Dust Layer Research Articles

Multiple effects of high efficiency solid inertants on fire hazard of the accumulated Mg dust layer

Due to low melting and boiling points and extreme reactivity in the chemical reaction of Mg powder, inert powders that have a significant inerting effect on Mg dust clouds can cause significant combustion enhancement of the accumulated Mg dust layer. To circumvent this unforeseen fire hazard, this research selects five types of inertants that have been demonstrated to exert an inerting effect on metal dust clouds and possess a potential flame-retardant effect on Mg dust layers. This research aims to investigate the effect of inert powders on Mg dust layers to identify an efficient inerting mechanism for Mg dust layers. The results indicate that the selection of inertants for Mg dust must be based on a comprehensive evaluation of their physical and chemical properties. The presence of substances with strong decomposition and decomposition products that readily produce gases will destroy the oxide crust on the surface of the accumulated Mg dust layer, thereby causing violent gas-phase combustion. In the case of highly chemically stable substances, the melting point is of primary importance. The formation of cracks in the oxide crust is also a consequence of the higher melting point of inertants, resulting in a combustion enhancement of the mixed dust layer. Inertants with a low melting point and a high boiling point demonstrate a high degree of inerting efficiency for Mg dust layers. The melting of the inert substances forms a liquid film, which prevents the Mg powder from coming into contact with the air surrounding and within the combustion zone. The results of this research are both instructive and valuable for preventing explosions in the process industry involving metal dust materials.

Effect of the Type and Amount of Sedimented Sand and Clay Dust on the Energy of the Solar Panel

Background: The application of solar energy utilization in the world to generate electricity is established. The use of solar panels to generate electricity has witnessed steady scientific progress and plays a significant role in confronting environmental pollution. For solar panels, the efficiency depends to a large extent on the relationship between the solar radiation reaching the Earth’s surface and the dust layer covering the panels.In the case of a solar panel collecting a large amount of dust in its working place, the solar radiation is first diluted through the dust layer before it reaches the panel. This is the main reason for the decrease in the panel’s efficiency. Objectives: It is of utmost importance to study the effects of dust on the design of photovoltaic devices. The potential power reduction of panels due to dust is a pressing issue, with immediate consequences for the operation and number of panels in large solar power plants. This work aims to urgently study the effect of dust accumulation on the front surface of solar panels. Methods: The experiment is being conducted on two different solar panels: the first is monocrystalline with a power of 200 watts, and the second is polycrystalline with a power of 280 watts. Two types of dust – sand and clay – are being used in quantities ranging from 5 g to 25 g. Results: The introduction of sand dust led to a substantial decrease in the energy output of the monocrystalline solar panel, ranging from 3.3% to 7.5 %. Similarly, the use of clay dust resulted in a significant energy drop of 4% to 8%.While the energy of the polycrystalline plate decreased between 2.5% to 6.7% when using sand dust and between 3% to 7.1% when using clay dust. Conclusion: Our research uncovers the negative impact of dust on the efficiency of solar panels, particularly in the case of monocrystalline panels and those exposed to clay dust. This opens up avenues for further research and exploration in the field of solar technology.

Impact of Asian Dust on Cirrus Formation Over the Central Pacific: CALIOP‐ and CloudSat‐Observation‐Based Case Studies

AbstractCirrus clouds are of great importance to the global climate, with their net radiative forcing strongly dependent on the microphysical properties that are related to the ice‐nucleating regime. However, the influence of long‐range transport of dust on primary ice formation in cirrus clouds is limitedly understood, specifically over the clean remote ocean regions. Here, two case studies show that transpacific Asian dust can impact the ice formation of cirrus clouds over the central Pacific based on Cloud‐Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization and Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR, CloudSat) observations. One case shows a well‐developed horizontally extended cirrus embedded in a pure dust layer, with an average dust‐related ice‐nucleating particle concentration (INPC) of 7 L−1 and 96 L−1 for an ice saturation ratio Si of 1.15 and 1.25, respectively; ice crystal number concentration (ICNC) with diameters >25 and 100 μm (denoted as nice,25 μm and nice,100 μm) are 64 L−1 and 7 L−1, respectively. Another case shows that cirrus clouds with a much smaller horizontal extent appeared in the vicinity of polluted dust, with an average INPC of 42–310 L−1 for the typical higher Si of 1.25–1.35 by considering a tenfold reduction of the ice nucleation efficiency of ice crystals; nice,25 μm and nice,100 μm are 168 L−1 and 20 L−1, respectively. The estimated INPC and ICNC values suggest the dominance of ice formation by dust‐induced heterogeneous nucleation, proving that the long‐range transport of dust toward the upper troposphere and the potential influence on cirrus formation over the central Pacific should be well considered in atmospheric models.

