Global Model Simulations of the Transport of Asian and Sahara Dust: Total Deposition of Dust Mass in Japan

We simulated the global transport of dust emitted from all major dust source regions on earth by using a global three-dimensional chemical transport model for the year 2000. A modified dust emission flux scheme and an advanced nonlocal diffusion scheme for accurately determining the atmospheric eddy diffusivity in the atmospheric boundary layer were implemented to improve the chemical transport model. We specifically examined and analyzed dust storms that occurred in China and northern Africa. Four scenarios representing the global transport of dust from dust storms originating in the Loess region and the Gobi, Takla Makan, and Sahara deserts, respectively, were simulated. The results of each scenario were then compared with those resulting from all major dust source regions on earth, to identify which deserts have a major impact on dust transport and its deposition in Japan. The dust from the Sahara desert, most from the western part that was found in this study, reached Japan in 9–10 days, while Gobi and Loess region dust took 2 to 3 days, and 4 days for Takla Makan dust. The model-calculated monthly total deposition of dust mass from all major dust source regions was compared with comprehensive measurements of total deposition collected at sampling stations distributed over Japan, and good agreement was generally found. From these analyses, it was also indicated that dust emitted from other deserts, including the Turkestan, Iranian, and Arabian, could have a significant impact on dust deposition on Japan.     

Is It Possible to Use 90Sr and 137Cs As Tracers for the Aeolian Dust Transport?

A noble approach for the estimation of the deposition of the Asian dust over Japan by using atmospheric anthropogenic radioactivity, ⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs, is proposed. Those radioactivities once deposited globally onto the ground by the past nuclear test, etc. are resuspended along with the surface soil particles in the air by the storm and deposited again on the ground. The difference in ¹³⁷Cs/⁹⁰Sr activity ratios in the surface soil between dry and wet climatic conditions gives a clue to know about the source of the dust. It was found that the average activity ratio in the deposited material (average: 2.1, n=82) at MRI, Tsukuba in the 1990s is not close to that of the surface soil taken in neighborhood (median: 6.8, n=8), which had been considered as the primary source. While, it is close to that of the soil samples taken in the arid area in the Asian continent (median: 2.0, n=4), which is the one of the source regions of the aeolian dust. Thus we can reasonably assume that deposited dust in Tsukuba is brought not only from the neighboring fields, etc. but also from the arid area in the continent. Using a simple two-component model it was estimated that the Asian dust may transport about 90% of ⁹⁰Sr and 70% of ¹³⁷Cs depositions observed in Tsukuba in the 1990s. Also, Asian dust may transport about 2/3 of the dust deposited in Tsukuba.     

拐子湖地区沙尘天气风蚀起沙量的估算

为研究沙尘暴中心在沙尘天气下风蚀起沙量和一些参数的具体情况,以巴丹吉林沙漠拐子湖地区一次沙尘天气过程为例,通过经验公式与野外仪器观测对比分析,对拐子湖地区风蚀起沙过程的一些参数进行了分析。结果表明:摩擦速度与风速成正相关,并影响着风蚀起沙量变化;临界摩擦速度为0.36m/s;估算了平均顺风向沙尘通量和垂直沙通量分别为1.7E-02kg/(m.s)和1.38E-07kg/(m2.s),顺风向沙尘通量要远大于垂直沙通量。这些参数的得出对防风治沙有着重要的意义。     

不同农垦地下垫面对风蚀起沙风速的影响分析

以新疆塔里木盆地垦区为例,研究不同地表粗糙度下垫面对风蚀起沙的临界摩擦速度和起沙风速的影响。根据Shao的方法计算不同下垫面起沙风速,结果表明:塔里木盆地垦区所选的小麦、棉花、红枣这3种地类2m高度临界摩擦速度(u*t)分别为棉花地0.40m/s,红枣地0.43m/s,小麦地1.85m/s;2m高度临界起沙风速(ut)分别为棉花地5.3m/s,红枣地5.7m/s,小麦地7.5m/s,小麦地较其他2种地类更具有抵抗风蚀的作用。     

