Toward quantitative prediction of dust storms: an integrated wind erosion modelling system and its applications

In this paper, we present an integrated wind-erosion modelling system which couples a physically based wind-erosion scheme, a high-resolution atmospheric model and a dust-transport model with a geographic information database. This system can be used to determine the pattern and intensity of wind erosion, in particular, dust emission from the surface and dust concentration in the atmosphere. The system can also be used for the prediction of individual dust-storm events. We have implemented the system for examining the dust storms over the Australian continent in February 1996. It is shown that over the 1 month period, the total dust emission from the continent was about 1.87 Mt. The dominant dust particles are found in the size range from 0 to 11 mum. Larger particles are only found during dust-storm periods. The major dust emission locations and dust pathways detected by the model are comparable with satellite image and climatology of wind erosion in Australia. A discussion is given on the limitations and uncertainties of the system. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.