• Title/Summary/Keyword: desert

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A Long-term Variability of the Extent of East Asian Desert (동아시아 사막 면적의 경년변화분석)

  • Han, Hyeon-Gyeong;Lee, Eunkyung;Son, Sanghun;Choi, Sungwon;Lee, Kyeong-Sang;Seo, Minji;Jin, Donghyun;Kim, Honghee;Kwon, Chaeyoung;Lee, Darae;Han, Kyung-Soo
    • Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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    • v.34 no.6_1
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    • pp.869-877
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    • 2018
  • The area of desert in East Asia is increasing every year, and it cause a great cost of social damage. Because desert is widely distributed and it is difficult to approach people, remote sensing using satellites is commonly used. But the study of desert area comparison is insufficient which is calculated by satellite sensor. It is important to recognize the characteristics of the desert area data that are calculated for each sensor because the desert area calculated according to the selection of the sensor may be different and may affect the climate prediction and desertification prevention measures. In this study, the desert area of Northeast Asia in 2001-2013 was calculated and compared using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Vegetation. As a result of the comparison, the desert area of Vegetation increased by $3,020km^2/year$, while in the case of MODIS, it decreased by $20,911km^2/year$. We performed indirect validation because It is difficult to obtain actual data. We analyzed the correlation with the occurrence frequency of Asian dust affected by desert area change. As a result, MODIS showed a relatively low correlation with R = 0.2071 and Vegetation had a relatively high correlation with R = 0.4837. It is considered that Vegetation performed more accurate desert area calculation in Northeast Asian desert area.

Stabilized marine and desert sands with deep mixing of cement and sodium bentonite

  • Saberian, Mohammad;Moradi, Mojtaba;Vali, Ramin;Li, Jie
    • Geomechanics and Engineering
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    • v.14 no.6
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    • pp.553-562
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    • 2018
  • Road construction is becoming increasingly important in marine and desert areas due to population growth and economic development. However, the load carrying capacity of pavement is of gear concern to design and geotechnical engineers because of the poor engineering properties of the soils in these areas. Therefore, stabilization of the soils is regarded as an important issue. Besides, due to the fuels combustion and carbonate decomposition, cement industry generates around 5% of global $CO_2$ emission. Thus, using bentonite as a natural pozzolan in soil stabilization is more eco-friendly than using cement. The aim of this research is to experimentally study of the stabilized marine and desert sands using deep mixing method by ordinary Portland cement and sodium bentonite. Different partial percentages of cement along with different weight percentages of sodium bentonite were added to the sands. Unconfined compression test (UCS), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) were conducted on the specimens. Moreover, a mathematical model was developed for predicting the strength of the treated soils.

Strength and durability characteristics of biopolymer-treated desert sand

  • Qureshi, Mohsin U.;Chang, Ilhan;Al-Sadarani, Khaloud
    • Geomechanics and Engineering
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    • v.12 no.5
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    • pp.785-801
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    • 2017
  • Biopolymer treatment of geomaterials to develop sustainable geotechnical systems is an important step towards the reduction of global warming. The cutting edge technology of biopolymer treatment is not only environment friendly but also has widespread application. This paper presents the strength and slake durability characteristics of biopolymer-treated sand sampled from Al-Sharqia Desert in Oman. The specimens were prepared by mixing sand at various proportions by weight of xanthan gum biopolymer. To make a comparison with conventional methods of ground improvement, cement treated sand specimens were also prepared. To demonstrate the effects of wetting and drying, standard slake durability tests were also conducted on the specimens. According to the results of strength tests, xanthan gum treatment increased the unconfined strength of sand, similar to the strengthening effect of mixing cement in sand. The slake durability test results indicated that the resistance of biopolymer-treated sand to disintegration upon interaction with water is stronger than that of cement treated sand. The percentage of xanthan gum to treat sand is proposed as 2-3% for optimal performance in terms of strength and durability. SEM analysis of biopolymer-treated sand specimens also confirms that the sand particles are linked through the biopolymer, which has increased shear resistance and durability. Results of this study imply xanthan gum biopolymer treatment as an eco-friendly technique to improve the mechanical properties of desert sand. However, the strengthening effect due to the biopolymer treatment of sand can be weakened upon interaction with water.

