Saline dust storms and their ecological impacts in arid regions

In many arid and semiarid regions,saline playas represent a significant source of unconsoli-dated sediments available for aeolian transport,and severe saline dust storms occur frequently due to human disturbance.In this study,saline dust storms are reviewed systematically from the aspects of con-cept,general characteristics,conditions of occurrence,distribution and ecological impact.Our researches showed that saline dust storms are a kind of chemical dust storm originating in dry lake beds in arid and semiarid regions;large areas of unconsolidated saline playa sediments and frequent strong winds are the basic factors to saline dust storm occurrence;there are differentiation characteristics in deposition flux and chemical composition with wind-blown distance during saline dust storm diffusion;and saline dust storm diffusion to some extent increases glacier melt and results in soil salinization in arid regions.An under-standing of saline dust storms is important to guide disaster prevention and ecological rehabilitation.     

Identification of sand and dust storm source areas in Iran

Sand and dust storms(SDS) are common phenomena in arid and semi-arid areas. In recent years, SDS frequencies and intensities have increased significantly in Iran. A research on SDS sources is important for understanding the mechanisms of dust generation and assessing its socio-economic and environmental impacts. In this paper, we developed a new approach to identify SDS source areas in Iran using a combination of nine related datasets, namely drought events, temperature, precipitation, location of sandy soils, SDS frequency, human-induced soil degradation(HISD), human influence index(HII), rain use efficiency(RUE) and net primary productivity(NPP) loss. To identify SDS source areas, we firstly normalized these datasets under uniform criteria including layer reprojection using Lambert conformal conic projection, data conversion from shapefile to raster, Min-Max Normalization with data range from 0 to 1, and data interpolation by Kriging and images resampling(resolution of 1 km). After that, a score map for the possibility of SDS sources was generated through overlaying multiple datasets under average weight allocation criterion, in which each item obtained weight equally. In the score map, the higher the score, the more possible a specific area could be regarded as SDS source area. Exceptions mostly came from large cities, like Tehran and Isfahan. As a result, final SDS source areas were mapped out, and Al-Howizeh/Al-Azim marshes and Sistan Basin were identified as main SDS source areas in Iran. The SDS source area in Al-Howizeh/Al-Azim marshes still keeps expanding. In addition, Al-Howizeh/Al-Azim marshes are now suffering rapid land degradation due to natural and human-induced factors and might totally vanish in the near future. Sistan Basin also demonstrates the impacts of soil degradation and wind erosion. With appropriate intensity, duration, wind speed and altitude of the dust storms, sand particles uplifting from this area might have developed into extreme dust storms, especially during the summer.     

中国北方沙尘天气原因探讨

我国是沙尘暴易发的国家,进入20世纪90年代以来,强沙尘暴有频率增加、强度加大、范围扩展、危害程度加剧的趋势。沙尘暴的发生危害范围亦逐渐从西北干旱经济落后区扩展到经济发达的北京、天津及华北平原区,近年来的沙尘暴造成了社会经济和人民生命财产的重大损失。受大气环流场和季风气候类型影响,中国冬、春盛吹西北风,强劲而干燥。发生沙尘暴的天数与大风日数和地面热力稳定程度相关,3-5月中国西北内陆地表增温大,是风力场和热力场极不稳定的季节,地表气候容易发生蠕动,沙尘暴便由此启动并易发。除自然要素外,不合理的人类活动也将诱发沙尘暴天气的发生,有些情况下还起到比自然要素更重要的作用。从生态地理区域的角度看,沙尘暴的源地在干旱和半干旱地区,由于大气环流的作用,影响到下风向的半湿润甚至湿润地区。无论何地干旱、半干旱地区都将存在沙尘暴发生的自然条件,而其下风向必将受到不同程度的影响,只是因为中国的季风气候,决定西北干旱、半干旱地区发生的沙尘暴必然影响东南部地区。在现有的科学技术条件下,人类所能做的就是调节自身的行为。因此,在沙尘暴源地实施生态建设是减缓沙尘暴发生的最重要措施,也是消除东部城市沙尘天气的主要途径。根据生态地理区域的特征,沙尘暴源地的干旱区、半干?     

2002年3月20日沙尘暴天气的影响系统、起沙和输送的数值模拟

近年来,东亚地区严重沙尘暴的频发趋势,使沙尘暴成为当今社会广泛关注的重大生态和环境问题。本文利用一个以较高精度的地理信息数据为基础、具有清晰风蚀物理学概念的沙尘暴数值模式集成系统,对2002年3月19～22日主要沙尘暴事件的气象背景条件、起沙源、起沙率以及沙尘输送进行了模拟和较为细致的数值分析,并将结果与常规气象观测和卫星资料进行了对比。结果表明该模式对气象背景、沙尘源和沙尘输送的空间分布和时间演变有较好的模拟能力;起沙区域主要是蒙古国的巴彦洪戈尔省南部、南戈壁、东戈壁省,我国内蒙古阿拉善盟地区、锡林郭勒盟地区、甘肃北部和青海北部;起尘量最大的中心在内蒙古阿拉善盟地区的巴丹吉林沙漠和腾格里沙漠,平均达15mgm-2s-1;沙尘输送主要发生在对流层低层,在垂直运动较强的地方可以向上输送到500hPa。     

浑善达克沙地气候因子对沙尘暴频率的影响

利用浑善达克沙地气象台站的常规气候资料,分析气候要素和沙尘暴频率的多年变化状况,建立能够很好描述该地区沙尘暴频率年际变化的沙尘暴指数,并建立适合浑善达克沙地气候特征的气候因子影响沙尘暴频率指数模型。结果表明,浑善达克沙地自1960年后气候逐渐变暖,并有微弱变湿趋势,沙尘暴年日数自1998年起波动增加,2000年出现极大值;沙尘暴年日数与沙尘暴指数的相关系数达0．7左右;建立的气候影响指数模型,能够用来解释当前该地区沙尘暴频率的分布格局。     

从沙尘暴降尘中元素的富集因子追踪元素的来源及对环境的影响

采用中子活化法和X射线吸收-沉降法对发生在中国甘肃武威地区的一次沙尘暴降尘中的29种元素的含量进行了分析,并分别以此次沙尘暴源区、传输过程中经过地区的不同土壤类型的元素背景值为参考,分别计算了沙尘暴降尘中29种元素的富集因子,研究了不同土壤类型间元素富集因子的相关性,探讨了各元素的主要来源:元素As,Br,Ca,Cr,K,La,Sm,Ta,U,W,Zn的富集因子均大于2,说明它们可能有外来源。外来源主要是由采矿等人类活动造成。过量的这些元素随风迁移并沉积有可能污染环境并产生危害;元素Ce,Co,Cs,Dy,Fe,Mn,Na,Rb,Sc,Tb,Th,Ti,V,Yb的富集因子均接近于1(0.8～2),说明这些元素主要来自自然界本身,而且性质较稳定;元素Eu,Mg,Hf的富集因子均小于0.8,说明这些元素可能随水平移或向土壤深处下移。研究结果可作为沙尘暴对环境的影响的科学依据。     

Wind tunnel experiments on dust emissions from different landform types

The measurement and assessment of dust emissions from different landforms are important to understand the atmospheric loading of PM10(particulate matter ≤10 μm aerodynamic diameter) and to assess natural sources of dust; however, the methodology and technique for determining the dust still present significant research challenges. In the past, specialized field observation and field wind tunnel studies have been used to understand the dust emission. A series of wind tunnel tests were carried out to identify natural sources of dust and measure the magnitudes of dust emissions from different landforms. The method used in this study allowed the measurement of the PM10 emission rate using a laboratory based environmental boundary layer wind tunnel. Results indicated that PM10 emissions demonstrated strong temporal variation and were primarily driven by aerodynamic entrainment. Sand dunes, playa, and alluvial fans had the largest dust emission rates(0.8–5.4 mg/(m~2·s)) while sandy gravel, Gobi desert and abandoned lands had the lowest emission rates(0.003–0.126 mg/(m~2·s)). Dust emissions were heavily dependent on the surface conditions, especially the availability of loose surface dust. High dust emissions were a result of the availability of dustparticle materials for entrainment while low dust emissions were a result of surface crusts and gravel cover. Soil surface property(surface crusts and gravel cover) plays an important role in controlling the availability of dust-sized particles for entrainment. The dust emission rate depended not only on the surface conditions but also on the friction velocity. The emission rate of PM10 varies as a power function of the friction velocity. Although dynamic abrasion processes have a strong influence on the amount of dust entrainment, aerodynamic entrainment may provide an important mechanism for dust emissions. Large volumes of dust entrained by aerodynamic entrainment cannot only occur at low shear velocity without saltation, but may dominate the entrainment process in many arid and semi-arid environments. So it may also be responsible for large magnitude dust storms. Playa and alluvial fan landforms, prior to developing a surface crust, may be the main sources of dust storms in Qinghai Province.     

