Journal of Geographical Sciences >
Spatial assessment of soil wind erosion using WEQ approach in Mongolia
Author: Nyamtseren Mandakh, Researcher, specialized in physical geography, GIS and remote sensing. E-mail: maaggi@yahoo.com
Received date: 2015-06-28
Accepted date: 2015-10-29
Online published: 2016-04-25
Supported by
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), No.81013651
Copyright
Wind erosion is a major contributor to land degradation and desertification. According to the Global Assessment of Human Induced Soil Degradation, the dryland territories of Mongolia are significantly affected by wind erosion. We used the wind erosion equation model in an ArcGIS environment to evaluate wind erosion across Mongolia. The individual factors of the wind erosion equation were parameterized using the following datasets: (a) monthly climatic data from 45 meteorological stations; (b) 16-day composites of MODIS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index data; (c) a SRTM DEM with a 90 m spatial resolution; and (d) the soil map of Mongolia. The results revealed the significant influence of aridity on wind erosion. The desert and semi-desert ecosystems were more vulnerable to wind erosion, hence more affected. The map of wind erosion revealed three major wind erosion regions where the maximum soil loss of 15-27 t/(hm2•a) was observed. In general, the wind erosion potentials for the entire country of Mongolia are 15-27 t/(hm2•a) in the deserts and semi-deserts, 10-15 t/(hm2•a) in the dry steppes and 5-10 t/(hm2•a) in the steppe regions.
Nyamtseren MANDAKH , Jamsran TSOGTBAATAR , Doljin DASH , Sodov KHUDULMUR . Spatial assessment of soil wind erosion using WEQ approach in Mongolia[J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2016 , 26(4) : 473 -483 . DOI: 10.1007/s11442-016-1280-5
Figure 1 Geographical distribution of the climatic factor in Mongolia |
Table 1 Correlation analysis of wind erosion climatic factors in different regions |
Gobi region | Steppe | Forest | |
---|---|---|---|
Wind velocity | -0.00392 | 0.473368 | 0.395919** |
Total precipitation | 0.495978 | -0.15961 | -0.40169 |
Mean temperature | 0.21528 | 0.206479 | -0.90791** |
Annual PE | -0.93119** | -0.92748** | -0.19763** |
**, P≤0.001, n=45. |
Figure 2 Soil erodibility map for Mongolia based on the erodibility group |
Table 2 Soil erodibility (K) factor by affected area and rate assessment |
Figure 3 Terrain roughness map for Mongolia |
Figure 4 Leaf area index map for Mongolia |
Figure 5 Wind erosion map for Mongolia |
Figure 6 Comparison of modelled results with those of Qi et al. (2010) |
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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