Comparison of dust emission ability of sand desert, gravel desert (Gobi), and farmland in northern China

Abstract It is unclear which of the land types of sand desert, gravel desert (Gobi), and farmland acts as the major source of dust emission in northern China. Based on field observations, this study compared the dust emission ability (E) of the three land types and investigated the principal influencing factors, i.e., horizontal mass flux (Q) and dust emission efficiency (μ). Results showed that E was greatest for sand desert, followed by Gobi and then farmland at low friction velocities (u* 0.90 m s−1) owing to its lower Q but faster rate of increase of Q and μ as u* increased. The findings of this study illustrate that the effect of wind velocity and dust size should be taken into account when comparing the E of different land types.