Environmental challenges and drought hazard assessment of Hamoun Desert Lake in Sistan region, Iran, based on the time series of satellite imagery

Sharifikia, Mohammad

doi:10.1007/s11069-012-0353-8

Cited by 80 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Hamoun lakes complex is situated in a topographic low basin at the northern edge of Sistan covering nearly 4000 km 2 They are shallow with average depth of about three meters and extremely vulnerable to the climatic and meteorological conditions over the area. Sistan basin has recently experienced an unusually long (~10-year) drought since 1999 (United Nations Environment Programme, 2006;Sharifikia, 2013: Rashki et al, 2013c resulting in drying of the Hamoun lakes, altering the land's saline content and disturbing its soil fertility, while some places became barren. By 2001, the Hamoun lakes had vanished leaving a fine layer of sediment that is easily lifted by the wind and, therefore, making the basin one of the most active sources of dust in southwest Asia (Middleton, 1986;Goudie and Middleton, 2006).…”

Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal variability of dust aerosols over the Sistan region in Iran based on satellite observations

et al. 2013

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Satellite remote sensing provides important observational constraints for monitoring dust life cycle and improving the understanding of its effects on local to global scales. The present work analyses the dust-aerosol patterns over the arid environment of the Sistan region-in southeastern Iran, by means of multiple satellite platforms aiming to reveal the spatiotemporal distribution and trends. The dataset includes records of Aerosol Index (AI) from Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and 6-year AI records from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) aboard Aura. Moreover, the aerosol optical depth (AOD) is analyzed through 11-year records from Multi-angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MISR) aboard Terra (2000Terra ( -2010 and from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard Terra (2000Terra ( -2007 and Aqua (2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011). The main focus is to determine similarities and differences in dust variability over southwest Asia, in general, and the Sistan region, in particular. The results show a marked seasonal cycle with high aerosol loading during summer and lower in winter, while MISR, MODIS and TOMS/OMI observations agree in both terms of monthly and seasonally mean spatial and temporal patterns. The higher aerosol concentrations during summer are interpreted as a result of the combined effect of the seasonal drying of the Hamoun lakes and the strong northerly Levar winds favoring dust erosion from the alluvial deposits in Sistan . After prolonged drought period, the dust-aerosol load over the area has increased in the beginning of the 2000s and decreased after 2004, 2 thereby leading to an overall declining trend during the last decade. Such a trend is absent during the winter period when dust emission over the region is minimal.

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Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal variability of dust aerosols over the Sistan region in Iran based on satellite observations

et al. 2013

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“…2) also show drought years for 2010-2012 and a short drought around 1970 (Macpherson et al 2015). The recent drought (from 1998) has also been observed in reduced river flows at the downstream end of the Helmand River in Iran (Sharifikia 2013). This reduction in precipitation has contributed to the observed drying of the karezes; however, reduced precipitation is not the only, and in some parts of the basin, not even the main cause for a decline in water table and the current drying of karezes.…”

Section: Causes For Drying Of Karezes In Helmand Basinmentioning

confidence: 91%

Karez (qanat) irrigation in the Helmand River Basin, Afghanistan: a vanishing indigenous legacy

Goes

Parajuli²,

Haq

et al. 2016

Hydrogeol J

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A karez is a gently sloping tunnel into a hillside with a series of vertical shafts. At the upstream end, the karez depresses the water table such that groundwater enters the tunnel. Farmers all over Afghanistan have built and managed karezes for centuries using indigenous knowledge. This report focuses on karezes in the Helmand River Basin in southern Afghanistan, and describes the location of karezes in relation to geology, technological and managerial aspects of karez irrigation, and their current status. Karez irrigation has declined in recent decades due to the following: a prolonged reduction in precipitation, increase in number of boreholes that lower the water table below the karez tunnel, breakdown in communitybased management, and reduced maintenance. Systematic field measurements are a challenge in the Helmand Basin due to security constraints. The current condition and management of the karezes have been assessed through short field visits and structured focus-group discussions with karez farmers and staff from provincial departments. The surveys indicate that over half of the karezes in the Helmand Basin have gone dry. Furthermore, the flow in karezes that are still operational has also declined significantly. The report demonstrates the value of using data from the US National Centres for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Reanalysis 1 project, to estimate historic precipitation for various karez zones in this data-poor basin. Strategies for rehabilitating karezes are discussed. Rehabilitation is financially expensive in comparison to drilling new boreholes, but karezes are part of the national heritage of Afghanistan and can facilitate social cohesion.

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“…Maximum expansion takes place in late spring, following snowmelt in the mountains. In years of exceptionally high runoff, the Hamoun lakes overflow their low divides and create one large lake that is approximately 160 km long and 8-25 km wide with~5700 km 2 surface area and a volume of 13,000 million m 3 (Sharifikia, 2013). An example of the maximum extent of the Hamoun lakes is shown in Fig.…”

Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The lakes' desiccation has created the largest source of dust-related PM 10 at a regional scale with maximum values usually > 1000 μgm −3 during dust storms (Rashki et al, 2012); the sand and dust particles are swirled into huge dunes that may cover a hundred or more villages along the former lake (Sharifikia, 2013). Dust particles also cover farms and grasslands, resulting in damage to crops and filling rivers and water channels with aeolian material.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A synergy of Landsat satellite imagery with data from the Zabol meteorological station, observations from MODIS, MISR and TOMS satellite sensors and model (GLDAS_noah-10) simulations was used. Recently, Sharifikia (2013) highlighted by means of Landsat images the drought conditions in the Hamoun dry-bed lakes during the last decade as a natural hazard, focusing mainly on the drought effects on the local economy and ecosystems, crop failure, health problems and salty-soil movement over the inhabited areas and agricultural fields. The present work further associates the water level in the Hamoun basin with precipitation, dust outflows and aerosol loading, and examines the influence of dryness in the Hamoun lakes on visibility records, dusty days, and land-atmosphere fluxes over the region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Dryness of ephemeral lakes and consequences for dust activity: The case of the Hamoun drainage basin, southeastern Iran

Rashki

Kaskaoutis

Goudie

et al. 2013

Science of The Total Environment

149

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Environmental challenges and drought hazard assessment of Hamoun Desert Lake in Sistan region, Iran, based on the time series of satellite imagery

Cited by 80 publications

References 10 publications

Spatio-temporal variability of dust aerosols over the Sistan region in Iran based on satellite observations

Spatio-temporal variability of dust aerosols over the Sistan region in Iran based on satellite observations

Karez (qanat) irrigation in the Helmand River Basin, Afghanistan: a vanishing indigenous legacy

Dryness of ephemeral lakes and consequences for dust activity: The case of the Hamoun drainage basin, southeastern Iran

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