• Wind tunnel experiments on dust emissions from different landform types

    分类: 物理学 >> 普通物理:统计和量子力学,量子信息等 提交时间: 2018-05-18 合作期刊: 《干旱区科学》

    摘要: The measurement and assessment of dust emissions from different landforms are important to understand the atmospheric loading of PM10 (particulate matter 10 m aerodynamic diameter) and to assess natural sources of dust; however, the methodology and technique for determining the dust still present significant research challenges. In the past, specialized field observation and field wind tunnel studies have been used to understand the dust emission. A series of wind tunnel tests were carried out to identify natural sources of dust and measure the magnitudes of dust emissions from different landforms. The method used in this study allowed the measurement of the PM10 emission rate using a laboratory based environmental boundary layer wind tunnel. Results indicated that PM10 emissions demonstrated strong temporal variation and were primarily driven by aerodynamic entrainment. Sand dunes, playa, and alluvial fans had the largest dust emission rates (0.85.4 mg/(m2s)) while sandy gravel, Gobi desert and abandoned lands had the lowest emission rates (0.0030.126 mg/(m2s)). Dust emissions were heavily dependent on the surface conditions, especially the availability of loose surface dust. High dust emissions were a result of the availability of dust-particle materials for entrainment while low dust emissions were a result of surface crusts and gravel cover. Soil surface property (surface crusts and gravel cover) plays an important role in controlling the availability of dust-sized particles for entrainment. The dust emission rate depended not only on the surface conditions but also on the friction velocity. The emission rate of PM10 varies as a power function of the friction velocity. Although dynamic abrasion processes have a strong influence on the amount of dust entrainment, aerodynamic entrainment may provide an important mechanism for dust emissions. Large volumes of dust entrained by aerodynamic entrainment can not only occur at low shear velocity without saltation, but may dominate the entrainment process in many arid and semi-arid environments. So it may also be responsible for large magnitude dust storms. Playa and alluvial fan landforms, prior to developing a surface crust, may be the main sources of dust storms in Qinghai Province.

  • CO2, CH4 and N2O flux changes in degraded grassland soil of Inner Mongolia, China

    分类: 物理学 >> 普通物理:统计和量子力学,量子信息等 提交时间: 2018-04-24 合作期刊: 《干旱区科学》

    摘要: The main purpose of this study was to explore the dynamic changes of greenhouse gas (GHG) from grasslands under different degradation levels during the growing seasons of Inner Mongolia, China. Grassland degradation is associated with the dynamics of GHG fluxes, e.g., CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes. As one of the global ecological environmental problems, grassland degradation has changed the vegetation productivity as well as the accumulation and decomposition rates of soil organic matter and thus will influence the carbon and nitrogen cycles of ecosystems, which will affect the GHG fluxes between grassland ecosystems and the atmosphere. Therefore, it is necessary to explore how the exchanges of CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes between soil and atmosphere are influenced by the grassland degradation. We measured the fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O in lightly degraded, moderately degraded and severely degraded grasslands in Inner Mongolia of China during the growing seasons from July to September in 2013 and 2014. The typical semi-arid grassland of Inner Mongolia plays a role as the source of atmospheric CO2 and N2O and the sink for CH4. Compared with CO2 fluxes, N2O and CH4 fluxes were relatively low. The exchange of CO2, N2O and CH4 fluxes between the grassland soil and the atmosphere may exclusively depend on the net exchange rate of CO2 in semi-arid grasslands. The greenhouse gases showed a clear seasonal pattern, with the CO2 fluxes of –33.63–386.36 mg/(m•h), CH4 uptake fluxes of 0.113–0.023 mg/(m•h) and N2O fluxes of –1.68–19.90 µg/(m•h). Grassland degradation significantly influenced CH4 uptake but had no significant influence on CO2 and N2O emissions. Soil moisture and temperature were positively correlated with CO2 emissions but had no significant effect on N2O fluxes. Soil moisture may be the primary driving factor for CH4 uptake. The research results can be in help to better understand the impact of grassland degradation on the ecological environment.