Long‐Term Variation of Dust Devils in East Asia During 1959–2021

Abstract

AbstractDust devils play an important role in dust transport by carrying it from the surface into the atmosphere, especially in summer. However, information on how dust devils changed in the past decades and what caused these changes remains lacking. Based on thermodynamic criteria and ERA5 reanalysis data set, this study investigated the long‐term variation of favorable conditions for dust devil occurrence in East Asia over the past 63 years and defined it as potential dust devil and dusty plume (PDDP) occurrence in hours. Annual mean frequency of PDDP in East Asia was approximately 217.2 hr from 1959 to 2021. An overall downward trend in PDDP frequency has been found over 63 years in East Asia among which strong PDDPs drop significantly at the fastest rate while the weak ones dropped insignificantly. Moreover, PDDP frequency in the Gobi Desert increased but they decreased in the Taklimakan Desert. The monthly variation of PDDP shows a single‐peak structure with a tendency for the peak to move from June to July. For the diurnal changes, PDDP mainly occurred between 10:00 and 16:00 at local time (LT), with over 60% of them happening between 12:00 LT and 14:00 LT. We also found a negative correlation between precipitation and PDDP occurrence. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of favorable conditions for dust devil occurrence in East Asia over the past decades, which is of great importance to further evaluate its impact on climate, environment as well as ecosystem.