Abstract:

According to compilation of historical data and analysis of mathematical statistics, wind disasters in the Ordos Plateau during Qing Dynasty were studied. The results showed that the wind disasters clearly recorded were 51 times, with average once every 5.3 years. The wind disasters happened 16, 34, and 1 times for mild, middle, and great levels, accounting for 31.3%, 66.7% and 2.0%, respectively. In regard to temporal distribution, trend of the wind disasters in the area during Qing Dynasty could be divided into three stages. The first stage (1644-1783) with high wind disasters frequency occurred 24 wind disasters, once every 5.8 a in average. The second stage (1784-1823) with low wind disasters frequency occurred 4 wind disasters, once every 15 a in average. The third stage (1824-1911) with the highest wind disasters frequency occurred 23 wind disasters, once every 3.0 a in average. During Qing Dynasty, frequency of the wind disasters was obviously upward over time. There occurred four outbreaks of wind disasters in the Ordos Plateau in Qing Dynasty, which appeared during 1708-1710,1851-1853,1878-1884 and 1908-1910. Overall, wind disasters occurred more frequently and seriously from 1864 to 1903, which turned out to be related to cold climate period in east China and the Northern Hemisphere. According to wavelet analysis, wind disasters in the Ordos Plateau during Qing Dynasty mainly had two periods of 6a and 23 a, and the first main period was about 23 a. Most of the wind disasters resulted from activities of strong winter monsoon.It seemed that a cold and dry climatic year was more suitable to the wind disasters than warm and wet years.

Key words: Qing Dynasty, wind disasters, outbreak stage, Ordos Plateau