[1] The Japan-Sino joint project, Aeolian Dust Experiment on Climate impact (ADEC), was initiated in April 2000 in order to understand the aeolian dust impact on climate via radiative forcing. As a part of the ADEC project, we have conducted field research in a sand dune and a gobi (i.e., a desert in which the soil surface consists of sand and pebbles with flat surfaces) in the south of the Taklimakan desert, China. The purpose of this study is to understand the wind erosion process and its relation to the meteorological and soil physical parameters. For this purpose, we measured the vertical profiles of wind speed, air temperature, and humidity as well as the other meteorological elements using an automatic weather station. A new sand particle counter (SPC) was newly developed to measure the saltation process. The SPC detects a signal change when a saltation particle passes through the slit between the laser beam transmitter and receiver. From this signal change, we can measure saltation particles from 30 to 667 mm diameter with 32 bin classes and particle numbers of each bin class every second. We have operated this SPC in the field, and it proved to be useful for the saltation process study when data corrections and calibration were properly made. During the observation period (1-21 April 2002), a total of eight dust events occurred; we analyzed two events: 5 April and 14 April cases. The results can be summarized as follows: (1) Total saltation fluxes in the 5 April case from 1223 to 1430 UT were 37.93 kg m À2 at 30 cm height and 43.71 kg m À2 at 20 cm height for the gobi site and 2.61 kg m À2 at 30 cm height for the dune site. (2) In the 14 April case, from 0327 to 0830 UT, the total saltation flux was 8.95 kg m À2 at 30 cm height for the gobi site. (3) Saltation flux at the gobi site in the 5 April case was more than 10 times larger than that of the sand dune, though the distance between the sites is 4 km. This is because the number of the parent soil particles around 80 mm at the gobi site was more than 10 times greater than that of the dune site. (4) Height dependency of saltation particle size and number was found in the gobi site; that is, the particle size distributions at the gobi sites in the 5 April case indicated that the number size distribution of the coarse particles, 117 to 554 mm, at 20 cm height was greater than that at 30 cm height. This size-height dependency was reasonable from a physical point of view. However, present theory cannot explain this well.Citation: Mikami, M., Y. Yamada, M. Ishizuka, T. Ishimaru, W. Gao, and F. Zeng (2005), Measurement of saltation process over gobi and sand dunes in the Taklimakan desert, China, with newly developed sand particle counter,

The optical system of the snow-particle counter (SPC), which was developed by Schmidt in 1977, has been improved. A laser diode is used as a light source, achieving uniform sensitivity to a blowing snow particle regardless of the location of particle trajectory within a sampling volume. The light entering a slit, which may be affected by a blowing snow particle, is perfectly detected by use of a pIano-cylindrical lens and a dual-type photodiode. A signal processor has been developed to get output voltage proportional to the mass flux of blowing snow.From the estimates based on blowing snow characteristics and wind speed profile, the new SPC system can accurately detect all the particles of effective sizes at least at a height above 0.1 m when the wind speed at a height of 1 m is less than 15 ms-I .Considering the Fraunhofer diffraction by both the wire and the particle, the relation between a particle diameter and sensor output of the new SPC system is derived from the calibration with spinning wires.Mass flux obtained with the new SPC system was found to be close to that with a snow trap. The system was operated continuously for at least nine days using two 35 A h lead batteries.

ABSTRACT. The optical system of the snow-particle counter (SPC), which was developed by Schmidt in 1977, has been improved. A laser diode is used as a light source, achieving uniform sensitivity to a blowing snow particle regardless of the location of particle trajectory within a sampling volume. The light entering a slit, which may be affected by a blowing snow particle, is perfectly detected by use of a pIano-cylindrical lens and a dual-type photodiode. A signal processor has been developed to get output voltage proportional to the mass flux of blowing snow.From the estimates based on blowing snow characteristics and wind speed profile, the new SPC system can accurately detect all the particles of effective sizes at least at a height above 0.1 m when the wind speed at a height of 1 m is less than 15 ms-I .Considering the Fraunhofer diffraction by both the wire and the particle, the relation between a particle diameter and sensor output of the new SPC system is derived from the calibration with spinning wires.Mass flux obtained with the new SPC system was found to be close to that with a snow trap. The system was operated continuously for at least nine days using two 35 A h lead batteries.

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