The Russian Sukhovey

Author(s): Paul E. Lydolph

Source: Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 54, No. 3 (Sep., 1964), pp.
291-309
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Association of American Geographers
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2561323
Accessed: 01/08/2010 19:34

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=taylorfrancis.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Association of American Geographers and Taylor & Francis, Ltd. are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,
preserve and extend access to Annals of the Association of American Geographers.

http://www.jstor.org
 ANNALS
Association of American
Volume 54 September, 1964
THE RUSSIAN SUKHOVEY'
PAUL E. LYDOLPH
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
CLIMATE is such a limiting factor in the been derived empirically to define degrees of
Soviet Union that the progression of severe
weather types has become a preoccupation in
the minds of the Russian people. Cold and
drought are the preponderant climatic ob-
stacles to agricultural production and comfort-
able living. So significant are they that out-
standing occurrences have been tagged with
specific names, and in many instances these oc-
currences are so classic in form that the Rus-
sian descriptive terms have been accepted the
world over. Such a term is "sukhovey."
The word itself means dry or drought, but
usage has attached a more precise meaning
to the term which connotes a certain set of
associated phenomena. "Zasukha"is the Rus-
sian word that is directly analogous to the
English word "drought," which implies an ac-
cumulated lack of moisture in the soil after a
prolonged shortage or absence of precipitation.
"Sukhovey" refers to individual spells of hot
dry flows of air which have immediate and
profound effects on vegetation. Sukhovei2 are
such a threat to agriculture in the southern
part of the Soviet Union that all-Union confer-
ences on sukhovei were held in 1952 and again
in 1953.
DEFINITION OF SUKHOVEY
It is the rapid wilting of vegetation that best
identifies the sukhovey. On the basis of plant
desiccation, sets of meteorological values have
1 I wish to extend my thanks to the University of
Wisconsin Research Committee, who gave financial
support to the research for this paper. I also wish to
acknowledge the help of Nyla Albrecht, my research
assistant, and of David Brittig, who drafted the illus-
trations.
2"Sukhovei" is the plural form of "sukhovey."
291
of the
Geographers
Number 3
sukhovey according to stages of damage evi-
denced by plants. Critical values of vapor
pressure deficit or combinations of tempera-
ture, relative humidity, and wind speed have
been correlated with plant reactions. In a few
cases plant damage and hence, degrees of
sukhovey, have been correlated with 24-hour
evaporation totals.
As Table 1 shows, plant reactions evidencing
sukhovey conditions begin at different values
of meteorological elements for different crops.
Even for the same crop, reactions begin at
rather widely varying values of the vapor
pressure deficit of the air.3 Obviously, factors
other than vapor pressure deficit affect the
growth conditions of plants. Since wilting
signifies that the plant is attempting to tran-
spire moisture from its leaves faster than it is
receiving it from its roots, such factors as wind
speed across the leaf surfaces and moisture
availability at the roots will have direct bear-
ing on wilting rates through control of the
flow of moisture through the plant. There-
fore, with significant wind speeds and dry
soil, relatively low vapor pressure deficits will
cause the same drying effects on plants as will
higher vapor pressure deficits with reduced
wind speeds and moisture soil. The intensity
of insolation hitting the plant surfaces might
be another factor controlling plant reactions.
Table 2 is an example of a classification of
the sukhovey into intensity categories corre-
3 The Soviets usually define categories of sukhovei
in terms of vapor pressure deficit of the air, that is,
the saturation vapor pressure minus the actual vapor
pressure, either in millimeters or millibars. Since vapor
pressure is no longer commonly used in the United
 292 PAUL E. LYDOLPH September

TABLE 1.-CRITICAL VALUES OF THE VAPOR PRESSURE DEFICIT OF THE AIR (IN MILLIMETERS),
AT WHICH VARIOUS CROPS ARE DAMAGED

Vapor pressure deficit of the air

Character of damage Maize Sunflowers Potatoes Grain1
Lower Aver- Lower Aver- Lower Aver- Lower Aver-
limit age limit age limit age limit age

Beginning of reduction of turgor of leaves -12 20 13 19 13 19 9 15

Curling of leaves -16 25 - - - - 12 20
Significant reduction of turgor of leaves -18 26 17 26 19 25 15 25
Yellowing of leaves -27 29 29 32 22 26 17 25
Drying up of leaves -21 27 - - 23 30 22 30
Severe withering of plant -30 34 31 33 - - 22 30
Adapted from TSuberbiller, YE. A., Agroklinmaticheskaya kharakteristika sukhoveyev (Leningrad: 1959), p. 33, and TSuberbiller,
YE. A., "Agrometeorologicheskie kriterii sukhoveyev," Sukhovei: ikh proiskhozhdenie i borba s niini, p. 74.
1 Includes wheat, rye, barley, and oats, all of which show very similar limits of tolerance.

sponding to approximate values of atmospheric
and soil moisture conditions, as evidenced by
types of plant reactions. The amount of dam-
age suffered by plants is related to the length
of time that the plants are exposed to such
conditions. Table 3 shows some results of
observations of bean plants under the influ-
ence of various degrees of the sukhovey. In
each case, the leaves displayed evidences of
drying only after specified lapses of time.
As a result of laboratory simulations of
sukhovey conditions, TSuberbiller has classi-
fied sukhovei into three "regimes" based on
effects on vegetation. The first regime, which
is the strongest, takes place with a rapid tem-
perature rise of 4VC. per hour to a temperature
of 40'C. with a simultaneous drop in relative
humidity to 10-17 per cent accompanied by
weak winds of less than 3 meters per second
States, the following table is included to facilitate
conversions from vapor pressure to approximate com-
binations of temperature and relative humidity for
values within the range of sukhovey conditions.
CORRESPONDING VALUES OF TEMPERATURE,
CATEGORIES OF VAPOR PRESSURE DEFICIT,
(approximately 6 miles per hour). The vapor
pressure deficit under these conditions is about
45-50 millimeters. Under these conditions
leaves burn, that is, turn yellow or brown, in
less than one hour. Damage is owing primarily
to heat effects. TSuberbiller calls this the
"sultry sukhovey."
The second, or intermediate, regime takes
place with a temperature rise of 20C. per hour
to a temperature of at least 350C. while the
relative humidity drops to 15 per cent or less.
The vapor pressure deficit is then 35-38 milli-
meters. Leaves yellow within two to three
hours. The leading role in this case is played
by the water balance as influenced by mois-
ture deficit and intermediate wind speeds of
3-6 meters per second. TSuberbiller calls this
the "hot steppe sukhovey."
The third regime occurs with a temperature
rise of FC. per hour to 25-280C. with a simul-
taneous drop in relative humidity to 19-22 per
cent accompanied by strong winds of 7-8
meters per second. The vapor pressure deficit
IN 'C., AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY, IN % (WITHIN PARENTHESES) FOR
IN MM. AND MB., CORRESPONDING TO DEGREES OF SUKHOVEY

Vapor pressure deficit of the surface air

10-14 mnn. 15-19 mm. 20-24 mm. 25-29 mm. 30-34 mm. 35-39 mm. 40-44 mm. 45-49 mm. 50-54 mm. 55-59 mm. 60-64 usin. 65-69 mm. 70 mm.
13-19 mb. 20-25 mb. 26-32 mb. 33-39 mb. 40-45 mb. 46-52 mb. 53-59 mb. 60-65 mb. 66-72 mb. 73-79 mb. 80-85 mb. 86-92 mb. 93 mb.

