ResearchonFeaturesofSandstormsintheHinterlandof.pdfVIP

Research on Features of Sandstorms in the Hinterland of Taklimakan Desert- A Case of Tazhong Area 1 Shengyu Li – Xinwen Xu – Jiaqiang Lei – Yongdong Wang 1Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, South of Beijing Road 818, Urumqi 830011, China. Tel.: +86-991-7885409; Email ：lishy_hb@163.com 1. Abstract To clarify the occurrence of sandstorms in the Hinterland of Taklimakan desert，the north-west part of China, we analyzed the data of sandstorms collected during 5 years from 1997 to 2001 at Tazhong Weather Stations in the hinterland of Taklimakan desert. The results are as follows: 1) The annual average days with sandstorms in Tazhong is 18 days ，compared with the north and south fringe of Taklimakan desert; 2) Sandstorms occur more frequently in daytime, in particular, in afternoon and evening. 3) Sandstorm occurrence from March to September is very frequent, especially from April to July is most frequently, accounting for more than 90% ，63% of a year respectively; 4) The sandstorm occurrence varies greatly among years，adds up to 36 times in 1998 ，otherwise reduces to 7 times in 2001; There is a clear trend to decline in 1990’s. 5) During sandstorm occurrence process there is a special stage with abrupt wind speed decline and wind direction turning before sandstorm occurrence; 6) According to the main wind direction of sandstorms, the sandstorms occur in Tazhong can be classified into five types, the type of eastern cold air mass invasion take places frequently. 2. Introduction Many works about methods, temporal and spatial distribution and tendency of variation of sandstorm in Taklimakan Desert (