An investigation of the effects of dust storms on rat lung using HRCT and blood gas analysis

The increasing intensity and frequency of sand-dust storms in China has led to greater prominence of associated environmentaland health issues. Many studies have focused on the health effects of air particulate contaminants, but fewformal investigations have studied the effects of sand-dust storms on human and animal health. The aim of this study wasto investigate the effects of dust storms on rat lung by using high resolution computed tomography （HRCT） and blood gasanalysis through a wind tunnel simulating. We found that the rat lung damage effects can be detected by the HRCT imagingafter exposure to sand-dust storm environments, but had no obvious result through blood gas analysis. Exposure durationspositively correlated with the damage degree to lung tissue. These will provide some evidence for clinical diagnosis ofnon-occupational pneumoconiosis.

Land use and land cover change and its driving forces in Maqu County, China in the past 25 years

Maqu County is located in the northeast Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and it is the main watershed for the Yellow River. The ecosystem there is extremely vulnerable and sensitive to climate change and human activities, which have caused significant deterioration of the eco-environment in this region. In order to restore the ecological environment, a government project to restore the grazing areas to grassland was implemented in Maqu County in early 2004. This study evaluates the effects of that restoration project on land use and land cover change （LUCC）, and explores the driving forces of LUCC in Maqu County. In the study we used Landsat images obtained in 1989, 2004, 2009, and 2014 to establish databases of land use and land cover. Then we derived LUCC information by overlaying these layers using GIS software. Finally, we analyzed the main forces responsible for LUCC. The results showed that forests, high-coverage grasslands, and marshes experienced the most significant decreases during 1989–2004, by 882.8 ha, 35,250.4 ha, and 2,753.4 ha, respectively. However, moderate- and low-coverage grasslands and sand lands showed the opposite trend, increasing by 12,529.7 ha, 25,491.0 ha, and 577.5 ha, respectively. LUCC in 2004–2009 showed that ecological degradation slowed compared with 1989？2004. During 2009–2014, high- and moderate-coverage grasslands increased obviously, but low-coverage grasslands, marshes, unused lands, sand lands, and water areas showed the opposite trend. These results suggested that the degradation of the eco-environment was obvious before 2009, showing a decrease in the forests, grasslands, and water areas, and an increase in unused lands. The ecological degradation was reversed after 2009, as was mainly evidenced by increases in high- and mod-erate-coverage grasslands, and the shrinkage rate of marshes decreased obviously. These results showed that the project of restoring grazing lands to grassland had a positive effect on the LUCC. Other major factors that influence the LUCC include increasing temperature, variation in the seasonal frozen soil environment, seasonal overgrazing, and pest and rodent damage.

Spatial trends of dustfall over northern China in the spring and their influencing factors

The spatial trends of dustfall of different sizes over northern China during April and May 2001,and March 2002,and their influencing factors,were analyzed.We divided the dustfall into seven grades based on particle size.Total dustfall and dustfall for each grade were highest in desert regions then in regions undergoing desertification,and the total dustfall,dustfall 【100 μm and dustfall 】250 μm were higher in western agricultural regions closer to desert areas than in eastern agricultural regions.The spatial trends in dustfall 【300 μm in diameter were most strongly correlated with dust events,and the content of coarse particles increased with increasing severity of dust events.Because the spatial trend for dust events appears to be controlled by geomorphic conditions,vegetation coverage,soil moisture,and the distance from dust source,dustfall 【300 μm in diameter appears to have the same controlling factors as dust events,but the control decreases with increasing particle size.Wind,the driving force for dust emissions,also influenced the spatial trends in dustfall 【200 μm in diameter,and especially for dustfall 50 to 100 μm in diameter.Although dustfall 【300 μm in diameter and precipitation were not strongly spatially correlated,there is some evidence that high precipitation decreased deposition by restraining blowing sand.The coarser the dustfall,the weaker the correlation with wind speed;however,transport of larger particles still occurs,and further research will be required to test the possibility that this dust is entrained mainly by the small-scale dust devils that are commonly observed in the study area.