0C. % 0C. % 0C. % 0C. % 0C. % 0C. % 0C. % 0C. % Oc .% 0C. % C. % 'C. % 0C. %
12(<7) 19(<10) 23(<8) 27(<8) 30(<7) 33(<9) 35(<6) 38(<11) 40(<12) 42(<12) 43(<9) 45(6-10) 45(<6)
13(<12) 20(<15) 24(<13) 28(<13) 31(<11) 34(<15) 36(<11) 39(<15) 41(<16) 43(9-15) 44(<13)
14(<19) 21(<20) 25(<18) 29(<18) 32(<16) 35(6-9) 37(<16) 40(12-19) 42(12-20) 44(13-20) 45(11-16)
15(<24) 22(<25) 26(<22) 30(7-23) 33(9-20) 36(12-23) 38(11-20) 41(16-23) 43(16-24) 45(17-24)
16(<28) 23(8-30) 27(8-26) 31(11-26) 34(15-25) 37(17-27) 39(15-25) 42(21-27) 44(21-28)
i7(<30) 24(13-30) 28(13-30) 32(16-31) 35(20-29) 38(21-31) 40(20-28) 43(25-31) 45(25-31)
18(8-30) 25(18-30) 29(18-30) 33(21-34) 36(24-32) 39(26-34) 41(24-32) 44(29-34)
19(13-30) 26(22-30) 30(23-35) 34(26-38) 37(28-36) 40(29-38) 42(28-35) 45(32-37)
20(19-30) 27(27-30) 31(27-35) 35(30-40) 38(32-39) 41(33-40) 43(32-39)
21(24-30) 42(36-44) 44(35-41)
22(28-30) 43(39-46) 45(38-45)
Data are from TSuberbiller, YE. A., Agroklirnaticheskaya khlarakteristika sukhoveyev (Leningrad: 1959), pp. 114-15.
1964 THE SUKHOVEY 293

TABLE 2.-INDEX OF SUKHOVEY FOR GRAIN CULTURE

Vapor pressure
Evapo- deficit at Reserves of usable
Intensity ration 1:00 P.M. (mm.) moisture in the soil
of (mm. (mm.) by depths Character of plant reaction
sukhovey per 24 Wind speed (me- below the surface
hours) ters per second) (in centimeters)
< 10 _ 10 0-20 0-50 0-100

Very weak - 10-14 - < 20 ? 50 ?100 Slight reduction of turgor

Weak 3-5 10-24 10-14 < 20 ? 50 ? 80 Reduction of turgor
Average
intensity 5-6 25-29 > 20 ? 10 ? 30 ?50 Significant reduction of turgor of the leaves signified
by curling, yellowing, or drying; withering of the
stems; possibly small damage to the grain after 3
to 5 days
Intensive 6-8 30-39 > 25 ? 10 - ?30 Strong withering and drying of the plant, damage to
the grain after 2 to 3 days
Very
intensive > 8 ? 40 ? 35 0 - ?30 Rapid and strong damage to the plants, damage to
grain after 1 to 2 days

Adapted from TSuberbiller, YE. A., Agroklimaticheskaya kharakteristika sukhoveyev (Leningrad: 1959), p. 73. The above table
is the result of observations at 215 stations during the years 1925-1948.

here is 19-23 millimeters. Under these condi- with cyclones in fall and winter on the aver-
tions leaves yellow in 4-10 hours. The yellow- age reach considerably higher velocities than
ing here is caused primarily by strong and pro- do the sukhovey winds of late spring and early
longed dry winds. This is the typical spring summer.
sukhovey with relatively low temperatures. Although it is quite obvious that sukhovey
The damage in this case is less than that in conditions cannot be defined within meteoro-
the first two regimes. logical limits which will fit all situations, most
Although some wind usually is associated frequently used definitions of the beginning
with a sukhovey, laboratory tests have demon- of a sukhovey combine approximately the fol-
strated that sukhovey effects can be achieved lowing threshold values: temperature equal to
in calm air simply by raising the temperature or greater than 250C. and relative humidity
and dropping the humidity. Comparable suk- equal to or less than 30 per cent. This corre-
hovey effects have been produced without sponds to a vapor pressure deficit of about 15
wind at temperatures of 38 to 400C. and vapor millimeters. Sukhovei of average intensity are
pressure deficits of 40-50 millimeters as with associated with vapor pressure deficits of
winds of 8-10 meters per second at a tempera- around 30 millimeters. Since, usually, the
ture of 250C. and a vapor pressure deficit of highest temperatures and the lowest rela-
20 millimeters. In nature, sukhovey winds tive humidities are acquired with low-pressure
vary in speed from 3 meters per second up to gradients and weak variable winds, sukhovey
more than 20 meters per second. Sukhovey definitions often omit wind speeds, although
winds are by no means the strongest winds in it is recognized that for the same values of
the southern U.S.S.R. Storm winds associated temperature and relative humidity, the greater
the wind speed, the greater the drying effect.4
TABLE 3.-CONDITIONS NECESSARY TO START DRYING Wind affects evaporation through affecting
uP BEAN LEAVES the turbulent exchange. Table 4, derived by
Tempera- Relative Vapor Wind Duration of
ture, humidity, pressure speed, conditions, 4Vapor pressure deficits of 30 mm. or more in
OC. per cent deficit, mm. m.p.s. hours Soviet Middle Asia occur approximately 20 times as
frequently with winds of less than 10 meters/second
40 9-10 50 1.7 0.5 as with winds of more than 10 meters/second and in
35 16-19 35 6.9 2.0 the eastern Ukraine they occur 4-6 times as fre-
25 22-25 18 7.9 4.0 quently. Deduced from maps by TSuberbiller,
Adapted from TSuberbiller, YE. A., Agroklissnaticheskaya Agroklimaticheskayakharakteristika&ukhoveyev,pp.
kharakteristika sukhoveyev (Leningrad: 1959), p. 20. 76 and 79.
294 PAUL E. LYDOLPH September

TABLE 4.-SUKHOVEY INTENSITIES TABLE 5.-AVERAGE MONTHLY VAPOR PRESSURE DEFI-

CIT OF THE AM, By NATURAL ZONES, AT 1:00 P.M.
Tempera- Relative Vapor
ture, humidity, pressure
?C. per cent deficit, mm. Forest Forest Steppe Semi- Desert
steppe desert
Weak 22.5-27.4 21-40 15
27.5-32.4 41-60 April 4 5 7 7 10
Average 22.5-27.4 0-20 May 6 10 12 13 17
27.5-32.4 21-40 21
June 8 12 15 20 27
32.5-37.4 41-60
Intense 27.5-32.4 0-20 29 July 8 11 16 20 27
32.5-37.4 21-40
0-20 38
August 7 11 16 19 26
Severe 32.5-37.4
Extremely severe 37.5-42.4 0-20 49 September 5 8 11 12 17
October 2 3 5 5 10
Adapted from P. A. Vorontsov, "O transformatsii vozdukha
pod vozdeystviem podstilayushchey poverkhnosti pri sukhovey-
akh i fenakh," Sukhovei: ikh proiskhozhdenie i borba s nimi, Adapted from TSuberbiller, YE. A., Agroklimaticheskaya
p. 221. kharakteristika sukhoveyev (Leningrad: 1959), p. 70.

Fedorov and Feldman, gives a commonly used
breakdown of sukhovei into five categories
based on temperature and relative humidity.
Corresponding vapor pressure deficits are also
given. Table 5 shows average monthly vapor
pressure deficits for the various natural zones
of the U.S.S.R. during the growing season.
Weak sukhovei are common in the steppe
zone, and intense sukhovei are common in the
desert.
DISTRIBUTION OF SUKHOVEI
Sukhovei occur in southeast European Rus-
sia, the Ukraine, southwest Siberia, Kazakh-
stan, and Soviet Middle Asia. The north-
western limit of their regular occurrence runs
roughly through Kiev, Moscow, and Kirov.
Thus, they occur throughout much of the culti-
vated land of the Soviet Union. However, they
rarely occur over the entire area simulta-
neously. Out of 20 drought years in the Euro-
pean U.S.S.R., only five were drought years
in western Siberia. In fact, the two areas vary
so regularly in opposite directions from the
precipitation mean that Davitaya has been led
to state the principle that owing to associations
between surface weather phenomena and the
standing waves of the upper atmosphere, ad-
jacent large areas can -be expected to deviate
in opposite directions from normal rainfall
during any given period of time.5 When it is
5 F. F. Davitaya, 0. A. Drozdov, and YE. S. Rubin-
shteyn, "Study of the Climatic Resources of the
U.S.S.R. and their Economic Utilization," Soviet
Geography: Review and Translation (June, 1960),
p. 32.
dry in the Ukraine it is usually abnormally wet
in western Siberia, and vice versa.
Frequency of occurrence of sukhovei in-
creases towards the southeast as the climate
becomes progressively drier. In the deserts
of Middle Asia, by Fedorov's definition, suk-
hovei prevail much of the time during sum-
mer. But their occurrences are more remark-
able and their effects are much more serious
in the Ukraine and adjacent areas of the Rus-
sian Republic where intensively developed
agriculture relies upon a precariously bal-
anced moisture supply. Sukhovei are primarily
late spring and summer phenomena. In west-
ern Siberia they occur mainly in May and June
with very few occurrences later in summer.
In southeast European Russia maximum oc-
currence is in July, and in the southwestern
Ukraine it is in August. The May and June
sukhovei in Siberia do little crop damage, but
the less frequent July sukhovei catch grain in
the blooming or milky-wax stages and greatly
lower yields, particularly of late-planted spring
wheat.
Sukhovei are not rare in the Far East. They
occur particularly in Amur Oblast in spring
associated with southerly air flows out of the
Gobi region in China. Data are lacking to
quantify these occurrences to make them com-
parable with those in the rest of the Soviet
Union. Sukhovei also occur in the Colchis
Lowland of the Transcaucasus, particularly in
the vicinity of Kutaisi in connection with
foehn winds which blow more than 100 days
per year. Relative humidities at Kutaisi fre-
quently fall below 10 per cent. Foehn winds
also bring sukhovey conditions to the Black
1964 THE SUKHOVEY 295

\ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

....... . ... . . ..

