Spatio-temporal Seasonal Distribution of Dust in East and Southeast IranBased on Station and Remote Sensing Data

In recent years, South-east and east of Iran has become one of the most important hotspots of dust events due to numerous droughts, upstream dams and severe land use changes. In order to evaluate the seasonal variations of dust, 15 synoptic stations were selected during 1980–2015 and then extracted from the present weather codes. Additionally, the AOD index of the Terra MODIS satellite sensor and the Aura Satellite Aerial Index of Absorption (AAI) were used during the period 2015–2005. Mann-Kendall nonparametric test was used to investigate the trend of dust days and Spearman correlation method was used for correlation of dust days. The average days of dust in this region are 9 days and maximum days of dusty days are 45 days that occur in Zabol station at summer. Intra-seasonal variations of dust over east and southwestern of Iran have two maximum phases at spring and summer. Dust also has an inverse relationship with altitude and latitude. Climate parameters, drying up of rivers and lakes, and land use changes are three major factors in dust production in eastern and southeastern Iran. Main sources of dust production and emission over the region are (1) Makran coast; (2) Hamoun and Jazmourian dried bed (3) Lut Plain and (4) Border region of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. At most stations except Zabul, Bam and Kerman have an increasing trend of dust events.