Annual Monitoring of Dust Storm in Iran and Adjacent Areas Using Modis Images (1396 and 1397 Hijri Shamsi)

Abstract

The occurrence of dust storms is one of the major problems in Iran and neighboring countries. Monitoring dust storms and identifying their patterns, areas with high frequency of occurrence and high dense storms using remote sensing technology can help decision makers in different dimensions. This paper tries to investigate the occurrence of dust storms in Iran and adjacent regions over two annual periods, and produce the maps of cumulative density and frequency of occurrence in order to find dust patterns and hotspots and make a comparison between these periods. The daily MODIS images received at the Mahdasht Space Center in 1396 and 1397 were used. Brightness temperature images were prepared using these data and the bands 20, 29, 31 and 32 of them were used. After applying appropriate algorithms, daily dust storm maps were produced. Using the data of 212 synoptic stations throughout the country, the accuracy of the algorithms were assessed and the thresholds were modified. By combining these daily maps, annual cumulative density maps were prepared. Also, by combining daily occurrence maps of dust storms, frequency of occurrence maps were produced. The results show that in 1397, more areas have experienced dust storms in comparison to 1396. Besides, the number and density of dust storms at west and southwest areas have been reduced in 1397. Conversely, in the eastern and southeast areas we have faced with an increase in the number and density of monitored dust storms in 1397. It can be concluded that the problem of dust storms in Iran have been shifted from the west and southwest of the country to the eastern and southeastern regions.

Linking ground-satellite observations with HYSPLIT Back trajectory modeling to identify dust sources affecting Western Iran: A case study in Lorestan province

“…These studies show that dust storms in the western and southwestern regions of Iran also affect the eastern and central regions of the country. According to a study by Jafary et al, it can be concluded that the problem of dust storms in Iran has been shifted from the west and southwest of the country to the eastern and southeastern regions (28).…”

“…Remote sensing measurements in this research include the analysis of a total of eight (Level 1B Calibrated Radiances 1 km (MOD021KM)) MODIS tiles selected based on the interpretation of the results of ground observations to capture major SDS events occurred between 2000 and 2014. MODIS provides a systematic observation of the entire Earth's surface at a revisit time of 1 to 2 days during both daytime and nighttime (28). The data collected by MODIS, aboard the Aqua and Terra systems, consist of 20 visible and short-wave infrared (SWIR) spectral channels and 16 thermal infrared wavebands, among which bands 29, 31, and 32 covering a spectral range of 8.6 to 12 µm are more suited for dust detection (29,30).…”

Efficient dust detection based on spectral and thermal observations of MODIS imagery

“…Considering the statistical analysis of the transparent and opaque water pixels, BTD3.7-11 µm and R4,7 (Eq. (6) and (7)) were applied to distinguish these two classes. MODIS Aqua and Terra images have sun-glint over water.…”

“…Suspended particles can cause environmental, economic, and social problems. In other words, air pollution affects people's health, quality of agricultural products, soil fertility, and infrastructures [6,7]. Various reports have also shown that dust storms seem to impact the quality of communications [4,8,9,10,11,12].…”

“…These particles may rise into a higher level of the troposphere after released, and come down in the other urban or agriculture areas [18]. Consequently, real-time and automatic monitoring of dust particles is primordial for the population health [19,6].…”