Leningrad
t V 12
@ AS t,- Syktyvkar
*< < ) f-f F 4 * ~~~~~~~Kirov )
i t~~~~~~erm Tymn
omskWm>
Bryansk Ryan Cheyabnsb Binks
Biis_
,i~~~~~~e
Kiev, Kursk* TambovPenza uyebyrs
u Kutn_ hev)
"S.KurskPVov Voronezh B a byshevKokchetav ,_ < -
* atinsk i 4
f Kh o a
S9 K)harkov\ SaratovuU PUralk
aysorin Sembipal Tselinograd-Knrag( - .-
Wdes Luganskj Volgograd
*Aktyubinsk
\ AleksandrovGa
st VerkhniyBaskunchak Gay
Krasnodar * Guryev Aai
2 strakhan 6 aralsnk
Stavropol 4zlis

KtisiChmy

80 o 160 320 480 640 Ashkhabad -- __

SCALE IN KILOMETERS

FIG. 1. Averalge number of days with sukhovei of average intensity or greater (vapor pressure deficit ? 20
mm. ) during the growing season of winter grains. From YE. A. TSuberbiller, Agr-oklimaticheskaya kharaktet s-
tika sukhoveyev, p. 95.

Sea shore of the Crimea.6 However, sukhovei separate studies. The present paper will be
in these areas are rather special cases involv- limited to the consideration of sukhovei in the
ing diverse local controls. A complete cover- contiguous plains stretching southeastward
age of them would necessitate a series of from Moscow into Soviet Middle Asia.

6 Foehns blow from east to west across the Surami nomenon took place at Nikita Botanical Garden on
Range into the Colchis Lowland when a cyclone is the south slope of the Crimea during the morning
situated over the Black Sea and an anticyclone is hours on October 19, 1949. The relative humidity at
situated in Middle Asia. They occur most frequently 1 A.M. was 4 per cent. At 7 A.M. it had dropped to 3
in spring when cyclonic activity is at its maximum in per cent, and at 8 A.M. to 1 per cent. Temperatures
the Black Sea. I. V. Zavarina, Zasukha i borba s ney, hovered between 7 and 90C. while winds ranged from
geografgiz (Moscow: 1954), p. 25. 12-20 meters per second (25-40 miles per hour).
Besides hot summer sukhovei produced by normal After the 7-8-hour duration, lemon and eucalyptus
foehn circulations over the Crimean Mountains, there trees appeared as after a freeze.
are so-called "cold sukhovei" which occur at other This sukhovey was caused by an intense buildup in
times of the year. They are sukhovei in that they air pressure north of the Crimean Mountains by Arctic
cause "transpiration droughts" and, hence, are damag- air which between October 14 and 19 moved from
ing to vegetation. A classical occurrence of this phe- the Barents Sea straight south across European Russia
296 PAUL E. LYDOLPH September

) ~J 'I

Irkutsk

Tobolsk
Minsk <
Mosc-w lzhevsk Novosibirsk 2

Viln~~~
Inus ~ ~ ~~~~~ ~ n

Voronez v _
Kaaganda -j LGEND
FIG.2. Degrees of droughtd in the U.S.S.R. as signified bySoil Moisture Deficit In Spring
Volgogiad,(Amount needed to saturate
the soil).
No Deficit
Fruze0-25mm.
Tbilisi -*-25-50mm.

Yereva mm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~50-
75- 90 mm.
80 0 160 320 40 640 As>90mm.

FIG. 2. Degrees of drought in the U.S.S.R. as signified by soil moisture deficits in spring. From M. V.
Zavarina, Zasukha i borba s ney, p. 51.

ORIGINS OF SUKHOVEI can occur even during periods of adequate

moisture. A comparison of Figures 1 and 2 re-
Sukhovei normally follow sequences of
veals a close correspondence between areal
events which have led to prolonged drought
distributions of sukhovei and zasukhe. How-
and extreme drying of the surface soil, but
ever, occasionally sukhovei occur in the forest
they are not inexorably tied to drought and
zone north of Moscow, and occurrences of
sukhovei in the drought zone to the south may
behind a deep low over northeast European Russia.
The absolute humidity of this Arctic air started out not always be simultaneous with drought in
low and remained low. As rapid heating took place those regions.
in the southern plains under cloudless skies, the rela- It has been generally assumed that sukhovei
tive humidity became extremely low. The high winds are primarily advections of hot dry air out of
were added as the air spilled over the Crimean Moun-
tains and was constricted in the passes. M. V. Za- Middle Asia northwestward across the Caspian
varina, "Isklyuchitelnyy shechay kholodnogo sukhoveya Lowland into the Ukraine and southern Euro-
v krymu," Sukhovei: ikh proiskhozhdenie i borba s pean Russia. The facts, however, do not bear
nimi, pp. 144-47. out this assumption. It appears that sukhovei
Cold sukhovei also occur in other parts of the
European plain, particularly in the Volga Region. In
owe more to local transformations of air than
April, 1937, modified Arctic air on the southeastern to horizontal movements from hot dry regions.
periphery of an anticyclone brought frost to Kuyby- It has been demonstrated conclusively that
shev accompanied by a relative humidity of only 4 during periods of sukhovei in the North
per cent and winds of 2-6 meters per second. N. F.
Samokhvalov, "Klimaticheskaya kharakteristika suk-
Caspian Lowland and southeast European
hoveyev Kazakhstana," Sukhovei: ikh proiskhozkdenie Russia surface temperatures are higher and
i borba s nimi, p. 55. relative humidities are lower in these areas
1964 THE SUKaOVEY 297

TABLE 6.-AVERAGE TEMPERATURES IN DEGREES CEN- TABLE 7.-AVERAGE MORNING SURFACE TEMPERA-
TIGRADE AT 3 P.M. IN THE VOLGA REGION AND IN TURES DURING MANY PERIODS OF SUKHOVEI AT COM-
SOVIET MIDDLE ASIA, AUGUST 17-22, 1949 PARABLE LATITUDES IN THE VOLGA REGION AND IN
WESTERN KHAZAKHSTAN
Dates
Region Volga Region ?C. Kazakhstan ?C.
17 18 19 20 21 22

Volga 30 33 34 36 36 25 Astrakhan 22.4 Aralsk 19.6

Middle Asia 28 31 32 33 36 34 Volgograd 22.2 Aktyubinsk 16.5
Saratov 20.6 Uralsk 18.7
Difference
(Middle Asia-Volga) -2 -2 -2 -3 0 +9 Data are from P. K. Yevseyev, "O prirode letnikh sukhoveyev
na yugo-vostoke evropeyskoy chasti sovetskogo soyuza," Sukho-
Adapted from K. V. Kuvshinova, "O roli vynosa vozdushnykh vei; ikh proiskhozhdenie i borba s nimi, p. 109.
mass iz sredney azii pri obrazovanlii sukhoveyev v prikaspii,"
Sukhovei: ikh proiskhozhdenie i borba s nirni, p. 121.
The above data are composite averages for the following sta- Table 6 illustrates this. From August 17 to
tions: In the Volga Region: Saratov, Pugachev, Kamyshin, 21, 1949, sukhovei conditions built up to a
Alexandrov Gay, Volgograd, and Verkhniy Baskunchak. In
Middle Asia: Chimbay, Urgench, Zeagli, and Ashkhabad. climax in the Volga Region, and then suddenly
subsided on August 22. The sequence of tem-
than they are in Middle Asia, and tempera- peratures was the result of a slowly eastward-
tures in Middle Asia are below normal. As moving anticyclone in the lower Volga Region.
soon as temperatures subside in the Volga As long as the high sat over the lower Volga,
Region, temperatures in Middle Asia rise to cool air was advected into Kazakhstan and
normal and become higher than those in the Middle Asia from the north around the lead-
Caspian Lowland. ing edge of the high while weak variable

