Wind power and sand/dust storms

Sand/dust storms,a globally prevalent catastrophic weather phenomenon,can cause significant erosion to the climate and ecological environment.The high concentration of sand particles they carry not only impacts atmospheric quality and poses a threat to human health,but also leads to soil sanding and environmental destruction.

Global sources, emissions, transport and deposition of dust and sand and their effects on the climate and environment： a review

Dust and Sand Storms （DSS） originating in deserts in arid and semi-arid regions are events raising global public concern. An important component of atmospheric aerosols, dust aerosols play a key role in climatic and environmental changes at the regional and the global scale. Deserts and semi-deserts are the main source of dust and sand, but regions that undergo vegetation deterioration and desertification due to climate change and human activities also contribute significantly to DSS. Dust aerosols are mainly composed of dust particles with an average diameter of 2 l.tm, which can be transported over thousands of kilometers. Dust aerosols influence the radiation budget of the earth- atmosphere system by scattering solar short-wave radiation and absorbing surface long-wave radiation. They can also change albedo and rainfall patterns because they can act as cloud condensation nuclei （CCN） or ice nuclei （IN）. Dust deposition is an important source of both marine nutrients and contaminants. Dust aerosols that enter marine ecosystems after long-distance transport influence phytoplankton biomass in the oceans, and thus global climate by altering the amount of CO2 absorbed by phytoplankton. In addition, the carbonates carried by dust aerosols are an important source of carbon for the alkaline carbon pool, which can buffer atmospheric acidity and increase the alkalinity of seawater. DSS have both positive and negative impacts on human society： they can exert adverse impacts on human＇s living environment, but can also contribute to the mitigation of global warming and the reduction of atmospheric acidity.

Monitoring the source of trans-national dust storms in north east Asia

The vast expanse of the Gobi desert across the Mongolian plateau experiences frequent dust storms.In this isolated region remote sensing techniques can provide an effective measurement of dust storms.Brightness temperature channels 4,5 of AVHRR/NOAA satellite data,emissive bands of MODIS/TERRA satellite data and meteorological station measurement data were used and tested for dust and sandstorm mapping in the desert area of Mongolia and northern China.The differences between thermal bands in combination with geographic information system(GIS)layers were used for mapping in this study.The results show that dust and sand storm maps can be achieved from emissive bands for monitoring of dust and sandstorms.Most active dust storm sources can occur in truly remote areas where there is little or no human activity,although many sources are associated with areas where human impacts are well documented.Thus,on a regional scale dust mobilisation appears to be dominated by natural sources.