Summary
A brief overview of numerical modelling approaches to the problem of desertification indicates that those techniques have generally ignored important surface boundary layer processes. A simple theoretical analysis of the surface energy balance clearly shows their shortcomings, and experimental data provide the basis for a new assessment of the land denudation phenomenon. It is shown that the mechanism invoked for desertifaction tendencies by the theoretical numerical models actually tends to suppress the formation of deserts, but that other neglected processes may indeed hasten their development, following vegetation removal by such processes as over-grazing.
Zusammenfassung
Eine kurze Zusammenfassung der numerischen Modellierung des Problems der Entstehung von Wüsten zeigt, daß wichtige Bodenschichtprozesse in der Regel ignoriert wurden. Eine einfache theoretische Analyse des Energiehaushaltes der Bodenoberfläche weist deutlich auf these Mängel hin. Experimentelle Daten ergeben die Basis einer neuen Abschätzung des Phänomens der Landentblößung. Es wird gezeigt, daß die von numerischen Modellen beanspruchten Mechanismen zur Schaffung von Wüsten eigentlich einer derartigen Tendenz entgegenwirken. Andere, vernachlässigte Prozesse hingegen können eine Wüstenbildung beschleunigen, falls die Vegetation durch Prozesse wie Abweidung entfernt wurde.
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Contribution from Agricultural Research, Science and Education Administration, U. S. Department of Agriculture.
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Idso, S.B. Surface energy balance and the genesis of deserts. Arch. Met. Geoph. Biocl. A. 30, 253–260 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02257847
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02257847