7-VII

_4a
- \ 1- -> .-

28

80 0 160 320 480 640 r~n''

SCALE IN KILOMETERS

FIG. 3. Trajectories of air at the 850-mb. level involved in two periods of sukhovey over southeast European
Russia during June 26-29 and July 9-10, 1951. Successive positions of the air are indicated by the numbers,
which relate to the dates on which the air was located at the respective positions. 21-VI represents June 21,
etc. From P. A. Vorontsov, "O transformatsii vozdukha pod vozdeystviem podstilayushchey poverkhnosti pri
sukhoveyakh i fenakh," Sukhovei: ikh proiskhozhdenie i borba s nimi, p. 223.
298
.(.'.
.......
.,o
10
so0 160 320 480 640
SCALE IN KILOMETERS
FIG. 4. 900-mb. charts at 6 A.M. for a) August 11, 1948, bD) August 14, 1948, and c) August 16, 1948.
Height contours are numbered in tens of meters. From K. V. Kuvshinova, "O roli vynosa vozdushnykh mass iz
Sredney Azii pri obrazovanii sukhoveyev v prikaspii," Suxkhovei: ikh proiskhozhdenie i borba s nimi, pp. 123-25.
winds within the high allowed for maximum
insolation and surface heating in the Caspian
Lowland. As the high moved eastward, the
advection of cool air into Middle Asia ceased,
and normal intense surface heating took place
in the Middle Asian deserts, while in the
Caspian Lowland a new system of circulation
with reduced surface heating dropped air tem-
peratures significantly.
Very often the reversal in horizontal tem-
perature differences takes place over a rela-
tively short distance from the Volga Region to
western Kazakhstan. Table 7 shows tempera-
tures averaged for many periods of sukhovei
for three stations along the Volga and three
stations in western Kazakhstan at comparable
latitudes. It can readily be seen that during
periods of sukhovei in the Volga Region, tem-
peratures in the Volga Region are 2 to 3YC.
higher than they are in western Kazakhstan
250 to 500 miles to the east. The stations in
western Kazakhstan sit at somewhat higher
elevations than do those along the Volga, but
PAUL E. LYDOLPH September
" .
HI~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'9
7e_(\FIGURE 4a
100 96
the differences in surface temperatures must
not be caused by differences in elevation since
similar differences in temperature occur at the
700 mb. level.
Horizontal Movements of Air
Surface and upper air trajectories during
periods of a sukhovey do not show air move-
ment primarily from Middle Asia northwest-
ward into European Russia. Rather, the trajec-
tories typically are from the north or north-
west out of the Barents Sea, Scandinavia, or
from the Baltic Sea across European Russia
into the Caspian Lowland or Ukraine or north
Caucasus where the air enters into a clock-
wise spiral around an anticyclone centered
in the lower Volga Region (see Fig. 3). A
sukhovey period in the Caspian Lowland is
typically initiated by a west or north flow of
relatively cold air around an anticyclone that
has moved into the region after the passage
of a cold front. The northern air, which ini-
 299
1964 THE SUKHOVEY

A~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.'.
. .. '' ' ''''\ Wi ......'r
..AI
.'.'..I1
Itg~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~..
....
.......................
v
oo//0X X ;*s:
. .. ........./'1 ,s

. ...88 .X......
" - A L

8 0 600 320 080 000

SCALE tNKILOMETERS >FIGURE 4b

92~~~9

80 0 160 320 480 640_, \ _} /

SCALEIN KILOMETERS @ V/FIGURE 4C

SCALE N KLOETERA 4c'100'' ' FIGURE

300 PAUL E. LYDOLPH September

TEMPERATURE
t,?C 11, 1948, a high had settled over the eastern
40 -
Ukraine, and the Caspian Lowland was ex-
periencing northerly winds. By August 14 the
-
35 t 2
center of the high had drifted into western
Siberia, and the Caspian Lowland was ex-
periencing southeasterly winds. By August 16
the high had drifted still farther eastward, and
25
10 1i 1 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 a low-pressure trough had formed over the
Volga Region. The Caspian Lowland was then
FiG. 5. Temperature changes during a sukhovey
cycle in the North Caspian Lowland, August 11-18, experiencing southwesterly winds in the warm
1948. Line 1: North Caspian Lowland. Line 2: sector of an approaching cyclonic storm. Such
Middle Asia. From Kuvshinova, ibid., p. 126. a sequence of pressure patterns and winds
comprises a typical sukhovey cycle. The high-
tially has low absolute humidity, under the est temperatures were reached on August 14
influence of strong surface heating takes on and 15 with the southeasterly flow and held
very low relative humidity. Sukhovei may fairly steady on August 16 as the flow changed
blow fromnthe northwest, north, or northeast to southwest. After that there was a rapid
in western Kazakhstanon the forwardside of drop in temperature accompanied by a sudden
the high and from the southeast or south in rise in relative humidity as the cyclonic storm
the eastern Ukraine on the back side of the approached (Fig. 5).
high. From August 12 to 16 relative humidity
Figure 4 shows a sequence of three maps at hovered between 18 and 22 per cent. On
the 900 mb. level during sukhovey conditions August 17 it jumped to 37 per cent. Figure 6
in southeastern European Russia. On August illustrates the sequence of change in the sur-

10

J,~~~~~~~/

80 0 160 32 0 6401 2

SCALE IN KILOMETERS
FIGURE 6a

FIG. 6. Surface streamlines, a) Augulst ]-0-12, 1948, b) Aulgust 13-15, 1948, C) August 15-16, 1948. From
Kuvshinova, ibid., p. 127.
1964 THE SUKHOVEY 301

13~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
4-~~~~~~~~~~ II5'

fi J ! > / 13 6) - 5 A f

.. ......... . . - '

4f.>y .~
'i........ -13 W. ........

iml.~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
.t. . . . .... 16 .....i
.. . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .
. ....
... . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .

