Plans to deal with the consequences of a sand storm, such as blowing sand across aircraft operating surfaces, can be developed by airport authorities.Schedules should be designed to avoid the times when sand storms are most prevalent. A knowledge of local climatology and the weather forecast for the route to be flown is essential. Sand Storm activity results in reduced visibility and the ingestion of sand and dust particles into engines, pitot static systems and conditioning packs causing blockage and corrosion. The diurnal variation in wind speed is usually significant in the regions where sand storms are common and therefore sand storms do not normally occur at night. It is therefore becoming more commonplace for aircraft to encounter a sand or dust storm when operating in these regions. The frequency of sand storms, particularly across the lands bordering the Sahara desert, has increased dramatically over the past few decades, caused by and perhaps a major causal factor behind desertification. Creep - blowing large particles along the ground.

In so doing they also become negatively charged, which has the effect of increasing the amount of dust and sand particles becoming dislodged. Saltation - sand particles vibrate as the wind increases and then bounce along dislodging other particles.Suspension - dust and very light sand particles carried, often to great heights, by the wind.Sand storms move material by three mechanisms: The height of this wall can be 1 nm or more in situations where there is significant atmospheric instability, dust can reach as high as 20,000 feet. Strong winds: when the wind speed increases above the threshold speed needed to lift and transport surface particles.Īn advancing sand storm associated with a gust front is a spectacular sight and looks like an advancing wall of swirling sand.along a cold front where cool air passing over hot ground creates instability in the air above (typical in the US mid-west).

ahead of a Cumulonimbus (Cb) cloud (typical in the Sahara).

DescriptionĬommon in arid or semi-arid areas, particularly the Sahara and the Arabian peninsula, a sand storm is created by:

S and s storm