Study on Impacts of an Exceptionally Intense Sandstorm upon Gansu Region in Summer

摘要

The Climate features of summer sandstorms show that the season is rich in the disasters for the Gansu region, concentrated mainly in the Minqin, Dingxin and Jinta areas. The synoptic analysis of a rarely observed strong event indicates that in summer such dominant weather systems as the upper-level weak trough, shear line and thermal low are responsible for the sandstorm while in spring the tempest is generally triggered by large-scale systems. The upper-level jet's behaviors are not so manifest before the occurrence of the summertime sandstorm, with the jets suddenly intensified almost concurrently with its occurrence, which is one of the difficult points for forecasting the summer sandstorm. Now for the study we make use of satellite imagery and its sensings-based tracking as a more visualized tool for monitoring the onset, movement and coverage of the disaster.