scholarly journals Bivariate trend assessment of dust storm frequency in relation to climate drivers

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reza Modarres
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Dust Storm ◽  
Arid Regions ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Trend Test ◽  
Climate Variables ◽  
Annual Maximum ◽  
Storm Frequency ◽  
Trend Assessment

Abstract. Climate variability and change in arid regions are important factors controlling emission, frequency and movement of dust storms. This study provides robust statistical methods to detect trends in dust storm frequency across arid regions of Iran in relation to climate variability and trend in recent decades. The univariate trend assessment based on block bootstrapping method and three bivariate trend assessment methods, Covariance Inversion Test, Covariance Sum Test and The Covariance Eigenvalue Test are applied in this study to find if change in dust storm frequency can be attributed to changes in climatic variables. In this regard, the annual number of dust storms from 25 stations in central arid and semi-arid regions of Iran were selected. In addition, five major climatic variables including annual rainfall, annual maximum and average wind speed, annual maximum and average temperature were also collected. The univariate trend test indicates both increasing and decreasing trend in dust storm frequency and climate variables. The bivariate trend test shows a strong and statistically significant relationship between trend of climate variables and dust storm frequency for most of the stations across the region. Among climate variables, rainfall change has an inverse impact on dust storm frequency while wind speed and temperature have direct covariance structure with dust storm frequency. The wind speed also seems to be the most effective climate driver on dust storm frequency in arid regions of Iran, followed by temperature. The results also shows that local conditions that are not considered in this study may also play significant role in dust storm emission in some parts of the region.

scholarly journals Dynamics of dust storm and its response to meteorological conditions and anthropogenic impact in South edge of Taklimakan desert, China

MAUSAM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 619-626
Author(s):  
AISHAJIANG AILI ◽  
XU HAILIANG ◽  
LIU XINGHONG ◽  
ZEESHAN AHMED ◽  
LI LI
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Dust Storm ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Meteorological Factors ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Source Region ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Taklimakan Desert ◽  
Storm Frequency

In this study, the varying trends of dust storm frequency in a typical oasis located at the South edge of Taklimakan desert, China were analyzed by using time series analysis and regression models. The LUCC (land use/cover change) data, NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) remote sensing data, meteorological data and dust storm frequency data for the period of 2004-2018 were collected from local station and ERDAS (Earth Resources Data Analysis System) software, the multivariate relationships between human activities, natural factor and dust storm frequencies were analyzed by using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Results indicated that the annual dust storm frequency in the study period increased with fluctuation. The monthly dust storm frequency shows higher values between the months of March and June, which accounts for 72.3% of the annual dust storm frequency. Precipitation and wind speed are two meteorological factors which can impact the dust storm formation and its frequency. The correlation between dust storm frequency and temperature was insignificant. Moreover, human activities indirectly affected the dynamics of dust storms by changing the vegetation cover and direct dust emissions. Furthermore, multivariate analysis highlighted a clear relationship among dust storm frequency, meteorological factors and NDVI. The high loadings of dust storm frequency, precipitation, wind speed and NDVI on a PC indicated that increase in precipitation and NDVI will decline dust storm frequency, whereas higher wind speed will enhance dust storm frequency. The findings of this study could be useful to understand the possible causes of dust storms, which can provide the basis for controlling the dust storm source region and also mitigation of the negative effects dust storm on the environment.

scholarly journals Dust Storms in Northern China: Long-Term Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Climate Controls

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (17) ◽  
pp. 6683-6700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingyu Guan ◽  
Xiazhong Sun ◽  
Jing Yang ◽  
Baotian Pan ◽  
Shilei Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Dust Storm ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Effect Of Temperature ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Spatiotemporal Characteristics ◽  
Dust Generation ◽  
The Mean

