Changes in Climate Factors and Their Impacts on Wind Erosion Climatic Erosivity in Farming-pastoral Zone of Northern China

Climate change can affect wind erosion power and hence induce changes in wind erosion rates.In this study,the wind erosion climate factor(C-factor),proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,was used to assess the impact of changes in climate on wind erosion climatic erosivity.The Mann-Kendall test was employed to detect trends in the C-factor during the period of 1961–2017 in the farming-pastoral zone of northern China.Sensitivity analysis was used to determine the sensitivity of the C-factor to changes in key climate factors.Furthermore,a comparison of the contributions of different climate factors was carried out to understand their impact on changes in the C-factor.The results indicated that most of the surveyed region exhibited decreasing trends in wind speed at a confidence level of 90%,while maximum and minimum temperatures showed increasing trends throughout the study area.As a consequence of decreasing wind speed,the annual C-factor exhibited significant decreasing trends,with a mean slope of–0.58/yr.Seasonal analysis revealed that in most regions,the changes in the C-factor had significant decreasing trends in spring,winter,and autumn,while in more than two-thirds of the study area,no significant change trends in the C-factor were detected in summer at a confidence level of 90%.Sensitivity analysis showed that the C-factor was most sensitive to wind speed,and that the sensitivity coefficients from July to September were much higher than those in other months.Contribution analysis revealed that,for most stations,wind speed(with greater values of sensitivity coefficients)was the dominant factor in the change of C-factor,while for some stations,the minimum temperature made the most contribution to the C-factor’s change due to its dramatic changes during the study period.Although the minimum temperature sensitivity coefficient was the lowest of all the sensitivity coefficients,it is urgent to evaluate the expected impact of minimum temperature due to its possible changes in the future.

Assessing changes in wind erosion climatic erosivity in China＇s dryland region during 1961-2012

China＇s dryland region has serious wind erosion problem and is sensitive to climate change due to its fragile ecological condition. Wind erosion climatic erosivity is a measure of climatic factors influencing wind erosion, therefore, evaluation of its intensity and response to recent climate changes can contribute to the understanding of climate change effect on wind erosion risk. Using the FAO equation, GIS and statistical analysis tools, this study quantified the climatic erosivity, analyzed its spatiotemporal variations, and detected the trend and sen- sitivity to climate factors during 1961-2012. The results indicate that mean annual climatic erosivity was 2-166 at 292 stations and 237-471 at 6 stations, with the spatial distribution highly in accordance with wind speed （R^2 = 0.94）. The climatic erosivity varied greatly over time with the annual variation （CV） of 14.7%-108.9% and monthly variation （concentration degree） of 0.10-0.71 in the region. Meanwhile, annual erosivity showed a significant down- ward trend at an annual decreasing rate mostly above 1.0%. This significantly decreasing trend was mainly attributed to the obvious decline of wind speed during the period. The results suggest that the recent climate changes were highly possible to induce a decrease of wind erosion risk in China＇s dryland region.

Changes of spring wind erosion based on wind erosion climate factor in the black soil region of Northeast China

The dry and windy climate and low ground cover in spring in the black soil region of Northeast China make the soil strongly affected by wind erosion,which seriously threatens the food security and ecological security of this region.In this paper,based on the daily observation data of 124 meteorological stations in study area from 1961 to 2020,seasonal and monthly wind erosion climate factor(C)in spring(March to May)were calculated by using the method proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO),the wind erosion characterization in spring were systematically analyzed based on C by various statistical analysis methods.The results showed that in the past 60 years,spring wind erosion climate factor(CSp)and monthly C of the whole region and each province(region)all showed highly significant decreasing trend,but they began to show rebounded trend in the middle or late 2000s.CSp of the study area showed a significant upward trend since 2008 with an increase of 4.59(10a)^(-1).The main contributors to this upward trend are the changes of C in March and in April.For the four provinces(regions),CSp in Heilongjiang,Jilin,Liaoning and eastern Inner Mongolia all showed rebounded since 2008,2011,2008 and 2009,respectively.The rebounded trend of CSp in eastern Inner Mongolia was the most obvious with a tendency rate of 11.27(10a)^(-1),and its mutation occurred after 1984.The rebound trend of CSp in Heilongjiang Province takes the second place,with a trend rate of 4.72(10a)^(-1),but there’s no obvious time mutation characteristics.The spatial characteristics of CSpand monthly C are similar,showing decreasing characteristics centered on the typical black soil belt of Northeast China.Compared with 1961-1990,in the period from 1991 to 2020,the proportion of high value areas(CSp>35,monthly C>10)has decreased to varying degrees,while the proportion of low value areas(CSp≤10,monthly C≤4)has increased.The trends of seasonal and monthly C in 82.2%~87.7%of the stations show significant decreases at 95%confidence level.CSp is closely related to wind speed at 2m height,temperature difference,minimum temperature and precipitation in the same period,of which the correlation between CSp and wind speed is the strongest,indicating that the main control factor for CSp in the study area is wind speed,but the impact of the change of temperature and precipitation on CSp cannot be ignored.