Spatial and temporal variation of the near‐surface wind environment in the dune fields of northern China

Cui, Xujia; Dong, Zhibao; Sun, Hua; Li, Chao; Xiao, Fengjun; Liu, Zhengyao; Song, Shanshan; Li, Xiaolan; Xiao, Nan; Xiao, Weiqiang

doi:10.1002/joc.5338

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 58 publications

(208 reference statements)

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“…The PDF in six subregions showed a similar distribution, while the fraction of high SWS is higher in northeastern and northern China. Over China, the 95th percentile corresponded to 5 m s 21 , which has been used as a threshold for dust emissions (Cui et al 2018) and has been used in many extreme climate studies (Xu et al 2006). Therefore, we chose the 95th percentile of daily mean SWS as a reference to define strong wind.…”

Section: F Trend Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Stilling and Recovery of the Surface Wind Speed Based on Observation, Reanalysis, and Geostrophic Wind Theory over China from 1960 to 2017

Zhang

Wang

2020

Journal of Climate

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Surface wind speed (SWS) from meteorological observation, global atmospheric reanalysis, and geostrophic wind speed (GWS) calculated from surface pressure were used to study the stilling and recovery of SWS over China from 1960 to 2017. China experienced anemometer changes and automatic observation transitions in approximately 1969 and 2004, resulting in SWS inhomogeneity. Therefore, we divided the entire period into three sections to study the SWS trend, and found a near-zero annual trend in the SWS in China from 1960 to 1969, a significant decrease of −0.24 m s−1 decade−1 from 1970 to 2004, and a weak recovery from 2005 to 2017. By defining the 95th and 5th percentiles of daily mean wind speeds as strong and weak winds, respectively, we found that the SWS decrease was primarily caused by a strong wind decrease of −8% decade−1 from 1960 to 2017, but weak wind showed an insignificant decreasing trend of −2% decade−1. GWS decreased with a significant trend of −3% decade−1 before the 1990s; during the 1990s, GWS increased with a trend of 3% decade−1 whereas SWS continued to decrease with a trend of 10% decade−1. Consistent with SWS, GWS demonstrated a weak increase after the 2000s. After detrending, both SWS and GWS showed synchronous decadal variability, which is related to the intensity of Aleutian low pressure over the North Pacific. However, current reanalyses cannot reproduce the decadal variability and cannot capture the decreasing trend of SWS either.

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Section: F Trend Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Stilling and Recovery of the Surface Wind Speed Based on Observation, Reanalysis, and Geostrophic Wind Theory over China from 1960 to 2017

Zhang

Wang

2020

Journal of Climate

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“…However, long-term climatic data may be subject to inhomogeneities resulting from artificial changes in instruments and observing environment, which will result in uncertainty in the assessment of climate trends (Azorin-Molina et al, 2014;Cui et al, 2017). To further test the credibility of wind speed data series, we adopted the standard normal homogeneity test (SNHT) method (Alexandersson, 1986), which has been widely used in detecting inhomogeneities and breakpoints in climate series (Liu, 2000;Wu et al, 2018a).…”

Section: Quality Control and Homogeneity Testmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sand drift potential is a good index to assess the intensity of aeolian activity, as this variable represents the wind's potential ability to transport sediment; as a result, it has been widely used in aeolian research. Cui et al (2017) discussed the spatiotemporal variation of the wind energy environment in the dune fields of northern China, and provided a reference for regional desertification control. showed that drift potential was closely related to the migration rate of sand dunes, and was an important parameter that reflected the intensity of aeolian activity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Near-surface wind environment in the Yarlung Zangbo River basin, southern Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2020

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Aeolian processes have been studied extensively at low elevations, but have been relatively little studied at high elevations. Aeolian sediments are widely distributed in the Yarlung Zangbo River basin, southern Tibetan Plateau, which is characterized by low pressure and low temperature. Here, we comprehensively analyzed the wind regime using data since 1980 from 11 meteorological stations in the study area, and examined the interaction between the near-surface wind and aeolian environment. The wind environment exhibited significant spatial and temporal variation, and mean wind speed has generally decreased on both annual and seasonal bases since 1980, at an average of 0.181 m/(s•10a). This decrease resulted from the reduced contribution of maximum wind speed, and depended strongly on variations of the frequency of sand-driving winds. The drift potential and related parameters also showed obvious spatial and temporal variation, with similar driving forces for the wind environment. The strength of the wind regime affected the formation and development of the aeolian geomorphological pattern, but with variation caused by local topography and sediment sources. The drift potential and resultant drift direction were two key parameters, as they quantify the dynamic conditions and depositional orientation of the aeolian sediments. Wind affected the spatial variation in sediment grain size, but the source material and complex topographic effects on the near-surface wind were the underlying causes for the grain size distribution of aeolian sands. These results will support efforts to control aeolian desertification in the basin and improve our understanding of aeolian processes in high-elevation environments.

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“…The wind regime data was provided by the Chinese National Meteorological Information Centre (http://data.cma.cn). These data passed strict quality control standards (Cui et al, 2018). The drift potential is calculated as follows:…”

Section: Wind Regimesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migration of barchan dunes in the western Quruq Desert, northwestern China

Yang

Dong

Liu

et al. 2019

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Barchan dunes are common on Earth, Mars and Titan. Previous studies have shown that their formation, migration and evolution are influenced by the wind regime and other factors, but details vary among regions. Understanding barchan morphology and migration will both improve our understanding of dune geomorphology and provide a basis for describing the environmental conditions that affect the formation and development of these dunes on Earth and other planets. Here, we provide detailed measurements of barchan dune migration in China's Quruq Desert, in the lower reaches of the Tarim River. We monitored their migration direction and rate, and their morphological changes during migration, by comparing Google Earth images acquired in 2003 and 2014. The dunes migrated west‐southwest, close to the local resultant drift direction. The migration rate averaged 8.9 to 32.1 m year−1, with obvious spatial variation. In addition to the wind regime, the migration rate depended on dune morphology, density and vegetation cover; the rate was negatively related to dune height, density and vegetation cover, but positively linearly related to the length/width ratio (LU/W) and to the decrease in this ratio from 2003 to 2014. We found correlations among the dune morphometric parameters, but the relationships were weaker than in previous research. Due to the complexity of the factors that affect the processes that underlie sand dune development and migration, the morphological changes during dune migration were also complex. Our measurements suggest that the aeolian environment played a dominant role in dune migration and its spatial variation in the Quruq Desert. These results will support efforts to control dune migration in the western Quruq Desert and improve our understanding of dune morphodynamics. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Spatial and temporal variation of the near‐surface wind environment in the dune fields of northern China

Abstract: Location of the dune fields in northern China, and the topographic features they are associated with.

Cited by 10 publications

References 58 publications

Stilling and Recovery of the Surface Wind Speed Based on Observation, Reanalysis, and Geostrophic Wind Theory over China from 1960 to 2017

Stilling and Recovery of the Surface Wind Speed Based on Observation, Reanalysis, and Geostrophic Wind Theory over China from 1960 to 2017

Near-surface wind environment in the Yarlung Zangbo River basin, southern Tibetan Plateau

Migration of barchan dunes in the western Quruq Desert, northwestern China

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