The Interactions Between Precipitation, Vegetation and Dust Emission Over Semi-Arid Mongolia

Abstract. Recently, droughts have become widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, including in Mongolia. The ground surface condition, particularly vegetation coverage affects the occurrence of dust storms. The main sources of dust storms in the Asian region are Taklimakan and Gobi deserts. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the trend of vegetation variation and the effects of precipitation in the Gobi region. In the Gobi region, precipitation is confined to the period from May to September. We compared the patterns of interactions between precipitation and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for a period of 29 years. The precipitation and vegetation datasets were examined to investigate the trends between 1985–2013. Cross correlation analysis between the precipitation and the NDVI anomalies was performed. Data analysis showed a decreasing trend in precipitation amount and its spatial shift from the east to west part of the region investigated. The vegetation in the area with the lowest precipitation was more sensitive to the precipitation dynamics than those parts with relatively higher values. The most degraded area was the southwest region of Gobi with the least precipitation.