Fig 1.
Distribution of salinity of groundwater used to irrigate the shelterbelt along the Taklimakan Desert Highway.
Red triangles indicate the sites where soil samples were taken and analyzed for salinity and water content, (a) 25.90 g/L, (b) 18.39 g/l, (c) 10.00 g/L, (d) 4.82 g/L, and (e) 2.82 g/L.
Table 1.
Physicochemical properties of shifting Aeolian Sandy Soil at the study area.
Table 2.
Profiles of irrigation water quality of selected sites.
Fig 2.
Schematic diagram of the drip irrigation system for the Taklimakan Desert Highway Shelterbelt.
(a) Desert highway; (b) Well-house; (c) Control valve well; (d) Connecting well; (e) Water valve; (f) Main pipe; (g) Double-branch pipe; (h) Capillary tube. The spacing between capillary tubes is 2 m or 1 m. The spacing of the two adjacent emitters along the same capillary tube (black dots shown in the red circle) is 1 m, and all the capillary tubes are the same size.
Fig 3.
Relative humidity, precipitation, and potential evaporation in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert.
Table 3.
Monthly number of sand-moving winds with a speed of ≥ 6 m/s (average number for 2003–2014).
Fig 4.
Dynamics of soil moisture and salinity within an irrigation cycle.
(a,b) Soil moisture and salinity of 15-day-cycle for Tamarix ramosissima and Haloxylon ammodendron; (c,d) Soil moisture and salinity of 10-day-cycle for Calligonum arborescens.
Fig 5.
Dynamics of soil water storage to a depth of 2 m within an irrigation cycle.
a: 15-day-cycle for Tamarix ramosissima and Haloxylon ammodendron; b: 10-day-cycle for Calligonum arborescens.
Fig 6.
Depth profiles of soil moisture and salinity in shelterbelts of different age.
Fig 7.
Depth-distribution of soil moisture and salinity at 0–2-m depth irrigated with different salinity groundwater.