An Analysis of the Spatiotemporal Variation in Wind Erosion–Climate Erosion Force in the Ningxia Region and Its Driving Factors

Abstract

Wind erosion is one of the major meteorological hazards in Ningxia, and climate change has caused changes in wind erosion–climatic erosion activity in recent years. This study uses the wind erosion climate factor (C) proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to assess the impact of climate change on wind erosion–climate erosion, and the results show that (1) the distribution of wind erosion degree in Ningxia region is central > northern > southern. Seasonally, it is higher in spring and winter, and lower in summer and autumn. (2) Climate change has more influence on spring, autumn and winter, and less influence on summer. (3) The center of gravity is mainly located at the junction of central and northern Ningxia, and the center of gravity migrates through four migration stages—northeast–southwest–northeast–southwest—on the annual scale, and four migration stages—northwest–northeast–southeast—on the seasonal and monthly scales. The migration rate in the cold season is greater than that in the warm season. (4) The wind erosion climate factor index is influenced by sunshine hours, average temperature, average humidity, average wind speed and total precipitation, and the degree of influence has spatial and temporal variability, among which the wind erosion climate factor index is the most sensitive to the influence of average wind speed. (5) The wind erosion climate factor indices are positively correlated with NAO, AO, PDO and SOI indices, and negatively correlated with MEI and ENSO indices, and there are resonance cycles of different time scales.