Abstract: When sand-dust storm weather is occurring the air current transmits a large amount of sand-dust into air,which makes the air quality worsening and the visibility lowering,therefore severely influenced the daily life and public health.Especially the heavy sand-dust storm accompanying darkness often causes public panic so that this kind of weather phenomenon is attracting more attention in recent years.There are various issues on sand-dust definition,observation,classification and naming.The authors have reviewed the research status on sand-dust storm monitoring and forecasting as well as the classification standard,according to proceedings of some international conferences and documents published oversea and domestic.Some suggests are given in the paper for the sake of comparability and credibility in the research field of sand-dust storm.

Key words: sandstorm, observation criteria, classification standard, research status