Airborne dust derived from desertification in northern China can be transported to East Asia and other regions, impairing human health and affecting the global climate. This study of northern China dust provides an understanding of the mechanism of dust generation and transportation. The authors used dust storm and climatological data from 129 sites and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) datasets in northern China to analyze spatiotemporal characteristics and determine the main factors controlling dust storms occurring during 1960–2007. Dust storm–prone areas are consistent with the spatial distribution of northern China deserts where the average wind speed (AWS) is more than 2 m s−1, the mean annual temperature (MAT) ranges from 5° to 10°C, and the mean annual precipitation (MAP) is less than 450 mm. Dust storms commonly occur on spring afternoons in a 3- to 6-h pattern. The three predominant factors that can affect DSF are the maximum wind speed, AWS, and MAT. During 1960–2007, dust storm frequency (DSF) in most regions of northern China fluctuated but had a decreasing trend; this was mainly caused by a gradual reduction in wind speed. The effect of temperature on DSF is complex, as positive and negative correlations exist simultaneously. Temperatures can affect source material (dust, sand, etc.), cyclone activity, and vegetation growth status, which influence the generation of dust storms. NDVI and precipitation are negatively correlated with DSF, but the effect is weak. Vegetation can protect the topsoil environment and prevent dust storm creation but is affected by the primary decisive influence of precipitation.

Dust storm frequency in relation to extreme droughts in arid regions of Iran

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
reza modarres ◽  
Poria Mohit Esfahani
Keyword(s):  
Dust Storm ◽  
Arid Regions ◽  
Standardized Precipitation Index ◽  
Joint Probability ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Drought Event ◽  
Drought Condition ◽  
Copula Functions ◽  
Dry Conditions

<p>Dust storms are frequent phenomenon in arid and semi arid regions of Iran which cover near 60 percent of the entire country in the center of Iran. Due to geographic and climatic conditions of prolonged dry conditions as well as poor land use management, dust storms occur in almost all seasons across the region. Drought is a major fator affecting the likelihood of dust storm occurrence across arid regions of Iran. We develop copula functions to investigate the effect of drought on dust storm frequency.The standardized precipitation Index (SPI) was caluclated and drought condition was defined based on SPI< -0.5. Dought severity and duration for each drought event were ca;culated and the number of dust days in each drought event ws also identified. The Archimedean copula families shoed that the probability of dust occurrence has a significant relationship to extreme drought conditions. The joint probability is then used to derive the joint return period of dust storms in relation to drought condition.</p>

scholarly journals Variability and Trends in Dust Storm Frequency on Decadal Timescales: Climatic Drivers and Human Impacts

Geosciences ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Middleton
Keyword(s):  
Dust Storm ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Northeast Asia ◽  
Human Action ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Dust Emissions ◽  
Management Schemes ◽  
Storm Dynamics ◽  
Storm Frequency

Dust storms present numerous hazards to human society and are particularly significant to people living in the Dust Belt which stretches from the Sahara across the Middle East to northeast Asia. This paper presents a review of dust storm variability and trends in frequency on decadal timescales from three Dust Belt settlements with long-term (>50 years) meteorological records: Nouakchott, Mauritania; Zabol, Iran, and Minqin, China. The inhabitants of each of these settlements have experienced a decline in dust storms in recent decades, since the late 1980s at Nouakchott, since 2004 at Zabol, and since the late 1970s at Minqin. The roles of climatic variables and human activities are assessed in each case, as drivers of periods of high dust storm frequency and subsequent declines in dust emissions. Both climatic and human variables have been important but overall the balance of research conclusions indicates natural processes (precipitation totals, wind strength) have had greater impact than human action, in the latter case both in the form of mismanagement (abandoned farmland, water management schemes) and attempts to reduce wind erosion (afforestation projects). Understanding the drivers of change in dust storm dynamics at the local scale is increasingly important for efforts to mitigate dust storm hazards as climate change projections suggest that the global dryland area is likely to expand in the twenty-first century, along with an associated increase in the risk of drought and dust emissions.

scholarly journals Effect of Rainfall Quantity on the Frequency of Severe Dust Storm in Iraq

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 156-170
Author(s):  
Ibrahim I. Mohammed ◽  
Ahmed F. Hassoon
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Dust Storm ◽  
Wind Erosion ◽  
Inverse Relationship ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Normal Rainfall ◽  
Climatic Elements