Power attenuation of Martian rovers and landers solar panels due to dust deposition

Because of the high amount of dust in the Martian atmosphere, solar panels of landers and rovers on Mars get covered by dust in the course of their mission. This accumulation significantly decreases the available power over sols. During some missions, winds were able to blow the dust away. These ”dust cleaning events”, as they are called, were followed by an increase of the electrical current produced by the solar arrays. However, the Insight Lander solar panels were never cleaned and the mission died of dust accumulation. In order to better predict the evolution of available power produced by solar panels in the Martian conditions, this paper proposes a model of dust accumulation in which the solar flux under the accumulated dust layer is computed taking into account a full radiative transfer in the atmosphere and in the dust layer accumulated on the panel. This work uses several missions observation data to validate this model.

Direct observation of particle clustering and gas breakdown in charged granular streams

The dust layer formed by charged particles deposition significantly limit the collection efficiency and stable application of electrostatic precipitators (ESPs). However, the deposition characteristics and re-entrainment mechanism of charged particles in electric field still remain unclear. In this study, a transparent ESP was designed to investigate the dynamic process of charged particle deposition, clustering and gas breakdown in electric field. The results showed that deposited particles will aggregate and gradually grow in chains in high-voltage electric field. The length of chain agglomerates can exceed 10 mm. And interelectrode gas breakdown could suddenly occur, which significantly changed the particle charging characteristics and increased particle emission at the outlet. In addition, a perforated plate was proposed to inhibit the gas breakdown and particle re-entrainment. The mass concentrations of particle re-entrainment decreased by 85.2 % and 79.1 % for the spike electrode and the arista electrode at the applied voltage of 30 kV, respectively.

Linear polarization study of open clusters in the anticenter direction: Signature of the spiral arms

Aims. Our objective is to investigate the distribution of dust and associated large-scale structures of the Galaxy using optical linear polarization measurements of various open clusters located at different distances in the Galactic anticenter direction. Methods. We present R-band linear polarization observations of stars toward five open clusters: Kronberger 1, Berkeley 69, Berkeley 71, Berkeley 19, and King 8 in the anticenter direction. The polarization observations were carried out using the ARIES (Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences) IMaging POLarimeter mounted on the 104 cm Sampurnanand telescope of ARIES, Nainital, making it the first study to target the polarization observations toward distant clusters (~6 kpc). We combined the observed polarization data with the distance information from the Gaia space telescope to infer the dust distribution along the line of sight. Results. The variation in the degree of polarization and extinction with distance reveals multiple dust layers in each cluster direction. In addition, common foreground-dust layers detected toward different cluster directions highlight global features such as spiral arms. Our results show that the dust clouds at 2 kpc toward Berkeley 69 and Berkeley 71 coincide with the Perseus arm, while the dust layer at ~4 kpc toward the distant clusters Berkeley 19 and King 8 indicates the presence of the Outer arm. The large-scale dust distribution obtained by combining our polarization results with previous polarization studies of nearby open clusters suggests that the anticenter direction is characterized by a low-extinction homogeneous dust distribution with a somewhat uniform orientation of the plane-of-sky component of the magnetic field along the line of sight. Conclusions. Our study demonstrates that polarization is useful as a tool for studying the large-scale dust distribution and structural features where kinematic distance methods are inadequate and cannot provide accurate distances to the dust clouds. The global dust distribution in the anticenter direction shows signatures of the intervening spiral arms.