.. ) a
.. .......... ........~ ~..-.~.......... ~
~ ~~~~~~~~\..........
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.....
# - \6)
w............. O --3-......
.............................
............. \ /
> E
~~~~~~~~~~...
L.. ...a>
............
. ............

.... .. .. ............. ,.......ydi8

.... .. .. .. ....
i - X ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.... .........

16,6 )

00406 IN 4
KLOMEERS ; FIGURE6C
302 PAUL E.
face streamlines as the anticyclone in the
lower Volga Region drifted slowly eastward
and the sukhovey in the Caspian Lowland
built up to a climax and then subsided. As is
seen on Figure 5, after August 16 as the tem-
perature dropped in the Caspian Lowland, a
simultaneous rise took place in Middle Asia.
This indicates a restoration of normal tempera-
tures in Middle Asia as advection of northerly
air into the area ceased.
The surface air, of course, undergoes more
transformation the farther around the high
it proceeds, so usually the hottest, driest flows
are on the back sides of highs from southerly
directions. Hence, the idea developed that
sukhovei were primarily caused by mass ad-
vections of air out of Middle Asia. At most,
air moves into the Caspian Lowland from
Middle Asia only in the bottom 1 to 2 kilo-
meters. Surface circulation systems are very
shallow, and during sukhovei periods winds in
the middle troposphere, 3-5 kilometers above
the ground, typically remain from the west,
northwest, or north over the pre-Caspian area.
In the eastern Ukraine and adjacent regions
sukhovei occur most frequently and with
strongest surface wind speeds from southwest-
erly directions in the leading edges of warm
sectors of cyclones. But these sukhovei usually
are not as hot or dry as are those accompanied
by slower wind speeds of variable directions
associated with weak pressure gradients in the
far rear peripheries of anticyclones. Out of
272 cases of sukhovei studied in the North
Caspian Lowland, 34 were associated with ad-
vection out of Middle Asia, 100 were related
to movement around an anticyclone in western
Kazakhstan, and 138 were associated with a
flow of air across the Black Sea Steppes and
North Caucasian Foreland northeastward into
the Volga Region.7
In western Siberia and northern Kazakhstan,
during periods of sukhovei, winds blow pri-
marily from the southwest along the north-
western periphery of an anticyclone centered
in central Kazakhstan. At the same time the
cultivated areas of the mountain foothills of
southern Kazakhstan and Middle Asia are ex-
7 K. V. Kuvshinova, "O roli vynosa vozdushnykh
mass iz sredney azii pri obrazovanii sukhoveyev v
prikaspii," Sukhovei: ikh proiskhozhdenie i borba s
nimi, pp. 119-20.
LYDOLPH September
periencing unusually hot dry weather associ-
ated with air flow from the northeast or east
along the southern periphery of the same high.
Sukhovei generally are associated with anti-
cyclonic flows of air in southern European
Russia. A slow-moving high-pressure cell ac-
companied by low-pressure gradients, weak
winds, and clear skies is ideal for strong trans-
formation of surface air in contact with a dry
ground that is undergoing intensive heating
from unobstructed insolation. Since maximum
transformation is achieved after the air has
circulated around the high, it often appears
that sukhovei are associated with cyclonic or
intermediate types of weather, whereas actu-
ally they are the results of transformations
within preceding highs.
Sukhovei commonly are associated with at-
mospheric filling in the entire region of south-
east European Russia and Middle Asia. Table
8 is illustrative of surface pressure changes
during sukhovei periods. Kazakhstan experi-
enced the greatest pressure increase during
the period of sukhovei as the high moved east-
ward from the Caspian Lowland, but the en-
tire region experienced rising pressures. Only
Rostov showed a slight pressure fall.
Table 9 shows the percentage of sukhovei
and nonsukhovei days that are associated with
anticyclonic, cyclonic, and intermediate types
of weather. In the forest-steppe zone of the
Ukraine and adjacent Russia, where occur-
rences of sukhovei are less frequent and where
conditions for their occurrence must be most
favorable, sukhovei are associated 100 per cent
with anticyclonic circulations. However, in
the semidesert of the North Caspian Lowland
this association decreases to 46 per cent. It
appears, then, that in the drier regions of the
country sukhovei are not so dependent upon
TABLE 8.-AVERAGE SURFACE AIR PRESSURES, IN MB.
Prior to sukhovey During sukhovey
Tashkent 1,007.0 1,007.6
Turtkul 1,010.8 1,012.1
Kazalinsk 1,010.9 1,012.7
Aktyubinsk 1,012.4 1,016.8
Uralsk 1,012.7 1,017.1
Saratov 1,013.9 1,016.6
Volgograd 1,013.6 1,015.0
Rostov 1,013.5 1,012.4
Adapted from Yevseyev, P. K., "O prirode letnikh sukhoveyev
na yugo-vostoke yevropeyskoy chasti sovetskogo soyuza," Sukho-
vei: ikh proiskhozhdenie i borba s nitni, p. 110.
1964 THE SUKHOVEY
TABLE 9.-FREQUENCIES OF ANTICYCLONIC, CYCLONIC,
WITH SUKHOVEY AND DAYS WITHOUT SUKITOVEY, PERCENTAGES
With sukhovey
Anti-
cyclonic Cyclonic
Forest steppe 100 - -
Steppe 51 31
Semidesert 46 30
Adapted from Glukh, I. S., "TSirkulyatsionnye usloviya, podgotavlivayushchiye razvitiye atmosfernoy zasukhi i sukhoveyev,"
Sukhovei: ikh proiskhozhdenie i borba s ninii, p. 133.
particular types of air flow. Twenty-four per
cent of the time in the semidesert regions suk-
hovei occur with a nondescript intermediate
type of flow. Yevseyev has concluded that in
the forest zone of European U.S.S.R. sukhovei
are almost exclusively produced by advection.
In the forest-steppe zone advection predomi-
nates, in the steppe zone local transformation
predominates, and in the semidesert sukhovei
are caused almost entirely by local transforma-
tion.8 The state of the underlying surface
would have a great influence on the rate of
local transformation and hence on the pre-
dominance of local transformation or advec-
tion.
Table 10 shows percentages of total occur-
rences of sukhovei that are associated with
specific types of air flow in conjunction with
the separate quadrants of anticyclonic and
cyclonic circulation systems. Again it is obvi-
ous that in the forest steppe sukhovei are asso-
ciated very strongly with southeasterly and
southwesterly flows around the southwestern
and northwestern quadrants of anticyclones
and not at all with cyclonic circulations,
whereas in the semidesert of the North Caspian
Lowland there is no preponderance of any one
direction and there are more sukhovei associ-
ated with northwesterly flows of air around
the northeastern periphery of an anticyclone
than there are with any other single flow of
air.
Vertical Air Motion and Local Transformation
The movement of air toward lower latitudes
around the leading edge of an anticyclone
would naturally induce some subsidence with
associated adiabatic heating which might add
to the increase of air temperatures at the sur-
8
P. K. Yevseyev, "O prirode letnikh sukhoveyev na
yugo-vostoke evropeyskoy chasti sovetskogo soyuza,"
Sukhovei: ikh proiskhozhdeniei borba s nimi, p. 108.
303
AND INTERMEDIATE TYPES OF WEATHER DURING DAYS
OF TOTAL OCCURRENCES, BY NATURAL ZONES
Without sukhovey
Inter- Anti- Inter-
mediate cyclonic Cyclonic mediate
44 39 17
18 44 39 17
24 50 33 17
face of the earth. Attempts to quantify this
heating process so far have proved to be rather
fruitless. Preliminary computations of vertical
movement indicate that areas of maximum
subsidence do not coincide with areas experi-
encing sukhovei conditions, and in all cases
vertical movement is not of a great enough
magnitude to influence surface temperatures
significantly.
Computation of vertical motion was made
for 32 cases in European Russia, western Si-
beria, and western Kazakhstan at 850, 700, and
500 mb. levels for June 20-25, 1948, and June
8-15, 1951 in regions that coincided with suk-
hovei activity. According to the computations
made, the highest velocity of descending cur-
rents of air at all three levels did not exceed
2.1 centimeters per second and the highest
