Evaluating the Effects of Sahara and Arabian Desert Dust on the MENA Region’s Air Quality Through WRF-Chem Modeling and Remote Sensing Techniques

Dust, composed of small solid particles, contributes to air pollution, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Despite identifying substantial dust sources in many countries, effective measures to combat dust emissions in these regions remain limited. This study utilized ground-level PM₁₀ data, alongside satellite data to investigate the impacts of transported dust from the Sahara Desert and Arabian Peninsula on the air quality of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries in May 2015. WRF-Chem version 4.5 was utilized for dust modeling to assess the impacts of dust on particulate matter concentration in the study area. Based on the results of this study, dust has contributed significantly to the region’s aerosol pollution with high AOD values close to or more than 1. The findings revealed elevated particulate matter concentrations originating from the MENA region, particularly in the Middle East countries with hourly PM₁₀ values exceeding 1000 µg/m³ over the study period. Model performance of WRF-Chem through cross-validation of observed PM₁₀ data against predicted values in six ground-observed air quality stations, yield a correlation coefficient values ranging between 0.35 and 0.77.