A New Perspective on Understanding the Reduced Spring Dust Storm Frequency in Inner Mongolia, China

Ning Li; Li Guo; Bihang Fan

doi:10.1007/s13753-015-0062-5

Article Contents

Article Navigation > International Journal of Disaster Risk Science > 2015 > 6(3): 216-225

Ning Li, Li Guo, Bihang Fan. A New Perspective on Understanding the Reduced Spring Dust Storm Frequency in Inner Mongolia, China[J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2015, 6(3): 216-225. doi: 10.1007/s13753-015-0062-5

Citation:

Ning Li, Li Guo, Bihang Fan. A New Perspective on Understanding the Reduced Spring Dust Storm Frequency in Inner Mongolia, China[J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2015, 6(3): 216-225. doi: 10.1007/s13753-015-0062-5

Citation:

PDF

A New Perspective on Understanding the Reduced Spring Dust Storm Frequency in Inner Mongolia, China

doi: 10.1007/s13753-015-0062-5

Ning Li^{1,2
,
,},
Li Guo³,
Bihang Fan¹

1 State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China;
2 Key Laboratory of Environmental Change and Natural Disasters, Ministry of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China;
3 College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China

Funds:

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41171401) and the National Basic Research Program of China (973) (2012CB955402) Programs. The authors would like to acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments, which have greatly helped improve the manuscript.

Available Online: 2021-04-26

Abstract

Abstract

Spatiotemporal patterns of dust storms are affected by climate change through changes in convective instability, regional meteorological characteristics, and local sediment supply. Linking dust storm dynamics to climate change helps the understanding of what controls the initiation of dust storms, and assists the prediction of future dust storm occurrence. This study examines the temporal dynamics of spring dust storms in Inner Mongolia, a major dust source area in East Asia. We found that severe spring dust storms have significantly declined from 1954 to 2007. Four dust storm types showed similar decreasing trends from 2001 to 2012. This change in spring dust storm dynamics is attributed to the shift in vegetation green-up dates based on the analysis of a satellite derived vegetation index. Earlier vegetation green-up has a dampening effect on spring dust storms. Suitable environmental conditions for vegetation green-up hinder the emergence of dust storms. This study expands our understanding of the dynamics of spring dust storms in the changing climate through a new perspective on vegetation phenology in the spring.
- Climate change,
- Dust storm dynamics,
- Green-up date,
- Inner Mongolia,
- Vegetation phenology

FullText(HTML)

References(48)

References

Bazzaz, F.A. 1979. The physiological ecology of plant succession. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 10: 351–371.

Catt, J.A. 1988. Loess – Its formation, transport and economic significance. In Physical and chemical weathering in geochemical cycles, ed. A. Lerman, and M. Meybeck, 113–142. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.

Chen, K.Y. 2010. The northern path of Asian dust transport from the Gobi desert to North America. Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters 3(3): 155–159.

Cong, N., S. Piao, A. Chen, X. Wang, X. Lin, S. Chen, S. Han, G. Zhou, and X. Zhang. 2012. Spring vegetation green-up date in China inferred from SPOT NDVI data: A multiple model analysis. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 165: 104–113.

Cowie, S.M., P. Knippertz, and J.H. Marsham. 2013. Are vegetation-related roughness changes the cause of the recent decrease in dust emission from the Sahel? Geophysical Research Letters 40(9): 1868–1872.

Creamean, J.M., K.J. Suski, D. Rosenfeld, A. Cazorla, P.J. DeMott, R.C. Sullivan, A.B. White, F.M. Ralph, et al. 2013. Dust and biological aerosols from the Sahara and Asia influence precipitation in the western US. Science 339(6127): 1572–1578.

Dawson, T.E. 1993. Hydraulic lift and water use by plants: Implications for water balance, performance and plant-plant interactions. Oecologia 95(4): 565–574.

Ding, R.Q., J.P. Li, S.G. Wang, and F.M. Ren. 2005. Decadal change of the spring dust storm in northwest China and the associated atmospheric circulation. Geophysical Research Letters 32(2). doi: 10.1029/2004GL021561.

Ebata, M., and R. Tateishi. 2001. Phenological stage monitoring in Siberia using NOAA/AVHRR data. Paper presented at the 22nd Asian Conference on Remote Sensing, 5–9 November 2001, Singapore, Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP).

