Origin and path of horizontal dust storms with less than 1000 meters visibility in southwest Iran

The formation and occurrence of any climatic phenomenon require conditions that, when the sum of these atmospheric and environmental conditions occur simultaneously, make it possible for the phenomenon to form and occur. Depending on the type of phenomenon, some of these atmospheric or environmental factors are formed in the atmosphere alone, while others are formed in the physical environment under it. A phenomenon like a dust storm is a combined atmospheric-environmental phenomenon. The existence of dry and highly fragmented soils provides favorable conditions for the rise of dust. For this reason, dry deserts, bare plains with soft and granular soils are always prone to this phenomenon as sources of dust production. Therefore, physical substrates with this feature should always be studied and investigated as potential places for dust phenomenon to occur. What is related to atmospheric conditions, severe instabilities without moisture or with little moisture are the basis of dust storms. This weather pattern is more likely to appear in arid and semi-arid climates. It is not possible to control or change the structure of atmospheric phenomena with current human technology. Therefore, the best way to reduce the effects of destructive phenomena such as dust storms in a geographical area is to first identify the source and path of dust storms.

The selected study area for this research is the southwest of Iran, an area that has experienced an increasing trend in the frequency and intensity of dust storms in recent decades. The study area includes the three provinces of Kohgiluyeh, Boyer Ahmad, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari.In the first step of the research, all synoptic stations with complete statistics for 33 years (1986-2019) in the study area were identified and extracted. .In the second step, using the data (number of reports of dust phenomenon (nhz), number of reports with dust phenomenon (ndu), number of reports with sand and dust storm phenomenon (nbdu), wind speed and horizontal visibility less than 1000 meters and codes (06.07, 08.09, 30.31, 32.33, 34.35, 98) days with dust were extracted from the data of Meteorological Organization. In the next step, using the website [https://www.ready.noaa.gov/HYSPLIT, ↗] (https://www.ready.noaa.gov/HYSPLIT,) the origin of dust storms in the southwest of Iran was plotted using the backward method from the GDAS data system with a resolution of 0.5 degrees. This data is available from 2007. Therefore, for all the dust reports with the above characteristics from each of the sample stations, the origin of the storm has been determined.

Statistical analysis of dust storm reports from selected stations showed that 3027 cases of dust storm have been reported during the 33-year statistical period from a total of selected stations. In terms of monthly distribution, the months of January, February and December respectively have reported the highest number of dust storms. In terms of seasonal distribution, the highest number of pollen reports were from winter (1153 cases, 38.1%) and spring (711 cases, 23.5%) respectively. The highest number of dust storms was reported from the two dry years of 2008 (225 cases) and 2009 (243 cases). In terms of stations, the highest number of dust storms was reported from Ahvaz and Abadan stations. Based on the routing performed in this study, the input dust storms came from six areas:Iraq (from four parts), eastern Mediterranean countries, Saudi Arabia, central and northeast Africa, distant sources in eastern Europe, and local sources within the study area.The origin of 93.25% of the input dust storms to the study area was from sources in central Iraq, and about 20% of the dust storms originated from eastern Mediterranean countries, while 16% of the dust storms were from local sources in Khuzestan province. The origin of dust storms in high-altitude stations in the eastern part of the study area, such as Shahr-e Kord, Yasuj, and Kuhrang, was from distant sources in Syria and Jordan or northeastern Africa.

Given that, 84% of the dust storms entering the region originate from outside the border. Considering that the two sources of the west and the center of Iraq are the source of 35% of the storms entering the region. Diplomatic efforts for the cooperation of the country of Iraq to stabilize the soil in these resources are very necessary.