Sharif Digital Repository

Several dust storms originated from western countries deserts of Iran hit different cities in Iran and substantially elevates PM10 levels. To the date, some studies on trend and origin of the dust storm have been carried out. However, not enough information is available on the contribution of different deserts around the country to the aerosol concentration in Iranian cities. In this study, the deserts of potential dust sources have been identified and their contributions to PM10 concentration in Tehran have been investigated. The PM10 data collected over a 5 year period from 2006 to 2010 at monitoring stations in Tehran were used. A statistical approach was implemented in order to determine... 

Dry bed of lakes and surrounding areas play an important role in dust production. This work tries to develop an Aerosol Type Detection Index for the two regions of Lake Hamon in Sistan, Iran, and the Aral Sea in Central Asia. Using the parameters of Extinction Coefficient and Depolarization Ration of CALIPSO satellite, the proposed index differentiates and categorizes fine dust particles and clouds according to the physical behavior of each in absorbing and backscattering satellite rays. This index shows values between zero and 0.15 for desert dust and -0.3 to zero for polluted desert dust particles. In order to verify the accuracy of determining the type of particles by the proposed index,... 

study has been divided into two main sections. In the first section, six climate variables have been analyzed in 15 synoptic stations in Iran’s west region through parametric and non-parametric statistical tests in order to find the climate varibility. The results illustared that, in general, there is no climate variability in the western part of Iran. Investigation of climatic indices and changes in the meteorological data in the entire study area (including a large portion of Middle East), in a 30 year period (1979-2008), is eloquent of a drought during the last 10 years of the period. In the second section, by means of the Aerosoal Index (AI) extracted from TOMS and OMI tools, it was... 

In recent years, dust storms have been recognized as one of the most crucial problems for people worldwide. Provided that the dust masses transport mechanisms are properly known, the main dust sources can be identified, and therefore, appropriate actions can be taken. Therefore, the main goals of the present study are estimating dust concentration, determination of dust distribution with an emphasis on Iran (especially Tehran), and finding the main dust sources which will be followed in five steps. In the first step, by analyzing the measured data during dust observations in Tehran through 2013-2016, several simple and multivariate nonlinear regression models have been established in order... 

This project aims to investigate environmental effect –such as dust and rain- on the performance of a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). However, those issues are frequently investigated in the horizontal axis wind turbines, but this subject has not been studied in vertical axis wind turbines. Impact of rain or dust particles on the turbine blades can change the turbine performance. So consideration of the impact of environmental factors on the performance of wind turbines is very important. Vertical axis wind turbines, particularly the straight bladed VAWT are widely used in wind power generation in agricultural and rural lighting and the use of this type of turbines is increasing... 

Identification of dust storm hotspots using high resolution 1 km MODIS Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) data obtained by MAIAC algorithm for a region including Iran and its neighbors, is one of the objectives of the present study. By implementing three important statistics on AOD and averaging over the last decade time period (2009-2019), dust sources of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Afghanistan, and Pakistan were specified. These statistics include frequency of occurrence AOD>0.3, mean and coefficient of variation of aerosol optical depth. The membership rank of source zones in the set of hotspot areas has been obtained by applying the fuzzy logic approach on the three mentioned layers.... 

City of Karaj with 2 million population used to enjoy very clean and accommodating air and environment . This congenial condition was due to agricultural and gardening activities of the local population . This way of life has undergone a profound change due to a change in the economic activities of the local population from farming and agriculture to industrial activities . And this has brought particulate matter wich has been exacerbated in the recent years . With the additional onslaught of the dust storms coming from the neighboring countries due to drying up of rivers and lagoons .The main object of this work was to obtain the spectrum of the PM and the additional component of PM that... 

Particulate matter is an important source of air pollution. Particulate matters have an Undesirable effect on the environment, economic, and the health of Tehran Citizens. Annually, more than 8 thousands of tons of mineral dust from Internal and external resources deposit in Tehran city. In this project, the increase in the level of PM10 concentration during June, 12th to 14th, 2015 have been considered. The intrusion and dispersion of mineral dust during June, 11th to 15h, 2015 have been simulated with the HYSPLIT Model. Also, the Trajectory of particle end in Tehran during the mentioned days simulated and plotted with the HYSPLIT. The results show that more than 85% of PM10 reported by Air... 

In this study, leaching of Sarcheshmeh Reverberatory Furnace Dust was investigated in the H2SO4-O3 media. Response surface methodology based on central composite face-centered design (RSM-CCF), was applied to optimize the operating parameters. The optimum conditions to obtain the main goal of maximum copper and minimum iron dissolution from dust were identified to be temperature of 30˚C, leaching time of 3hr, initial pH of 0.5, pulp density of 20% and ozone flow rate of 1g/h. The copper and iron concentrations of leaching solution were found to be 27.11 and 0.89983 g/L under the optimum conditions, respectively. The results showed that selective copper extraction from the dust could be... 