FIELD OBSERVATIONS OF WINDBLOWN SAND AND DUST IN THE TAKIMAKAN DESERT,NW CHINA,AND INSIGHTS INTO MODERN DUST SOURCES

Despite the importance of desert dust at global and regional scales, its exact provenance is often unclear. The Taklimakan Desert in northwest China is a common source of high‐frequency regional dust storms and is also a large source of global dust production. On the basis of field observations and the determination of the fraction of aeolian dust in surface samples, we characterized the relative intensity of windblown sand/dust processes in the Taklimakan and the volume of dust emitted (PM₁₀) during these processes. Major dust sources were degraded lands on the eastern desert margin, the Gobi and alluvial, fluvial and aeolian sediments occurring on the desert margin. These areas have high PM₁₀ emission capacity due to high‐surface PM₁₀ concentrations and intensive windblown sand/dust activity. Despite having intensive windblown sand activity, the central desert had lower PM₁₀ dust emission capacity (<1·6 kg day⁻¹ m⁻² in spring, <0·08 kg day⁻¹ m⁻² in other seasons) due to lower surface PM₁₀ fraction. The dry Taitema Lake bed was a source of potentially high dust emissions (at least 4·4–17 kg day⁻¹ m⁻² for the monitoring period) due to the intensity windblown sand/dust activities, despite low PM₁₀ concentrations. The dry river beds on the southeastern desert margin had lower dust emission potential due to low PM₁₀ concentrations and windblown sand/dust activity. Most dust emission sources lie in the paths of prevailing winds, leading to aeolian dust transported to and deposited in the desert hinterland or Hotan, Yutian and Minfeng areas, where wind stream convergence leads to high‐frequency dust storms. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wind erosion in agricultural soils: an example of limited supply of particles available for erosion

Soil erosion by wind is a complex process since many interacting factors are involved. In addition, wind erosion can show a considerable spatial and temporal variability associated with changes in soil surface conditions. During a wind erosion experiment conducted in August 1995 within an agricultural field of Central Aragón (NE Spain) [López, M.V., Sabre, M., Gracia, R., Arrúe, J.L., Gomes, L., 1998. Tillage effects on soil surface conditions and dust emission by wind erosion in semiarid Aragón (NE Spain). Soil Tillage Res. (in press)], a decay in dust emission (vertical dust flux) with an increase in wind speed was observed at the end of the experimental period. A further analysis of the evolution of the vertical flux with time in response to changes in soil erodibility is shown in the present study. The analysis is based on the comparison of the measured flux with the potential flux predicted for identical wind conditions assuming that the supply of erodible material at the soil surface was unlimited. The potential flux was estimated by using the dust emission model developed by Marticorena and Bergametti [Maticorena, B., Bergametti, G., 1995. Modeling the atmospheric dust cycle: 1. Design of a soil-derived dust emission scheme. J. Geophys. Res. 100, pp. 16415–16430]. The model is based on the parameterization of the threshold wind shear velocity as a function of the aggregate size distribution and the roughness length of soil surface. The results indicate that the observed reduction in soil erodibility with time was probably due to variations in the aggregate size distribution and, more precisely, to a limited supply of erodible particles at the soil surface. This study underlines the need to consider the temporal variability of the surface conditions in wind erosion research and derived models.     

Dust deposition and particle size in Mali, West Africa

Dust deposition samples were collected during April and May (1990) at four sites on the inland delta region of Mali in West Africa. High dust deposition rates were measured and characterised by considerable variations between sites. A major dust plume passed over the area, following a dust storm near Gao, 500 km to the east, however the contribution of this plume to overall deposition was surprisingly small.Dust particle-size characteristics indicate mixing of dusts from three sources. Long-distance dust deposition producing fine deposits (mainly < 5 μm); dust from regional sources producing deposits mainly in the size range 20–40 μm; and local dust arising from human activities, particularly vehicle and livestock movements, producing relatively coarse material in the size range 50–70 μm, plus some fines. Local dusts appear to have made the greatest contribution to deposition, with a moderate (though less than expected) contribution from the plume and a minor contribution from long-distance dusts.These results have implications for dust deposition studies aimed at quantifying dust contributions to soils. Although these Mali dust deposition rates are high (2.5–28.6 t⁻¹ km⁻² day⁻¹), the significant proportion of locally derived dust means that new dust inputs to the soils of the Inland Delta region of Mali are small.     

