Comparison of geological and climatological deserts domain of Iran

In this research, deserts domain of Iran was studied and compared in view of the geological and climatological specifications.Geological deserts domain was made as digital maps with considering saline and evaporate formations which have been effective in their development. To determine climatological deserts domain, climatological factors including amount of precipitation, rainfall coefficient variation, rainfall irregularity coefficient, the average intensity of daily precipitation, annual average temperature and amount of evaporation were calculated for all studied stations. Using Geographical Information System (GIS), the isohyets digital maps were prepared for each factor. With overlaying layers, a transitional boundary was made through which non-desert areas were separeted from deserts. All (geological and climatological) desert units were set up on the country map with utilization of the coordinate system and georeference. According to the results, climatological and geological deserts respectively encompassed 42.5 % (700991 km2) and 12.6% (208041 km2) of Iran map. Each individual layer covered different desert area on the map. Crossing and matching of two layers (common parts of overlaying) was 22.6% of the geo-climatological deserts of Iran which indicates differences between spatial distribution of geological and climatological deserts.