Classification of Sandstorms in Saudi Arabia

The aim of the study is to classify the Sandstorms according to year seasons as well as their spatial variation in Saudi Arabia. Factor analysis has been used for data collection. Three factors have been presented: the first factor related to Spring as a prime Season for Dust Sandstorms. Factor two shows that Samar months concern as ascend season for Sandstorms, while the Autumn Season comes as a third period for Dust Sandstorms. With regard to spatial variation, Al-Ahsa station came as the most closely related station in the spring season, followed by Hafr Elbatten, Jazan and Al-Jouf stations, while Jazan and Yenbo stations were the most connected stations in the summer season, Turaif is more closely related, to Fall season. By the end of the study several results and recommendations have been addressed.

CAS Scientists Clarify Causes of Sandstorms

The main causes of the heavysandstorms ravaging north Chinathis spring are abnormal climateand the encroachment ofdesertification, says a CAS reportreleased in Beijing on May 15.

Deposition of sandstorms in a vegetation-covered sand dune in Ejin Oasis and its characteristics

＂Ejin Section＂ found in a typical vegetation-covered sand dune in Ejin Oasis was investigated. In this study, 263 samples were taken from the section for grain-size analysis, 25 for chemical analysis, 11 for ^14C dating and 6 for scanning electron microscope （SEM）. The results of the study indicate that 3 types of the sediments in the section can be identified, YS, LS and ST. YS, homogeneous yellow-brown dune sands, is equal to those of inland deserts, LS, loess-like sandy soils, is the same as the sandy loess in the middle Yellow River and modem falling dusts, and ST, sandy sediments interbeded with the deadwood and defoliation of Tamarix spp, represents the depositional process of the section interrupted by abrupt changes in climate. The Ejin Section has recorded the repeated dust-storms or sandstorms since 2500 yr BP and the peak periods of the dust-storms or sandstorms revealed by the section are consistent with the records of ＂dust rains＂ in historical literatures, indicating that the change of climate is a key factor to increase sandstorms or dust-storms, whereas, ＂artificial＂ factor may only be an accelerating one for desertification.

Sandstorms and desertification

Sandstorm is a frequently occurred disastrous weather in northern China. The increasing occurrence frequency recently, especially the much more frequently occurred sandstorms with high intensity in the spring of 2000 have caused great loss to national economy. The combination of strong wind, exposed sandy soil on ground surface and unstable air current constitutes the necessary conditions for the sandstorms. However, the accelerated desertification process resulting from irrational human economic activities is responsible for the accelerated sandstorms. The effective measures to mitigate sandstorm lie in strengthening desertification control and eco-environmental protection.

Overgrazing blamed for worsening sandstorms

ALASHAN AND ORDOS,Inner Mongolia-Dust,five centimeters thick, and rat holes cover the landscape of the Shilekai village,about 300 kilometers from the city of Ordos, Inner Mongolia.

Numerical simulation of flow field deposition and erosion characteristics around bridge-road transition section

Wind-sand flow generates erosion and deposition around obstacles such as bridges and roadbeds, resulting in sand damage and endangering railway systems in sandy regions. Previous studies have mainly focused on the flow field around roadbeds, overlooking detailed examinations of sand particle erosion and deposition patterns near bridges and roadbeds. This study employs numerical simulations to analyze the influence of varying heights and wind speeds on sand deposition and erosion characteristics at different locations: the bridge-road transition section(side piers), middle piers, and roadbeds. The results show that the side piers, experience greater accumulation than the middle piers. Similarly, the leeward side of the roadbed witnesses more deposition compared to the windward side. Another finding reveals a reduced sand deposition length as the vertical profile, in alignment with the wind direction, moves further from the bridge abutments at the same clearance height. As wind speeds rise, there’s a decline in sand deposition and a marked increase in erosion around the side piers, middle piers and roadbeds. In conclusion, a bridge clearance that’s too low can cause intense sand damage near the side piers, while an extremely high roadbed may lead to extensive surface sand deposition. Hence, railway bridges in areas prone to sandy winds should strike a balance in clearance height. This research provides valuable guidelines for determining the most suitable bridge and roadbed heights in regions affected by wind and sand.

