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Unraveling the link between agricultural patterns and dust storm occurrence in Mesopotamia

Hashemi, Hossein LU orcid ; Abdi, Abdulhakim M. LU orcid ; Naghibi, Amir LU ; Zhao, Pengxiang LU ; Brogaard, Sara LU ; Haghighi, Ali Torabi and Mansourian, Ali LU orcid (2025) In Environmental Research Letters 20(2).
Abstract

Dust storms have been an increasing concern in the Middle East. Severe drought events and human activities, particularly water and land management, have led to emerging dust sources in the last few decades. This study combines spatio-temporal maps of land susceptibility to dust storm incidence with agricultural land use change data to examine the link between farming patterns and dust storm generation in the Tigris and Euphrates Basin from 2000 to 2021. Farmland and bare ground trends depend heavily on water availability, affecting land susceptibility to dust storms. We observed a direct connection between cropping regimes and high land susceptibility to becoming a dust source. Our analysis found no significant correlation between low... (More)

Dust storms have been an increasing concern in the Middle East. Severe drought events and human activities, particularly water and land management, have led to emerging dust sources in the last few decades. This study combines spatio-temporal maps of land susceptibility to dust storm incidence with agricultural land use change data to examine the link between farming patterns and dust storm generation in the Tigris and Euphrates Basin from 2000 to 2021. Farmland and bare ground trends depend heavily on water availability, affecting land susceptibility to dust storms. We observed a direct connection between cropping regimes and high land susceptibility to becoming a dust source. Our analysis found no significant correlation between low to intermediate dust storm source (DSS) susceptibility and bare ground trends. However, we found a positive correlation between highly susceptible land and areas where bare ground showed an increasing trend, including the lands that were abandoned for more than 50% of the study period. Among the farming patterns, i.e. single and double cropping, single cropping is more prone to DSS occurrence, underscoring the importance of year-round vegetation cover and effective water management. The disturbed lands, particularly those abandoned post-cropping, show higher susceptibility to DSS incidence. Between 2008 and 2012, dust sources and land susceptibility increased substantially, alongside a significant rise in bare ground, possibly due to severe drought. We highlight cases where changes in farming patterns and land abandonment contribute to the increased or decreased susceptibility of land to being a DSS, as well as consistent susceptibility in the cases where there is no land use change. Given the broad geographical scope of the study, this research underscores the need for further investigation, combining field measurements with remote sensing to obtain a more detailed picture of the link between farming patterns, land abandonment, and dust storms.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
bare ground, dust storm, human impact, land use change, Tigris and Euphrates Basin
in
Environmental Research Letters
volume
20
issue
2
article number
024011
pages
12 pages
publisher
IOP Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:85216074848
ISSN
1748-9326
DOI
10.1088/1748-9326/ada62a
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.
id
740b7dad-81ce-4046-9d1a-8f08aa862167
date added to LUP
2025-02-04 10:41:04
date last changed
2025-02-18 11:24:13
@article{740b7dad-81ce-4046-9d1a-8f08aa862167,
  abstract     = {{<p>Dust storms have been an increasing concern in the Middle East. Severe drought events and human activities, particularly water and land management, have led to emerging dust sources in the last few decades. This study combines spatio-temporal maps of land susceptibility to dust storm incidence with agricultural land use change data to examine the link between farming patterns and dust storm generation in the Tigris and Euphrates Basin from 2000 to 2021. Farmland and bare ground trends depend heavily on water availability, affecting land susceptibility to dust storms. We observed a direct connection between cropping regimes and high land susceptibility to becoming a dust source. Our analysis found no significant correlation between low to intermediate dust storm source (DSS) susceptibility and bare ground trends. However, we found a positive correlation between highly susceptible land and areas where bare ground showed an increasing trend, including the lands that were abandoned for more than 50% of the study period. Among the farming patterns, i.e. single and double cropping, single cropping is more prone to DSS occurrence, underscoring the importance of year-round vegetation cover and effective water management. The disturbed lands, particularly those abandoned post-cropping, show higher susceptibility to DSS incidence. Between 2008 and 2012, dust sources and land susceptibility increased substantially, alongside a significant rise in bare ground, possibly due to severe drought. We highlight cases where changes in farming patterns and land abandonment contribute to the increased or decreased susceptibility of land to being a DSS, as well as consistent susceptibility in the cases where there is no land use change. Given the broad geographical scope of the study, this research underscores the need for further investigation, combining field measurements with remote sensing to obtain a more detailed picture of the link between farming patterns, land abandonment, and dust storms.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hashemi, Hossein and Abdi, Abdulhakim M. and Naghibi, Amir and Zhao, Pengxiang and Brogaard, Sara and Haghighi, Ali Torabi and Mansourian, Ali}},
  issn         = {{1748-9326}},
  keywords     = {{bare ground; dust storm; human impact; land use change; Tigris and Euphrates Basin}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{2}},
  publisher    = {{IOP Publishing}},
  series       = {{Environmental Research Letters}},
  title        = {{Unraveling the link between agricultural patterns and dust storm occurrence in Mesopotamia}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ada62a}},
  doi          = {{10.1088/1748-9326/ada62a}},
  volume       = {{20}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}