Effects of geomorphic conditions, wind speed, and precipitation on dustfall over northern China

We investigated how dustfall flux (DF) and dust particle size (DPS) were affected by geomorphic conditions, wind speed, and precipitation using data from 27 sites in northern China. The sites with the greatest DF and greatest median diameter of dustfall (MDD) were primarily in desert regions and had extensive mobile sands. DF and MDD were lowest in agricultural regions, which had low levels of coarse particles because of human land use and high vegetation coverage that restrained blowing sand. DF values were higher and MDD values were lower in the western agricultural region than in the eastern agricultural region because the former is closer to desert regions and contains more fine dust that has traveled far. In regions with extensive desertified lands, DF values were lower than those in desert regions, and MDD values were greater than in agricultural regions, possibly due to coarsening of soil texture by desertification processes combined with higher vegetation coverage and soil moisture than in desert regions, thereby restraining blowing sand. Although high DF and MDD always coincided spatially with strong winds and low precipitation, the strong winds and low precipitation did not always mean high DF and MDD. High DF also coincided temporally with periods of low precipitation, but low precipitation did not always mean high DF. Thus, although the spatial trends in DF and DPS were controlled mostly by geomorphic conditions, and monthly trends in DF were controlled mainly by wind speed, weak wind and high precipitation can restrain the blowing sand at certain times and locations. Seasonal changes in DPS may be controlled simultaneously by geomorphic conditions, meteorological factors, and distance from source areas, not solely by the winter monsoon.