There are several thousands of kilometers of traffic lines in desert regions that are facing blown-sand related difficulties, such as sand burial. When designing a sand control project, the width of it should be specific for different regions due to differences in regional climate, sand source richness, and wind intensity. Currently, there is no universally applicable method to judge the proper width value. The value should ensure an optimization between protection effect and economic cost. After investigating 24 sand control projects in North China and comparing several common equations for climate and wind force, we propose a new sand control index to estimate an optimal width for sand control measures and meet 5 levels of protection expectation from failed to excellent, which can reflect the characteristics of regional climate, local sand richness, and the direction of the protected facility. Threshold values for the 5 levels are decided as 13.5, 27.5, 48, and 100. This new index is validated by applying to the two stages of sand control project of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, and the results agree well with the level-5 and level-2 control effects before and after the second stage of project. This index can be applied in a variety of situations, as it covers a wide range of climatic regions and engineering conditions.

沙漠地区有数千公里的交通线，面临着诸如沙埋等与喷沙有关的困难。在设计防沙项目时，由于区域气候，沙源丰富度和风强度的差异，防沙项目的宽度应针对不同区域。当前，没有普遍适用的方法来判断适当的宽度值。该值应确保在保护效果和经济成本之间进行优化。在调查了华北的24个防沙项目并比较了气候和风力的几个常用方程式之后，我们提出了一个新的防沙指数，以估算防沙措施的最佳宽度，并满足从失败到优秀的5个保护期望水平。反映区域气候的特征，当地的沙子丰富度以及受保护设施的方向。将这5个级别的阈值确定为13.5、27.5、48和100。通过在敦煌莫高窟的防沙工程的两个阶段中应用此新指标进行了验证，结果与5级非常吻合。项目第二阶段前后的二级控制效果。该指数可适用于多种情况，因为它涵盖了广泛的气候区域和工程条件。