The variable climatic and environmental conditions associated with dryland regions can cause rapid erosion to both natural and man‐made earthen structures. Whilst there is a long history of research into the evolution of erosional landforms such as yardangs, little research has investigated how dryland processes influence the erosion of built structures. Earthen heritage sites located in arid and semi‐arid environments experience rapid deterioration caused by exposure to environmental drivers such as wind and rain. Understanding how these environmental drivers interact with each other and cause deterioration to earthen material is vital for successful conservation strategies. To address this need, we present the Vegetation and Sediment TrAnsport model for Heritage Deterioration (ViSTA‐HD) that simulates the risk of polishing, pitting and slurry on earthen heritage in a spatially specific manner. A technical description of the model is provided, and sensitivity and validation tests are reported. The model is then used to simulate the risk of deterioration occurring over centennial timescales at a Suoyang Ancient City, located in semi‐arid northwest China. The modelled risk of deterioration is in good agreement with deterioration patterns found at Suoyang, with the risk of polishing predominantly occurring around the wall edges, areas at risk of pitting echoing the dune formation and the risk of slurry occurring in drape‐like patterns down the wall face. Consequently, ViSTA‐HD is a powerful and versatile model that can be used to help inform our understandings of long‐term interactions between dryland processes and deteriorative impact on earthen structures. © 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Dust storms bring a large quantity of dust aerosols from arid and semi-arid regions of the Earth. However, real-time dust concentration data for dust storms in arid regions, important for wind erosion studies, are still limited. Here, temporal variation of airborne dust concentrations in the Mogao Grottoes, Northwest China, during the monitoring period from February to October 2012 and typical dust storms under different wind directions were analyzed. Results reveal that the monthly mean total suspended particle (TSP), particulate matter less than 10 μm (PM10), and particulate matter less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) concentrations gradually decreased from February to October. The daily mean dust concentrations fluctuated with the day, with extreme values occurring mainly on February, March, and April. The daily mean PM10/TSP ratio ranged from 0.67 to 0.98 (mean of 0.82), and the PM2.5/PM10 ratio ranged from 0.31 to 0.73 (mean of 0.55), indicating PM10 dominated in TSP. In typical dust storms, the maximum real-time concentrations can reach 16, 000–21, 000 μg TSP m−3, ∼11, 000 μg PM10 m−3, and 3000–3500 μg PM2.5 m−3, and extreme real-time dust concentrations of 50358.03 μg TSP m−3, 33100.86 μg PM10 m−3, and 7502.59 μg PM2.5 m−3 were recorded. Coincidence of the dry climate and windy season and sufficient dust sources in the surrounding environment contributed to the high dust concentrations in the Mogao Grottoes. To achieve the goal of minimizing the damage of falling dust to the murals and statues, establishing a dust storm early warning system and improving the existing sand control system are recommended.

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