Factors contributing to dust storms in source regions producing the yellow-sand phenomena observed in Japan from 1993 to 2002

Abstract

Asian-dust (yellow-sand) phenomena observed in Japan have been increasing in recent years, especially from 2000 to 2002. The main cause is severe dust events in arid and semi-arid regions of northeast Asia. The dust source area in northeast Asia (target area: 35°–45°N and 100°–115°E) was identified with reference to past results, and the relationship between the yellow-sand phenomena observed in Japan and dust outbreaks in the target area was examined during the springtime (March to May) from 1993 to 2002. The annual change in the number of dust phenomena observed in Japan agreed well with the Dust Storm Frequency (DSF) in the target area (R2 = 0.8796). Even though strong wind (≧7.0 m s−1) has a profound effect on dust storms (R2 = 0.515), coverage of the Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI), ranging from 0 to 0.1 (bare land with snow cover) and 0.1 to 0.2 (bare land) in April, also affected dust storms in the target area (R2 = 0.486 and 0.418).