The dust storms and their recurrence are common phenomena in Iraq because it suffers from the exploitation of mankind to the natural environment and to the deterioration of vegetation and soil which responsible to the exposure of the soil to wind erosion leading to dust phenomena. Rain is one of the most influential climatic elements in reducing and minimizing the impact of dust storms. The amount of rainfall in Iraq is relatively small, where most of the year is not rainy. This in turn increases the dryness of the soil and increases the formation of dust storms. In this research data of (visibility, wind speed and direction and total rain amount) from the Iraqi Meteorological Organization and Seismology were analyzed for nine stations spread across the country (Mosul, Kirkuk, Haditha, Baghdad, Rutba, Nukhayb, Najaf, Amara and Nasiriya) for the period from 2001 - 2017 to compare annually severe dust storms with rainy seasons. Drought seasons were also determined using the percent of normal rainfall (PN) method. It was found that there was an inverse relationship between rainfall and severe dust storms, (according to Pearson’s correlation coefficient) where it was noticed that the highest amount of rainfall was in Mosul station with a total of 5231.6mm during the study period with only 6 severe dust storms during the same period. In other hand the lowest amount of rainfall was in Nukhayb station 1304.6mm during the study period with 62 severe dust storms.

scholarly journals Estimation of wind soil erosion in a semiarid region of Mexico

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
María de Jesús Guevara-Macías ◽  
Noel Carbajal ◽  
Luis Pineda-Martinez
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Dust Storm ◽  
Arid Regions ◽  
Clay Content ◽  
Organic Content ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Semiarid Region ◽  
Storm Events ◽  
Erosion Effect ◽  
The Impact

Land degradation is a global problem. One of the main factors of this degradation is intense winds in the world’s arid and semi-arid regions. The wind acts on soils without vegetation cover in increasingly large regions. The impact of dust storms is considerable, from massive soil deterioration to health problems. In the arid regions of northern and central Mexico, the problem of changing land use from grasslands and forests to rainfed agriculture has increased notably in recent decades. Recurring dust storms due to winds associated with the passage of cold fronts have become a severe environmental problem. The Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF-Chem) was applied to analyze dust storms that occur mainly during the winter. An analysis was performed for wind speed data in the period from October 2005 to April 2018. It revealed that about 20 events per year exceeded a threshold erosion speed of 9 m/s. Fifteen events with the potential to generate dust storms were selected. The total amount of dust emitted was added together, and an average dust storm was calculated. Since the massive land-use change began approximately 50 years ago, a total erosion effect was estimated for this period. The characterization of eight soil samples revealed the texture of fine silty sands with low clay content and low organic content due to the mechanical processes of removing the finest fraction. Comparison between observed and modeled dust storm events showed good agreement.

scholarly journals Dust Transport from Inland Australia and Its Impact on Air Quality and Health on the Eastern Coast of Australia during the February 2019 Dust Storm

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Emilie Aragnou ◽  
Sean Watt ◽  
Hiep Nguyen Duc ◽  
Cassandra Cheeseman ◽  
Matthew Riley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Dust Storm ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
The State ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Storm Event ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Dust Storm Event

Dust storms originating from Central Australia and western New South Wales frequently cause high particle concentrations at many sites across New South Wales, both inland and along the coast. This study focussed on a dust storm event in February 2019 which affected air quality across the state as detected at many ambient monitoring stations in the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) air quality monitoring network. The WRF-Chem (Weather Research and Forecast Model—Chemistry) model is used to study the formation, dispersion and transport of dust across the state of New South Wales (NSW, Australia). Wildfires also happened in northern NSW at the same time of the dust storm in February 2019, and their emissions are taken into account in the WRF-Chem model by using Fire Inventory from NCAR (FINN) as emission input. The model performance is evaluated and is shown to predict fairly accurate the PM2.5 and PM10 concentration as compared to observation. The predicted PM2.5 concentration over New South Wales during 5 days from 11 to 15 February 2019 is then used to estimate the impact of the February 2019 dust storm event on three health endpoints, namely mortality, respiratory and cardiac disease hospitalisation rates. The results show that even though as the daily average of PM2.5 over some parts of the state, especially in western and north western NSW near the centre of the dust storm and wild fires, are very high (over 900 µg/m3), the population exposure is low due to the sparse population. Generally, the health impact is similar in order of magnitude to that caused by biomass burning events from wildfires or from hazardous reduction burnings (HRBs) near populous centres such as in Sydney in May 2016. One notable difference is the higher respiratory disease hospitalisation for this dust event (161) compared to the fire event (24).

