Dust emission inventory in Northern China

This paper deals with mineral dust emission inventory from surfaces of Nort hern China. The inventory was calculated with a US EPA formula by inputting the pre-processed Chinese data of pedology and climatology. Mainly, the em ission factor (emission rate) of the dust particles whose diameters are les s than 0.03 mm increases from east to west of the area by five orders of ma gnitude and there are two strong emission regions, one is in Takelamagan de sert, Xinjiang Province, and the other in Central Gobi-desert, western part of inner-Mongolia plateau. The maximum rate is at center of the Takelamaga n desert, i.e., 1.5 ton ha yr(-1). Also, the total annual emission amount o f the area is equal to some 25 million tons, and spring is the worst dust-e mitting season in the area, which takes more than half of the annual emissi on amount. The results are in good agreement with the previous calculations using a different US EPA formula (Xuan, J., 1999. Dust emission factors fo r environment of Northern China. Atmospheric Environment 33, 1767-1776). (C ) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.