Abstract:[Objective] The change of wind erosion characteristics of physical crust under freeze-thaw conditions was studied to provide theoretical reference for the study of freeze-thaw wind erosion. [Methods] The study examined sandy loess of the Liudaogou sub-watershed in Shenmu City, Shaanxi Province, situated within the wind and water erosion crisscross region of the northern Loess Plateau. The synergistic approaches of indoor freeze-thaw simulation and wind tunnel testing were used to assess the impact of freeze-thaw cycles on wind erosion intensity, sand transport rate, and kinetic parameters such as friction wind speed and aerodynamic roughness across varying soil physical crust coverage levels (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%). [Results] ① Wind erosion intensity was found to increase significantly with increasing wind speed (p<0.05) and decrease with increasing incrust coverage (p<0.05), and the maximum reduction in erosion rate was up to 96.07%. Compared to that under pre-freeze-thaw condition, there was a significant rise in the wind erosion intensity of physical crusts under post-freeze-thaw condition, and the increase ranged from 0.02 to 1.27 times. ② Physical crust coverage significantly reduced the near-surface sand transport, which decreased with increasing crust coverage and increased with increasing wind speeds. After freeze-thaw cycles, the near-surface sand transport rates increased by 0.7 to 4.3 times, and the transport height increased by 2 to 10 cm. ③ Changes in friction wind speed and aerodynamic roughness in response to variations in crust coverage were not statistically significant. The friction wind speed before freeze-thaw was between 0.84 and 1.35 m/s, and post-freeze-thaw varied from 0.80 to 1.51 m/s. Although the friction wind speed was slightly reduced after freeze-thaw, the aerodynamic roughness exhibited minimal variation. [Conclusion] In the northern part of the Loess Plateau, the protective effects of physical crusts against wind erosion reduced and soil wind erosion was intensified by freeze-thaw processes. With increased crust coverage, there was a more noticeable increase in wind erosion intensity and near-surface sand transport following freeze-thaw cycles. The influence of crust coverage and freeze-thaw processes on aerodynamic roughness is negligible.