Assessment of dust emissions and their controlling factors on the Hoh Xil, north-central part of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau

Abstract

Dust emissions can lead to a series of environmental hazards and are thus a global concern. However, due to the difficulties of dust source identification, there are still great uncertainties in the calculation of dust yield on a global scale. The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau presents some challenges for understanding the region's calculation of the global dust budget. To address these issues, the Hoh Xil Plateau, a typical dust source on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, was selected as the study area for analyzing dust emission processes and associated influencing factors via a robust model. The results showed that dust emissions on the Hoh Xil Plateau occurred mainly in spring and winter. The wide distribution of bare land and sandy land on the Hoh Xil Plateau is the main reason for the high dust emissions. Wind speed is the dominant factor influencing annual dust emission, while precipitation and temperature were negatively correlated with the dust emission. The recession of expansive lakes in the region resulted in an increase in sandy lake-shores, which induced a potential increase in dust emissions. In addition, the effects of human activities on dust emissions were evident. Positive and negative effects on dust emission changes coexisted on the Hoh Xil Plateau and depended on the development of the county-level economy and the implementation of ecological engineering measures. We believe that this study will clarify the dust yield of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and provide valuable information for understanding the driving factors that cause variations in aeolian processes on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.