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Vegetation cover has spatial as well as temporal characteristics, but the latter are often neglected. Temporal cover characteristics were explored to recommend planting policies for returning arable land into land better protected from serious wind erosion during late autumn, winter, and particularly early spring, when crop cover is non existent. An index combining a wind erosive factor and a soil cover factor permits relative quantification of expected erosion, allowing a forecasting of the wind erosion hazard. This index was quantified under the conditions of Wuchuan County, Inner Mongolia, but derived planting policies using the index can be extended to other regions. Because ground cover with much surface contact or undergrowth is needed to reduce wind erosion, it is recommended to grow perennial grasses with shrubs rather than planting forests/woodland, annual pasture, and crops that are totally removed during harvest. If such land stays under annual cropping, geometrically efficient winter stubble patterns assisted by shrub planting will have to be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]