title: Identification of dust storm source areas in West Asia using multiple environmental datasets.
abstract: Sand and Dust storms are common phenomena in arid and semi-arid areas. West Asia Region, especially Tigris-Euphrates alluvial plain, has been recognized as one of the most important dust source areas in the world. In this paper, a method is applied to extract SDS (Sand and Dust Storms) sources in West Asia region using thematic maps, climate and geography, HYSPLIT model and satellite images. Out of 50 dust storms happened during 2000-2013 and collected in form of MODIS images, 27 events were incorporated as demonstrations of the simulated trajectories by HYSPLIT model. Besides, a dataset of the newly released Landsat images was used as base-map for the interpretation of SDS source regions. As a result, six main clusters were recognized as dust source areas. Of which, 3 clusters situated in Tigris-Euphrates plain were identified as severe SDS sources (including 70% dust storms in this research). Another cluster in Sistan plain is also a potential source area. This approach also confirmed six main paths causing dust storms. These paths are driven by the climate system including Siberian and Polar anticyclones, monsoon from Indian Subcontinent and depression from north of Africa. The identification of SDS source areas and paths will improve our understandings on the mechanisms and impacts of dust storms on socio-economy and environment of the region.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; International Ecosystem Management Partnership, United Nations Environment Programme, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: hui.cao@unep-iemp.org.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: amiraslani@ut.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Farshad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Amiraslani
authors.affiliation: International Ecosystem Management Partnership, United Nations Environment Programme, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001208:Asia; D002980:Climate; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D055904:Meteorology / Q000379:methods*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D014887:Weather
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D004391:Dust
keywords: HYSPLIT model; Landsat 8; MODIS satellite images; SDS source