Spatiotemporal variability of sand-dust storms and their influencing factors in the MENA region

Sand and dust storms (SDS) are environmental disasters that occur at a high frequency in the Middle East and North Africa (the MENA region). This study focuses on the MENA region and evaluates the spatiotemporal variability of SDS events during the last two decades (from 2000 to 2020). We retrieved SDS-associated data (including 07, 08, 30, and 35 dust event codes) and meteorological parameters (wind speed, precipitation, maximum and minimum air temperatures) from 222 synoptic stations across 14 countries in the MENA region. Based on the acquired environmental data, the homogenous areas of the MENA region were identified using a fuzzy clustering algorithm. The SDS trend and the causal correlation between SDS and climatic variables have been assessed using the Mann-Kendall test and path analysis for each homogenous sub-region. Our results indicated a significant increasing trend in SDS frequency over the eastern and western sides of the MENA region. In contrast, the central regions have witnessed a significant decrease in dust emission. The climatic parameters explained 36 to 60% of the SDS variabilities, among which air temperature and wind speed were the most contributing factors. Our path analysis detected a feedback mechanism between dust emission, air temperature, and wind speed which could further elevate heat transfer and aggravate the SDS adverse impacts. Additionally, our assessment of land-use change over the MENA region showed that transforming the barren lands into vegetative areas in Sudan, eastern Egypt, Iraq, and Syria likely contributed to lowering SDS frequency in these regions.