Evaluating the Impacts of Climate fluctuations on wind processes (Case study: Abshirin ecosystem)

The desert environment is aeolian, being dominated by the wind. The dynamics of wind erosion are driven by both natural processes, including climate and its fluctuations, and human activity. Separating the climatic and anthropogenic causes of wind erosion can improve the understanding of its driving mechanisms. The aim of current research is to evaluate the spatio-temporal dynamics of the aeolian process based on the sand dunes morphology and the analysis of the spatial correlation between wind erosion dynamics and climate fluctuations. Based on meteorological, remote sensing and field observations data, the impacts of climate fluctuations on the temporal and spatial changes of the aeolian process were evaluated according to the indicator of the creation and expansion of sand dunes .MODIS remote sensing data was used to study the sand dunes morphology. The temperature, precipitation, wind speed and other meteorological data used in this study were all derived from two synoptic stations of Qom and Kashan. The analysis of the elongation and form of the sand dunes as the wind direction indicator showed that the studied area is affected by the winds region of the Qom (northwest and west). The results of climate studies showed that over the last 27 years, the region has a rising temperature trend, while the average precipitation in the region has decreased in the same period. The relationship between drought conditions and aeolian process showed that the region experienced severe drought conditions more than normal or abnormally dry conditions during 1369 to 1395.