Dynamic and synoptic study of spring dust storms over northern Saudi Arabia

The most frequent disasters in Western Saudi Arabia are flash floods, earthquakes and volcanism, especially submarine volcanism potentially causing tsunamis in the Red Sea and submarine mass movements, dust storms and droughts. As the consequences and effects of the climate change are expected to have an increasing impact on the intensity and occurrence of geohazards as flash floods, length of drought periods, or dust storms, the systematic, continuous monitoring of these hazards and affected areas using satellite data and integration of the results into a geographic information systems (GIS) database is an important issue for hazard preparedness and risk assessment. Visual interpretation and digital image processing of optical aerial and satellite images, as well as of radar images, combined with Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) and Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) PALSAR DEM data are used in this study for the mapping and inventory of areas prone to geohazards, such as flash floods or tsunami flooding. Causal or critical environmental factors influencing the disposition to be affected by hazards can be analyzed interactively in a GIS database. How remote sensing and GIS methods can contribute to the detection and continuously, standardized monitoring of geohazards in Western Saudi Arabia as part of a natural hazard geodatabase is demonstrated by several examples, such as the detection of areas prone to hydrological hazards, such as flash floods causing flooding of roads and settlements, the outlining of coastal areas of the Red Sea prone to tsunami flooding and storm surge, the mapping of traces of recent volcanic activity, and of fault/fracture zones and structural features, especially of ring structures.

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Estimating PM10 air concentrations from dust storms in Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia

Atmospheric Environment ◽

10.1016/s1352-2310(01)00159-5 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 35 (25) ◽

pp. 4315-4330 ◽

Cited By ~ 134

Author(s):

Roland R. Draxler ◽

Dale A. Gillette ◽

Jeffrey S. Kirkpatrick ◽

Jack Heller

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Dust Storms ◽

Air Concentrations

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The March 2009 Dust Event in Saudi Arabia: Precursor and Supportive Environment

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society ◽

10.1175/bams-d-11-00118.1 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 94 (4) ◽

pp. 515-528 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

B. H. Alharbi ◽

A. Maghrabi ◽

N. Tapper

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Dust Storm ◽

Outer Space ◽

Dust Storms ◽

Storm Event ◽

Supportive Environment ◽

Dust Storm Event ◽

Jet Streak ◽

Dust Load

A case study is presented of the environmental background for a massive Saudi Arabian dust storm event that took place on 10 and 11 March 2009. The dust storm was large enough to be clearly seen from outer space and caused a widespread heavy atmospheric dust load, very low visibility, total airport shutdown, and damage to vehicles and trees across northern and central parts of Saudi Arabia. The precursor and supportive environment for this dust storm outbreak are investigated, drawing upon routine synoptic data and satellite imagery. Analytical evidence is offered to suggest that this dust storm was triggered and sustained by a cold front passage coincident with the propagation of a preexisting intense upperlevel jet streak. The major plume of the 10 March 2009 dust storm originated from several rich dust source areas extending across two regions—the Qasim region and the Adibdibah and As-Summan Plateau region. The intensity and frequency of dust storms triggered from these active areas of dust emissions seem to be dominated by a response to the amount of precipitation during November and December.

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A Comparative Study of Particulate Matter Between New Delhi, India and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia During the COVID-19 Lockdown Period

Frontiers in Environmental Science ◽

10.3389/fenvs.2021.784959 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Bhupendra Pratap Singh ◽

Gaber E. Eldesoky ◽

Pramod Kumar ◽

Prakash Chandra ◽

Md Ataul Islam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Particulate Matter ◽

Air Quality ◽

Dust Storms ◽

Anthropogenic Sources ◽

Anthropogenic Factors ◽

New Delhi ◽

Natural Sand ◽

The Impact

Novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), after being identified in late December 2019 in Wuhan city of China, spread very fast and has affected all the countries in the world. The impact of lockdowns on particulate matter during the lockdown period needs attention to explore the correlation between anthropogenic and natural emissions. The current study has demonstrated the changes in fine particulate matter PM2.5, PM10 and their effect on air quality during the lockdown. The air quality before the lockdown was low in New Delhi (India) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), among major cities worldwide. The air quality of India is influenced by dust and sand from the desert and surrounding areas. Thus, the current study becomes important to analyse changes in the air quality of the Indian sub-continent as impacted by dust storms from long distances. The result indicated a significant reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 from 93.24 to 37.89 μg/m3 and from 176.55 to 98.87 μg/m3 during the lockdown period as compared to pre lockdown period, respectively. The study shows that average concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 have declined by -44% and -59% during the lockdown period in Delhi. The average value of median PM10 was calculated at 33.71 μg/m3 for Riyadh, which was lower than that value for New Delhi during the same period. The values of PM10 were different for pre and during the lockdown periods in Riyadh, indicating the considerable influence on air quality, especially the concentration of PM10, from both the natural (sand and dust storms) and the anthropogenic sources during the lockdown periods. However, relatively smaller gains in the improvement of air quality in Riyadh were correlated to the imposition of milder lockdown and the predominance of natural factors over the anthropogenic factors there. The Air Quality Index (AQI) data for Delhi showed the air quality to be ‘satisfactory’ and in the green category during the lockdown period. This study attempts to better understand the impact of particulate matter on the short- and long-term air quality in Delhi during the lockdown. This study has the scope of being scaled up nationwide, and this might be helpful in formulation air pollution reduction and sustainable management policies in the future.

