Recent Dust Outbreaks in the Taklimakan Desert and their Relation to Surface Wind and Land Surface Condition

Analysis of a recent 6-year period (2000-2005) revealed a high frequency of dust outbreaks in the Tarim Basin in 2001 and 2002 and a strong positive correlation between dust outbreaks and strong surface winds; however, this trend was not observed in 2003, when a low frequency of dust outbreaks was recorded despite frequent strong surface winds. The threshold wind speed for 2003 was higher than that for 2002, which had a high frequency of dust outbreaks and a high index of dust storms. The NDVI between 2002 and 2003 was analyzed as a proxy for land surface characteristics. Variations in soil wetness were clearly observed for April and May, and the soil wetness for 2003 was higher than that for 2002. These findings suggest that a wet land surface in 2003 caused an increase in the threshold wind speed.