沙尘物质的来源与防治途径

本文分析了沙尘暴形成的自然过程和危害特征,并探讨了内蒙古沙源区土壤颗粒物质的含量,指出沙尘暴的沙尘来源主要是退化草原、活化的沙地和裸露坡耕地等。同时根据风沙流运移规律及其和土壤颗粒的关系,提出了防治沙尘暴的关键技术原理,并探讨了有效控制沙尘暴的技术途径。     

陕西关中地区植被指数变化多尺度分析

以关中地区遥感影像、数字高程(DEM)、地貌类型等资料为依据,运用地学信息图谱理论和方法,在RS和GIS的支持下生成关中地区1986-2007年NDVI变化图谱,并从栅格、地貌单元、坡度带及行政区划等多个尺度上,分析该区近22 a来NDVI的时空变化特征。研究表明：1986-2007年,关中地区年度NDVI]增加了20.91%,2000-2007年年均增幅约为1986-2000年的2.31倍;各地貌单元NDVI增幅表现为：黄土台塬＞黄土墚峁＞山地＞平原＞黄土塬;各坡度带NDVI]基本随坡度的增加而加大,且均呈增大态势;各地市年度NDVI增速为：渭南市>铜川市>宝鸡市>西安市>咸阳市。关中地区NDVI的时空变化是土地利用/覆被变化的结果,“退耕还林”政策的实施,促使了植被覆盖状况的改善。     

沙尘源区示踪方法及分布研究进展

沙尘物质对全球气候变化具有重要影响,其源区示踪已成为全球环境变化研究的热点问题之一.从矿物学、元素地球化学、同位素地球化学等方面综述了国内外对沙尘源区示踪方法的研究现状,同时介绍了现代尘暴事件、中国北方黄土、冰岩芯和深海沉积物沙尘源区分布的研究进展情况,并对研究中存在的问题进行了讨论,希望对这方面研究有所裨益.     

Detecting soil salinity with arid fraction integrated index and salinity index in feature space using Landsat TM imagery

Modeling soil salinity in an arid salt-affected ecosystem is a difficult task when using remote sensing data because of the complicated soil context(vegetation cover,moisture,surface roughness,and organic matter)and the weak spectral features of salinized soil.Therefore,an index such as the salinity index(SI)that only uses soil spectra may not detect soil salinity effectively and quantitatively.The use of vegetation reflectance as an indirect indicator can avoid limitations associated with the direct use of soil reflectance.The normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI),as the most common vegetation index,was found to be responsive to salinity but may not be available for retrieving sparse vegetation due to its sensitivity to background soil in arid areas.Therefore,the arid fraction integrated index(AFII)was created as supported by the spectral mixture analysis(SMA),which is more appropriate for analyzing variations in vegetation cover(particularly halophytes)than NDVI in the study area.Using soil and vegetation separately for detecting salinity perhaps is not feasible.Then,we developed a new and operational model,the soil salinity detecting model(SDM)that combines AFII and SI to quantitatively estimate the salt content in the surface soil.SDMs,including SDM1 and SDM2,were constructed through analyzing the spatial characteristics of soils with different salinization degree by integrating AFII and SI using a scatterplot.The SDMs were then compared to the combined spectral response index(COSRI)from field measurements with respect to the soil salt content.The results indicate that the SDM values are highly correlated with soil salinity,in contrast to the performance of COSRI.Strong exponential relationships were observed between soil salinity and SDMs(R2>0.86,RMSE<6.86)compared to COSRI(R2=0.71,RMSE=16.21).These results suggest that the feature space related to biophysical properties combined with AFII and SI can effectively provide information on soil salinity.     

