A Synoptic-and Remote Sensing-based Analysis of a Severe Dust Storm Event over Central Asia
Broomandi P. Mohammadpour K. Kaskaoutis D.G. Fathian A. Abdullaev S.F. Maslov V.A. Nikfal A. Jahanbakhshi A. Aubakirova B. Kim J.R. Satyanaga A. Rashki A. Middleton N.
February 2023AAGR Aerosol and Air Quality Research
Aerosol and Air Quality Research
2023#23Issue 2
A severe dust storm blanketing Central Asia on 3–4 November 2021 was investigated employing satellite remote-sensing, synoptic meteorological observations, reanalysis and HYSPLIT back-trajectories. The prevailing meteorological conditions showed an intensification of air subsidence over eastern Kazakhstan, featured in a typical omega-blocking system over the region and two troughs to its west and east axis, one day before the dust storm. The prevailing high-pressure system and temperature gradients over Kazakhstan modulated the dominant anticyclonic wind pattern generated from the south Balkhash basin toward the Caspian Sea, causing a huge dust storm that covered the southern half of Kazakhstan and large parts of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. The dust storm originated in the steppes of southern Kazakhstan by violent downdraft winds. Initially it swept over eastern parts and then the whole of Uzbekistan, reaching the Caspian Sea in the west. Meteorological measurements and HYSPLIT back-trajectories at selected sites in Central Asia (Turkmenabat, Khujand and Tashkent) showed a remarkable dust impact that reduced temperature (by 2–4°C) and visibility to below 1 km at different periods, as the thick dust plume expanded in various directions. The extremely high PM concentrations (PM10 > 10,000 µg m–3 in Tashkent) could endanger both human health and the environment, especially in a region suffering from high susceptibility to wind erosion and significant land degradation and desertification. Effective and immediate stabilising measures to control wind erosion in vulnerable areas of Central Asia are warranted.
Atmospheric circulation , Backward trajectory , Dust storms , HYSPLIT , Tashkent
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Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Department of Climatology, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
Climate Change Technology Transfer to Developing Countries Group (SSPT-PVS), Department of Sustainability, Italian National Agency for New Technologies Energy and Sustainable Development, ENEA, C. R. Casaccia, Rome, 00123, Italy
Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, Athens, 15236, Greece
UNESCO Chair on Coastal Geo-Hazard Analysis, Research Institute for Earth Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Neotectonics and Natural Hazards Institute, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Water, Sediment, Hazards, and Earth-surface Dynamics (waterSHED) Lab, Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Canada
Department of Physical Atmosphere, Physical-Technical Institute, Academy of Sciences of Republic of Tajikistan, Dushanbe, 734063, Tajikistan
Atmospheric Science and Meteorological Research Centre (ASMRC), Tehran, Iran
School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, United Kingdom
Department of Desert and Arid Zones Management, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
Department of Chemical Engineering, Masjed-Soleiman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Masjed-Soleiman, Iran
St Anne’s College, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX2 6HS, United Kingdom
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department of Climatology
Climate Change Technology Transfer to Developing Countries Group (SSPT-PVS)
Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development
UNESCO Chair on Coastal Geo-Hazard Analysis
Neotectonics and Natural Hazards Institute
Water
Department of Physical Atmosphere
Atmospheric Science and Meteorological Research Centre (ASMRC)
School of Architecture
Department of Desert and Arid Zones Management
Department of Chemical Engineering
St Anne’s College
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