Simulation of mineral dust aerosols in southwestern iran through numerical prediction models

Abstract

Using the Numerical Prediction Models in mineral dust cycle is of prime importance in investigation of aerosol contribution in climatic changes. In this paper, a modelling system is developed to study a local characterization of Shalamceh dust intrusions in PM10 levels in Ahvaz city. The model chain consists of three different modules: the meteorological model (WRF), the dust emission model (COMSALT) and transport/deposition model (CAMx). Applying a physically based parameterization of the vertical dust fluxes emitted from the eroding soil could reduce the need for empirical source functions in dust emission models. For the selected case study, 6/1/2010 and 6/10/2010, the numerical simulations were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of modeling system. The comparison between observation and modeled results shows a good agreement. Different scenarios used to investigate the role of desertification and weak structure soils in air quality. Results show an increase in PM10 levels in Ahvaz due to the growth of wind erodible lands and the reduction of soil cohesive forces. In addition, the dry deposition fluxes of some detected heavy metals in different situations were estimated. Also, dust emission potential was inspected with the absorbing aerosol index data from Ozone Measurement Instrument (OMI) in the studied area. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 37: 1380–1393, 2018

Impact of COVID-19 Event on the Air Quality in Iran

“…Prevailing winds from the west of Tehran carry dust storms both from local areas and from even from neighbouring countries. Although the natural particle contribution is significant in Tehran, it is much less critical than other cities like Zabol (Rashki et al, 2013), and Ahvaz (Broomandi et al, 2017b(Broomandi et al, , 2018Gholami et al, 2020), where the main origins of PM pollution are dust and sand storms.…”

Destinations frequently impacted by dust storms originating from southwest Iran

“…While fossil fuel combustion, traffic emissions, upwind petroleum industry, and gas and oil drilling activities are the primary contributing anthropogenic sources in the Middle East, the war remains can be added to the list for southwest Iran, Iraq, and Syria. There exist some previous studies examining the SDS storms originating from southwest Iran (Shalamcheh region,(30° 45'N and 48° 15'E)), which is a war-impacted SDS source area (Broomandi et al, 2018(Broomandi et al, , 2017a. One of the critical anthropogenic origins of enriched trace elements in this area attributed to the remains of the Iraq-Iran war (Broomandi, et al, 2017).…”

“…A long-term analysis of the occurrence of dust storms still lacks over southwest Asia, including the Shalamcheh region, due to the limitations of satellite imagery at the regional J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f Journal Pre-proof scale (Rashki et al, 2015). The identification of SDS pathways and origins uses specific techniques including satellite remote sensing, ground-based observations, trajectory analysis, and integrated approaches (Ashrafi et al, 2014;Broomandi et al, 2018;Rashki et al, 2015;Shao et al, 2011;Sorek-Hamer et al, 2013) and it is a significant challenge to perform in some areas of the Middle East due to certain limitations including the reliability and availability of data. Recently, the development of Global Dust Detection Index (GDDI) model (Karimi et al, 2012) and the new Middle East Dust Index (MEDI) had a significant contribution in the identification of SDS sources in the Middle East (Samadi et al, 2014).…”

“…Although the Thar, Iraqi, and Arabian deserts are primary dust origins in South Asia, a small area (Sistan basin) with dried lakes (Hamoun) at the Iran-Afghanistan borders may also have a significant role (Karimi et al, 2012;Maghrabi et al, 2011;Prospero et al, 2002;Rashki et al, 2015Rashki et al, , 2013. Furthermore, researchers showed the southwest Iran (Khuzestan Province) turning into one of the significant sand and J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f Journal Pre-proof dust sources in the region (Broomandi et al, 2018(Broomandi et al, , 2017aCao et al, 2015;Esmaili et al, 2006;Salmabadi et al, 2020).…”

Soil Contamination in Areas Impacted by Military Activities: A Critical Review

“…Br, Cl, Mo, S, Zn, and Hg have been detected as slightly elevated PTEs with anthropogenic origins, mainly from Iran-Iraq War (1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988) remains. Furthermore, detected elevated concentrations of Cl and S in this area could be the result of using CWAs (mustard gas) in the Iran-Iraq War [64,76]. Topsoil samples collected in the North Prasnik area in Croatia were studied for PTEs (Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, Cr, Ni, Zn, and Mn) [22].…”