Spatial changes of wind erosion-caused landscapes and their relation with wind field in China

Based on the results of remote sensing investigations of the landscapes of 1995 and 2000, the national distribution of sandy desertified land and its interaction with other landscapes are classified, and five zonal types are distinguished. The data of nationally distributed 400 meteorological stations of 1999 are processed. With the GIS method, the data are spatially interpolated, and the national database of wind field concerned with wind erosion is established. In arid and semi-arid areas of China, the intensity of wind field is one of the key factors that controls the development of landscape especially in desert and its adjacent area. Different indexes are set up to describe the intensity of wind field, the method suggested by the wind erosion prediction models of RWEQ is also adopted to express the intensity of wind. The Weibull distribution is used to describe the wind field in China. Based on the analysis of the process of the wind erosion-driven landscape changes, this article proposes and discusses the control measures of wind erosion.