Effects of spatial variations in source areas upon dust concentration profiles during three wind erosion events in Australia

Dust storms are a major contributor to soil erosion in inland Australia, and the Simpson Desert-Channel Country region is one of the most active wind erosion regions, While information is available on wind erosion rates at the land-type level, little is known about the influence that spatial variations in the erodibility within a land type have on the resulting dust concentration profile. A Gaussian plume model, DSIS, is presented along with tower-based dust data, to describe the influence of different spatial combinations of dust source areas, during three dust events on the Diamantina River floodplain in Western Queensland, Australia. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.