Engelstädter, S., K.E. Kohfeld, I. Tegen, and S.P. Harrison. 2003. Controls of dust emissions by vegetation and topographic depressions: An evaluation using dust storm frequency data. Geophysical Research Letters 30(6). doi: 10.1029/2002GL016471.

Fan, B.H., L. Guo, N. Li, J. Chen, H. Lin, X.Y. Zhang, M.G. Shen, Yuhan Rao, et al. 2014. Earlier vegetation green-up has reduced spring dust storms. Scientific Reports 4. doi: 10.1038/srep06749.

Goudie, A.S. 1983. Dust storms in space and time. Progress in Physical Geography 7(4): 502–530.

Goudie, A.S. 2009. Dust storms: Recent developments. Journal of Environmental Management 90(1): 89–94.

Goudie, A.S., and N.J. Middleton. 1992. The changing frequency of dust storms through time. Climatic Change 20(3): 197–225.

Griffin, D.W., and C.A. Kellogg. 2004. Dust storms and their impact on ocean and human health: Dust in Earth’s atmosphere. EcoHealth 1(3): 284–295.

Idso, S.B. 1974. Thermal blanketing: A case for aerosol-induced climatic alteration. Science 186(4158): 50–51.

Jeong, S.J., C.H. Ho, H.J. Gim, and M.E. Brown. 2011. Phenology shifts at start vs. end of growing season in temperate vegetation over the Northern Hemisphere for the period 1982–2008. Global Change Biology 17(7): 2385–2399.

Kimura, R. 2012. Factors contributing to dust storms in source regions producing the yellow-sand phenomena observed in Japan from 1993 to 2002. Journal of Arid Environments 80: 40–44.

Kurosaki, Y., and M. Mikami. 2003. Recent frequent dust events and their relation to surface wind in East Asia. Geophysical Research Letters 30(14). doi: 10.1029/2003GL017261.

Kurosaki, Y., M. Shinoda, M. Mikami, and B. Nandintsetseg. 2011. Effects of soil and land surface conditions in summer on dust outbreaks in the following spring in a Mongolian grassland. SOLA 7: 69–72.

Lee, J.J., and C.H. Kim. 2012. Roles of surface wind, NDVI and snow cover in the recent changes in Asian dust storm occurrence frequency. Atmospheric Environment 59: 366–375.

Lee, E.H., and B.J. Sohn. 2011. Recent increasing trend in dust frequency over Mongolia and Inner Mongolia regions and its association with climate and surface condition change. Atmospheric Environment 45(27): 4611–4616.

Li, H., X. Yang, Y. Zhao, M. Wang, and W. Huo. 2014. The atmospheric circulation patterns influencing the frequency of spring sand-dust storms in the Tarim Basin. Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions 6(2): 168–173.

Lim, J.Y., and Y. Chun. 2006. The characteristics of Asian dust events in Northeast Asia during the springtime from 1993 to 2004. Global and Planetary Change 52(1–4): 231–247.

Liu, L.Y., P.J. Shi, X. Hu, T.K. Liu, L.L. Guo, X.X. Zhang, Y. Tang, Y.L. Lv, et al. 2011. Natural factors influencing blown sand hazards in Beijing. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science 2(2): 23–31.

Liu, H., F. Tian, H.C. Hu, H.P. Hu, and M. Sivapalan. 2013. Soil moisture controls on patterns of grass green-up in Inner Mongolia: An index based approach. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 17(2): 805–815.

Mao, R., C.H. Ho, S. Feng, D.Y. Gong, and Y. Shao. 2013. The influence of vegetation variation on Northeast Asian dust activity. Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences 49(1): 87–94.

Nickling, W.G., and C.M. Neuman. 2009. Aeolian sediment transport. In Geomorphology of desert environments, ed. A.J. Parsons, and A.D. Abrahams, 517–555. New York: Springer.

Piao, S.L., J.Y. Fang, L.M. Zhou, P. Ciais, and B. Zhu. 2006. Variations in satellite-derived phenology in China’s temperate vegetation. Global Change Biology 12(4): 672–685.

