Wind regimes and aeolian geomorphology in the western and southwestern Tengger Desert, NW China

Abstract

Wind is the primary control on the formation of aeolian geomorphology. In this study, we combined wind regime data from automated weather stations in the western and southwestern Tengger Desert of the Inner Mongolia region in China with remote‐sensing data to analyse the relationship between the wind energy environment and aeolian geomorphology. Tengger Desert is one of the main dust storm sources in northwestern China. Therefore, efforts aimed at controlling desertification and dust storm require a deeper understanding of the processes that govern the formation and subsequent evolution of dunes in this area. Wind speed was largest in the northwest (3.3 m/s in the Xiqu station) and smallest in the southeast (1.2 m/s in the Haizitan station). Potential sand transport was also largest in the northwest (195 in the Jiahe station) and smallest in the southeast (33 in the Tumen station). The sand‐driving wind (5.92 m/s) directions were from the NW and SE quadrant across the study area, at >76% of all sand‐driving wind, reaching 99% in the Tumen station. The sand‐driving wind in the NW quadrant reached >48%, and in the SE quadrant, >12% of all sand‐driving wind in all stations. In the study area, sand dunes included crescent, dune networks, transverse, and coppice dunes. Dune crest directions had similar trends from upwind to downwind, at 133° in the middle region, and 124° in the southwestern region. Mean dune spacing changed with dune patterns; the maximum spacing for crescent dunes was 147 m, for dune networks 118 m, and for transverse dunes it was 77 m. The mean crest length was 124 m (maximum) for crescent dunes in the northwest, 121 m for transverse dunes, and 84 m for dune networks. However, because of gullies in the southern region, the mean crest length was only 58 m (least) for the crescent dunes in that area. The defect density ranged from 0.007 to 0.014. The spatial differences in dune patterns reflected the evolution of the dune field, where older dunes had been formed upwind and younger downwind. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Migration and Morphology of Asymmetric Barchans in the Central Hexi Corridor of Northwest China

“…In the study area, Mz was fine at the crest, which was similar to the findings by Lancaster [36] and Livingstone et al [37]. However, there were three types (coarser, finer, or no difference between the windward slope and leeward slope) of Mz variations over the dune surfaces in the Tengger Desert and Hexi Corridor Desert [14,15].…”

“…In a study that was performed approximately 60 km downwind of our study area, Zhang and Dong [35] reported that the sand was mainly moderately sorted (46%) and well sorted (29%), the skewness is mainly symmetrical (40%) and negative (27%), and the kurtosis is mainly mesokurtic (37%) and platykurtic (29%). Based on the findings from the study area and those of [15], the sorting increased, the skewness graded toward symmetrical, and the kurtosis graded toward mesokurtic, with an increasing distance downwind that was consistent with the conclusions that were developed by Zhang et al [15] from a study that was performed in the Hexi Corridor Desert. Figure 9 shows the grain size parameters (mean grain size, sorting, skewness, and kurtosis) in the study area.…”

“…The total drift potential DP was calculated using the formula DP = ∑ 16 i=1 DP i , while the resultant drift potential RDP was obtained from RDP = ∑ 16 i=1 |DP i e i |, where e i is the unit vector pointing in the direction i. Although this approach makes a number of interpretative simplifications and assumptions [10,11], previous studies of the wind energy environments of global sand seas have demonstrated its value [10][11][12][13][14][15]. More detailed descriptions of these methods can be found in [14,15].…”

“…Although this approach makes a number of interpretative simplifications and assumptions [10,11], previous studies of the wind energy environments of global sand seas have demonstrated its value [10][11][12][13][14][15]. More detailed descriptions of these methods can be found in [14,15]. Although only two years of wind data were collected in the study area, a previous study indicated that the wind regime did not change greatly from 2001 to 2011 on the downwind side of the study area (in Jinta county, DP was 73 ± 20 UV, RDP was 52 ± 18 UV, RDD was 299 ± 3 • , and RDP/DP was 0.7 ± 0.1; [14]).…”

Warm Island Effect in the Lake Region of the Tengger Desert Based on MODIS and Meteorological Station Data

“…With an area of 4.27 × 10 4 km 2 , it is the fourth largest desert in China, and is bordered by the Helan Mountains to the east, the Yabulai Mountains to the northwest, and the Qilian Mountains to the southwest. The average altitude is 1200-1400 m [18,19]. The local weather is controlled by westerly circulation.…”