Association between forestry ecological engineering and dust weather in Inner Mongolia: A panel study

Publication date: April 2018Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C, Volume 104Author(s): Huang Jixia, Zhang Qibin, Tan Jing, Yue Depeng, Ge QuanshengAbstractForestry ecological engineering projects in Western China include the Three-North Shelter Forest Project (TNSFP), the Natural Forest Protection Project (NFPP), the Grain for Green Project (GGP) and the Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm Source Project (BTSSP). Such projects play an important role in the control of dust weather in Western China. In this research, data on the frequency of sandstorms, sand-blowing and dust-floating weather, the area of four forestry ecological engineering projects, wind, rainfall and vegetation coverage from 2000 to 2010 were collected based on the unit of prefecture-level cities in Inner Mongolia. The panel-data model was used to analyze the quantitative association between forestry ecological engineering and dust weather. The results indicate that wind has a strong promotional effect on dust weather, while forestry ecological engineering and rainfall have a containment effect. In addition, the impacts of the four studied forestry ecological engineering projects on dust weather differ. For every increase of 1000 km2 in the Three-North Shelter Forest Project, the annual number of days of sandstorm weather decreased by 4 days. Similarly, for every increase of 1000 km2 in the Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm Source Project, the sand-blowing weather decreased by 4.4 days annually. In additio...

Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - July 11, 2018 Category: Science Source Type: research