Investigation and simulation of long-range transport of dust particles from the Middle East to East Asia in a case study

10.22034/jmas.2022.350322.1177
Volume 4, Issue 2 - Serial Number 2
Summer 2021
Pages 161-177

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 ASMERC

2 , ASMERC, Tehran, Iran

Abstract
The severe and widespread dust on March 12-18, 2021 over a large part of Asia investigated. Satellite data, synoptic maps, and the HYSPLIT diffusion model and the WRF-Chem model outputs have used. On March 12, the dust particles transfered from Iraq to Iran and the dust emission started from the deserts of Arabia; and the dust particles were transferred to the countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan and China. In addition to long-range transport, the dust emission from local sources in the border areas of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran as well as the central of Turkmenistan and the western/central of China increased the intensity of the phenomenon and the extent of the areas affected by dust. In the synoptic analysis, a series of low-pressure systems observed in the south of Arabia, south/southeast Iran, Kyrgyzstan and China, which caused the dust emission and transport in the area. CALIPSO products show that in a large part of the region, there are suspended dust particles, and clouds are mostly deep convective and cirrus. The WRF-Chem model correctly simulates the dust emission from Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia and its transfer path. The activity of dust sources around Lake Hamon, Turkmenistan and central China can be seen in the output of the model. The vertical cross-section of dust concentration and quantities of relative humidity, wind speed and potential temperature indicate the penetration of dust particles to the upper levels of the atmosphere, which is the reason for their long-range transport under the influence of higher wind speed.

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