Dust emissions in the Beijing-Tianjin sandstorm source and their regional differentiation

Abstract

<p indent="0mm">Dust emissions caused by soil wind erosion are the primary natural source of inhalable particulate matter in dust source areas and downwind atmospheric environments. Accurate estimations of dust emissions are foundational for understanding the mechanism of sandstorm occurrences and their transport processes. They are also the basis on which planning and decision-making for sand control and atmospheric environment governance are made. Based on field surveys, surface soil collections, laboratory experiments, remote sensing images, meteorological data, and model simulation, this paper estimated the amount of dust emissions for four different particle size groups (0–2.5, 2.5–5, 5–10, <sc>10–20 μm)</sc> in four different periods (2000, 2005, 2010, 2015), revealed the temporal and spatial distributions of dust emissions from Beijing-Tianjin sandstorm sources and their responses to particle size changes, and clarified the contributions to dust emissions by different land uses. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Due to climate change, the amount of dust emissions in the Beijing-Tianjin sandstorm source has fluctuated since the implementation of the Beijing-Tianjin sandstorm source control project. In 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015, dust emissions were 3.24 × 10⁷, 2.76 × 10⁷, 3.44 × 10⁷, and 3.26 × <sc>10⁷ t,</sc> respectively. These emissions demonstrated a clear pattern throughout the year. From January to April, they increased monthly, peaked in April, decreased throughout May, maintained the lowest yearly value from June to September, and increased again in November. These results indicate that dust emissions in Beijing-Tianjin sandstorm sources have obvious seasonal characteristics. The emission amounts descended in the following order: spring, winter, autumn and summer. Their average proportions were 45.45%, 28.14%, 15.99% and 10.42%, respectively. (2) The three subareas, such as the agricultural and animal husbandry interlaced belt subarea, the desert steppe, and the northern Shanxi mountain hills subarea, were the main source of dust emission in Beijing-Tianjin sandstorm sources, accounting for 55.29% of the total amount. The total amount of dust emissions for the above three subareas was 2.64 times those of the four deserts or sandy land in Beijing-Tianjin sandstorm sources, which included the Kubuqi Desert, the Mu Us Sandy Land, the Hunshandake Sandy Land and the Horqin Sandy Land. (3) Although the proportion of cultivated land in Beijing-Tianjin sandstorm sources was only between 13.89% and 14.81%, dust emissions from cultivated land accounted for 71.56% of the total emissions in Beijing-Tianjin sandstorm sources. The corresponding proportions for deserts (or sandy land) and other vegetation surface covers (such as grassland, shrubland, etc.) were 19.78% and 8.66%, respectively. (4) In order to control both dust emissions in Beijing-Tianjin sandstorm sources and their impacts on atmospheric inhalable particulate matter, especially in the Beijing-Tianjin area, this paper showed that the key areas are the agriculture and animal husbandry interlaced belt subarea, the Yanshan Hills Water Source Reserve subarea, the desert steppe, and the northern Shanxi mountain hills subarea, and the core of land use in governance is cultivated land, not sandy land. The results in this paper would provide basic data for accurately assessing the benefits of the Beijing-Tianjin sandstorm source control project and also present a scientific basis for its optimal layout.