Correlation Analyses between Ultraviolet Radiation, Global Solar Radiation, and Metrological Variables and the COVID-19 Cases in Arid Climate

Abstract

The transmission of infectious diseases is influenced by several meteorological factors. In this study, the influence of several such factors in the transmission of COVID-19 (from 26 March 2020 to 29 July 2021) in the arid weather of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was investigated using the Spearman and Kendall rank tests. The factors considered were the average, maximum, and minimum values of air temperatures, air pressure, wind speed, relative humidity, absolute humidity, dew point temperatures, and the average values of the global solar radiation and ultraviolet radiation at bands A and B. The data on meteorological factors were obtained from the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) weather station, whereas the data on the daily COVID-19 cases were obtained from the official webpage of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH). The results revealed that air temperature (average, minimum, and maximum) average and maximum wind speed, maximum dew point temperature, global solar radiation, and ultraviolet radiation at A and B bands are positively associated with the daily number of COVID-19 cases reported in Riyadh. However, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure (averages, minimum, and maximum) is anti-correlated with the number of daily COVID-19 cases, while absolute humidity exerts no influence. These results are in total agreement with some of the previously established studies and are either contradicted partly or totally with others conducted at several locations around the world. The results could help not only epidemiologists understand the behavior of COVID-19 against meteorological variables but also national and international organizations and healthcare policymakers devise control strategies to combat the virus.