Modeling and Analysis of Dust Storms of Yazd Province Using Numerical Models

جغرافیا و مخاطرات محیطی

Article 4, Volume 3, Issue 4 - Serial Number 12, January 2015, Pages 67-83   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/geo.v3i4.34323

Authors

Mohammadreza Mohammadpour Penchah^* ; Mohammad Hosein Memarian; Seyed Majid Mirrokni

University of Yazd

Abstract

Introduction
One of the factors that affect the climate of arid and semi-arid areas is dust storm. Numerical models are new methods for evaluation of dust storms which can also be used for forecasting dust storms. Weather patterns that lead to dust outbreaks can be simulated using computer models that support a wide range of simulations related to the long-range transport, dispersion, and deposition of aerosols. Mesoscale atmospheric models are widely used to capture the complex flow and meteorological parameters essential in dust outbreaks (for example, Ginoux et al, 2001; Zender et al, 2003; Kim, 2008).But one of the main problems in the study of contaminates such as dust is to quantify the relationship between air quality and pollution sources. Identify the source of infection is the first step in the process of determining an effective strategy for controlling pollution. One way to find the sources of pollution is back trajectory this means that the back trajectories from the receiver site can be used to specify the source location (Petzold et. al. 2009). Today, a coupling of meteorological and trajectory models are common methods in studies of dust storms.
Yazd province is one of the low rainfall areas in the center of Iran that is almost covered with desert and sandy plains. Consequently, this province is frequently faced with dust storm phenomena. In this study, owing to lack of numerical studies of dust storm in Iran, dust storms of Yazd province were analyzed using numerical models. We used two numerical models, Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model. WRF model analyses were used to investigate meteorological conditions in the center of Iran and HYSPLIT back-trajectory analyses were used to investigate the wind patterns that led to dust outbreaks by evaluating air transport pathways reaching Yazd area during dusty days.

Study area:
Yazd Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the center of the country. The province of Yazd has one of the driest climates in Iran due to its location east of the Zagros Mountains. Yazd is the driest major province in Iran, with an average annual rainfall of only 60 millimeters (2.4 in), and also the hottest north of the Persian Gulf coast, with summer temperatures very frequently above 40 °C (104 °F) in blazing sunshine with no humidity. Due to this climate and geographical position, the province of Yazd have been subjected to dust storm phenomena and have been suffering from large damages.

Materials and methods

In this study numerical models are used to investigate and forecast of dust storms. At first, Dust storms in the period of 2000-2009 were studied and dust storms which reduced visibility to less than 1000 meters were extracted. Then one of the strongest dust storms on 29 May 2003 was analyzed in detail. The Advanced Research version of WRF (ARW) was used to produce atmospheric fields at a high resolution over the study region. HYSPLIT model was used to compute simple air parcel trajectories as well as dispersion and deposition simulations. 2 nested domains of 45 and 15 km horizontal resolutions and 28 vertical levels was defined in WRF model that first domain was used for synoptic analysis and second domain was used for analysis of convergence zones and convective motions in the center of Iran. The model was integrated continuously for 48 h starting from 00UTC of 28 May 2009. Initial and boundary conditions were adopted from National Centers for Environmental Prediction Final Analyses (NCEP FNL) data available at 1° horizontal resolution. Boundary conditions were updated at 6-h intervals during the period of model integration. Then WRF outputs converted to format of input data for HYSPLIT model and this model was run to investigate the source of dust storm using calculation of back trajectories from receptor site. The back trajectories provide the Lagrangian path of the air parcels in the chosen time scale, which will be useful to identify the source locations of the pollutant that fall in the track of the back trajectories. Also for reduce uncertainty of back trajectories, trajectories were calculated at different altitudes (10 m, 500 m and 1000 m).


Results and discussion

Results of this study indicated that 20 dusty dates with visibility less than 1000 meter were occurred in Yazd station. Most of these cases occurred in February to July and in most of these cases wind direction were west and northwest. Synoptic and dynamic analysis of dust storm on 29 May 2003 using WRF outputs shows that passing of cyclonic systems of high levels and surface heating create strong instability and high surface wind speed in the region that this higher surface wind speeds lead up dust and sand. These conditions are associated with deep mixed layers and convective conditions before storm and a maximum area of strong convergence of surface wind at the time of starting dust storm and dust storm has formed. Back trajectory analysis using HYSPLIT model indicated that Gavkhoni marsh in southern part of Isfahan province and arid lands around it are the sources of the considered dust storm.
Conclusion

In this study it was shown that the use of numerical models and appropriate approach to assess and predict dust storms. The models were used in this study were Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and HYSPLIT trajectory model. For the case that investigate in this study WRF model simulated the wind flow under the influence of an existing cyclonic system during the study period. The passage of the cyclone with cold air in the central regions of Iran simultaneously with the heating surface area has created severe instability and formed the dust storm. Further, the back trajectories obtained from HYSPLIT model predict winds come in the quadrant between north and west where the Gavkhoni dry salt marsh is located.