兰州市尘暴过程中降尘粒度特征探析

通过对兰州市两次强度上有较大差异的尘暴样的采集、粒度分析及其与自然降尘样的对比研究,揭示出兰州市尘暴降尘粒度特性的一些细微特征。不论是自然降尘样还是尘暴样,皆以4～63μm的粉砂为主,说明粉砂粒级的颗粒是兰州地区自然降尘与沙尘暴所携带的主要组分;虽然含量甚微,但是尘暴样中存在近源低空气流所搬运的粒径(181.97～724.44μm)较大的粗颗粒物质。在粒径-体积百分含量曲线上,尘暴样基本上为三峰分布模式,区别于自然降尘样的双峰模式。同时,尘暴样具有向粗、细颗粒区间(尤其是细颗粒区间)延伸并富集的特点,尘暴强度越大,其延伸富集的程度也越明显,而且,随着尘暴强度的增大,其主峰的众数粒径呈减小趋势。     

Separating emitted dust from the total suspension in airflow based on the characteristics of PM10 vertical concentration profiles on a Gobi surface in northwestern China

During aeolian processes, the two most critical factors related to dust emissions are soil particle and aggregate saltation, which greatly affect the vertical profiles of near-surface dust concentrations. In this study, we measured PM10 concentrations at four different heights (0.10, 0.50, 1.00 and 2.00 m) with and without continuous and simultaneous aeolian saltation processes on a Gobi surface in northwestern China from 31 March to 10 April, 2017. We found that the vertical concentration profiles of suspended PM10 matched the log-law model well when there was no aeolian saltation. For the erosion process with saltation, we divided the vertical concentration profiles of PM10 into the saltation-affected layer and the airflow-transport layer according to two different dust sources (i.e., locally emitted PM10 and upwind transported PM10). The transition height between the saltation-affected layer and the airflow-transport layer was not fixed and varied with saltation intensity. From this new perspective, we calculated the airflow-transport layer and the dust emission rate at different times during a wind erosion event occurred on 5 April 2017. We found that dust emissions during wind erosion are primarily controlled by saltation intensity, contributing little to PM10 concentrations above the ground surface compared to PM10 concentrations transported from upwind directions. As erosion progresses, the surface supply of erodible grains is the most crucial factor for saltation intensity. When there was a sufficient amount of erodible grains, there was a significant correlation among the friction velocity, saltation intensity and dust emission rate. However, when supply is limited by factors such as surface renewal or an increase in soil moisture, the friction velocity will not necessarily correlate with the other two factors. Therefore, for the Gobi surface, compared to limiting dust emissions from upwind directions, restricting the transport of suspended dust in its path is by far a more efficient and realistic option for small areas that are often exposed to dust storms. This study provides some theoretical basis for correctly estimating PM10 concentrations in the Gobi areas.     

辽宁省沙尘天气分析

以1971-2005年辽宁60个站沙尘天气资料为基础,从年代际变化、季节变化、空间分布特点等方面对浮尘、扬沙、沙尘暴、沙尘天气综合影响程度进行了统计分析。结果表明:辽宁的沙尘天气年代际变化明显,且多发生在春季(4月最多),沙尘天气主要在3月下旬到4月下旬出现在沈阳西北部、阜新以及朝阳北部地区。结合辽宁的气候、空间特点,从沙源、大风、不稳定层结3方面分析了辽宁沙尘天气的形成以及时空分布不均的原因,简要介绍了辽宁防沙的措施、效果以及辽宁省气象台沙尘暴短期预报方法。     

