Evaluation of vegetation health based on the resilience in arid lands

In recent years, dust storms have been one of the most important air pollution crises in Khuzestan province. According to various studies, the countries of Iraq and Syria is reported as the main sources of dust over Khuzestan, it is necessary to monitor the spatial patterns of dust sources in the western region of Iran in different years. In this study, using Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) from the MODIS, annual trend of dust in Khuzestan province was determined from March 2000 through the end of 2016. Three years 2005, 2009, and 2015 as representative of the main changes in the Khuzestan dust index, the spatial variation of dust in the neighbouring western region of Iran were investigated. According to the results, the dust indexes of the western region of Iran in 2005 were similar to 2015. Nevertheless, in 2015, the activities of dust source points in the eastern and northern part of Iraq (north of the Tharthar Lake) were reduced, and the activity of dust source points in the south of Kuwait and northeastern Arabia increased. The activity of dust source points in areas in the northwest of Iraq and eastern Syria in 2009 has temporarily increased significantly, which has led to an increase in dust index of Khuzestan province that year. Along with these changes, the increase of dust activity in southeast Ahwaz in 2015 compared with the years 2005 and 2009, due to the proximity to the city of Ahwaz, could play a significant role in the dust waves of the recent years.