Keywords

dust storm; WRF model; HYSPLIT model; Mixing Layer; Back Trajectory

References

امیدوار، کمال؛ 1384. بررسی و تحلیل سینوپتیکی توفان های ماسه در دشت یزد- اردکان، طرح پژوهشی دانشگاه یزد.

امیدوار، کمال؛ 1389. تحلیلی از رژیم بادهای شدید و طوفانی یزد. فصلنامه مدرس علوم انسانی. دوره 14. شماره 1. صص 83-105.

چیتی، منصوره؛ 1389. بررسی و تعیین الگوهای آب و هوایی و جوی حاکم بر توفان‌های گردوخاک در منطقه یزد. پایان‌نامه کارشناسی ارشد هواشناسی. دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد علوم تحقیقات تهران.

خوش‌سیما، مسعود؛ علی‌اکبری بیدختی، عباسعلی؛ احمدی گیوی، فرهنگ؛ 1392. تعیین عمق نوری هواویزها با استفاده از داده‌های دید افقی و سنجش‌ازدور در دو منطقه شهری در ایران. مجله فیزیک زمین و فضا. دوره 39. شماره 1. صص 163-174.

رضازاده، مریم؛ ایران‌نژاد، پرویز؛ شائو، یاپینگ؛ 1392. شبیه‌سازی گسیل غبار با مدل پیش‌بینی عددی وضع هوا ‌WRF-chemو با استفاده از داده‌های جدید سطح در منطقه خاورمیانه. مجله فیزیک زمین و فضا. دوره 39. شماره 1. صص 119-212.

لشکری، حسن؛ کیخسروی، قاسم؛ 1387. تحلیل آماری و همدیدی توفان های گردوخاک استان خراسان رضوی در فاصله زمانی (2005-1993). پژوهش های جغرافیای طبیعی. شماره 65. صص 33-17.

Brazel, A. J., and Hsu, S., 1981. The climatology of hazardous Arizona dust storms. In Desert Dust, T. L. P´ew´e (Ed.). Geological Society of America, Special Paper 186, 293–303.

Chiti, M., 2010. Investigation of climate and weather pattern of dust storm in Yazd area. MSc. Dissertation, Science and Research Branch Islamic Azad University of Tehran.

Dockery, D. W., and Stone, P. H., 2007. Cardiovascular risks from fine particulate air pollution. New England Journal of Medicine 356(5), 511–513.

Draxler, R. R., 1995. Source location through radiological monitoring (System Design and Concept of Operations). Presented at theRadionuclide Monitoring Workshop, ARPA Center for Monitoring Research.

Draxler, R. R. and Hess, G. D., 1997. Description of the HYSPLIT_4 Modeling System. NOAA Technical Memorandum.ERL ARL-224. P1-25.

Gamo, M., 1996. Thickness of dry convection and large-scale subsidence above deserts. Boundary Layer Meteorology 79, 265–278.

George, J.J., 1960. Weather Forecasting for Aeronautics. Academic Press, 673 pp.

Gillette, D.A., 1999. A qualitative geophysical explanation for ‘‘hot spot’’ dust emitting source regions: Contributions to Atmospheric Physics 72, 67–77.

Ginoux, P., Chin, M., Tegen, I., Prospero, J.M., Holben, B., Dubovik, O., Lin, S. J., 2001. Sources and distributions of dust aerosols simulated with the GOCART model: Journal of Geophysical Research 106, 20255–20273.

Khoshsima, M., Bidokhti, A. A., and Ahmadi-Givi, F., 2012. Evaluation of aerosol optical depth using visibility and remote sensing data in urban and semi urban areas in Iran. Journal of Earth and Space Physics 39(1), 163-174.

Kim, J., 2008. Transport routes and source regions of Asian dust observed in Korea during the past 40 years (1965–2004). Atmospheric Environment 42, 4778–4789.

Lashkari, H., Keikhosravi, Gh., 2008. Statistical Synoptic Analysis of Dust Storm in Khorasan Razavi Province (1993-2005). Physical Geography Research Quarterly 65, 17-33.

