We present a model for the dispersal of protoplanetary disks by winds
from either the central star or the inner disk. These winds obliquely
strike the flaring disk surface and strip away disk material by entraining
it in an outward radial-moving flow at the disk-wind interface. This
interface lies several disk scale heights above the mid plane. The
disk dispersal time depends on the velocity at which disk material
flows into the mixing layer. If this velocity is ~10% of the
sound speed, the disk dispersal time at ~1–10 AU is ~5 Myr for a 0.01 M๏ disk around a solar mass star,
with a spherical wind launched from the inner disk or central star
with a typical mass loss rate of 10-8M๏yr-1
and terminal velocity of vw = 100 kms-1. We conclude
that wind stripping is not a dominant disk dispersal mechanism compared
with viscous accretion and photoevaporation. Nevertheless, wind stripping
may affect the evolution of the intermediate disk regions.