Identifying High-Risk Airports in Iran Regarding Exposure to Dust Storm Events

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Researcher, International Research Center of Sand & Dust Storm, Research Center of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science

Abstract
The research seeks to determine the most vulnerable airports in the country to dust events, which create a major threat to air safety and efficiency of operations. High dust levels often lead to impaired visibility, interference with navigation systems, flight delays, and even flight cancellations, elements that create serious threats to aviation safety and efficiency, with massive economic and social implications. Satellite products and meteorological data have been used in this research to identify airports which are most prone to dust events. The impacts of the phenomenon on these airports are analyzed by calculating aerosol optical depth, dust storm index, and number of days with low visibility for the year 2019-2023. Airports at high risk have been identified for each season. The outcome of the analysis shows that during the spring season, the impacted airports are Zabol, Qeshm, Zahedan, Shiraz, Qeshm, and Yazd; for summer, the airports of concern are Zabol, Zahedan, Bojnord, Birjand, Payam and Qeshm; for autumn, the airports of concern are Zabol, Ardebil, and Bansarabbas, finally, during the winter season, the impacted airports are Zabol, Zahedan, and Birjand. Aside from generating flight disruptions, the phenomena also have the potential to inflict damage on aircraft engines and bodies. It is noted that the prevailing wind direction by the windrose in synoptic stations showed northerly and northwedterly winds in Zabol and Zahedan, Southewesterly in Qeshm and Northwesterly in Bojnord which bring dust from dust sources to these regions.

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