Lee, J.A., Gill, T.E., Mulligan, K.R., Domı´nguez Acosta, M., Perez, A.E., 2009, Land use/land cover and point sources of the 15 December 2003 dust storm in southwestern North America. Journal.geomorphology 105, 18-27.

Novlan, D.J., Hardiman, M., Gill, T. E., 2007. A synoptic climatology of blowing dust events in El Paso, Texas from 1932–2005. Presented at the 16th Conference on Applied Climatology, American Meteorological Society, no. J3.12.

Petzold, A., Rasp, K., Weinzierl, B., Esselborn, M., Hamburger, T., Dornbrack, A., 2009. Saharan dust absorption and refractive index from aircraft-based observation during SAMUM 2006. Tellus 618, 118–30. Doi:10.1111/j.1600-0889.2008.00383.x.

Omidvar, K., 2005. Synoptic analysis of sand storm of Yazd-Ardakan plane. Final report, Yazd University.

Omidvar, K., 2010. An analysis of strong and stormy wind of Yazd. Human Sciences MODARES 14(1), 83-105.

Rezazadeh, M., Irannejad, P., Shao, Y., 2013. Dust emission simulation with the WRF-Chem model using new surface data in the Middle East region. Journal of Earth and Space Physics 39(1), 191-212.

Rivera Rivera I. N, Gill, T. E., Gebhart, K. A., Hand, J. L., Bleiweiss, M. P., Fitzgerald, R. M., 2009. Wind modeling of Chihuahuan Desert dust outbreaks. Atmospheric Environment 43, 347–354.

Rosenfield, J.E., Considine D.B., Meade P.E., Bacmeister J.T., Jackman C. H. and Schoeberl M. R., 1997. Stratospheric effects of Mount Pinatubo aerosol studied with a coupled two-dimensional model. Journal of Geophysical Research 102(D3), 3649–70.

Rousseau, D. D., Duzer, D., Etienne, J. L., Cambon, G., Jolly, D., Ferrier, J., Schevin, P., 2004. Pollen record of rapidly changing air trajectories to the North Pole: Journal of Geophysical Research 109, D06116, doi:10.1029/2003JD003985.

Salazar, C., Alvarez, C., Silva, H. A., Dorantes, C., 1994. Radioactivity in air around nuclear facilities in Mexico. Environment International 20, 747–56.

Schwartz, S. E., Wagener R., Nemesure S., 1995. Microphysical and compositional influences on shortwave radiative forcing of climate by sulfate aerosols: the American Chemical Society National Meeting 209, 2-ENVR Part 1, DE-AC02-76CH00016.

Skamarock, WC., Klemp, J., Dudhia, J., Gill, D. O., Barker, D. M., Wang, W., Powers, J. G., 2008. A description of the advanced research WRF version 2. NCAR technical note, NCAR/TN-468+STR. Meso-scale and Microscale Meteorology Division: National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA.

Stohl, A., 1998. Computation, accuracy and applications of trajectories – a review and bibliography: Atmospheric Environment 32(6), 947-966.

Takemi, T., 1999. Structure and evolution of a severe squall line over the arid region in northwest China: Monthly Weather Review 127, 1301–1309.

Tegen, I., Lacis A. A., Fung, I., 1996. The influence on climate forcing of mineral aerosols from disturbed soils. Nature 380, 419–22.

Westphal, D.L., Toon, O. B., Carson, T. N., 1988. A case study of obilization and transport of Saharan dust: Journal of Atmospheric Science 45(2), 145–2,175.

Yerramilli, A., Rao Dodla,V. B., Challa,V. S., Myles,L., Pendergrass,W. R., Vogel,C. A. Dasari,H. P., Tuluri,F., Baham, J. M., Hughes,R. L., Patrick, C., Young,J. H., Swanier, S. J., Hardy, M. G., 2011. An integrated WRF/HYSPLIT modeling approach for the assessment of PM2.5 source regions over the Mississippi Gulf Coast region. Air Quality, Atmosphere, and Health. DOI 10.1007/s11869-010-0132-1.

Zender, C. S., Bian, H., Newman, D., 2003. Mineral Dust Entrainment And Deposition (DEAD) model: description and 1990s dust climatology. Journal of Geophysical Research 108, 4416. Doi:10.1029/2002JD002775.

Zoljoodi, M., Didevarasl, A., Montazerzohor, Z., 2013. Application of the dust simulation models in the Middle East, and dust-dispersion toward the western/southwestern Iran (case study: 22-26 June 2010). Natural Science 5(7), 818-831.