Diagnostic Study of Atmosphere-Terrain Interaction Leading to the Formation of Dust Clouds and Poor Visibilities Over Near East Desert Areas
Abstract
A comparison of the frequency of occurrence of poor visibilities in areas and during periods of intense agricultural, industrial and military activity with that in sparsely populated areas unaffected by war military manoeuvres, has been undertaken. Three years of surface reports from 850 stations in the Near East and adjacent North Africa were screened for visibilities coded as 90 through 95 and 9 through 10 on FIGGE and NCC data bank tapes. Seasonal maps of the location of stations reporting poor visibilities, a calendar of poor visibility for each station and maps of the distribution of those stations reporting fog/rain, fog/snow/drifting snow and sand/dust were prepared for most of the three year period. Only the most reliable and important results are shown. In mountainous regions poor visibilities occurred frequently all year round. Low frequencies of poor visibility reports were found in Eastern Tunesia, Western Lybia, West Africa and the Sudan. (It must be remembered that during World War II the desert battle between the British and the German armies in North Africa caused noticeable deterioration of visibility in Western Egypt.) It is recommended that this climatology be completed. Keywords: Meteorological data; Dust; Desert climatology; Southwest Asia.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 30, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA211243
Entities
People
- Lonzy J. Lewis
- Pieter J. Feteris
Organizations
- Jackson State University