Windblown dust in the Tarim basin, Northwest China.

ABSTRACT: Tarim Basin in western China is home to the world's second-largest mobile dune desert, Taklimakan Desert, and it's one of Asia's primary sources of sand and dust storm. Observations of windblown dust are insufficient over this hyper-dry inland region. Here we present a comprehensive study based on consecutive in-situ field observations, meteorological records, environmental monitoring data and satellite measurements over the Tarim Basin for a full year in 2015. The results show that during the severe sand and dust storm events, the observed ambient PM₁₀ (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 μm) concentration rises rapidly, with a maximum value exceeding 10,000 µg/m³ per hour, while wind speeds reach 10-30 m/s and visibility is reduced to less than 10 m

SUBMITTER: Zhang XX 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11965441 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature