Contributions of dusty weather and dust devil to dust emission amounts at the northern margin of the Taklimakan Desert

Observation data of the meteorology and dust devil over the desert transition zone at the northern margin of the Taklimakan Desert were combined estimation models for dust emission amounts (DEAs) by dusty weather and dust devil. The aim of the study was to quantitatively determine the contributions of the two weather conditions to the DEAs of the study area. The results indicated that the total DEAs in spring, summer, autumn, and winter were 8.07, 23.62, 1.38, and 0.014 t/km2, respectively, accounting for 24.39, 71.40, 4.17, and 0.04% of the annual total DEAs. The DEAs by dusty weather in the four seasons were 6.55, 10.89, 0.27, and 0.011 t/km2, respectively, accounting for 36.96, 61.45, 1.52, and 0.07% of the annual value, while the DEAs by dust devil in the four seasons were 1.52, 12.73, 1.11, and 0.0033 t/km2, respectively. And the contribution rates of dusty weather and dust devil to the total DEAs were 53.5 and 46.5%, respectively.