Largest field observation ground for sandstorms in operation
A new ground for field observation and around-the-clock monitoring of sandstorms was recently put in operation in northwestern China. This is the largest of similar facilities in the world today according to well-informed sources.
Revealed by Prof. Dong Zhibao, vice director of the Key Laboratory for Deserts & Desertification Engineering affiliated to the CAS Cold and Arid Region Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, the two-square-km ground is situated in the county of Zhongwei under the jurisdiction of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Its location is 15 km away to the Shapotou experimental & research station, another CAS-run supervisory entity against the scourge. The ground is a leveled stretch of flatland in the open country. It is divided into three zones designated to the exploration of wind & sand movements, sandstorms and their dynamic effects on landforms in addition to two testing districts devoted to sand-fixation engineering and calamities caused by wind and sandstorms.
According to Dong, the operation of the new ground will play a constructive role in facilitating the daily routine performance of the monitoring systems set in Urdos Desert and Ejin Horo Banner in Inner Mongolia and Minqin County in Gansu Province and strengthening the overall capacity against sand invasion at the Shapotou station.
