Spatial and temporal variations of spring dust emissions in northern China over the last 30 years

Dust emissions caused by wind erosion have significant impacts on land degradation, air quality, and climate change. Dust from the arid and semiarid regions of China is a main contributor to atmospheric dust aerosols in East Asia, and their impacts can stretch far beyond the territory of China. Spat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Atmospheric Environment
Main Authors: Song, Hongquan, Zhang, Kesheng, Piao, Shilong, Wan, Shiqiang
Other Authors: Wan, SQ (reprint author), Henan Univ, Coll Life Sci, Jinming Campus, Kaifeng, Henan Province, Peoples R China., Henan Univ, Key Lab Plant Stress Biol, State Key Lab Cotton Biol, Coll Life Sci, Kaifeng 475004, Henan, Peoples R China., Peking Univ, Coll Urban & Environm Sci, Sino French Inst Earth Syst Sci, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China., Henan Univ, Coll Life Sci, Jinming Campus, Kaifeng, Henan Province, Peoples R China.
Format: Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT 2016
Subjects:
Wind erosion
Integrated wind erosion modeling system
Spatial-temporal patterns
Human activities
Climate change
WIND-EROSION MODEL
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION-SYSTEMS
INTERANNUAL VARIATIONS
EASTERN AUSTRALIA
COLORADO PLATEAU
TIBETAN PLATEAU
INNER-MONGOLIA
ICE CORE
VEGETATION
CLIMATE
Jaran
ice core
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/437715
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.11.052
Description
Summary:Dust emissions caused by wind erosion have significant impacts on land degradation, air quality, and climate change. Dust from the arid and semiarid regions of China is a main contributor to atmospheric dust aerosols in East Asia, and their impacts can stretch far beyond the territory of China. Spatial temporal patterns of dust emissions in China over the last several decades, however, are still lacking, especially during the spring season. In this study, we simulated the spatial-temporal dynamics of spring dust emissions from 1982 to 2011 in arid and semi-arid areas of China using the Integrated Wind Erosion Modeling System. Results showed that the most severe dust emission events occurred in the Taklimakan Desert, Badain Jaran Desert, Tengger Desert, and Ulan Buh Desert. Over the last three decades, the magnitude of spring dust emissions generally decreased at the regional scale, with an annual spring dust emission of similar to 401.10 Tg. Among different vegetation types, the highest annual spring dust emission occurred in the desert steppes (similar to 163.95 Tg), followed by the deserts (similar to 103.26 Tg). The dust emission intensity in the desert steppes and the deserts was similar to 150.83 kg km(-2).yr(-1) and similar to 205.46 kg km(-2).yr(-1), respectively. The spatial patterns of the inter-decadal variation are related to climate change and human activities. Mitigation strategies such as returning farmland to grassland, fenced grazing, and adequate grass harvesting, must be taken to prevent further soil losses and grassland degradation in northern China. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Ministry of Science and Technology of China [2013CB956300]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [41401107] SCI(E) EI ARTICLE swan@henu.edu.cn 117-127 126

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