Sufficiency of near-surface water ice as a driver of dust activity on comets

Context. Nearly all contemporary theoretical research on cometary dust activity relies on models depicting heat transfer and sublimation products within the near-surface porous layer. Gas flow exerts a pressure drag to the crust agglomerates, counteracting weak gravity and the tensile strength of that layer. Our interpretation of data from the Rosetta mission, and our broader comprehension of cometary activity, hinges significantly on the study of this process. Aims. We investigate the role played by the structure of the near-surface porous layer and its associated resistance to gas flow, tensile strength, pressure distribution, and other characteristics in the scenario of the potential release of dust agglomerates and the resulting dust activity. Methods. We employ a thermophysical model that factors in the microstructure of this layer and radiative heat conductivity. We consider gas flow in both the Knudsen and transition regimes. To accomplish this, we use methods such as test-particles Monte Carlo, direct-simulation Monte Carlo, and transmission probability. Our study encompasses a broad spectrum of dust-particle sizes. Results. We evaluated the permeability of a dust layer composed of porous aggregates in the submillimetre and millimetre ranges. We carried out comparisons among various models that describe gas diffusion in a porous dust layer. For both the transition and Knudsen regimes, we obtained pressure profiles within a non-isothermal layer. We discuss how the gaps in our understanding of the structure and composition could impact tensile strength estimates. We demonstrate that for particles in the millimetre range, the lifting force of the sublimation products of water ice is adequate to remove the layer. This scenario remains feasible even for particles on the scale of hundreds of microns. This finding is crucial as the sublimation of water ice continues to be the most probable mechanism for dust removal. Conclusions. This study partially overturns the previously held, pessimistic view regarding the possibility of dust removal via water sublimation. We demonstrate that a more precise consideration of various physical processes allows elevation of the matter of dust activity to a practical plane, necessitating a fresh quantitative analysis.

Optical-thermal modeling and geographic analysis of dusty radiative cooling surfaces

Radiative cooling for energy conservation and harvesting has gained considerable attention worldwide in recent years. The optical and thermal characteristics of radiative cooling surface at outdoors is susceptible to dust soiling. Currently, limited research has been devoted to this problem. This work presents a model utilizing the beam envelope method and effective medium theory to investigate the optical characteristics of radiative cooling surfaces impacted by dust soiling. Subsequently, an optical-thermal coupling model is developed to investigate the spectral emissivity, average absorption/emission rates, and net heat gain of radiative cooling surfaces affected by dust soiling. The effect of dust soiling on the absorption of solar radiation is evident, with a substantial effect observed, but its impact on emissivity in the atmospheric window bands is comparatively minor. Meanwhile, it could be noticed that the mechanisms by which various material parameters of dust layers impact optical characteristics are different. In addition, the integration of the optical-thermal coupling model with EnergyPlus meteorological data and MERRA-2 facilitates an exploration of the geographical distribution of radiative cooling power variations induced by dust soiling across different regions in China. It is concluded that regions in China with a higher potential for radiative cooling often characterized by elevated dust deposition rates and low precipitation, rendering them more susceptible to the adverse effects of dust soiling. Effective cleaning significantly enhances both the optical and thermal characteristics of radiative cooling surfaces. The findings of this study offer a theoretical foundation for the enduring application of radiative cooling technology.

Experimental investigation on the impact of water immersion time and particle size on the ignition characteristics of coal dust

After drying, water-immersed coal is more prone to spontaneous combustion than raw coal. However, the influence mechanisms of particle size and water immersion duration on the physicochemical properties of coal dust, as well as the explosion and fire hazards of water-immersed coal dust, have not been sufficiently investigated. In this study, two particle sizes of coal dust were selected, and experiments were conducted using the Godbert-Greenwald furnace, Hartmann tube, Muffle furnace, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer. The study investigated the impact of different water immersion times, dust particle sizes, and dust concentrations on the sensitivity of coal dust fires and explosions, analyzed the process of functional group changes in coal dust particles in water and other mechanisms of transformation. The results indicated that the water immersion process increased the number of active functional groups on the surface of coal dust, significantly reducing the Minimum Ignition Temperature (MIT) and Minimum Ignition Energy (MIE) values for different samples, and also enhancing the ignition sensitivity and peak temperature of coal dust layer fires. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the characteristics of coal dust and is of great significance for improving the prevention and control of coal dust fires and explosions.

Investigation and CFD simulation of coal dust explosion accident in confined space: A case study of Gaohe Coal Mine Ventilation Air Methane oxidation power plant

The study investigates a coal dust explosion accident within a confined space in Shanxi. The accident was caused by coal dust coming into contact with a high-temperature heat source under the influence of the stack effect. Based on the investigation of the coal dust explosion accident, the study uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation to reconstruct the accident scenario. The simulation results provide a detailed depiction of coal dust movement within subsurface semi-enclosed confined spaces during the ventilation diffusion stage, influenced by the stack effect, and confirm the formation of a coal dust layer at the heat source due to coal dust deposition. The simulation results of the two explosion processes indicate that excessively high coal dust concentrations within confined spaces have a negative correlation with the development of explosion flames and the peak overpressure. It resulted in a secondary explosion with a relatively low concentration of coal dust, where the peak overpressure was five times that of the primary explosion. Comparative analysis between simulation results and actual investigations the accuracy of the CFD simulation in capturing the accident process and its characteristics, providing valuable insights for preventing and controlling coal dust explosion accidents.

