The influence of dust storms on solar radiation data, aerosol properties and meteorological variables in Central Arabian Peninsula

Dust storms are one of the natural sources for aerosol particles, especially in desert regions. The arid and semi-arid regions around Saudi Arabia are some of the most important sources of global dust. In this paper, we have quantitatively studied the influence of several dust storms on solar radiation components and meteorological variables. Global, direct and diffuse solar radiation data, in addition to measurements of relative humidity, air temperature, precipitable water vapor, aerosol optical depth and an Angstrom exponent for the period between 1999 and 2002, were used for the purpose of this study. During this period, 34 dusty events were selected, and their effects on these parameters were characterized. We have found that, dust storms significantly increase aerosol optical depth and the diffuse radiation and decrease the global and direct solar radiation components and Angstrom exponent. On the other hand, dusty events affect air temperature, relative humidity and precipitable water vapor differently. They intensify these variables in some events and reduce them in others. We have found that the amount of changes in these variables varies from one event to another. Several possibilities, such as the source of the dust storm and the season in which it occurred, have been suggested to explain these variations.