Dust Storms Over Iran

طوفان‌های گرد و غبار

---

Context •Environment •Sustainability •Garden of Eden •Safety •
Posted by Rezwan • Jul 02, 2008 • (2) Comments • Discuss In Forums •
Printer friendly • • مطلب را به بالاترین بفرستید:

Skies are hazy and there's a surreal glow around the city. Why?

A massive dust storm blew through Iraq and over the Persian Gulf on July 1, 2008. A NASA satellite captured this image the same day. July 2, the storm continues.. ُ

What causes these dust storms? How do they affect Iran and the region? What measures can be taken to mitigate their damage?

The links above, and the image (below) are from the earth observatory ("EO") website, http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/. In the images, the dust plumes are thick enough to almost completely hide the land and water below. The dust blows in a counter-clockwise direction, forming arcs over the Gulf and blowing over Saudi Arabia.

EO classifies this as a Natural Hazard, and has a description of Dust and Smoke hazard events.

The main problems related to dust storms are health (inhalation of aerosols), reduced visibility (limiting travel) and prevention of precipitation (reducing rainfall).

As to causes, the US Navy has a discussion of dust storms over Iraq, and claims that they originate in North Africa, over the Sahara (North African Depressions). Regarding Iran:

Dust storms over the Salt Desert of Iran may be induced in advance of North African Depressions and associated troughs, as strong down-slope motion from the mountains to the west rushes over that region.

This storm, however, has more proximal causes (from EO):

The dust appears to have originated in northern Iraq, although specific source points for the storm are not visible in this image. A plume of dust curls over the borders between Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, but the thickest dust hovers over the border between Iraq and Iran. Arising from fine sediments of the Tigris and Euphrates floodplain, the dust blows toward the southeast.

Around the dust storm, skies appear largely clear in this image. Dust obscures the view of the Persian Gulf and Iraq’s Buhayra-ath Tharthar. To the north, however, the nearly black water bodies of the Caspian Sea and Turkey’s Van Gölü appear clearly through dust-free skies. The pale hues of Daryacheh-ye Orumiyeh likely result not from dust but from a combination of the salt lake’s shallow depth and sunglint, the reflection of sunlight on the water’s surface.

What is the history of these storms? Here's a link to the June 16 storms.

Note that Karen Polenske of MIT has a methodology for studying dust storms in China that may be of interest to those of us in this region studying dust storms:

She has just completed a project concerning Yellow Dust-Interactive Modeling. The MIT team of faculty and students is working with others from China, Korea, and Japan, the three countries in which the yellow dust from the arid lands in China is now an annual phenomenon. It severely affects transport (closing airports and highways), industry, and also is a great threat to human health, creating both respiratory and eye problems.

The team is investigating the sequence of events that lead to the atmospheric transport of the dust and the economic and health effects this has on society.

They hope to determine the types of critical interventions needed to reduce the problem and the localities where these interventions will be most effective.

This is a new project funded by the Alliance for Global Sustainability (AGS).

Feel free to discuss this in the forums.

« Next Article Market Failure

Previous Article » Permit Process