velocity of ascending currents did not exceed
2.5 centimeters per second. Even these veloci-
ties were reached in only a few individual
cases; in the large majority of cases velocities
were considerably lower. In no case did maxi-
mum vertical velocities coincide with the
regions of sukhovei. The average velocities of
vertical currents during all types of weather
are considerably higher than were those com-
puted during sukhovei conditions. Average
velocities in both upward and downward direc-
tions are 4 centimeters per second at 850 mb.,
5 centimeters per second at 700 mb., and 3
centimeters per second at 500 mb.9
9Ibid., pp. 113-14. Similar results have been ob-
tained in the United States, although all investigators
acknowledge that computations of vertical motion so
far leave much to be desired. See the Vertical Motion
Charts transmitted daily by the U.S. Weather Bureau;
George P. Cressman, A Three-Level Model Suitable
for Daily Numerical Forecasting, National Meteoro-
logical Center Technical Memorandum No. 22, U.S.
Weather Bureau, Washington, 1963, 42 pp.; and
Arnold Court, "Vertical Air Flow over North America,"
Journal of Geophysical Research (March, 1960), pp.
947-57.
304 PAUL E. LYDOLPH September

TABLE 10.-FREQUENCY OF TYPES OF AIR FLOW ASSOCIATED WITH SUKHOVEY AND NONSUKHOVEY WEATHER,
IN PERCENTAGES OF TOTAL OCCURRENCES, BY NATURAL ZONES

Cen- Cen- In the Inter-

Zone Days t rter vicinity mediate
Days Ar

Zone Dnys ;
+~_ -4
+ +J
of a
front
types of
4 <SC 9- Y weather

Forest steppe Sukhovei 31 69 -

Nonsukhovei 8 19 7 10 1 4 12 9 8 5 17
Steppe Sukhovei 3 5 7 36 3 5 5 18 18
Nonsukhovei 6 20 8 10 2 4 12 9 8 5 16
Semidesert Sukhovei 5 11 30 - - 3 8 16 3 24
Nonsukhovei 10 19 10 10 2 3 10 10 5 4 17

Adapted from-iGlukh, I. S., "TSirkulyatsioninye usloviya, podgotavlivayushchiye razvitiye atim-osfernoyzasukhi i sukhoveyev,"

Suklioci: ikh proiskhozlidenic i borba s nzimi, p. 134. Arrows indicate flowvs by quadrants of anticyclones -0 aInd cyclones -* .

In slowly moving anticyclones, with which
sukhovei are associated, the greatest subsidence
takes place on the eastern periphery where
cold air is being advected in from the north
and where surface air pressures are increasing
most rapidly. On the western periphery up-
lift takes place, and it increases in magnitude
the farther the western periphery is from the
center of the high. Greatest uplift takes place
in front of cyclones where there is the greatest
advection of warmth. Since sukhovei most
commonly occur on the rear peripheries of
anticyclones or the leading edge of cyclones,
they normally take place in regions of insig-
nificant subsidence or uplift.
Although the present computations lead to
the conclusion that subsidence induced by the
dynamics of circulation does not directly in-
fluence the development of sukhovei, it is
recognized that sukhovei are culminations of
air mass transformations and occur at the ends
of cycles of anticyclonic circulations accom-
panied by subsidence. The subsidence hastens
the transformation of the entire air mass by
heating and drying the troposphere at levels
from 1 to 4 kilometers, and this air from the
middle troposphere may later be mixed down-
ward with the surface air by turbulent motion.
The mere fact that there is a time lag between
the occurrence of maximum subsidence over
an area and the occurrence of sukhovei in that
area does not signify the lack of connection
between the two. Subsidence first prepares
the middle troposphere for sukhovei condi-
tions by warming and drying the air, and then
surface heating under the effects of intense in-
solation through cloudless skies and dry air
both warms the air at the base and sets up
convective currents which mix the hot dry
air aloft downward with the surface air.10
It has been observed that during sukhovei
days when insolation is particularly great, with
little or no pressure gradient, intense thermal
convection develops which brings on the for-
mation of cumulus clouds and carries dust to
heights of 1 to 2 kilometers.1 The rising
motion of the warm air in the cumulus clouds
appears to set up opposing downward currents
which suck down air from the middle tropo-
sphere. These downward currents move more
slowly than does the rising warm air but much
more rapidly than does subsidence due to dy-
namic causes. Thermal convection, therefore,
appears to induce much more movement down-
ward than does anticyclonic circulation. The
growth of cumulus clouds, therefore, may sig-
nify not only the rising of warm air, but also
the drawing down of more dry air out of the
middle troposphere into the layer of air next
10A. I. Voyekov as early as 1912 considered suk-
hovei to appear like foehns in descending currents of
air with the greatest heating taking place in front of
cyclones. Askinazi and Kaminskiy individually con-
cluded similarly. Later Kaminskiy noted the regular
association of sukhovei with preceding anticyclonic
circulations. In 1951 Zavarina considered the origins
of sukhovei to be combinations of subsidence on the
edges of anticyclones, advection of hot dry air from
desert and semidesert regions, and transformations of
air masses that have intruded from the north. YE. A.
TSuberbiller,Agroklimaticheskayakharakteristikasuk-
hoveyev, pp. 98-99.
11 Dust in the air absorbs insolation and reduces
radiational heat losses and thereby tends to raise air
temperatures still higher. This has been called the
"Voyekov effect." P. A. Vorontsov, "O transformatsii
vozdukha pod vozdeystviem podstilayushchey pover-
khnosti pri sukhoveyakh i fenakh," Sukhovei: ikh
proiskhozhdeniei borba s nirni, p. 224.
1964 THE SUKHOVEY
TABLE 11.-COMPARISONS BETWEEN DAY AND NIGHT OF AVERAGE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS AND
WIND SPEEDS DURING PERIODS OF SUKHOVEI
Night
Numr-
Station ber Pressure gradient Wind
of in mb. per I' of velocity
cases longitude meters/second
Rostov 63 1.2 6.1
Volgograd 81 0.6 3.9
Saratov 74 1.0 3.8
Voronezh 48 1.0 3.8
Poltava 39 1.0 2.8
Adapted from Yevseyev, P. K., "O prirode letnikh sukhoveyev na yugo-vostoke yevropeyskoy chasti sovetskogo soyuza," Sukho-
vei: ikh praiskhozhdenie i borba s nimi, p. 111.
to the ground. Air does not descend directly
from the midtroposphere in foehn fashion. If
it were not for turbulent mixing in the lower
atmosphere, this might be true, but in the
lower 1-2 kilometers there is extremely intense
mixing. The entire vertical exchange of air
and the development of sukhovei conditions
therefrom is very complex.12
Two further evidences tend to corroborate
the above conclusions: 1) the vertical tem-
perature structure of the lower and middle
troposphere, and 2) the diurnal regime of
surface wind speeds and their correlation with
surface pressure gradients.
The lapse rate of the lower troposphere dur-
ing sukhovei conditions is normally adiabatic
or super adiabatic to heights of 1 to 3 kilo-
meters above which a subsidence inversion
exists. Winds throughout this thickness typi-
cally are less than 5 meters per second. Such
a lapse rate would indicate strong turbulence
from the surface up to the inversion and strong
subsidence above it. With an intensification
of the turbulent motion, warm dry air from
the inversion layer might be mixed downward
to produce a rapid rise in surface temperatures
accompanied by a rapid fall in relative humid-
ity.13
12
A recent American study that sheds a good deal
of light on the mechanism of such a vertical exchange
of air and its effects on surface temperatures is D. T.
Williams, The ThunderstormWake of May 4, 1961,
National Severe Storms Project Report No. 18, U.S.
Weather Bureau, Washington (August, 1963), 23 pp.
13 Sukhovey associated with foehns that are com-
mon to foothill areas backed by high mountains well
illustrate some of the outstanding heating and drying
effects of subsidence. For instance, at Alma-Ata on
July 10, 1944, the surface temperature at 6 A.M. was
23.20C. and the temperature between 1 and 2 kilo-
meters height was everywhere between 27 and 290C.
Relative humidity at the ground was 56 per cent and
305