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Dustfall Associated with Dust Storms in the Al-Ahsa Oasis of Saudi Arabia

Open Journal of Air Pollution ◽

10.4236/ojap.2015.42007 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 04 (02) ◽

pp. 65-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Emad A. Almuhanna

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Dust Storms

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Oxidative Potential of PM2.5 in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, and the effect of dust storms.

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-5727 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Manna Alwadei ◽

Steven Thomson ◽

Louisa Kramer ◽

Zongbo Shi ◽

William Bloss

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Dust Storm ◽

Inverse Correlation ◽

Dust Storms ◽

Health Impacts ◽

City Centre ◽

Oxidative Potential ◽

Important Indicator ◽

Average Mass ◽

The Mean

The ability of particulate matter (PM) to generate reactive oxygen species and induce oxidative stress in human body is known as oxidative potential (OP). OP is considered an important indicator of the toxicity of PM, which is associated with adverse health impacts. Linking the predicted health impacts of aerosols to OP may be more relevant than considering PM mass only. In this study, we determined the OP of PM2.5 (PM with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 &#181;m) in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, in order to understand the relationship of OP to PM mass and composition in the present and absent of dust storm. PM2.5 was collected from two locations in Dammam city in the winter and summer of 2018. The first location was the city centre as an urban area while the second one was in the campus of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University as an urban background area. OP was quantified using dithiothreitol (DTT) assay. The mean PM2.5 mass in the summer (120.5 &#181;g/m3) was nearly &#160;twice that in the winter (62.6 &#181;g/m3). The average OP activity per air volume (DDTv) in the winter was 1.14 nmol min-1 m-3 while in the summer it was 1.77 nmol min-1 m-3. Conversely, the mean OP activity per PM mass (DDTm) in the winter was 24.56 pmol min-1 &#181;g-3 while it was lower in the summer at 17.3 pmol min-1 &#181;g-3. Results showed an inverse correlation between PM mass and DDTm, while there was a positive correlation between PM mass and DDTv. Even though the average mass of PM2.5 in the summer was almost twice that in the winter, the average DDTm was lower in the summer compared to winter. This is due to the much lower oxidative potential in dust storm particles, which contribute significantly to the summertime PM2.5. Our results suggest that OP is driven by PM composition rather than mass.&#160;&#160;

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Occurrence and Reverse Transport of Severe Dust Storms Associated with Synoptic Weather in East Asia

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos10010004 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 4 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Wenshuai Li ◽

Wencai Wang ◽

Yang Zhou ◽

Yuanyuan Ma ◽

Daizhou Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Measurement Data ◽

Vertical Direction ◽

Lower Troposphere ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Dust Storms ◽

Dust Particles ◽

Movement Direction ◽

Pressure System ◽

Reverse Transport ◽

Spring Dust

The range and time of the environmental effects of Asian dust are closely dependent on the pathways and the speed of dust plume movement. In this study, the occurrence and movement of two dust storms in China in May 2017 were examined by using open space- and ground-based measurement data and the backward trajectories of dust plumes. Results from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis data showed that the dust storms were caused by the rapid coupling development of Mongolian cyclones and Asian highs. After the dust plumes arrived at the Southeastern China in the first dust event, the stable weather conditions and the Asian high slowed down the movement of the plumes, leading to the gradual diffusion of dust particles. Moreover, the Asian high in the first event and the Huabei low (a low-pressure system in North China Plain) in the second altered the movement direction of the dust plumes from southward to northward, which we denote as the “dust reverse transport (DRT)”. The DRT occurred only within the lower troposphere even though dust plumes could extended to 5–10 km in vertical direction. Statistical results of 28 spring dust events occurred in 2015–2018 showed that all these dust storms were triggered by Mongolian cyclones and/or Asian highs, and approximately 39% moved as the DRT, indicating about one third of severe spring dust storms could influence larger areas or longer time than the remained ones.

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