. In terms of geographical distribution, the elements of precipitation amount and relative humidity significantly influence northern Xinjiang.…”