Abstract

The open seas in the southern side of the Iran plateau are under the influence of heavy dust storms which are originating either from the Tigris and Euphrates basin, the Arabian peninsula or Hamoon lake in East Iran. We have used the recordings of the CALIPSO satellite to investigate the seasonal variations as well as the origins of the dust storms over the region. Integrated attenuated backscatter coefficient (IAB), columnar averaged particulate depolarization ratio (PDR) and the columnar aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 532 nm have been selected for this purpose. Monthly values of AOD, averaged over the available CALIPSO data set, show that dust activities are quite frequent during May to September in the interested region. Variations of PDR and AOD versus IAB show that the Hamoon lake in East Iran, has considerable impacts on the recorded dust storms over the Oman and Arabian seas during June to September.

© 2016 Optical Society of America