Qian, W., L. Quan, and S. Shi. 2002. Variations of the dust storm in China and its climatic control. Journal of Climate 15(10): 1216–1229.

Schlesinger, W.H., J.F. Reynolds, G.L. Cunningham, L. Huenneke, W.M. Jarrell, R.A. Virginia, and W.G. Whitford. 1990. Biological feedbacks in global desertification. Science 247(4946): 1043–1048.

Shao, Y., and C.H. Dong. 2006. A review on East Asian dust storm climate, modelling and monitoring. Global and Planetary Change 52(1): 1–22.

Shao, Y., M. Klose, and K.H. Wyrwoll. 2013. Recent global dust trend and connections to climate forcing. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 118(19): 11107–11118.

Song, Y., Z.J. Quan, L.Y. Liu, P. Yan, and T. Cao. 2005. The influence of different underlying surface on sand-dust storm in northern China. Journal of Geographical Sciences 15(4): 431–438.

Sun, J., M. Zhang, and T. Liu. 2001. Spatial and temporal characteristics of dust storms in China and its surrounding regions, 1960–1999: Relations to source area and climate. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 106(D10): 10325–10333.

Tan, M., X. Li, and L. Xin. 2014. Intensity of dust storms in China from 1980 to 2007: A new definition. Atmospheric Environment 85: 215–222.

Toon, O.B. 2003. Atmospheric science: African dust in Florida clouds. Nature 424(6949): 623–624.

Tucker, C.J., J.E. Pinzon, M.E. Brown, D.A. Slayback, E.W. Pak, R. Mahoney, E.F. Vermote, and N. El Saleous. 2005. An extended AVHRR 8-km NDVI dataset compatible with MODIS and SPOT vegetation NDVI data. International Journal of Remote Sensing 26(20): 4485–4498.

Vautard, R., J. Cattiaux, P. Yiou, J.N. Thepaut, and P. Ciais. 2010. Northern Hemisphere atmospheric stilling partly attributed to an increase in surface roughness. Nature Geoscience 3(11): 756–761.

Wang, S.G., D.B. Yang, Y.S. Zhou, T. Ba, and C.L. Xin. 1995. Analysis on the formative causes of sand-dust storms in the Northwest China during 3–12 April 1994. Journal of Desert Research 15(4): 332–338 (in Chinese).

Wang, X., Z. Dong, J. Zhang, and L. Liu. 2004. Modern dust storms in China: An overview. Journal of Arid Environments 58(4): 559–574.

Wang, X., Z. Zhou, and Z. Dong. 2006. Control of dust emissions by geomorphic conditions, wind environments and land use in northern China: An examination based on dust storm frequency from 1960 to 2003. Geomorphology 81(3–4): 292–308.

Xu, Q.Y., and J.S. Hu. 1997. Spatial-temporal characteristic analysis of dust weather in northwestern China. In Study on the duststorm in China, ed. Z.Y. Fang, 11–15. Beijing: China Meteorological Press (in Chinese).

Yang, Y.Q., Q. Hou, C.H. Zhou, H.L. Liu, Y.Q. Wang, and T. Niu. 2008. Sand/dust storm processes in Northeast Asia and associated large-scale circulations. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 8(1): 25–33.

Zhang, X.Y., R. Arimoto, and Z.S. An. 1997. Dust emission from Chinese desert sources linked to variations in atmospheric circulation. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 102(D23): 28041–28047.

Zhang, X., M.A. Friedl, C.B. Schaaf, A.H. Strahler, J.C.F. Hodges, F. Gao, B.C. Reed, and A. Huete. 2003. Monitoring vegetation phenology using MODIS. Remote Sensing of Environment 84: 471–475.

Zhou, L.M., C.J. Tucker, R.K. Kaufmann, D. Slayback, N.V. Shabanov, and R.B. Myneni. 2001. Variation in northern vegetation activity inferred from satellite data of vegetation index during 1981 to 1999. Journal of Geophysical Research 106(D17): 20069–20083.

Zou, X.K., and P.M. Zhai. 2004. Relationship between vegetation coverage and spring dust storms over northern China. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 109(D3). doi: 10.1029/2003JD003913.

Relative Articles

Supplements(0)

Cited By

Proportional views