Desiccation of different salty lakes around the world has been considered as one of the most critical environmental events. Gradual desiccation of the Lake Urmia and retreatment of its shoreline with respect to ecological level (1274.1 meters) have resulted in new hotspots for dust outbreaks, especially in east and south-east peripheries, which were previously under water. These areas, part of which are salty, are now exposed to open air and susceptible to wind-erosion. Soil moisture, as one of the most important parameters for dust prevention, determines the threshold friction wind speed over playa because it increases the cohesion between soil particles. Therefore, compared with dry soil,... 

At Lake Urmia (LU) greatest extent, it was the largest lake in the Middle East and the sixth-largest saltwater lake on Earth, with a surface area of approximately 5,200 km2. The lake has shrunk to 10% of its former size due to damming of the rivers that flow into it, and the pumping of groundwater from the surrounding area. Moreover, as the lake shriks its potentional to be a major dust sources increases. A Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model was used to investigate and track the extent of dust emission and aerosol concentration over Lake Urmia marginal dust spots in order to identify the affected and critical areas. Also, percent movement, propagation... 

In recent years, the increase of particulate matter concentration due to frequent dust storms has become one of the most important dilemmas of people around the world. The high concentration of dust particles causes irreparable respiratory diseases, premature death, economic and social damages. Because of placement in the vicinity of the main sources of dust, Iran has been severely affected by the phenomenon of dust storms and damage caused by it.In this research, two dust storms occurred in Tehran are simulated using WRF-Chem and HYSPLIT models. The first event took place on February 2, 2016, and the second event took place on May 22, 2018. In order to determine the empirical parameters of... 

Since Iran is a part of Afro-Asian belt of deserts, 21 percent of its area belongs to desert lands. By the increasing number of dust storms in western adjacent countries dust particle concentration’s value has been critical. PM10 modeling and finding out dust origins can extremely help to manage methods by decision-makers to control dust from the origin. HYSPLIT modeling tool is benefited to get to this aim. In this study metropolises which hardly confront air pollution according to EPA statement were selected. HYSPLIT was calibrated and validated by comparing the results with measurement stations. According to the point that that particles were transported from western parts of Iran,... 

Nowadays by fast growing the population and development of countries, the demand of energy is increasing rapidly. Solar energy is one of the most reliable and environment friendly source of energy. Photovoltaic modules (PV) are such a solar systems that is able to convert solar energy into electrical energy. However, some parameters such as increasing cell temperature and dust accumulation can reduce the PV modules efficiency. Increasing the cell temperature reduce the capability of electrical production of cells and dust accumulation is an obstacle for solar radiation absorption. As a result, in this research tempt to solve these problems by building a new device for PV modules. In this... 

Lake Urmia is the largest inland lake of Iran and one of the most important water ecosystems in Iran and the world. The ecosystem of this lake is a typical example of a closed drainage basin into which all the runoff flows in the rivers of the basin are discharged. Because of its unique natural and ecological features, Urmia Lake has been declared as a national park since 1346, along with Kabudan and Qion Daghi islands, among the protected areas. Among the most important invertebrates in the lake, we can mention Artemia, which is a species of saltwater shrimp and one of the native species of Lake Urmia. This species is the most important source of food for many water birds such as flamingos.... 

Lake Urmia, the largest domestic lake in Iran due to climate change and lack of attention to sustainable development in the past two decades, has lost a significant part of its area. The contaminated bed of dried lakes is one of the main centers of dust generation.These materials are transported along with the wind to distant areas and have an irreversible impact on human health and the environment, so it is very important to determine the sources of dust production on the lake of Urmia to reduce the adverse effects of it.In this study, after determining the arid areas in the Lake Urmia basin using the Angstrom Exponent (AE) and the Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), an index has been introduced... 

Ahwaz is typical of a polluted city. It ranks in the third place after Tehran and Esfahan and with the onslaught Of the dust storms it has acquired the dubious distinction of 1st polluted city in the world. The pollution status of this city was investigated from May 2012 to May 2013. 110 air filters were collected during this period. The air filters were analysed with AAS and INAA techniques. with the use of AAS we measured the concentration of Cd, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni and Pb elements. For the use of INAA method on the air filters we used two reactors of MNSR at Esfahan and the 5MW research reactor of Tehran. We managed to measure twenty five elements of Al , As , Br , Ca , Ce , Cl , Co , Cr ,... 

Urmia Lake is one of the largest permanent hypersaline lakes in the world. Since Urmia Lake is faced with drying phenomena, the release of dust from its surface is expected. The most appropriate technique on dust storms is the remote sensing technique. One of the most popular parameter that provides the integrated information over a vertical column of unit cross section of this phenomenon is aerosol optical depth (AOD). Satellite remote sensing has been used to retrieve AOD over land and ocean at spatial resolutions of several to several tens of km. However, higher spatial resolution aerosol products for local scale areas have not been well-researched mainly due to the difficulty of...