The analysis on PVB film optical characteristics for PV module generating in high-temperature (고온용 PV module을 위한 PVB film 광특성 연구)

  • Lee, Sang-Hun;Kim, Kyung-Soo;Kang, Gi-Hwan;Yu, Gwon-Jong;Ahn, Hyung-Keun;Han, Deuk-Young
    • Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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    • 2011.07a
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    • pp.1320-1321
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    • 2011
  • According to the advance that solar power plants go into the desert, power plants are getting greater capacity. The desert is unspoiled resources and it is well suited to build a solar power plant, because of abundant solar radiation and long sunshine duration. but existing PV modules have several weaknesses and don't generate lower the rated power, because it wasn't designed to produce in extreme environments like a desert climate. The one of the weaknesses of PV modules is that the characteristics of the temperature of the Encapsulants(EVA sheet) are not good in a desert climate, because the EVA sheet is melt at high temperature. In this study, a decrease phenomenon of the transmittance depending on the melting point of the Encapsulant(PV module using EVA sheet : $75^{\circ}C$ PV module using PVB film : $110^{\circ}C$) is suggested, it would be the one of the important factors to achieve rated output of the PV modules in high temperature climate regions.

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Physicochemical Properties of Asian Dust Sources

  • Ma, Chang-Jin;Kasahara, Mikio;Tohno, Susumu;Kim, Ki-Hyun
    • Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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    • v.2 no.1
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    • pp.26-33
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    • 2008
  • In order to fully understand the chemical properties of Asian dust particles, especially their transformation and aging processes, it is desirable to investigate the nature of original sands collected at local source areas in China. This study presents the detailed properties of sands collected at four different desert regions (Yinchuan, Wuwei, Dulan, and Yanchi) in China. Most of sands have irregular shape with yellowish coloration, whereas some of them show peculiar colors. The relative size distribution of sands collected at Yinchuan, Wuwei, and Dulan deserts exhibits monomodal with the maximum level between 200 and $300{\mu}$, whereas that of Yanchi desert is formed between 100 and $200{\mu}$. The mass concentration ratio of each element to that of Si (Z/Si) determined by PIXE analysis has a tendency towards higher Z/Si ratios for soil derived elements. It was possible to visually reconstruct the elemental maps on the surface of individual sands by XRF microprobe technique. In addition, the multielemental mass concentration could be quantitatively calculated for numerous spots of desert sands.

Incorporation of Crushed Sands and Tunisian Desert Sands in the Composition of Self Compacting Concretes Part II: SCC Fresh and Hardened States Characteristics

  • Rmili, Abdelhamid;Ouezdou, Mongi Ben;Added, Mhamed;Ghorbel, Elhem
    • International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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    • v.3 no.1
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    • pp.11-14
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    • 2009
  • This paper is interested in the incorporation of crushed sand and desert sand in the composition the self compacting concretes (SCC). Desert dune sand, which has a fine extra granulometry, and the crushed sand, which contains an important content of fines, can constitute interesting components for SCC. Part II consists in studying the behaviour of SCC containing various sands with different origins. These sands, with different sizes, consist of several combinations of rolled sand (RS), crushed sand (CS) and desert sand (DS). The study examines the influence of the granular combination of sands on the characteristics in the fresh and the hardened state of SCC. The results of the experimental tests showed an improvement of the workability of the fresh SCC by combining sands of varied granulometry. The addition of the DS to CS or to RS allowed the increase of the mixture viscosity but decreased the mechanical strengths. Furthermore, the CS-RS combinations increased the compressive and the tensile strengths of the studied SCC. The optimized formulations of sands gave the highest performances of the SCC.

The Natural Environment during the Last Glacial Maximum Age around Korea and Adjacent Area