Dust storm erosion and its impact on soil carbon and nitrogen losses in northern China

There is increased awareness of the environmental impacts of soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) losses through wind erosion, especially in areas heavily affected by dust storm erosion. This paper reviews the recent literature concerning dust storm-related soil erosion and its impact on soil C and N losses in northern China. The purpose of our study is to provide an overview of the area of erosion-affected soils and to estimate the magnitude of soil C and N losses from farmland affected by dust storm erosion.According to the second national soil erosion remote-sensing survey in 2000, the area affected by wind erosion was 1.91 million km², accounting for 20% of the total land area in China. This area is expanding quickly as the incidence of heavy dust storms has greatly increased over the last five decades, mainly as a result of the intensification of soil cultivation. The economic and ecological damage caused by wind erosion is considerable. Heavily affected areas show a loss of nutrients and organic carbon in soils and the heavily degraded soils are much less productive. Compared with the non-degraded soil, the C and N contents in degraded soils have declined by 66% and 73%, respectively. The estimated annual losses per cm toplayer of soil C and N by dust storm erosion in northern China range from 53 to 1044 kg ha^− 1 and 5 to 90 kg ha^− 1, respectively. Field studies suggest that soil losses by wind erosion can be reduced by up to 79% when farmers shift from conventional soil tillage methods to no-till. Thus shifting to no-till or reduced tillage systems is an effective practice for protecting soil and soil nutrients. Our study indicates that soil conservation measures along with improved soil fertility management measures should be promoted in dry-land farming areas of northern China. As erosion is a major mechanism of nutrient withdrawal in these areas, we plead for the development of accurate methods for its assessment and for the incorporation of erosion, as a nutrient output term, in nutrient budget studies.     

Relationships among dust outbreaks, vegetation cover, and surface soil water content on the Loess Plateau of China, 1999–2000

We analyzed relationships among dust outbreaks, Normalized Difference Vegetation Indices (NDVI), and surface soil water content (0 to 2 cm depth) on the Loess Plateau, a significant dust source area of East Asia. World Surface Data for wind speed and current weather, coarse-resolution data for NDVI, and a three-layer soil model for surface soil water content were used. The threshold NDVI for preventing dust outbreaks was about 0.2 when the wind speed ranged from 7 to 8 m s^− 1. This threshold NDVI corresponds to a vegetation cover of 18%. The threshold ratio of surface soil water content to the field capacity (θ_r) was about 0.2. Conditions facilitating dust outbreaks on the Loess Plateau are when NDVI is less than 0.2 with wind speed  7 m s^− 1 and θ_r < 0.2, and when NDVI is greater than 0.2 with wind speed  9 m s^− 1 and θ_r < 0.2.     

Influence of the 23 October 2002 Dust Storm on the Air Quality of Four Australian Cities

Widespread drought and record maximum temperatures in eastern Australia produced a large dust storm on 23 October, 2002 which traversed a large proportion of eastern Australia and engulfed communities along a 2000 km stretch of coastline from south of Sydney (NSW) to north of Mackay (Queensland). This event provided an opportunity for a study of the impacts of rural dust upon the air quality of four Australian cities. A simple model is used to predict dust concentrations, dust deposition rates and particle size characteristics of the airborne dust in the cities. The total dust load of the plume was 3.35 to 4.85 million tones, and assuming a (conservative) plume height of 1500 m, 62–90% of this dust load was deposited in-transit to the coast. It is conservatively estimated that 3.5, 12.0, 2.1 and 1.7 kilotonnes of dust were deposited during the event in Sydney, Brisbane, Gladstone and Mackay, respectively. In the South East Queensland region, this deposition is equivalent to 40% of the total annual TSP emissions for the region. The event increased TSP, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 concentrations and reduced the visibility beyond the health and amenity guidelines in the four cities. For example, the 24-h average PM₁₀ concentrations in Brisbane and Mackay, were 161 and 475 μg m^?3 respectively, compared with the Australian national ambient air quality standard of 50 μg m^?3. The 24-h average PM_2.5 concentration in Brisbane was 42 μg m^?3, compared with the national advisory standard of 25 μg m^?3. These rural dusts significantly increased PM₁₀/TSP ratios and decreased PM_2.5/PM₁₀ ratios, indicating that most of the particles were between PM_2.5 and PM₁₀.     

