The Effect of Particulate Matter Pollution of Saharan DustOver Europe in May-2020: A Case Study of Karaman CityCenter, Turkey

Desert dust rising from the African region and covered very long distances with meteorologicalevents can be an important source of pollution for many countries from time to time. Althoughdust and sand masses that remain in the atmosphere for a long time are known to be inert andstable, but studies show that they affect vegetative production by changes in precipitation andradiation regimes. It is important for natural phenomena and has also revealed their effects inregions over which the atmospheric transport occurs. The Sahara dust storm of mid-May 2020 hasstrongly, affected many European countries. The Sahara dust and hot air transport is reported overthe Mediterranean region to the Balkans and further to Turkey. Depending on the climaticconditions, the Sahara dust may remain in some regions for longer period. Rainy and humidweather conditions slow down the flow of dust and increase the settling rate in that region. In suchcases it creates mud-like precipitation accompanying with rain. In this study, Sahara dust pollutioneffectis investigated for a particulate event pollution with the use of measurements from thenetwork system in all cities in Turkey. For this purpose, the values ofParticulate Matter (PM)pollution are analysed before the desert dust reached Turkey, during theevent and when it left thecountry. PM measurement values in Karaman province were examined and it was shown that theSahara dust increased significantly in the period when it reached this region. Then, PM valueswere seen to come down to normal levels.