  • Yoon, Soon-Ock;Hwang, Sang-Ill
    • The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.33-38
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    • 2003
  • This study is conducted to examine the data of climate or environmental change in the northeastern Asia during the last glacial maximum. A remarkable feature of the 18,000 BP biome reconstructions for China is the mid-latitude extention of steppe and desert biomes to the modem eastern coast. Terrestrial deposits of glacial maximum age from the northern part of Yellow Sea suggest that this region of the continental shelf was occupied by desert and steppe vegetation. And the shift from temperate forest to steppe and desert implies conditions very much drier than present in eastern Asia. Dry conditions might be explained by a strong winter monsoon and/or a weak summer monsoon. A very strong depression of winter temperatures at LGM. has in the center of continent has influenced in northeast Asia similarly. The vegetation of Hokkaido at LGM was subarctic thin forest distributed on the northern area of middle Honshu and cool and temperate mixed forest at southern area of middle Honshu in Japan. The vegetation landscape of mountain- and East coast region of Korea was composed of herbaceous plants with sparse arctic or subarctic trees. The climate of yellow sea surface and west region of Korea was much drier and temperate steppe landscape was extended broadly. It is supposed that a temperate desert appeared on the west coast area of Pyeongan-Do and Cheolla-Do of Korea. The reconstruction of year-round conditions much colder than today right across China, Korea and Japan is consistent with biome reconstruction at the LGM.

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Comparing Plant Species Diversity of Mountainous Deserts - Successes and Pitfalls

  • Van Etten, Eddie J.B.
    • The Korean Journal of Ecology
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    • v.27 no.2
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    • pp.79-86
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    • 2004
  • An extensive study of the vegetation characteristics of the Hamersley Ranges, a mountainous desert area of north-west Australia, facilitated the comparison of plant species diversity measures with mountainous deserts of other parts of the world. Alpha diversity was defined as the number of species co-existing at local scales and was found to average 18 species per 0.1 ha for the Hamersley Ranges. This was found to be similar to seven other mountainous deserts in North and South America, and southern Africa. Variation in alpha diversity between these deserts was found to considerably lower than within deserts, suggesting that local processes control species richness at local scales. Beta diversity, defined here as turnover in species composition at various spatial scales, can be measured in many ways. For the Hamersley Ranges, Wilson's β ranged from 1.2 to 1.6 for five sites along a topographic gradient, whereas Whittaker's β between different plant communities was found to average 0.93. Comparable data was not found for other desert areas, but comparisons to non-desert areas suggest beta diversity within landscapes is relatively high and is likely to reflect the considerable landform heterogeneity of the Hamersley Ranges. 55∼70% of species were shared between different landscapes of the Hamersley Ranges; comparisons to other regions suggest beta diversity at this scale is relatively low. Gamma diversity, the number of species over large spatial extents, was successfully compared using regression analysis of the log-log species - area relationship. This revealed that the northern Sonoran desert has significantly less species than the Nama (inland) Karoo and Hamersley Ranges over medium spatial extents, but species numbers were similar at a regional scale. Several constraints to the valid comparison of species diversity were identified, including lack of standardisation of sampling techniques, the wide range of measures employed, general lack of published data, and the influence of the various components of spatial scale on most diversity measures. Recommendations on how to improve future comparative work are provided.

Qualitative Analysis and Plasma Characteristics of Soil from a Desert Area using LIBS Technique

  • Farooq, W. Aslam;Tawfik, Walid;Al-Mutairi, Fahad N.;Alahmed, Zeyad A.
    • Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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    • v.17 no.6
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    • pp.548-558
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    • 2013
  • In this work, laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is used to investigate soil samples collected from different desert areas of Riyadh city in Saudi Arabia. Both qualitative analysis and plasma parameters are studied via the observed LIBS spectra. These experiments have been done using a Spectrolaser-7000 system with 50 mJ fundamental wavelength of Nd:YAG laser and detection delay time of 1 microsecond. Many spectral lines are highly resolved for many elements like Al, Fe, Mg, Si, Mn, Na, Ca and K. The electron temperatures Te and electron densities Ne, for the constituent of generated LIBS plasma, are determined for all the collected samples. It is found that both Te and Ne vary from one desert area to other. This variation is due to the change of the elemental concentration in different desert areas that affects the sample's matrices. Time dependent measurements have also been performed on the soil samples. While the signal-to-base ratio (SBR) reached its optimal value at 1 microsecond, the plasma parameters Ne and Te reach values of $4{\times}10^{17}cm^{-3}$ and 9235 K, respectively, at 2.5 microsecond. The later indicate that the plasma cooling processes are slow in comparison to the previously observed results for metallic samples. The observed results show also that in the future it is possible to enhance the exploitation of LIBS in the remote on-line environmental monitoring application, by following up only the values of Ne and Te for one element of the soil desert sample using an optical fiber probe.