The effect of the time interval used to calculate mean wind velocity on the calculated drift potential, relative drift potential, and resultant drift direction for sands from three deserts in northern China

Wind is the power behind many erosion processes and is responsible for many of the characteristics of arid zone geomorphology. Wind velocity is a key factor in determining the potential sand transport, but the nature of the wind velocity data can strongly affect assessments of the risk of blowing sand. In this study, we obtained real-time wind velocity data in a region of the Tengger Desert with shifting sands, in the Badain Jaran Desert, and in the Madoi desertification land, with the data obtained at 1-min intervals, and used the data to determine the influence of how the wind velocity was calculated (mean versus mid-point values and the averaging time used to calculate these values) on sand drift potential. In the three regions, for both the mean and the mid-point wind velocities, the estimated drift potential decreased with increasing averaging time. The relationships between velocities calculated using the different averaging time intervals and the value calculated using a 1-min interval could be expressed as linear functions. The drift potential calculated using the mid-point wind velocity was larger than that calculated using the mean wind velocity.