GIS-Based Emission Inventory, Dispersion Modeling, and Assessment for Source Contributions of Particulate Matter in an Urban Environment

The Industrial Source Complex Short Term (ISCST3) model was used to discern the sources responsible for high PM₁₀ levels in Kanpur City, a typical urban area in the Ganga basin, India. A systematic geographic information system-based emission inventory was developed for PM₁₀ in each of 85 grids of 2?×?2 km. The total emission of PM₁₀ was estimated at 11 t day^?1 with an overall breakup as follows: (a) industrial point sources, 2.9 t day^?1 (26%); (b) vehicles, 2.3 t day^?1 (21%); (c) domestic fuel burning, 2.1 t day^?1 (19%); (d) paved and unpaved road dust, 1.6 t day^?1 (15%); and the rest as other sources. To validate the ISCST3 model and to assess air-quality status, sampling was done in summer and winter at seven sampling sites for over 85 days; PM₁₀ levels were very high (89?C632 ??g m^?3). The results show that the model-predicted concentrations are in good agreement with observed values, and the model performance was found satisfactory. The validated model was run for each source on each day of sampling. The overall source contribution to ambient air pollution was as follows: vehicular traffic (16%), domestic fuel uses (16%), paved and unpaved road dust (14%), and industries (7%). Interestingly, the largest point source (coal-based power plant) did not contribute significantly to ambient air pollution. The reason might be due to release of pollutant at high stack height. The ISCST3 model was shown to produce source apportionment results like receptor modeling that could generate source apportionment results at any desired time and space resolution.     

塔里木盆地多种沙源类型沙通量异变特征研究

以塔里木盆地周边地区多种沙尘源地为研究区,通过塔中、肖塘、若羌、策勒四个风沙观测场获取的沙尘暴过程中贴地层风向、风速数据以及风蚀传感器实测的撞击颗粒数等数据计算出各地起沙临界摩擦速度,利用Gillette经典的垂直沙尘通量及Lettau水平沙尘通量公式对若羌、策勒、塔中、肖塘沙尘通量进行了估算,并通过各层实测的梯度风速作为背景值界定出塔里木盆地多种沙源类型沙通量变化比对特征,结果表明:垂直沙尘通量F量级为10-8kg/(m2.s),水平沙尘通量Q量级为10-4 kg/(m.s);风速相同情况下,F若羌最大,策勒次之,塔中、肖塘较小;Q若羌值最大,策勒次之,塔中第三,肖塘最小。垂直沙通量F与风速都表现出较好的线性相关,风速递增,垂直沙通量递增;风速递减,垂直沙通量递减。在风速递增幅度相同条件下,若羌Q值递增幅度最大,策勒次之,塔中、肖塘基本相同。     

Bias in grain size distribution of deposited atmospheric dust due to the collection of particles in sediment catchers

This study investigates how dust deposition samplers affect the grain size characteristics of the sediment they catch. Sediment samplers act as obstacles in the flow and their collection efficiency varies with the grain size and other factors. Some particle fractions are collected more efficiently than others, resulting in a modification of the original grain size distribution of the sediment. This paper presents wind tunnel results for five dust deposition samplers and five wind velocities ranging from 1 to 5 m s^− 1. The catcher's effect on the grain size was apparent in all experiments. Dust accumulated in a catcher is finer than undisturbed dust. For the dust used in the tests the difference (in median grain diameter) was of the order of 10–20%, but differences up to 40% and more were observed. In general, the error is higher when the catcher is less aerodynamically shaped. The study concludes that grain size data on sediment collected by a catcher should be interpreted with care, as they do not necessarily reflect the characteristics of the original sediment.     