Detecting sand-dust storms using a wind-profiling radar

Sand-dust storm is a type of disastrous weather, typically occurring in arid and semi-arid climates. This study selected a region in the hinterlands of the Taklimakan Desert, called the Tazhong region, as the experimental area to quantitatively estimate the particle concentrations of sand-dust storms using the boundary layer wind-profiling radar. We thoroughly studied the radar echo signals and reflectivity factor features during the sand-dust storms. The results indicate that(1) under sand-dust storm conditions, boundary layer wind-profiling radar cannot capture the complete information regarding horizontal wind velocity and direction, but it can obtain the backscattering intensity of sand-dust storms; and(2) during sand-dust storms particle size distributions in the surface layer closely resemble log-normal distributions, with sand-dust particles sizes of 90–100 μm accounting for the maximum particle probability. Retrieved particle size distributions at heights of 600, 800, and 1000 m follow log-normal distributions, and the expected value of particle diameter decreases gradually with increasing height. From the perspective of orders of magnitude, the retrieved results for particle number concentrations and mass concentrations are consistent with previous aircraft-detected results, indicating that it is basically feasible to use boundary layer wind-profiling radar to quantitatively detect the particle concentrations of dust storms.     

内蒙古沙尘暴的成因、趋势及其预报

本文利用内蒙古1961～2001年的天气气候资料,对内蒙古中西部地区沙尘暴作了统计分析,阐述了沙尘暴的危害并给出了沙尘暴的基本定义。分析了引起沙尘暴的天气和气候因子的变化趋势,研究了他们对沙尘暴的影响,结果表明近40年内蒙古的沙尘暴总体呈减少趋势,但从1998年开始有所增加;沙尘暴的空间分布以阿拉善盟偏北地区为最高发区;降水、气温、大风、寒潮、北半球极涡、西太平洋副热带高压、亚洲西风环流、东亚大槽和南方涛动等天气和气候因素均对该地区沙尘暴的发生有不同程度的影响。     

我国沙尘暴形成机制及防治对策研究

本文认为沙尘暴是发生于干旱半干旱地区沙漠化土地上的一种自然灾害,其形成机制是气候干旱;土地基质稳定性差;起沙大风多;地表植被覆盖度低和人类不合理生产生活活动。沙尘暴防治必须走综合防治路线,建立起5个配套的防治体系,即沙尘暴防治技术体系、沙产业发展体系、科技保障体系、法律法规体系和社会化融资体系,能实现有效防治目的。     

Attribution analysis and multi-scenario prediction of NDVI drivers in the Xilin Gol grassland,China

Grassland degradation is influenced by climate change and human activities, and has become a major obstacle for the development of arid and semi-arid areas, posing a series of environmental and socio-economic problems. An in-depth understanding of the inner relations among grassland vegetation dynamics, climate change, and human activities is therefore greatly significant for understanding the variation in regional environmental conditions and predicting future developmental trends. Based on MOD...     

干旱半干旱区植被盖度信息提取技术研究

为系统地研究干旱半干旱区植被盖度提取方法,比较了目前常用的几种高光谱影像植被盖度提取技术。结果表明:采用NDVI建立的像元二分模型对植被盖度的估测能力低于直接采用NDVI建立的回归模型;4种处理的PCR模型植被盖度估测的建模精度由高到低为:CR>NO>FD>SD;4种处理的PLSR模型植被盖度估测的建模精度由高到低为:FD>NO>SD>CR;FCLS分解的结果明显优于LS模型;综合分析后,认为基于FD的PLSR模型对研究区植被盖度估测效果最佳。文中研究旨在为干旱半干旱区植被盖度的更深入研究提供参考。     

大气-海洋环流异常对山西省沙尘天气的影响

利用山西省1961-2003年15个站的月沙尘天气日数资料,对沙尘天气发生的频率与大气-海洋环流因子SOI,NAO,PDO和AO指数的关系进行了分析。结果表明:与山西平均沙尘日数变化关系比较显著的因子有PDO和AO指数,且均呈负相关。在这些环流指数偏高的年份,对应山西少沙尘天气;反之,则多沙尘天气。分析还发现,山西的沙尘天气事件与SOI指数有显著的滞后两年的正响应关系。与AO和PDO有显著负相关的站点主要分布在西北部到中东部及西南部,与SOI有滞后两年正相关的站点主要分布在中东部和东北部。在此基础上,讨论了大气-海洋系统振动对山西沙尘天气产生影响的可能机制。