Abstract:

Based on hourly recorded wind data （wind speed and direction）， we analyzed the regime of sand driving wind and sand drift potential in the Zoige Basin. It shows that the annual wind speed is 2.59 m·s^-1. The wind speed in spring is maximum （3.14 m·s^-1）， and the speed in summer， autumn and winter are relatively light with a speed of 2.45， 2.24 and 2.53 m·s^-1， respectively. Sand driving winds account for 8.75% of annual wind speed records， mainly coming from WNW， NE and NNE， accounting for 26.23%， 16.70% and 15.27% of the total sand driving wind records. The calculated drift potential （DP） according to Fryberger’s method shows that the annual drift potential is 66.44 VU， belonging to low wind energy environment （≤200 VU）， and the annual resultant drift potential （RDP） is 36.22 VU with resultant direction of 155°（SSE）. Directional variability index （RDP/DP） is 0.55， which belongs to intermediate directional variability （0.3<RDP/DP<0.8）. The annual drift potential mainly comes from WNW and ENE， accounting for 37.36% and 16.08% of the annual total， respectively. The drift potential in this region shows obvious seasonal characteristics： which is highest in spring （31.58 VU） and followed by winter （19.91 VU）， accounting for 47.54% and 29.96% of the annual value， respectively. The resultant direction of drift potential in spring and winter are 155°（SSE） and 122°（ESE）， respectively. The direction of sand migration in this the Zoige Basin is basically consistent with the annual resultant drift direction （SSE）.

Key words: Zoige Basin, sand driving wind, sand drift potential, aeolian desertification, source region of the Yellow River, Tibetan Plateau