Investigation of the Climatic parameters Effect on the Concentration of Particles Matter Less Than 10 μm and its Relation to Wind Erosion Occurrence in Arid Regions

One of the main causes of air pollution in the arid areas of world, especially in Iran, is the increase of the PM10 concentration. The main objective of this research is to identify the most important climatic factors affecting the change of PM10 concentration near Yazd-Ardakan plain and its relation with wind erosion occurrence during the period from 2012 to 2017. For this purpose, the monthly average of climatic data, daily concentrations of particles smaller than 10 micrometers and hourly data related to different dust phenomena of the Yazd synoptic station were used. In order to determine the most accurate relationship between meteorological parameters and PM10 concentration, eleven bivariate regression functions (linear, logarithmic, inverse, power, exponential, second order, degree three, growth curve, combination, logistic and curve S) were compared with each other based on the Pearson correlation coefficient(R), F statistic, Relative Error(RE) and Root Mean Square Error(RMSE). Finally, by analyzing the relationship between dust storm index and PM10, the role of wind erosion event on its changes was investigated. The obtained results of regression functions analysis indicated that there was no significant linear relationship between meteorological parameters and PM10 during the examined time period while a significant nonlinear relationship was established between monthly mean air temperature and maximum temperature with PM10. The correlation coefficient, F, relative error, and squared error squared error based on the most accurate nonlinear function between suspended particle concentration and average monthly temperature were 0.67, 8.06, 0.1, and 0.09, respectively. To estimate the concentration of suspended particles based on the maximum temperature, the values of these parameters were 0.65, 7.3, 11/0 and 0.08. The results also showed that 24% increase in suspended particle concentration in recent years was due to the occurrence of wind erosion.