Observation and study of land surface parameters over Gobi in typical arid region

According to the need of popular land surface process models, characteristics and rules of some key land surface process and soil parameters over Gobi in typical arid region of Northwest China are analyzed by using the data observed during the intensive observation period of the Dunhuang Land–Surface Process Field Experiment (DLSPFE) (May–June 2000). Using the relative reflection as weighting factor, the weighted mean of the surface albedo over Dunhuang Gobi in typical arid region is calculated and its values are 0.255 ± 0.021. After canceling the interference of the buildings, the mean values of the roughness length averaged with logarithm is 0.0019 ± 0.00071 m. After removing the influence of the oasis, the soil wetness factor computed with data under condition of no precipitation is 0.0045. After removing the influence of the precipitation , the mean values of the soil heat capacity over Dunhuang Gobi in typical arid region is 1.12 × 106 J m−3K−1, a bit smaller than the values observed in HEIFE. But the soil heat diffusivity and conductivity are about one of those observed in HEIFE. The soil water content over Dunhuang Gobi in typical synoptic condition is very little and does not exceed 1% basically.