Day
Geostrophic Pressure gradient Wind Geostrophic
wind speed in mb. per I' of velocity wind speed
meters/second longitude meters/second meters/second
8.3 1.1 9.8 8.8
6.9 1.0 7.6 7.8
7.5 0.9 6.7 6.9
7.7 1.0 6.7 7.7
7.7 1.0 8.0 7.7
During sukhovei periods surface winds dur-
ing the day are much stronger than during the
night, and are stronger than the surface pres-
sure gradients would account for. Daytime
surface wind speeds are comparable to the
geostrophic wind and must be explained by
turbulent mixing of the air throughout a depth
of at least 1 to 2 kilometers, which is brought
about by surface heating. Table 11 contrasts
day and night wind speeds during sukhovei
periods at five stations in southeastern Euro-
pean U.S.S.R. It can readily be seen that
with similar surface pressure gradients during
day and night, daytime surface wind speeds
are very similar to the geostrophic winds
whereas nighttime wind speeds at the surface
are only about half those of the geostrophic
wind.
Summary of the Origins of Sukhovei
In conclusion it can be said that the origins
of sukhovei must be attributed primarily to
turbulent heat exchange at the earth's surface
under the influence of intense insolation ac-
companied by a mixing of air between the sur-
face layer and that drawn down from the
middle troposphere. In the desert and steppe
regions advection is relatively unimportant in
the formation of sukhovei, but in the forest
zone advection of hot dry air from southerly
regions becomes the primary cause.
at 572 meters was 23 per cent. Weak southerly winds
prevailed throughout the lower troposphere. By 2
P.M. the surface temperature had risen to 41.60C. and
the relative humidity had dropped to 7 per cent.
The vapor pressure deficit was 73.5 mb. N. F.
Samokhvalov, "Klimaticheskaya kharakteristika suk-
hoveyev Kazakhstana," Sukhovei: ikh proiskhozhdenie
i borba s nimi, p. 55.
306 PAUL E. LYDOLPH September

One of the most enigmatic things about the TABLE 12.-COMPARISONS OF CROP YIELDS IN KUYBY-
SHEV OBLAST DURING WET AND DRY YEARS IN THE
occurrence of sukhovei is their preponderance
OPEN STEPPE AND IN FIELDS PROTECTED BY SHELTER
in early summer, particularly east of the Volga, BELTS. YIELDS ARE SHOWN IN CENTNERS PER HECTARE
with a maximum occurrence in spring in the
lowlands of the Soviet Far East. This seasonal Dry years Wet years
Crop With shel- In open With shel- In open
regime is impossible to explain in light of
ter belts steppe ter belts steppe
changing soil moisture conditions.
Spring wheat 11.4 7.5 19.9 18.5
MEANS OF COMBATING SUKHOVEI
Oats 12.7 9.5 22.7 19.7
Peas 11.8 8.7 23.8 19.7
That sukhovei are damaging to agriculture
Adapted from Vitvitskiy, G. N., "Effektivnye mery oslable-
has already been established. Even during niya vrednogo deystviya sukhoveyev," Sukhovei: ikh proisk-
weak sukhovei, without the obvious effects of hozhidenie i borba s nimi, p. 277.

yellowing of leaves and wilting of plants, Kulik

has demonstrated conclusively that excessive shelter belts. Increases in yields in fields pro-
vapor pressure deficits over prolonged periods tected by shelter belts are on the order of 30
of time reduce crop yields. He has shown that per cent during dry years. They are generally
the coefficient of correlation between the dis- less during wet years, but there is still a signifi-
tribution of sukhovei and yields of many types cant increase. After 21 days of sukhovei in
of crops is 0.439 in unirrigated areas as con- May and June of 1936, spring wheat yields on
trasted to 0.184 in irrigated areas.14 In this fields protected by shelter belts were twice as
case sukhovei conditions were defined as rela- high as those on fields which had been ar-
tive humidities of less than 30 per cent, tem- ranged with snow retention measures by leav-
peratures of more than 250C., and wind speeds ing sunflower stubble on the field throughout
of 5 meters per second or greater. These limits the winter and four times those on the open
would include sukhovei of weak intensity. steppe without snow retention measures.15
The two obvious means for reducing the ef- Shelter belts break up the flow of air and
fects of sukhovei are irrigation and the plant- reduce wind speeds on both the front and rear
ing of shelter belts. Besides adding needed sides of the belt. On the average, shelter belts
moisture to the roots, irrigation benefits plants reduce wind speeds to a distance of about ten
by reducing the temperature and increasing times the height of the belt on the windward
the relative humidity of the surface air, thereby side and up to 25 to 30 times the height of the
reducing strain on the plants, which are at- belt on the leeward side. The greatest per-
tempting to transpire water from their leaves centage reduction of wind speeds takes place
faster than they can take it up from their roots. nearest the ground, and the faster the wind,
It also reduces reflection and radiation of heat the greater the percentage reduction in speed
from the earth's surface, thereby increasing produced by shelter belts. Therefore, shelter
the radiation balance, which is none too great belts are most effective against the most dam-
in most agricultural regions of the Soviet aging winds. Table 13 illustrates the changes
Union. Shelter belts reduce wind speeds and in surface wind speed, temperature, and rela-
thereby reduce transpiration rates and im- tive humidity produced by shelter belts during
prove soil water conditions by allowing for sukhovei conditions on August 18, 1934, in
more snow accumulation on the fields in Kuybyshev Oblast. Within 100 meters of the
winter, more percolation downward during shelter belt, wind speeds were reduced by
spring thaw, and less turbulent exchange of about one-third and relative humidities were
moisture during the summer. The effective- increased by more than one-third. The tem-
ness of these two drought controlling measures perature was increased slightly. The effects
is illustrated by specific examples cited below. of the shelter belt were observable to a dis-
Table 12 shows the yields of spring wheat, tance of about 900 meters.
oats, and peas during wet years and dry years
in the open steppe and in fields protected by
15
G. N. Vitvitskiy, "Effektivnye mery oslavleniya
14
M. S. Kulik, "Kriterii sukhoveyev," Sukhovei: ikh vrednogo deystviya sukhoveyev," Sukhovei: ikh proi-
piroiskhozhdeniei borba s nimi, p. 65. skhozhdenie i borba s nimi, p. 277.
1964 THE SUKHOVEY 307

TABLE 13.-EFFECTS OF SHELTER BELTS ON WIND SPEEDS, TEMPERATURES, AND RELATIVE HUMIDITIES
DURING A SUKHOVEY IN KUYBYSHEV OBLAST ON AUGUST 18, 1934
In protected fields-distance from shelter belts
In open
steppe 10 50 100 200 350 500 650 870

Wind speed, meters/second 4.7 - 3.0 4.0 4.1 4.1 4.4 4.4
Temperature,'C. 33.8 33.8 34.8 35.0 34.0 34.0 34.0 34.4 33.9
Relative humidity, per cent 16.0 25.0 21.0 22.0 22.0 20.0 18.0 18.0 17.0
Adapted from Vitvitskiy, G. N., "Effektivnye mery oslableniya vrednogo deystviya sukhoveyev," Sukhovei: ikh proiskhozhdenie
i borba s nimni,p. 278.

Shelter belts decrease evaporation from the
soil by as much as one-third within a distance
of 10 meters from the belt, and some effects
are felt at a distance of more than 600 meters.
On normal summer days in Kuybyshev Oblast,
transpiration from plants is decreased by
nearly one-third at a distance of 10 to 15
meters from shelter belts, with some influence
being felt to a distance of 425 meters from the
belt. During strong sukhovei from southeast-
erly directions the reduction of transpiration
becomes as much as 55 per cent at 10-15
meters distance from the belt, with 0 reduc-
tion still occurring at a distance of about 425
meters (see Table 14).
During winter, shelter belts commonly in-
crease snow cover on the fields from 40 to 100
per cent and reduce the depth of ground freez-
ing by approximately one-half. Thus, the
amount of snow melt in the spring may be
doubled and the rate of percolation into the
soil may be doubled, thereby increasing soil
moisture by as much as four times. For in-
stance, in the spring of 1940 in Kuybyshev
