Engineering Measures to Combat Aeolian Desertification

Engineering measures (EMs) are methods to prevent and control aeolian disasters that do not involve plants. Usually, EMs are the preferred prevention and control methods in arid areas, where planting trees is not always possible. In semiarid and dry subhumid areas, EMs are sometimes used in conjunction with other measures, especially in the early stages of biological measures (BMs), for immediate effects. EMs can be divided into four types based on function: sand blocking, sand fixing, sand transporting, and sand guiding. These types of EMs have different forms, such as upright, semiuprightSemiupright forms, flatFlat forms, and buriedBuried forms. The materials used in EMs are diverse and include crop straw, degradable nylon mesh, gravel, clay, and synthetic materials. This chapter mainly introduces four forms of EMs and their materials and functions. Chemical measures (CMs) are usually used in regions where both EMs and BMs are not available. CMs can immediately fix the sand surface by spraying chemical materials. Due to their high price and potential pollution, CMs are not extensively used and are introduced at the end of the chapter.