Monitoring and detection of dust storms using satellite Modis data over Iraq.

Dust storms can suspend large quantities of sand and cause haze in the boundary layer over local and regional scales. Iraq is one of the countries that is often impacted to a large degree by the occurrences of dust storms. Sand and dust storms (SDSs), which present environmental risks and affect the regional climate, have been worsened in the East Asian regions over the last decade. Monitoring SDS from space using satellite remote sensing (RS) has become one of the most important issues in this field. We investigate the sand and dust storms detection in Iraq using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, both from Terra and Aqua satellite systems for the year 2022. MODIS Surface Reflectance Daily L2G Global 1 km and 500 m data were utilized to calculate the Normalized Difference Dust Index (NDDI). The MYD09GA V006 product was used to monitor, map, and assess the development and spread of dust storms over the arid and semi-arid territories of Iraq. And BT thermal emissive band (MODIS band 31) can discriminate aerial and surface sand and dust over Iraq. Normalized Difference Dust Index (NDDI) is applied for the detection of sand and dust storms. We set thresholds for NDDI to distinguish between water and/or ice cloud and ground features and dust storms and BT to distinguish airborne dust from ground sand or dust. In addition, the data from Modis satellite, and meteorological stations from IMOS are used to validate NDDI-based sand and dust storm events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]