Identifying the spatial pattern of booming sands based on high-resolution remote sensing imagery 后印本

摘要: Boomingsands occur in more than a dozen countries worldwide. However, many sites have lost their acoustic properties as a result of human disturbance. As one of the earliest recorded booming sands sites, the Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang, China remains important for both acoustic-landscape conservation and cultural heritage preservation. This study proposes a novel approach for identifying the spatial distribution of booming sands by integrating high-resolution topographic parameters derived from Gaofen-7 (GF-7) satellite imagery with laboratory-measured properties (physical, mineralogical, and acoustic characteristics) of field-collected sand samples and certain threshold parameters obtained from in-situ field observations. Key identification thresholds include the slope ≥ 30.00°, dune height ≥ 30.00 m, and slope length ≥ 60.00 m. The collected sand samples exhibit excellent sorting and high flowability, consistent with the physical characteristics typically associated with booming sands. Light minerals dominate the sand samples (93.56%), with quartz being the most abundant mineral. Applying the remote sensing-based framework to the Mingsha Mountain identifies approximately 22.46 km² of potential booming sand areas, primarily concentrated in the central–northern region, where sand dunes are characterized by large heights, stable morphology, steep slopes, and relatively uniform aspect distributions. Acoustic analysis reveals that dominant frequencies are concentrated within a narrow range of 842–1020 Hz, supporting the robustness of the proposed identification framework. Based on these findings and the natural recovery capacity of booming sands in the Mingsha Mountain, this study proposes a management strategy involving rotational sand-sliding and sand-sliding rest to conserve booming-sand resources and supports sustainable tourism in Dunhuang.