Causes, Processes and Consequences of Sandstorms in Northern China : A case study of sandstorms in 2000

Serious land degradation exists in the marginal areas of North China, the important ecological transition between semi-arid and sub-humid climate zones, which is a relatively narrow belt with 100-250 km in width and about 2 000 km in length. The annual rainfall varies between 300-400 mm. In the past hundred years (before 2000), most of the land in the region had been used for grazing and dryland cropping. As land-use is intensifying, particularly since 1970s and 1980s, desertification has accelerated. O...

Module 4 Sandstorms in Asia

本模块知识网络词汇短语园地1. blow vt.&vi.吹;吹动;刮The winds blow across the sea, pushing little waves into bigger and bigger ones.风吹过海面,把小的波浪向前推进,变成越来越大的波浪。The wind has blown my hat off.风把我的帽子刮走了。

Dynamic characteristics of spring sandstorms in 2000

Systematical analyses of spring sandstorms in 2000 affecting Beijing area are carried out. Results revealed the key dynamic mechanisms of dust storm during its mobilization, lifting, horizontal advection and deposition processes. It turns out that in the processes of sandstorms influencing Beijing area in March-April 2000, the dynamic conditions for dust mobilization are significantly correlated with phenomena, such as cold air-related climatic activities,clay soils area of North China and surface friction velocity anomaly. The characteristics of sandstorm can be described by composite mode of dust particles mobilization-lifting-long-range transport. This paper will provide scientific evidences for further studies,prediction and harness of sandstorms in China.

Causes of Strong Sandstorm Weather on March 15,2021 in Ulanqab City

The severe sandstorm process in Ulanqab,Inner Mongolia on March 15,2021 was analyzed and discussed from the aspects of weather facts,weather causes and dynamic diagnosis.The results show that the strong cold air in West Siberia rapidly moved eastward,and the surface cold front moved eastward to Ulanqab with significant warming in the previous period,resulting in gale and sandstorm weather.This severe sandstorm process occurred in basically stable atmospheric stratification.During the strong sandstorm and extremely strong sandstorm process on March 15,the strong warming in the early period near the surface led to the surface thermal instability,and sand was generated by the upward movement of the Mongolian cyclone.Over the upper northwest air stream,barocline disturbance developed unsteadily,and the upper cold advection stimulated the secondary circulation of front perpendicular to the surface;the surface cyclone turned into strong cold front,and then strong sandstorm weather occurred in Ulanqab.

Analysis of Spatial and Temporal Variation and Forecast Model of Sandstorm Weather in Ulanqab City

Based on the data of sandstorm at 11 stations in Ulanqab City from 1990 to 2021,the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of sand-storm weather were analyzed firstly,and then the conceptual models of cold front and Mongolian cyclone sandstorm were obtained by analyzing sandstorm cases.Finally,the forecast points of the two types of sandstorm weather were given to provide some scientific basis and reference for the prediction of local sandstorm weather in the future.

Distribution Characteristics of Soil Organic Carbon in Degraded Forest Land in the Sandstorm Area of Jingbian County,Shaanxi Province

[Objectives]To explore the distribution characteristics of soil organic carbon in degraded forest land in the sandstorm area of Jingbian County,Shaanxi Province.[Methods]The distribution characteristics and abundance of 0-20 cm shallow soil organic carbon in 5 towns in the sandstorm area in the north of Jingbian County were studied by field sampling and indoor detection.[Results]The average soil organic carbon contents in Hongdunjie Town,Haizetan Town,Huanghaojie Town,Ningtiaoliang Town and Dongkeng Town were 2.93,3.21,2.53,2.54 and 4.08 g/kg,respectively,which were all lower than the national background value(31.00 g/kg).The coefficients of variation of soil organic carbon content in Hongdunjie Town,Huanghaojie Town and Dongkeng Town were 59.04%,35.97%and 47.55%,respectively,with higher coefficients of variation and larger differences in spatial distribution.The organic carbon content of Haizetan Town and Dongkeng Town was above the abundance,accounting for 70%and 50%,which were relatively rich,while the soil organic carbon content of Hongdunjie was relatively scarce.The average content of soil organic carbon in the sandstorm area was 3.03 g/kg,which was also lower than the national background value.The coefficient of variation was 46.53%,showing high coefficient of variation and large difference in spatial distribution.In addition,20.41%of the average content of soil organic carbon in the sandstorm area was in the deficient level,and 79.59%were in the medium or above level.[Conclusions]The study of distribution characteristics of soil organic carbon in degraded forest land in the sandstorm area of Jingbian County will better serve the precise management of soil resources.

