Abstract: Aeolian sanddust transport is a serious problem in many arid regions in the world, and it is considered to be as a significant part of global biogeochemical cycle. Deserts are the main sources of nearsurface aeolian sanddust transport, and aeolian sanddust transport process is closely related to the variation of nearsurface horizontal aeolian sanddust flux with height. In this paper, the variation of horizontal aeolian sanddust flux within height 2 m above the ground surface was discussed based on the oneyear observation on a level sand land in the south Taklimakan Desert by BSNE samplers. It was revealed that the horizontal aeolian sanddust flux was decreased with the increase of height, which could be described with the distribution of power function and exponential function. A 55%-58% amount of horizontal aeolian sanddust was transported within an air layer 0.5 m above the ground surface, a 73%-75% amount of that was transported within an air layer 1 m above the ground surface, and a 87%-89% amount of that was transported within 1.5 m above the ground surface. In the study area, the amount of horizontal aeolian sanddust load in a height range from 0 to 2 m was 1 846.7 kg•m^-1, in which the amounts of PM80 and PM50 were 1 192.0 kg•m^-1 and 387.9 kg•m^-1 respectively.

Key words: amount of sediment transport, sanddust, horizontal flux, the Taklimakan Desert