Search

Based on the data of 8 solar radiation stations and 119 meteorological stations in Inner Mongolia from 1961 to 2017 as well as the comparative observation of rooftop solar distributed photovoltaic power generation equipment, the impact of climatic and environmental factors on the development and utilization of rooftop solar energy resources was studied. The results show that the main climatic factors affecting rooftop solar power generation were cloud cover, precipitation, relative humidity, visibility, gale, dust weather, temperature and lightning disaster. Except for temperature and lightning disaster, other meteorological elements were negatively correlated with rooftop solar power generation, namely reducing direct radiation, The high temperature in Inner Mongolia in summer could cause the solar cell efficiency to decrease by 40% -60%, while the low temperature in eastern region in winter was not suitable for the development of rooftop solar energy resources. Lightning is the main meteorological disaster affecting the safe operation of photovoltaic systems, and dass-2 lightning protection equipment needs to be installed. Photovoltaic power generation equipment should be installed on a roof which is not covered by high buildings and on the windward side of a chimney as much as possible. Areas with heavy dust pollution need to remove dust on the surface of solar panels in time. Snow and ice should be removed timely during snowfall in winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Original RWEQ overestimated the wind erosion rate for compacted grassland soils. • 137Cs tracing results were used to examine the applicability of RWEQ for grassland. • An extended erodibility equation was developed accounting for soil compaction. • Wind erosion rates in Inner Mongolia were calculated using the extended RWEQ. The commonly used wind erosion models, including the Revised Wind Erosion Equation (RWEQ), are mainly based on data from loose soils, for which the erodibility factor (EF) reflects the abundance of erodible aggregates, and cannot be applied to simulate erosion of compacted soils such as some grassland soils. Taking the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in northern China as the study area, we used the 137Cs tracing technique to estimate the soil loss of grassland by wind erosion from 1963 to 2021, and used the results as criteria to verify the wind erosion rate (WER) predicted by RWEQ for the same period. We found that RWEQ accurately calculated the WER of cultivated farmland, but overestimated grassland WER. We believe that the main reason is that the equation did not consider the impact of soil compaction (SC) on EF , since the calculation methods for the weather factor, vegetation factor, surface roughness factor, and soil crust factor in RWEQ are applicable for grasslands. Therefore, we used the 137Cs tracing results to extrapolate the grassland EF while keeping the climate, soil crust, vegetation cover, and roughness factors constant, and combined SC and the proportion of aggregates smaller than 0.84 mm in diameter to develop an empirical equation for grassland EF. Compared with the original model, the extended model (RWEQ ext) that included the factor of SC more accurately estimated the WER of compacted grassland soil and could be applied to the whole study area. The RWEQ ext results showed that tolerable and slight levels of wind erosion dominated the grassland and gobi surfaces in the study area, whereas moderate wind erosion occurred in grasslands with sparse vegetation cover, and severe, very severe, and destructive wind erosion mainly occurred on loose surfaces such as sandy land with low vegetation cover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial distribution of EDI from 2000 to 2018 (a–f), the temporal trend of EDI in the IM-YRB (g), and the temporal trend of EDI in 7 cities during 2000–2018 (h). [Display omitted] • We proposed an ecological degradation evaluation index system based on the Pressure-State-Response model framework. • We identified and classified land use conversions in the Inner Mongolia reach of the Yellow River Basin during 2000 to 2018. • We differentiate driving factors behind ecological degradation and relevant spatial patterns. The ecological conservation and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin (YRB) has been the prime strategy of China. Wherein, the Inner Mongolia reach of the Yellow River Basin (IM-YRB) is a critical ecological barrier in northern China, playing an unshakable position in ecological and food security in the YRB. However, evaluation of ecological conditions and relevant driving factors have not aroused considerable concerns. Here we propose an ecological degradation index system based on the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) multi-scale comprehensive assessment framework and evaluate the ecological environment degradation intensity in the IM-YRB during 2000 to 2018. We find continual degradation of the ecological environment with increasing degradation intensity in the IM-YRB during 2000 to 2018. Moreover, we quantify that 24.16% of the IM-YRB had highly significant degradation (99% confidence level) of the ecological environment. The areas with significant degradation (95% confidence level) of the ecological environment accounted for 57.19% of the IM-YRB. The population density, land use, coal mining and fires are the main influencing factors behind ecological environment degradation in the IM-YRB. In addition, there occurred widespread land use conversion (>50% of the study region in area) amongst grassland, arable land, sands, construction land and unused land and these land conversions can be found mainly in the Yinshan Mountains (from grassland to abandoned land, the Hetao Irrigation District (from grassland to arable land) and the Kubuqi Desert (from sand, arable land and unused land to grassland). This study acts as the theoretical ground for sustainability and conservation of the regional ecological environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]