The effect of surface variability factors on wind‐erosion susceptibility: A field study in SW Niger

The effects of several surface treatments and factors that influence wind‐erosion susceptibility were measured with the means of a mobile wind tunnel. The test surfaces are situated in the SW part of the Republic of Niger in W Africa. The measurement program included the determination of total and dust‐mass fluxes and surface‐specific wind‐erosion parameters like aerodynamic roughness and friction velocities. Different treatments and variations were investigated on one typical and common sand surface type: different densities of stone cover, different kinds of millet‐residue alignments, and different topsoil humidities as well as the effect of different densities of fallow vegetation. The on‐site experiments in a controlled wind‐tunnel environment allowed the observation of effects that were only scarcely described in wind‐erosion literature. Increased stone cover resulted in increased emission due to increased turbulence and channelling effect, in spite of increased surface roughness. Millet‐residue alignment in transversal orientation to the wind direction resulted in far higher emission reduction as documented in the literature. Topsoil humidity, though far above the known threshold for erosion, could not completely inhibit particle entrainment because of the quick development of a thin superficial layer of dry particles.     

基于粒度对比法的坝上农田风蚀与粉尘释放量估算

为了计算当前年内的农田风蚀量,该研究利用农田耕作层土壤粒度组成较均一,风蚀使表层可蚀性颗粒减少,不可蚀颗粒含量相对增加这一特点,通过比较一个风蚀季结束后,农田耕作层表层与下层可蚀性颗粒与不可蚀颗粒相对含量的变化,提出了一种估算当前年内土壤风蚀量和粉尘释放量的方法,并给出了风蚀量与粉尘释放量的计算公式。利用此方法对河北坝上地区主要农田类型土壤风蚀量和粉尘释放量进行计算。计算结果表明,2013年研究区农田风蚀量为960～5700 g/(m2·a),平均为2852.14 g/(m2·a),平均风蚀深度为0.21 cm/a,从强度上划分属于重度风蚀。农田平均粉尘释放量为768.16 g/(m2·a),约占农田平均风蚀量的29.00%。粉尘释放量与风蚀量之间有显著的线性相关关系,翻耕耙平地的风蚀量和粉尘释放量显著大于留茬地。该方法的估算结果与前人采用其他方法得到的结果以及实地观测得到的结果基本吻合。     

Physical and Chemical Properties of a Winter-Time Yellow Sand Event in Northeast Asia

The long range transport of mineral dust such as Yellow Sand (YS) is not restricted to the springtime periods in Northeast Asia. A YS phenomenon was observed during 25～27 January 1999, which was a remarkably distinctive episode in the occurrence time and intensity that had ever been observed in the wintertime in Korea. This YS event had a bi-modal temporal structure with the daily average concentrations of 210～349 µg m^?3. The long-lasted second one followed the first arriving short and strong dust pulse. The dominant ion components were SO₄ ^2?, NO₃ ^?, Ca²⁺ and Na⁺ with the concentration of 11.3, 7.6, 6.1 and 4.2 µg m^?3, respectively during the passage of YS, compared to the corresponding concentrations of 4.1, 4.6, 0.4, and 1.2 µg m^?3 after the passage of YS (AYS) over Korea. The mode diameter of these compounds of YS was around 4 µm, compared to 0.4～0.9 µm of AYS. Concentrations of SO₄ ^2? and NO₃ ^? were found to be highly correlated with that of Ca²⁺ in the coarse mode during the YS event, whereas they were well correlated with NH₄ ⁺ during the non-YS period.     

