Modeling the Effects of Vegetation and Snow on Dust Storm Over the Gobi Desert

Abstract

The Gobi Desert is a prominent dust source in Asia, where the dust storm is severe and features great interannual and seasonal variability. Previous studies have found land surface variation plausibly plays an important role in the occurrence and intensity of dust storms. However, the quantitative estimation and numerical description in current models are still limited. Here, a comprehensive study utilizing multiple observations and modeling methods to assess the influence of vegetation and snow on dust was conducted. We found that Gobi deserts exhibit substantial monthly and interannual variability in dust storms, which shows a close connection with vegetation and snow. To quantitatively understand the impact of vegetation and snow cover on dust emissions and also to better characterize such effects in numerical models, we introduced a high-resolution dynamic dust source function that incorporates the effects of vegetation and snow on erodibility. The new parameterization noticeably improved dust-related simulations, including aerosol optical thickness and PM₁₀ concentrations, and provided insights into the distinct effects of vegetation and snow on dust emissions. This study sheds light on the effects of vegetation and snow on dust storms over the Gobi Desert, highlighting the importance of dynamic representation of time-varying surface properties in dust simulation.