Oblast in the surface 5-meter depth of soil,
moisture within a shelter belt amounted to 830
millimeters, at a distance of 15 meters from
the belt it amounted to 845 millimeters, at a
distance of 35 meters it was 685 millimeters,
and at a distance of 60 meters it was 650 milli-
meters. In the open steppe it was 315 milli-
meters.'6
Irrigation reduces temperatures and in-
creases relative humidities to heights of at
least 200 meters above the ground and its ef-
fects are felt over the surrounding countryside
to a distance of approximately 200 meters from
the irrigated plot. During a series of observa-
tions in Kuybyshev Oblast in 1934 it was
found that at a height of 1 meter above the
soil surface at a distance of 70 meters from an
irrigated plot the relative humidity was 26 per
cent higher than it was on the open steppe. At
118 meters from the irrigated plot it was still
12 per cent higher than on the open steppe,
and some increase in relative humidity was
experienced as far as 218 meters from the
irrigated plot.17 On June 15, 1934 during the
great drought, with wind from the east at 4 to
5 meters per second, temperatures and rela-
tive humidities were observed at 1 P.M. at a
height of 50 centimeters over unirrigated
fields, over fields with overhead irrigation, and
over fields that had been irrigated by flooding.
The results were as are shown in Table 15.
The most outstanding result was that overhead
irrigation increased the relative humidity by
more than 250 per cent and was much more
effective in this respect than was irrigation by
flooding. Table 16 shows similar data taken
in Saratov Oblast in June and July, 1936.
Here it can be seen that the number of days
with high maximum temperatures and low
relative humidities were greatly reduced both
by overhead irrigation and irrigation by flood-
ing.
TABLE 14.-TRANSPIRATION RATES DURING NORMAL
AND SUKHOVEY DAYS IN KUYBYSHEV OBLAST AT VARI-
OUS DISTANCES FROM SHELTER BELTS, EXPRESSED IN
PERCENTAGES OF TRANSPIRATION ON OPEN STEPPE
Distance from shelter belt Normal days Sukhovey days
10-15 71 45
30-35 80 55
100-105 91 58
150-155 92 68
425 100 100
Adapted from Vitvitskiy, G. N., "Effektivnye mery oslable-
niya vrednogo deystviya sukhoveyev," Sukhovei: ikh proisk-
hozhdenie i borba s nimi, p. 289.

16
Ibid., p. 284. 17
Ibid., p. 294.
308 PAUL E. LYDOLPH September

TABLE 15.-MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES AND RELATIVE TABLE 16.-NUMBER OF DAYS IN SARATOV OBLAST IN
HuMIDITIES AT 1 P.M. OVER IRRIGATED AND UNIRRI- JUNE AND JULY, 1936 EXPERIENCING HIGH TEMPERA-
GATED FIELDS IN SARATOV OBLAST ON JUNE 15, 1934 TURES AND Low RELATIVE HTJMIDITIES OVER IRRIGATED
AND UNIRRIGATED FIELDS
Unirri- Overhead Irrigation
gated irrigation by flooding Unirri- Overhead Irrigation
gated irrigation by flooding
Maximum temperature
Maximum temperature
of air, 'C. 36.3 33.5 34.5
300C. 39 14 16
Relative humidity Maximum temperature
at 1 P.M., per cent 20.0 52.0 28.0 350C. 19 3 4
Relative humidity
Adapted from Vitvitskiy, G. N., "Effektivnye mery oslable-
niya vrednogo deystviya sukhoveyev," Sukhovei: ikh proisk- 35 per cent 19 9 2
hozhdenie i borba s nimi, p. 291.
Adapted from Vitvitskiy, G. N., "Effektivnye mery oslable-
niya vrednogo deystviya sukhoveyev," Sukhovei: ikh pioisk-
hozhdenie i borba s nimi, p. 291.

Irrigation is most effective the more extreme southwest of Tashkent in the Kara-Kum desert
the temperature and relative humidity con- of Middle Asia, where vapor deficits over the
ditions are. This is sharply illustrated by con- surrounding desert sometimes amount to as
ditions over the Pakhta-Aral, an irrigated oasis much as 85-95 mb. On the average in July,
about 15 kilometers by 20 kilometers in size Chardara, in the adjacent desert, experiences

TABLE 17.-AVERAGE HOURLY FREQUENCIES OF OCCURRENCE OF DIFFERENT INTENSITIES OF SUKHOVEY AT

VARIOUS HEIGHTS ABOVE THE GROUND SURFACE OVER THE IRRIGATED OASIS OF THE PAKHTA-ARAL
AND ADJACENT DESERT SURFACE, IN PERCENTAGES OF TOTAL OCCURRENCES

Desert Oasis
Height in Intensi-
meters ties' Hours Hours
0 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

2 0 12 63 37 - - - - - - 10 67 100 100 53 - - - - - 57
1 76 37 63 38 - - - - - 60 33 - - 47 37 10 9 - 54 43
2 12 - - 62 - - - - 22 30 - - - - 63 50 18 70 38 -
3 - - - - 83 29 11 - 45 - - - - - - 40 64 30 8 -
4 --- - 17 14 33 14 22 - - - - - - - 9 - --
5 57 56 86 11 - - - - - - - - - - -
50 0 -11- - - - 9 14 29 29 13 - - - - - -
1 67 67 100 34 11 - - - - 18 71 57 71 80 38 - - - - 29
2 22 22 - 54 22 14 - - - 27 15 14 - 7 50 33 44 25 67 14
3 11 - - 8 22 29 33 - 63 18 - - - - - 67 34 50 22 43
4 - - - - 22 43 34 58 25 28 - - - - 12 - 11 13 11 14
5 14 33 42 12 - - - - - - - 11 12 - -
100 0 - - - - - 10 14 14 - - - - - - -
1 67 87 100 46 - - - - - - 10 72 86 93 43 - - - - 29
2 11 13 - 46 57 28 14 - - 45 50 - - 7 57 50 56 29 44 14
3 22 - - 8 28 14 14 - 63 33 30 14 - - - 50 22 43 56 -
4 - - - - 15 43 57 72 25 22 - - - - - - 11 14 - 29
5 15 15 28 12 - - - - - - - 11 14 - 28
200 0 - - - - - - 14 - - - - - - - -
1 55 89 71 46 14 14 - - - 10 29 58 88 50 33 33 11 - - 29
2 22 11 29 46 43 14 14 - 14 40 43 14 - 42 50 33 45 43 56 24
3 12 - - - 43 14 20 14 57 40 - - 12 - 17 34 22 29 33 24
4 11 - - 8 - 43 43 71 29 10 28 14 - 8 - - 11 14 11 23
5 - - - - - 15 14 15 - - - - - - - - 11 14 - -
Adapted from Vorontsov, P. A., "O transformatsii vozdukha pod vozdeystviem podstilayushchey poverkhnosti pri sukhoveyakh i
fenakh," Sukhovei: ikh proiskhozhdenie i borba s nimi, p. 231.
1 Intensities: 0 = without sukhovey, 1 = weak sukhovey, 2 = average sukhovey, 3 = intense sukhovey, 4 = severe sukhovey, and
5 = extremely severe sukhovey. For definitions of intensities, see Table 4.
1964 THE SUKHOVEY
18.2 days of sukhovei, while the irrigated
Pakhta-Aral experiences only 3.1 days.'8 Table
17 shows the average hourly frequencies of in-
tensities of sukhovei at various heights above
the Pakhta-Aral oasis and the adjacent desert
areas. It can be seen that irrigation is most
effective in reducing the more intense forms
of sukhovei near the surface of the earth dur-
ing the hottest afternoon hours. These influ-
ences diminish with elevation but are still felt
slightly at a height of 200 meters above the
surface.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
L. E. Anapolskaya, Vetrovoy rezhim vodokhrani-
lishch stepnogo rayona evropeiskoy territorii SSSR,
1956, 62 pp.
A. Court, "Vertical Air Flow over North America,"
Journal of Geophysical Research (March, 1960), pp.
947-57.
F. F. Davitaya, 0. A. Drozdov, and YE. S. Rubin-
sheyn, "Study of the Climatic Resources of the
18 P.
A. Vorontsov, "O transformatsii vozdukha pod
vozdeystviem podstilayushchey poverkhnosti pri suk-
hoveyakh i fenakh," Sukhovei: ikh proiskhozhdenie i
borba s nimi, pp. 227-28.
309
U.S.S.R. and their Economic Utilization," Soviet
Geography:Revietv and Translation(June, 1960), pp.
11-34.
ed., Sukhovei: ikh proiskh-
B. L. Dzerdzeyevskiy,
ozhdenie i borba s nimi (Moscow: Akad. Nauk
S.S.S.R., 1957), 370 pp.
Gidroklimaticheskiyrezhim lesostepnoi i stepnoi zon
SSSR v zasushlivye i vlazhnye gody (Moscow: Akad.
Nauk, 1960), 170 pp.
A. A. Kaminsky, "Types of Droughts and Dry
Winds of the Plains in the U.S.S.R.," Trudy, Glav.
geofizich. observ., Vol. 1, No. 2 (1934), pp. 7-48.
A. I. Rudenko, ed., Zasukhi v SSSR: ikh proiskh-
ozhdeniye, povtoryaemosti vliyanie na urozhay ( 1958),
206 pp.
YE. A. TSuberbiller, Agroklimaticheskayakharakter-
istika sukhoveyev (Leningrad: 1959), 115 pp.
S. 0. Vorobyev, "Chernye buri na Ukraine," TrudiY
po selskokhozyaistvennoymeteorologii,Vol. 21 (19,30),
pp. 268-80.
P. A. Vorontsov, "Prizemnye inversii temperatury
pri sukhoveyakh v zapadnoy Gruzii," Meteorologiya i
gidrologiya, No. 11 (1940), pp. 44-49.
A. V. Voznesenskiy, "Po pobodu pylnoy buri 26-27
Aprelya 1928g.," Trudy po selskokhozyaistvennoy
meteorologii, Vol. 21 (1930), pp. 281-94.
D. T. Williams, The ThunderstormWake of May 4,
1961, National Severe Storms Project Report No. 18,
U.S. Weather Bureau, Washington (August, 1963),
23 pp.
I. V. Zavarina, Zasukha i borba s ney, geografgiz
(Moscow: 1954), 86 pp.