Document Type : Original Article
Author
Graduated from the Department of Climatology and Geomorphology, Faculty of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Iran
Abstract
Khuzestan Province is regarded as one of the critical dust hotspots in the Middle East. This study aims to conduct a 25-year (2001–2025) spatio-temporal analysis of dust days and their linkage with vegetation health across the province. Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data from MODIS products were processed in Google Earth Engine and analyzed using two complementary approaches: linear regression and the Mann–Kendall test accompanied by Sen’s slope estimator. The quantitative relationship between the two variables was further examined through a Generalized Least Squares (GLS) model with a first-order autoregressive (AR(1)) structure. Findings indicated that the peak of dust days (69 days in 2008) coincided with the minimum NDVI (0.123). Spatially, a southern and western belt stretching from Susangerd to Behbahan exhibited a significant increasing trend in dust alongside concurrent vegetation degradation. The critical hotspot, where increased dust and vegetation decline are co-located, covers approximately 4,058 km², whereas the northern parts of the province showed no significant trend. This spatial overlap confirms the role of internal dust sources driven by desiccated wetlands and abandoned agricultural lands. Furthermore, a non-linear, saturation-type relationship between NDVI and dust days was detected, indicating that the greatest dust reduction per unit increase in vegetation occurs at NDVI values below 0.14. Consequently, management actions should be prioritized and concentrated on the southern areas, particularly the Hoor-al-Azim and Shadegan wetlands and the lands south of Ahvaz.
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