Provenance-Finding of Dust Storms Using AVHRR Sensor Images of NOAA Satellite (Case Study: Southwest of Iran)

Dust storm is considered as one of the most important challenges in the west of Asia which has been intensified in recent decades due to various reasons like drought. These storms move a huge amount of soil particles causing severe economic, social and health damages. Different research findings show that dust storm can be considered as the most important climatic hazards in Iran.The present study aims at recognizing dust sources and its removal centers located in the southwest of Iran's borders. Using coded meteorological data, 24 AVHRR images were selected from all images. Moreover, the particles were detected by using the well–known algorithm of dust detection including brightness temperature difference in the thermal infrared bands and false-color combination. Totally, 62 original points were recognized in the southwest of the country, although 3 effective regions in production of dust were introduced by using the obtained density distribution in GIS including the west of Ilam and its bordering with Iraq, the confluence of the southern border of Ilam, north of Khuzestan and Iraq and the regions around HoorAlazim pond.