Comparison of dust emissions, transport, and deposition between the Taklimakan Desert and Gobi Desert from 2007 to 2011

Abstract

The Taklimakan Desert (TD) and Gobi Desert (GD) are two of the most important dust sources in East Asia, and have important impact on energy budgets, ecosystems and water cycles at regional and even global scales. To investigate the contribution of the TD and the GD to dust concentrations in East Asia as a whole, dust emissions, transport, and deposition over the TD and the GD in different seasons from 2007 to 2011 were systematically compared, based on the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem). Dust emissions, uplift, and long-range transport related to these two dust source regions were markedly different due to differences in topography, elevation, thermal conditions, and atmospheric circulation. Specifically, the topography of the GD is relatively flat, and at a high elevation, and the area is under the influence of two jet streams at high altitudes, resulting in high wind speeds in the upper atmosphere. Deep convective mixing enables the descending branch of jet streams to continuously transport momentum downward to the mid-troposphere, leading to enhanced wind speeds in the lower troposphere over the GD which favors the vertical uplift of the GD dust particles. Therefore, the GD dust was very likely to be transported under the effect of strong westerly jets, and thus played the most important role in contributing to dust concentrations in East Asia. Approximately 35% and 31% of dust emitted from the GD transported to remote areas in East Asia in spring and summer, respectively. The TD has the highest dust emission capabilities in East Asia, with emissions of about 70.54 Tg yr−1 in spring, accounting for 42% of the total dust emissions in East Asia. However, the TD is located in the Tarim Basin and surrounded by mountains on three sides. Furthermore, the dominant surface wind direction is eastward and the average wind speed at high altitudes is relatively small over the TD. As a result, the TD dust particles are not easily transported outside the Tarim Basin, such that most of the dust particles are re-deposited after uplift, at a total deposition rate of about 40 g m−2. It is only when the TD dust particles are uplifted above 4 km, and entrained in westerlies that they begin to undergo a long-range transport. Therefore, the contribution of the TD dust to East Asian dust concentrations was relatively small. Only 25% and 23% of the TD dust was transported to remote areas over East Asia in spring and summer, respectively.