Prioritization and Identification of Dust Storm Sources in Fars Province

The purpose of this study was to identify and prioritize dust storm sources in Fars province. The data collection tool in this study is two types of questionnaires including AHP and SWOT. Using AHP method, the questionnaires were extracted and weighted by 20 professors and experts. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Fars Province in the field of dust storm resources were prepared by SWOT questionnaire with a 5 point Likert scale. Finally, it was used to determine the appropriate strategy in the area of dust storm sources. The SWOT questionnaire was completed by thirty experts and professors proficient in the province. Nine factors including Human Penetration Index, Early Crop Changes, Precipitation Efficiency Coefficient, Human Indicators of Soil Degradation (Human Indices), Frequency of Dust Storms, Soil Physical Properties, Precipitation, Drought and Temperature (Natural Indicators) were investigated. The results of the study showed that 31.3% of the province's area was in a very high class and 19.48% of the province's area was in a high class for being prone to dust. Internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) in Fars province were compared in pairs. The relative weight of weaknesses is 0.223 and the relative weight of strengths is 0.763. The final score of internal factors for the province is 3.296. External factors are also compared in pairs. The relative weight of threats is 0.345 and the relative weight of opportunities is 0.655. The final score of external factors was 3.152.