The strength of outgassed porous dust aggregates

Context. Outgassing of dust-ice aggregates plays an important role on the surfaces of cometary nuclei as well as for snow-line crossings in protoplanetary disks. Aims. To assess the stability of desiccated dust aggregates, we measured the tensile strength of silica dust samples over a wide range of volume filling factors. Methods. We produced these silica dust samples over a wide range of volume filling factors by gently evaporating dust-ice mixtures with various dust-to-ice mass ratios under vacuum conditions. The tensile strengths of these samples were then measured using the standardized Brazilian disk test. Experiments were performed in a vacuum and at room temperature but were also compared to measurements in air at room temperature and in a vacuum at elevated temperatures. Results. For spherical amorphous silica dust, we find no influence of the environmental conditions (air, vacuum, or heating) on the measured tensile strength. However, for angular crystalline silica dust we see a strong increase in tensile strength in a vacuum compared to air and an even higher increase when the samples are heated in a vacuum. For the spherical silica dust samples, we find a characteristic increase in the tensile strength with decreasing particle size. The tensile strength of samples with identical particle sizes increases strongly with an increasing volume filling factor. Extrapolation of our data to a volume filling factor of 0.1 (90% porosity) shows that a tensile strength as low as 1 Pa can be reached. Conclusions. Numerical simulations show that evaporating water ice in the subsurface layers of comets can reach gas pressures of ~1 Pa. Thus, a desiccated dust layer with a 10% volume filling factor should be detachable and released into the cometary coma. Using a relation between the tensile strength and the critical fragmentation energy, we predict the break-up speed of dust aggregates in mutual collisions as a function of the volume filling factor. Furthermore, we discuss the susceptibility of the aggregates to ram pressure. These values are relevant for protoplanetary disk research and for meteoroids entering planetary atmospheres.

Identification of force chains in wet coal dust layer and the effect of porosity on three-body contact stiffness

Aiming at the three-body contact problem of mechanical rough surface containing wet coal dust interface, the three-body contact model of rough surface containing wet coal dust interface is constructed by comprehensively considering the contact deformation of rough surface and contact characteristics of wet coal dust, and based on the crushing theory. By analysing the contact force, load-bearing particle size and adjacent contact angle thresholds of the wet coal dust layer, the force chain identification criterion is formulated. Finally, quantitative calculations of the force chain characteristics are performed to reveal the effect of different initial porosities on the three-body contact stiffness, which is verified experimentally. The results of the study show that the average contact force of the wet coal dust layer can be used as the force chain contact force threshold, the average particle size can be used as the force chain particle size threshold, and the force chain angle threshold is determined by the particle coordination number. As the initial porosity decreases, the number, length and stiffness of force chains in the wet coal dust layer increase significantly, and the stiffness reaches a maximum value of 2.007 × 108 pa/m at the moment of downward pressure to stabilisation, while the trend of force chain bending varies in the opposite direction, and its minimum bending degree decreases to 20°. The maximum relative error between the simulation and experimental results of three-body contact stiffness is 9.64%, which proves the accuracy of the force chain identification criterion and the quantitative calculation of three-body contact stiffness by force chain.

A Fully-correlated Anisotropic Micrograin BSDF Model

We introduce an improved version of the micrograin BSDF model [Lucas et al. 2023] for the rendering of anisotropic porous layers. Our approach leverages the properties of micrograins to take into account the correlation between their height and normal, as well as the correlation between the light and view directions. This allows us to derive an exact analytical expression for the Geometrical Attenuation Factor (GAF), summarizing shadowing and masking inside the porous layer. This fully-correlated GAF is then used to define appropriate mixing weights to blend the BSDFs of the porous and base layers. Furthermore, by generalizing the micrograins shape to anisotropy, combined with their fully-correlated GAF, our improved BSDF model produces effects specific to porous layers such as retro-reflection visible on dust layers at grazing angles or height and color correlation that can be found on rusty materials. Finally, we demonstrate very close matches between our BSDF model and light transport simulations realized with explicit instances of micrograins, thus validating our model.

