Evaluation of the role of drought in frequency of dust in Khorasan Razavi province

In arid and semi-arid regions dust phenomenon occurs frequently. These phenomenon seriously affects the human health, soil erosion, desertification and transport. Drought is one of the natural phenomena that decrease precipitation, reduce vegetation and increase dust in case study. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the number of dust events and climatic drought.

In this study, SPI index was used to estimate drought. Rainfall data for the years 1980-2010 and data of the dust for the years 2004-2010 were analyzed. The zoning dust and drought in the same period (2010-2004) was performed using the Kriging method in ArcGIS software.

The results of zoning the occurrence of dust and drought suggest that the greatest number of dust events (226 dust events) and severe drought happened in the province in 2008. Also, in 2005, the lowest number of dust events (85 dust events) and wet conditions prevailed in the province. Discussion and

The results indicate the direct relationship between dust event and drought, and dust event increased or decreased during the years that drought intensity increased or decreased.