Impacts of climate abnormality on remarkable dust storm increase of the Hunshdak Sandy Lands in northern China during 2001–2008

Abstract

From 1961 to 2008, the overall frequency of dust storms in northern China has shown an unquestionable reduction. However, the Hunshdak Sandy Lands of northern China display an increasing frequency in dust storm activities, especially during the period 2001 to 2008. In an attempt to explore the cause of this increase, a comprehensive investigation was conducted by examining the climate variables, the average normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the local inhabitant migrations. The climate variables include local precipitation, temperature, aridity, evaporation, relative humidity, soil moisture and wind speed. Moreover, by analyzing the 2001-2008 average anomaly charts (relative to the 30 year climatology of 1971-2000) of the upper air and surface conditions, an advantageous atmospheric circulation background for drought development over the Hunshdak was confirmed. Meanwhile, a multivariable step-regression model was employed to distinguish the significant variables of the climate elements mentioned before. The model output suggests that aridity is the leading factor impacting the Hunshdak dust storm frequency. During 2001 to 2008, the lack of local precipitation, higher temperature and strong evaporation deteriorated the local surface condition to below that before 2000, which is verified by the reduction of vegetation cover (NDVI), soil moisture and relative humidity. Furthermore, compared to the 30 year climatology of the wind speed observed during dust storm occurrence time, the mean velocity of 2001-2008 was reduced by 3.0 m s −1 , indicating that even with relatively weaker winds, dust storms still occurred primarily due to the degeneration of surface conditions around the Hunshdak.

The effects of ENSO under negative AO phase on spring dust activity over northern China: an observational investigation

“…These three regions are analysed separately in this study. While most Asian dust activities originate in the three regions, previous studies (Sun et al , ; Aoki et al , ; Gao et al , ; Mao et al , ) suggested that the generating mechanisms and long‐term trends over these regions may differ from each other.…”

“…In this study, we restricted our analysis to 61 stations where DS persistently occur above 10consecutive springs during the entire 1961-2002 period. Figure 1 (Sun et al, 2001;Aoki et al, 2005;Gao et al, 2012;Mao et al, 2011) suggested that the generating mechanisms and long-term trends over these regions may differ from each other. The monthly AO index (i.e.…”

“…On the other hand, dust outbreaks in the central region of Inner Mongolia and adjacent regions of northeastern China have occurred with increasing frequency since 2000 (Lim and Chun, 2006;Tian et al, 2007;Zhang and Gao, 2007;Zhang et al, 2008), and desertification resulting from drought conditions and anthropogenic factors (e.g. reduced precipitation/soil moisture, degraded surface vegetation, and overgrazing) in these regions has been identified as a major cause of this increased frequency (Lee and Sohn, 2011;Gao et al, 2012).…”

A Possible Linkage between Dust Frequency and the Siberian High in March over Northeast Asia

“…Although an artificial factor (e.g., urbanization) may affect dust emission in northeast Asia [2,3], the yellow sand is mainly related to atmospheric circulation changes. Dust events that occur in northeast Asia generally originate from arid or semi-arid regions such as northern China, the Gobi desert in Inner-Mongolia, the Loess Plateau, and the Taklamakan desert [4][5][6][7]. Dust storms move to eastern China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan with strong northwesterly winds induced by atmospheric baroclinic instability in the lower atmosphere [1,[8][9][10][11].…”

Practices of biological soil crust rehabilitation in China: experiences and challenges

“…in the world (Lin & Tang 2001), and most soils in these deserts are covered by biocrust (Figure 1, Table S1). In recent decades, ever-increasing human activities including grazing (Xu & Ning 2010), recreational, and commercial activities, have exacerbated the degradation of these lands, including soil erosion and desert expansion (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005;Guo et al 2015;Wang et al 2007;Gao et al 2012;Liu et al 2018). Since 2000, an important cooperation between the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Inner Mongolia government established a large demonstration project (2 km 2 ) in the Hopq (Kubuqi) Desert (Figure 1, Site 8) to test cultivation and field application techniques.…”