Satellites can be used to monitor dust storms in Iran

Iran is a country with a large number of deserts, which makes the observation of fine particles from satellites challenging in the area. Over the past few years, satellite algorithms have developed significantly, enabling better observation.

The study found that Iran's largest dust storms occur in the province of Khuzestan in the south-western part of the country and in the province of Sistan in the eastern part of the country. A large number of dust storms also occur in the low-lying areas, such as the coast of the Arabian Sea, the Jaz Murian depression and the deserts of Lut and Dasht-e Kavir. The frequency of dust storms was highest in July and November.

Further information:

Senior scientist Tero Mielonen, Finnish Meteorological Institute, tero.mielonen@fmi.fi

M.Rezaei, M. Farajzadeh, T. Mielonen, Y. Ghavidel. Analysis of spatio-temporal dust aerosol frequency over Iran based on satellite data, Atmospheric Pollution Research, 10, 508-519, ISSN 1309-1042, 2019.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1309104218304240

M.Rezaei, M. Farajzadeh, T. Mielonen, Y. Ghavidel. Discrimination of aerosol types over the Tehran city using 5 years (2011–2015) of MODIS collection 6 aerosol products, J. Environ. Health. Sci. Engineer, 17: 1, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-018-00321-2,  2019.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40201-018-00321-2