Development of a Multi-Resolution Emission Inventory and Its Impact on Sulfur Distribution for Northeast Asia

Emissions in East Asia for 1993 by administrative units and source types are estimated to support regional emission assessments and transport modeling studies. Total emission of SO_x, NO_x, soil NO_x, N₂O, and NH₃ are 24 150, 12 610, 1963, 908, and 8263 kton yr^-1, respectively.China's emission contribution is the highest for every species.The area sources are the most significant source type for SO_x and NO_x, but the fraction due to mobile source is highest for NO_x. Major LPSs are located from the middle to the east part of China, south and middle-west part of South Korea, and the east part of Japan. The area sources of SO_x show a pattern similar to population density, whereas NH₃ shows a strong landuse dependency. Detail emissions analysis reveals higher SO_x emission `cores' within each province. The estimated emissions are used to estimate sulfur deposition in the regions. The seasonal average sulfur distribution amounts are estimated from the ATMOS2 chemical transport model. The results showed anti-correlation with temperature for sulfur (SO₂ + SO₄ ^-2) concentrations and a positive correlation with rainfall for deposition.     

Shifting Cyanobacterial Diversity in Response to Agricultural Soils Associated with Dust Emission

Dust emission to the atmosphere from wind‐eroded soils has many environmental impacts, including soil degradation and air pollution. Various agricultural land uses alter the topsoil properties and thus affect dust particle characteristics as well as loading of biological components into the air. In the present work, the richness and abundance of bacterial communities in topsoils of semiarid loess that are associated with dust emissions were studied by high throughput sequencing methods and were found to be affected by land uses: conventional agriculture, organic agriculture alternating with grazing, uncontrolled grazing activities and natural nondisturbed soil. Moreover, bacterial diversity was shown to be influenced by the contents of sand, CaCO₃ and particulate matter in the topsoil. Of all bacteria taxa detected, cyanobacteria were found to be most strongly influenced by land use: Natural and grazing lands were highly abundant with cyanobacterial reads (about 33%), whereas conventional agriculture lands and organic agriculture lands alternating with grazing contained only 7% cyanobacteria. When examining macro‐aggregates in two soils (natural and grazing), approximately 44% of reads were found to be affiliated to cyanobacteria, whereas in micro‐aggregates, their concentration decreased to about 11%. Intensive agricultural use leads to a reduction in soil aggregation and significantly decreases cyanobacteria abundance, in turn increasing dust emission potential and loss of topsoil materials to the atmosphere. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

近地层沙尘水平通量与集沙效率野外观测分析

沙漠是沙尘物质的重要源区,沙漠近地层沙尘水平通量的测量与研究是认识沙尘输送过程、评估风沙活动强度的基础。集沙仪是测量沙尘水平通量的最重要手段之一,被广泛应用于各种观测试验中。集沙效率是集沙仪最重要的参数,是校正沙尘水平通量测量数据的依据。选择塔克拉玛干沙漠腹地塔中地区的典型平沙面为观测点,利用全自动高精度集沙仪,H-11B型Sensit风蚀传感器、10 m气象塔,于2010.7-2010.8月开展了野外观测试验,基于观测数据对全自动集沙仪的集沙效率、近地层沙尘水平通量进行了分析研究。结果表明:相同时段内,集沙总量与Sensit风蚀传感器所记录的跃移颗粒数具有较好的线性关系,R~2值平均为0.6053;全自动集沙仪在5 cm高度上的平均集沙效率为94.3%;观测期间,不同沙尘天气过程的沙尘输送量存在显著差异,通过宽2 cm×高5 cm截面的最大沙尘水平通量为190.335 kg,最小为1.2 kg;5 cm高度上的跃移输沙率总体上随着风速的增加而增大,但其中有部分天气时段输沙率随风速的变化不一致,而此情况下对应时段的地表温度明显更大。     

摩阻风速与平均风速的转化关系研究

针对多数研究都是以摩阻风速表征地表输沙量,而气象站风速观测通常是10 m或12 m高度的平均风速,因此在利用气象站风速观测资料来评估大范围或者某一特定区域较长时间的地表输沙量时,首先需要解决摩阻风速与平均风速的转化关系。然而,很少见到相关研究报道。借助风洞实验和2003年春天在北京郊区获得的9种不同下垫面的野外风沙观测数据,对摩阻风速与平均风速的转化关系进行了探讨,认为它们满足线性关系。