Relationship between East Asian Monsoon and Dust Weather Frequency over Beijing

The relationship between dust weather frequency (DWF), which denotes the number of days of dust weather events, over Beijing and the East Asian Monsoon (EAM) was studied using DWF data for Beijing during the period 1951--2006. Results show that, during this period, the blowing-dust weather frequency (BDWF), as well as the indices of East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) and East Asian summer monsoon (EASM), all decreased considerably, with a t-test confidence level of 99%. The correlation coefficients between the chosen EAWM index and BDWF over Beijing in winter and the following spring were 0.34 and 0.33, respectively, with significance levels of 0.01 and 0.02, respectively. For the chosen EASM index and BDWF, these correlation coefficients were 0.51 and 0.45, respectively, with both at a confidence level exceeding 99.9%. With the linear trends removed, the values (in the same order as above) were 0.14, 0.14, -0.12, and -0.09, all not significant at the 95% confidence level. Clearly, the EAM relates mainly to DWF over long timescales. To a certain extent, the EAM might have some impact on DWF by affecting the associated surface air temperature and precipitation during the corresponding time period in sand-dust source regions at the interannual scale. A stronger (weaker) EAWM might advance (suppress) the occurrence of DWF, and the opposite for the EASM.