Analysis on Sandstorm Variation in China for Last 49 Years

Based on the meteorological data in 1954—2002,the trend of sandstorm variation and its space characteristics in China in recent 49 years are analyzed and discussed. And on gale variation's side, the climatic causes of sandstorm variation are discussed tentatively. The results show that all annual and seasonal sandstorms are decreasing in China in the recent 49 years. There is a 73% reduction in sandstorm frequency from 1950s and 1960s to 1980s and 1990s. The decrease trends of sandstorm frequency display obvious space consistency for most part of China. In comparison, the change of sandstorm frequency is close accord with that of gale frequency, their correlation coefficient is 0.92.The result indicates that the sandstorm change in China mainly depends upon gale change, which is mostly responsible for the decrease of sandstorm frequency in China in recent 49 years. Similarly, the increase of sandstorm frequency after 1997 is also attributed to gale weather.

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