ENIVRONMENT ASIA

Volume 14, No. 01, Month JANUARY, Year 2021, Pages 13 - 22

Synoptic analysis of dust storm in iraq

Jasim Al-Khalidi, Dher Bakr, and Abdullah A. Abdullah

Abstract Download PDF

In this study, the synoptic analysis of dust storm for spring and summertime in Iraq were investigated. The images for dust provided by NASA are used to emphasize the dust storm days, while the composite maps of wind vector and geopotential 850hPa are mapped to investigate the pressure and wind direction patterns appearing with the dust condition in the same days. Spring has more dust frequency than summertime, especially in May. The frontal type of dust storm is dominant on spring, the cold air pushes the warm air that picking up the sand to the air through the vertical wind, but the southwestern high-speed wind and drought condition were controlled on the dust in summer. The northwestern wind is the main factor that carries the dust for long-distance. The eastern desert of Syria, Rub Alkhali in Saudi Arabia, the western area of Iran and the area between Tigris and Euphrates rivers are the main sources for dust in Iraq.

Keywords

Dust storms; Iraq region; Geopotential height; Storms frequency; Shamal mechanism; Drought.

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