Field Observation on the Spatial Characteristic of Wind-Blown Sand along the Hetian-Rouqiang Railway

Abstract

Abstract A field observation along the Hetian-Ruoqiang Railway (HRR) was carried out from July 2021 to January 2022. The spatial characteristic of wind-blown sand is subsequently obtained. For the wind field, the results show that the northeasterly wind is mainly prevalent from Ruoqiang to Qiemo during the monitoring period. The northwestly wind is mainly prevailing from Hetian to Yutian. Around Minfeng, northeasterly wind from Ruoqiang and northwesterly wind from Hetian form an airflow convergence zone here. The cumulated aeolian transport mass flux Fcm in the east section from Ruoqiang to Qiemo is larger, but a typical sand-transport spoke center arises near the right flank of Minfeng, resulting in a large Fcm in this area. These results have engineering significance for the prevention and control on wind-sand disasters along HRR.