The greater the rainfall, the less wind erosion, this is a result of two factors. First, increase vegetation growth and second an increase in soil moisture. Soil moisture increase binding capacity of soil particles along with encouraging the growth of soil micro organism know to produce surface crusts. Continental wind erosion frequency can be related to the ENSO cycle following the highs and lows of rainfall patterning. Through geological history, high periods of dust activity correlate with aridity phases, with data being extracted from ice cores in Antarctica and New Zealand.
New research suggests that perhaps small amounts of rainfall may in fact increase the rates of wind erosion. Preliminary finding suggest that small rainfall events distrupt the soil surface, possibly via large droplet sizes, causing increases in availability of loose particles. Whilst this disruption would occur with larger rainfall events, the subsequent rainfall would redistribute the disturbed particles, smoothing and sealing the surface
The large internally draining river systems of central Australia provide vast quantities of fresh sediment. Often the rainfalls for these floods have occurred in the humid head waters, transporting sediment hundreds of kilometres downstream, replenishing the sediment supply of the floodplains. This sediment is often removed by wind erosion, redistributed back across the catchment and continent.