CORRELATION BETWEEN SOLAR CYCLES AND DUST ACTIVITY OVER IRAQ

This work presents the results of statistical analysis of observed and severe dust visibility in Iraq in relation to the sunspot cycle for the periods 1959-2007 for Baghdad, 1978-2001 for Rutbah and 1987-2007 for Mousl, Nasiriyah and Basrah. Examination of each dust series was subjected to time and spectral analysis based on lag correlation. The result shows presence of a significant dust cycle similar to the sunspot cycle. The cross-correlation between the dust and air temperature with the sunspot activity shows a high correlation with the 11year sunspot cycle. Moreover, Fast Fourier Transformation spectral analysis for the dust series confirms the similarity agreement to the sunspot variations.