scholarly journals Simulation of Pan-Evaporation Using Penman and Hamon Equations and Artificial Intelligence Techniques

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 793
Author(s):  
Abdul Razzaq Ghumman ◽  
Mohammed Jamaan ◽  
Afaq Ahmad ◽  
Md. Shafiquzzaman ◽  
Husnain Haider ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Arid Regions ◽  
Fuzzy Inference ◽  
Sunshine Duration ◽  
Pan Evaporation ◽  
Estimation Of Parameters ◽  
Inference System ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
The Impact

The evaporation losses are very high in warm-arid regions and their accurate evaluation is vital for the sustainable management of water resources. The assessment of such losses involves extremely difficult and original tasks because of the scarcity of data in countries with an arid climate. The main objective of this paper is to develop models for the simulation of pan-evaporation with the help of Penman and Hamon’s equations, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), and the Artificial Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS). The results from five types of ANN models with different training functions were compared to find the best possible training function. The impact of using various input variables was investigated as an original contribution of this research. The average temperature and mean wind speed were found to be the most influential parameters. The estimation of parameters for Penman and Hamon’s equations was quite a daunting task. These parameters were estimated using a state of the art optimization algorithm, namely General Reduced Gradient Technique. The results of the Penman and Hamon’s equations, ANN, and ANFIS were compared. Thirty-eight years (from 1980 to 2018) of manually recorded pan-evaporation data regarding mean daily values of a month, including the relative humidity, wind speed, sunshine duration, and temperature, were collected from three gauging stations situated in Al Qassim, Saudi Arabia. The Nash and Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) and Mean Square Error (MSE) evaluated the performance of pan-evaporation modeling techniques. The study shows that the ANFIS simulation results were better than those of ANN and Penman and Hamon’s equations. The findings of the present research will help managers, engineers, and decision makers to sustainability manage natural water resources in warm-arid regions.

scholarly journals Effects of Dust Storms and Climatological Factors on Mortality and Morbidity of Cardiovascular Diseases Admitted to ED

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Behcet Al ◽  
Mustafa Bogan ◽  
Suat Zengin ◽  
Mustafa Sabak ◽  
Seval Kul ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Failure ◽  
Emergency Department ◽  
Chest Pain ◽  
Cardiovascular Diseases ◽  
Dust Storm ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Inpatient Hospitalization ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Coronary Syndrome

Objective. This study was designed to investigate the effects of Desert Dust Storms and Climatological Factors on Mortality and Morbidity of Cardiovascular Diseases admitted to emergency department in Gaziantep. Method. Hospital records, obtained between September 01, 2009 and January 31, 2014, from four state hospitals in Gaziantep, Turkey, were compared to meteorological and climatological data. Statistical analysis was performed by Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) for windows version 24.0. Results. 168,467 patients were included in this study. 83% of the patients had chest pain and 17% of patients had cardiac failure (CF). An increase in inpatient hospitalization due to CF was observed and corresponded to the duration of dust storms measured by number of days. However, there was no significant increase in emergency department (ED) presentations. There was no significant association of cardiac related mortality and coinciding presence of a dust storm or higher recorded temperature. The association of increases in temperature levels and the presence of dust storms with “acute coronary syndrome- (ACS-) related emergency service presentations, inpatient hospitalization, and mortality” were statistically significant. The relationship between the increase in PM10 levels due to causes unrelated to dust storms and the outpatient application, admission, and mortality due to heart failure was not significant. The increase in particle matter 10 (PM) levels due to causes outside the dust storm caused a significant increase in outpatient application, hospitalization, and mortality originated from ACS. Conclusion. Increased number of dust storms resulted in a higher prevalence of mortality due to ACS while mortality due to heart failure remained unchanged. Admission, hospitalization, and mortality due to chest pain both dependent and independent of ACS were increased by the presence of dust storms, PM10 elevation, and maximum temperature.

