Contribution of the Middle Eastern dust source areas to PM10 levels in urban receptors: Case study of Tehran, Iran

The origins and evolution of the Middle Eastern dust storms which frequently impact the residents of this arid region were studied. A methodology was adapted and developed to identify the desert regions of potential dust sources and determine their contributions to PM10 concentrations in the highly-populated receptor city of Tehran, Iran. Initially, the episodes of regional dust intrusion and the resulting amounts of increase in the particulate concentrations during these episodes were determined using a statistical analyzing methodology. The dust episodes were also inspected with the aerosol index information from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). The Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model was used as the main tool to determine the proportions of dust originating from different deserts during the dusty episodes of 2009–2010. 5-day back trajectories were obtained from the receptor stations during the dust outbreaks in order to find and confirm the location of potential sources. After the boundaries of the potential sources were determined by 5-day backward trajectories, this region was divided into different areas to quantify their contributions to the measured PM10 levels. The proximity between the measured and simulated data confirmed the ability of HYSPLIT in modeling the Middle Eastern dust intrusion and estimating the particulate concentration in the downwind receptor sites. Results showed that the deserts in Iraq and Syria are the main contributing dust sources which comprise more than 90% of the dust related PM10 concentrations in Tehran, during the studied dust episodes. The sources in northern Iraq and eastern Syria respectively represented 44% and 32% contributions on average.