Environmental characteristics of sandstorm of Minqin Oasis in China for recent 50 years

The purpose of this present study is to investigate the frequency and variation of sandstorm in Minqin Oasis. Using daily observational data of sandstorm and other meteorologic data from 1954 to 2000, we have illuminated the relationship between sandstorm, meteorological parameters and human activities. The results of the analysis show that the highest frequency of sandstorms occurrence and their duration mainly focus on March, April and May, especially in April. Most of sandstorms occur from midday to nightfall, but relative few appear from midnight to forenoon, which apparently correlates to the daily variations of atmospheric thermal stability within atmospheric boundary layer. Monthly mean and annual mean duration of sandstorms coincide well with the frequencies of sandstorm occurrence.

Single Image Enhancement in Sandstorm Weather via Tensor Least Square

In this paper,we present a tensor least square based model for sand/sandstorm removal in images.The main contributions of this paper are as follows.First,an important intrinsic natural feature of outdoor scenes free of sand/sandstorm is found that the outlines in RGB channels are somewise similar,which discloses the physical validation using the tensor instead of the matrix.Second,a tensor least square optimization model is presented for the decomposition of edge-preserving base layers and details.This model not only decomposes the color image(taken as an inseparable indivisibility)in X,Y directions,but also in Z direction,which meets the statistical feature of natural scenes and can physically disclose the intrinsic color information.The model’s advantages are twofold:one is the decomposition of edgepreserving base layers and details that can be employed for contrast enhancement without artificial halos,and the other one is the color driving ability that makes the enhanced images as close to natural images as possible via the inherent color structure.Thirdly,the tensor least square optimization model based image enhancement scheme is discussed for the sandstorm weather images.Finally,the experiments and comparisons with the stateof-the-art methods on real degraded images under sandstorm weather are shown to verify our method’s efficiency.

Climate change indirectly enhances sandstorm prevention services by altering ecosystem patterns on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Climate change influences both ecosystems and ecosystem services.The impacts of climate change on ecosystems and ecosystem services have been separately documented.However,it is less well known how ecosystem changes driven by climate change will influence ecosystem services,especially in climate-sensitive regions.Here,we analyzed future climate trends between 2040 and 2100 under four Shared Socioeconomic Pathway(SSP) scenarios(SSP1-2.6,SSP2-4.5,SSP3-7.0,and SSP5-8.5) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6(CMIP6).We quantified their impacts on ecosystems patterns and on the ecosystem service of sandstorm prevention on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau(QTP),one of the most climate-sensitive regions in the world,using Random Forest model(RF) and Revised Wind Erosion Equation(RWEQ).Strong warming(0.04℃/yr) and wetting(0.65 mm/yr) trends were projected from 2015 to 2100.Under these trends,there will be increased interspersion in the pattern of grassland and sparse vegetation with meadow and swamp vegetation,although their overall area will remain similar,while the areas of shrub and needleleaved forest classes will increase and move toward higher altitudes.Driven by the changes in ecosystem patterns caused by climate change indirectly,grassland will play an irreplaceable role in providing sandstorm prevention services,and sandstorm prevention services will increase gradually from 2040 to 2100(1.059-1.070 billion tons) on the QTP.However,some areas show a risk of deterioration in the future and these should be the focus of ecological rehabilitation.Our research helps to understand the cascading relationship among climate change,ecosystem patterns and ecosystem services,which provides important spatio-temporal information for future ecosystem service management.