A Comparison of Aphelion Cloud Belt Phase Functions Before and After the Mars Year 34 Global Dust Storm

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Innanen ◽  
Brittney Cooper ◽  
Charissa Campbell ◽  
Scott Guzewich ◽  
Jacob Kloos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dust Storm ◽  
Phase Function ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Ice Crystal ◽  
Ice Clouds ◽  
Water Ice ◽  
Ice Cloud ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Scattering Phase ◽  
Scattering Phase Function

<p>1. INTRODUCTION</p><p>The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is located in Gale Crater (4.5°S, 137.4°E), and has been performing cloud observations for the entirety of its mission, since its landing in 2012 [eg. 1,2,3]. One such observation is the Phase Function Sky Survey (PFSS), developed by Cooper et al [3] and instituted in Mars Year (MY) 34 to determine the scattering phase function of Martian water-ice clouds. The clouds of interest form during the Aphelion Cloud Belt (ACB) season (L<sub>s</sub>=50°-150°), a period of time during which there is an increase in the formation of water-ice clouds around the Martian equator [4]. The PFSS observation was also performed during the MY 35 ACB season and the current MY 36 ACB season.</p><p>Following the MY 34 ACB season, Mars experienced a global dust storm which lasted from L<sub>s</sub>~188° to L<sub>s</sub>~250° of that Mars year [5]. Global dust storms are planet-encircling storms which occur every few Mars years and can significantly impact the atmosphere leading to increased dust aerosol sizes [6], an increase in middle atmosphere water vapour [7], and the formation of unseasonal water-ice clouds [8]. While the decrease in visibility during the global dust storm itself made cloud observation difficult, comparing the scattering phase function prior to and following the global dust storm can help to understand the long-term impacts of global dust storms on water-ice clouds.</p><p>2. METHODS</p><p>The PFSS consists of 9 cloud movies of three frames each, taken using MSL’s navigation cameras, at a variety of pointings in order to observe a large range of scattering angles. The goal of the PFSS is to characterise the scattering properties of water-ice clouds and to determine ice crystal geometry.  In each movie, clouds are identified using mean frame subtraction, and the phase function is computed using the formula derived by Cooper et al [3]. An average phase function can then be computed for the entirety of the ACB season.</p><p><img src="https://contentmanager.copernicus.org/fileStorageProxy.php?f=gnp.eda718c85da062913791261/sdaolpUECMynit/1202CSPE&app=m&a=0&c=67584351a5c2fde95856e0760f04bbf3&ct=x&pn=gnp.elif&d=1" alt="Figure 1 – Temporal Distribution of Phase Function Sky Survey Observations for Mars Years 34 and 35" width="800" height="681"></p><p>Figure 1 shows the temporal distributions of PFSS observations taken during MYs 34 and 35. We aim to capture both morning and afternoon observations in order to study any diurnal variability in water-ice clouds.</p><p>3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION</p><p>There were a total of 26 PFSS observations taken in MY 35 between L<sub>s</sub>~50°-160°, evenly distributed between AM and PM observations. Typically, times further from local noon (i.e. earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon) show stronger cloud features, and run less risk of being obscured by the presence of the sun. In all movies in which clouds are detected, a phase function can be calculated, and an average phase function determined for the whole ACB season.  </p><p>Future work will look at the water-ice cloud scattering properties for the MY 36 ACB season, allowing us to get more information about the interannual variability of the ACB and to further constrain the ice crystal habit. The PFSS observations will not only assist in our understanding of the long-term atmospheric impacts of global dust storms but also add to a more complete image of time-varying water-ice cloud properties.</p>

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