On the Relationship between Meteorological Variables, Dst Index, Solar Wind Speed, Solar Radio Flux, and Cosmic Rays and COVID-19 Cases

Abstract

This study aims to determine the influential role of the meteorological, solar, and geophysical factors and cosmic rays on the transmission of COVID-19 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The meteorological factors were air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and atmospheric pressure. The solar radio flux, Dst index, and solar wind speed were utilized as representatives of the solar and geophysical variables. The association between these variables and the COVID-19 pandemic cases from 3 April 2020 to 1 August 2021 was investigated using the Spearman and Kendall rank correlation tests. The obtained results showed that the air temperature and average wind speed are positively associated with the daily number of reported COVID-19 cases. On the other hand, the mean values of relative humidity and atmospheric pressure are inversely correlated with the number of COVID-19 cases in Riyadh. Moreover, the results showed that the Dst index and cosmic rays are positively correlated with the COVID-19 cases. Contrarily, solar wind speed and radio flux at 10.7 cm have negative correlations with the COVID-19 cases. The obtained results will help the epidemiologists to understand the behavior of the virus against meteorological, solar, and geophysical variables and can be considered as a useful supplement to help national and international organizations and healthcare policymakers in the process of strategizing to combat COVID-19.