Abstract
In the Mongolian Plateau, the desert steppe, mountains, and dry lake bed surfaces may affect the process of dust storm emissions. Among these three surface types, dry lake beds are considered to contribute a substantial amount of global dust emissions and to be responsible for “hot spots” of dust outbreaks. The land cover types in the study area were broadly divided into three types, namely desert steppe, mountains, and dry lake beds, by a classification based on Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) calculated from MODIS Terra satellite images, and Digital Elevation Model (DEM). This dry lake beds extracting method using remote sensing offers a new technique for identifying dust hot spots and potential untapped groundwater in the dry lands of the Gobi region. In the study area, frequencies of dry lake bed formation were calculated during the period of 2001 to 2014. The potential dry lake area corresponded well with the length of the river network based on hydrogeological characterization (R2 = 0.77, p < 0.001). We suggest that the threshold between dry lake bed areas and the formation of ephemeral lakes in semi-arid regions is eight days of total precipitation.
Highlights
Dust storms are a common phenomenon that may negatively affect human and animal health.In severe cases of dust storms, deaths of livestock have been reported in East Asia [1]
Desert steppe and mountain regions represented 69% and 30%, respectively, with dry lake beds accounting for 1% of our study area
The area of desert steppe was respectively, with dry lake beds accounting for 1% of our study area
Summary
Dust storms are a common phenomenon that may negatively affect human and animal health.In severe cases of dust storms, deaths of livestock have been reported in East Asia [1]. Because a large quantity of soil particles are produced by erosion and sedimentation transportation and deposit in dry lake beds [2], such dry lake beds represent areas where dust emissions occur [3]. Found dust sources to have natural and anthropogenic origins, with natural dust sources accounting for 75% of global emissions and anthropogenic sources accounting for 25% [4]. Satellite images of dust storms in the Gobi region often show that large dust clouds are comprised of many well-defined plumes that emerge from “point” sources [5]. Farebrother et al (2017) found a strong power relationship between the lake area and the mass of deflated lake bed sediments in Southeastern Australia [6]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