A Wind Tunnel Investigation of the Shear Stress with A Blowing Sand Cloud

In a blowing sand system,the wind provides the driving forces for the particle movement while the moving particles exert the opposite forces to the wind by extracting its momentum.The wind-sand interaction that can be characterized by shear stress and force exerted on the wind by moving particles results in the modification of wind profiles.Detailed wind pro-files re-adapted to blown sand movement are measured in a wind tunnel for different grain size populations and at differ-ent free-stream wind velocities.The shear stress with a blowing sand cloud and force exerted on the wind by moving par-ticles are calculated from the measured wind velocity profiles.The results suggest that the wind profiles with presence of blowing sand cloud assume convex-upward curves on the u(z)-ln(z) plot compared with the straight lines characterizing the velocity profiles of clean wind,and they can be better fitted by power function than log-linear function.The exponent of the power function ranging from 0.1 to 0.17 tends to increase with an increase in wind velocity but decrease with an increase in particle size.The force per unit volume exerted on the wind by blown sand drift that is calculated based on the empirical power functions for the wind velocity profiles is found to decrease with height.The particle-induced force makes the total shear stress with blowing sand cloud partitioned into air-borne stress that results from the wind velocity gradient and grain-borne stress that results from the upward or downward movement of particles.The air-borne stress in-creases with an increase in height,while the grain-borne stress decreases with an increase in height.The air-borne shear stress at the top of sand cloud layer increases with both wind velocity and grain size,implying that it increases with sand transport rate for a given grain size.The shear stress with a blowing sand cloud is also closely related to the sand transport rate.Both the total shear stress and grain-borne stress on the grain top is directly proportional to the square root of sand transport rate.So,the profound effect of the moving particles on the airflow must be considered in modeling the blown sand movement.With the presence of sand movement,the boundary layer with a blowing sand cloud is no longer a con-stant air shear layer.

Aeolian dust transportation and deposition by near-surface winds in arid and semiarid China

Dustfall collections were carried out in April and May 2001 and in March 2002 at six sites in northern China.Our results showed that the total deposition of dust fractions 【250 μm in diameter and the deposition of Fe both decreased exponentially with increasing distances from the source areas,and that the half-attenuation distance (HAD) for dust deposition was about 229 km in this re-gion.The HAD was closely related to the grain-size distribution of the dust,and the 15 to 20 μm fractions had the longest HAD.However,the fractions 【15 μm in diameter can be easily adsorbed to coarse particles and deposited after only short distances,and the HAD for the fractions 15 to 100 μm in diameter showed a power relationship with the grain-size distribution.The HAD for Fe deposition was 233 km,which was a little longer than that of total dust deposition,which suggests that the Fe content is higher in fine particles than in coarse particles,as previous studies have suggested.In addition,our analysis showed that under the control of current climatic conditions,the coarse fractions in dust derived from northwestern China cannot be transported over long distances,instead,it is transported primarily by near-surface winds (【3 km above the ground).The Fe in aeolian dust generated from arid and semiarid regions of China and deposited in the North Pacific region is usually transported by the upper westerlies.

Momentum profile of aeolian saltation cloud

The momentum profile of an aeolian saltation cloud is poorly understood. In this paper, height profiles for saltation momentum are reconstructed for three particle-size populations at four wind velocities based on profiles for mean particle velocity and relative particle concentration of saltation cloud obtained using particle image velocimetry in a wind tunnel. The results suggest that the saltation momentum profiles are characterized by peak curves with a maximum at some height above the surface. The height of this maximum increases with increasing wind velocity, but decreases with increasing particle size. It is linearly correlated with average saltation height and is comparable with the results of numerical simulations in a previous study. Our results confirm that Bagnold’s kink is an important feature of wind velocity profiles modified by the presence of saltating particles and that the height of the kink is closely related to the average trajectories of the saltating particles.