Thermodynamic assessment of evaporation during molten steel testing onboard the International Space Station

Evaporation control is a critical facility resource during solidification experiments that limits processing time and must be tracked to ensure facility health. A thermodynamic analysis was performed on a ternary FeCrNi sample processed onboard the International Space Station (ISS) using ESA Electromagnetic Levitation (EML) facility in a microgravity environment. A non-ideal solution-based mathematical model was applied for the overall sample mass loss prediction during this study. The overall sample mass loss prediction is consistent with the post-flight mass loss measurements. The species-specific findings from this study were validated using post-mission SEM-EDX surface evaluations by three different facilities. The bulk composition prediction was validated using SEM-EDX and wet chemical analysis. The non-ideal solution model was then applied to predict the composition of the dust generated during EML testing. The thicknesses of the deposited layer on the EML coil at various locations were also calculated using the geometry of the facility and results were validated with near-real-time dust layer predictions from toxicity tracking software developed by the German Space Center (DLR) Microgravity User Support Center (MUSC).

Dust Emissions on Mars From Phoenix Lidar Measurements in Relation to Local Meteorological Conditions

AbstractThe diurnal cycle of dust aerosols on Mars is studied by analyzing lidar observations at the Phoenix landing site under cloud‐ and fog‐free conditions and in the absence of elevated, long‐range transported dust layers. There is a pronounced diurnal cycle in the dust‐layer height with minimum heights of 4–6 km occurring between 11:00 and 17:00 local time. The ratio of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) within the lowermost 2 km to the total AOD reaches peak values at the same time. This can be explained by local dust emissions driven by the diurnal cycle of heating and cooling in the boundary layer. Analysis of wind and pressure measurements show that the gustiness of surface winds and the frequency of convective vortices undergo diurnal variations resembling those of AOD, indicating that these processes are the main drivers for local dust emissions.

Optimizing PV Module Efficiency: Investigating the impact of Dry and Wet Dust on Solar Panel Output Power

Solar photovoltaic modules convert sunlight into electricity through the photoelectric effect. Dust accumulation on PV modules can significantly reduce their output electrical characteristics such as voltage, current, and power. The power reduction is attributed to the decrease in the amount of light reaching the solar cells due to the absorption and scattering of light by the dust layer. The magnitude of the power reduction depends on the amount and type of dust component of the solar panel. In this work, four dust components such as red soil, sand, wood power, and bird drooping are considered to test the PV performance. An indoor experimental setup is developed to test the dust impact on the PV modules using an artificial sun simulator. Experimental shows that the effect of dust accumulation on the voltage and current characteristics of solar panels is complex and depends on various factors. The percentage of degradation of output power is measured using dust under dry and wet conditions. Moreover, different amounts of dust such as 1gm, 3gm, 5gm, 7gm, and 9gm are considered for dry conditions, and 3gm and 5gm are considered for wet conditions. Bird drop causes a maximum degradation of 24.5% in dry conditions and it reduces by 17.2% in wet conditions. GUB JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, Vol 10(1), 2023 P 68-74

Experimental Study on Flame Spread of Pine Wood Dust Layer Under Horizontal Rotation Condition

ABSTRACT The rotating discs of wood polishing machines and the rotating bases of winding machines rotate horizontally during operation, and a layer of wood dust may be deposited on their surfaces. The study of flame spreading of wood dust layer in the rotating state has not been reported in the literature. Based on this situation, in this study, the flame spreading of pine wood dust layers in three particle size ranges under stationary and different rotating conditions were carried out and analyzed comparatively. The results show that the flame spreading speed of the pine wood dust layer from 74~100 micrometers positively correlates with the rotational angular velocity. The flame-spreading speed of a pine wood dust layer larger than 100 micrometers negatively correlated with the rotational angular velocity. This indicates that the flame spreading speed of the pine wood dust layer is affected by the combined effect of dust particle size and dust layer motion state. The flame propagation speed of the 74~100 micron pine dust layer was 3.3 mm/s when the rotational angular velocity was 0.167 rad/s, which was the maximum flame propagation speed in all experimental conditions. The maximum flame height of the pine dust layer in the rotating state was at least 55.6% higher than that in the stationary state.From the combined view of the three parameters of flame spreading speed, flame duration, and maximum flame height, the fire danger is greater in the rotating state than in the stationary state. Within a certain range, the larger the rotational angular velocity, the greater the fire hazard.

Study of the Safety Characteristics of Different Types of Pepper Powder (Capsicum L.)

