Abstract: Based on the annual wind data collected from the ten meteorological stations in 2001, 2005, 2010, and 2014, the temporal and spatial variations of sand-driving wind regime and drift potential in the sandy desertification area of northern Shanxi were analyzed in this paper. The results indicated that the frequency and mean velocity of sand-driving wind were both largest in spring, followed by winter, and were both smallest in summer, and both presented decreased trends in each season and the full year since 2001; the wind energy environment was medium in spring and was low in other seasons and the full year, and spring is the period with strongest wind blown activity; the wind energy environment in spring presented weakening trend since 2001, which may be the one of the reasons of sandy desertification reversed in the study area since this century; the wind energy environment in spring was higher in the north and east than in the south and west in the study area due to the effect of topography, and the highest values located in the Datong Basin of the northeastern study area.

Key words: sand-driving wind, drift potential, wind energy environment, wind blown activity, sandy desertification