The wind-saltation interaction in a saltation boundary layer with a downwind air pressure gradient

Studies of interactions between wind and saltating particles （i.e., the wind-saltation interaction） are usually conducted without consideration of the downwind air pressure gradient. However, in a wind tunnel with limited size, this gradient is required to maintain the movement of the saltation cloud. Attempts are made to investigate the effects of the downwind air pressure gradient on the wind-saltation interaction in a saltation boundary layer based on the experimental results from a wind tunnel with a relatively small cross-sectional area. The wind-saltation interaction is characterized by airborne stress, grain-borne stress, and the force exerted on the wind by the saltation cloud. Basic equations were developed for wind-saltation interactions without and with a downwind air pressure gradient. The results reveal that unacceptable values of negative grain-borne stress and negative force exerted on the wind by the saltation cloud are obtained if the downwind air pressure gradient is ignored. When this air pressure gradient is defined using the measured wind velocity profiles in the presence of saltation and the downwind air pressure gradient is taken into account, reasonable values for grain-borne stress and the force exerted on the wind by the saltation cloud are obtained. These results suggest that attention must be paid to the effects of downwind air pressure gradients when studying the wind-saltation interaction in a wind tunnel. Consideration of the downwind air pressure gradient, inertial forces, and other unidentified variables will provide a more thorough understanding of the interactions within a saltation boundary layer.

Airflow patterns upwind of obstacles and their significance for echo dune formation:A field measurement of the effects of the windward slope angle

The velocities in front of five topographic obstacles with windward slope angles between 45° and 80° were measured using ultrasonic anemometers in the field at the southeastern margin of the Tengger Desert.The characteristics of the horizontal and vertical velocities indicated that the airflow pattern was significantly influenced by the obstacle's windward slope angle.The horizontal flow decelerated but the vertical flow accelerated upwind of the obstacles when the windward slope was less than 60°,but a reversed flow formed in front of steeper obstacles.The size of the area occupied by the reversed horizontal component increased with increasing windward slope,but the region of reversed vertical velocity became narrower and taller.Airflow turbulence was strengthened as the wind approached the obstacle,and low-frequency high-energy velocity fluctuations were observed upwind of the obstacle,and could affect the entrainment and saltation processes of sand particles.Turbulence intensities for both the horizontal and vertical components of the airflow increased with increasing windward slope and with decreasing distance from the obstacle.The deceleration and downward movement of airflow upwind of the obstacle would result in supersaturation of the air-sand flow,leading to deposition of moving sand,and these deposited grains would become the material basis for the formation of echo dunes.The reversed airflow would both determine the initial position of the echo dune and provide the necessary motive power to subsequently shape the echo dune.

基于COSI-Corr技术的龙羊峡库区1987—2019年风沙输移特征及潜在入库量估算

风沙活动威胁着龙羊峡水库的安全运营,查清沙害来源和入库量对于防治水患和沙害具有重要意义。基于1987、1995、2003、2013、2019年的Landsat卫星影像,利用COSI-Corr技术监测了龙羊峡库区不同时空的沙丘移动特征,并重新评估库区近32 a的潜在风沙入库量。结果显示:(1)1987-2019年龙羊峡库区沙丘平均移动速率为5.81 m·a^(-1),呈先加速(1987-2003年)后减速(2003-2013年)再加速(2013-2019年)趋势;沙丘移动方向在132.81°-165.82°范围内,与该区主风向一致。(2)近32 a向龙羊峡水库输送的潜在风沙量可达7.82×10^(7) m^(3)(1.20×10^(8) t)。上风向塔拉滩潜在输送量为7.38×10^(7) m^(3)(1.14×10^(8) t),下风向木格滩仅贡献了0.44×10^(7) m^(3)(0.68×10^(7) t)。(3)库区内风沙输移受风况、气候、植被等多种因素的影响,在未来全球变暖条件下,青藏高原的风沙活动将会持续发展,风沙入库量的长期累计效应将对水库安全构成严重威胁,必须引起足够重视。