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Sources of Asian dust and role of climate change versus desertification in Asian dust emission
Author(s) -
Zhang X. Y.,
Gong S. L.,
Zhao T. L.,
Arimoto R.,
Wang Y. Q.,
Zhou Z. J.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2003gl018206
Subject(s) - desertification , asian dust , dust storm , environmental science , storm , china , precipitation , atmospheric dust , climate change , atmospheric sciences , climatology , physical geography , geography , aerosol , meteorology , geology , oceanography , ecology , archaeology , biology
Simulations of Asian dust emissions over the past 43 years are presented based on a size‐dependent soil dust emission and transport model (NARCM) along with supporting data from a network of surface stations. The deserts in Mongolia and in western and northern China (mainly the Taklimakan and Badain Juran, respectively) contribute ∼70% of the total dust emissions; non‐Chinese sources account for ∼40% of this. Several areas, especially the Onqin Daga sandy land, Horqin sandy land, and Mu Us Desert, have increased in dust emissions over the past 20 years, but efforts to reduce desertification in these areas may have little effect on Asian dust emission amount because these are not key sources. The model simulations indicate that meteorology and climate have had a greater influence on the Asian dust emissions and associated Asian dust storm occurrences than desertification.