This research was aimed at comparing the fire characteristics of different types of pepper in the context of explosion prevention. The following characteristics were studied: explosion pressure Pmax and Kst at selected concentrations, ignition temperature of the deposited dust layer from the hot surface, and minimum ignition energy. The comparison of the chemical properties of the used types of pepper was performed using TG/DSC. The results of the measurements suggest that different types of peppers exhibit different explosion characteristics. Each sample reached the maximum value of the explosion pressure and rate of pressure rise at different concentrations. The volume of the explosion chamber used also influenced the explosion characteristics. It is a consequence of the fact that the explosion characteristics strongly depend on the mechanism of action of a particular igniter. The minimum effect on the safety characteristics was observed when measuring the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of the dust layer from the hot surface. The results of the measurements suggest that different types of peppers exhibit different explosion characteristics. This information should then be considered in explosion prevention.

Vertical shear instability with dust evolution and consistent cooling times

Context. Gas in protoplanetary disks mostly cools via thermal accommodation with dust particles. Thermal relaxation is thus highly sensitive to the local dust size distributions and the spatial distribution of the grains. So far, the interplay between thermal relaxation and gas turbulence has not been dynamically modeled in hydrodynamic simulations of protoplanetary disks with dust. Aims. We aim to study the effects of the vertical shear instability (VSI) on the thermal relaxation times, and vice versa. We are particularly interested in the influence of the initial dust grain size on the VSI and whether the emerging turbulence is sustained over long timescales. Methods. We ran three axisymmetric hydrodynamic simulations of a protoplanetary disk including four dust fluids that initially resemble MRN size distributions of different initial grain sizes. From the local dust densities, we calculated the thermal accommodation timescale of dust and gas and used the result as the thermal relaxation time of the gas in our simulation. We included the effect of dust growth by applying the monodisperse dust growth rate and the typical growth limits. Results. We find that the emergence of the VSI is strongly dependent on the initial dust grain size. Coagulation also counteracts the emergence of hydrodynamic turbulence in our simulations, as shown by others before. Starting a simulation with larger grains (100 μm) generally leads to a less turbulent outcome. While the inner disk regions (within ∼70 au) develop turbulence in all three simulations, we find that the simulations with larger particles do not develop VSI in the outer disk. Conclusions. Our simulations with dynamically calculated thermal accommodation times based on the drifting and settling dust distribution show that the VSI, once developed in a disk, can be sustained over long timescales, even if grain growth is occurring. The VSI corrugates the dust layer and even diffuses the smaller grains into the upper atmosphere, where they can cool the gas. Whether the instability can emerge for a specific stratification depends on the initial dust grain sizes and the initial dust scale height. If the grains are initially ≳100 μm and if the level of turbulence is initially assumed to be low, we find no VSI turbulence in the outer disk regions.

Identification of Technosols formed from industrial dust in the area of Yazd city (Central Iran) by ground-based radiometry

Intensive industrial development in the form of metallurgical plants and quarries for mining of mineral resources in the vicinity of the city of Yazd resulted in significant dustiness of the ground layer of atmosphere and accumulation of industrial dust on the soil surface. At the locations of alloy steel production facilities, dust composition was dominated by particulate matter less than 1 μm (PM1), while near sand quarries, dust particles less than 10 μm (PM10) were predominant. The dust from these sources also differs in chemical composition (iron/silicon content ratio, pH). Registration with a pyranometer with a dark green filter with transmittance at a wavelength of 550 nanometers with a time interval of 20 seconds at a speed of 30 km/h during the movement along the specified routes allowed authors to identify zones with a stable increased content of particles of different sizes in the near-surface atmosphere. Sampling soil pits in these zones confirmed the presence on their surface of layers of dust deposits with a thickness of more than 5 cm, which allows them to be attributed to Technosols in accordance with the WRB soil classification. The soil map of the research area was compiled at a scale of 1 : 25 000 with the reflection of Technosols participation in the soil patterns. According to the map, more than three quarters of the study area are soil complexes including Technosols. Arid climatic conditions of the region lead to the accumulation of dust on the soil surface, which are practically not transformed and not removed from the soil, which results in their degradation and deterioration of the environmental conditions. Dust accumulation on the soil surface affects the state of vegetation cover of the region, which serves as a basis for indirect satellite indication of dusting zones. The method of revealing the dust layer on the soil surface based on the assessment of dustiness of the near-surface atmosphere using pyranometer can serve as a good complement to remote sensing methods.