Remote sensing supported analysis of the effect of wind erosion on local air pollution in arid regions: a case study from Iğdır province in eastern Türkiye

Abstract

PM pollution is one of the most important environmental problems worldwide. One of the sources of PM pollution, which has a negative impact on human health, is dust that enters the atmosphere, especially in arid regions. Iğdır Province, located in the east of Anatolia, has an arid climate character and was selected as the most polluted province in Europe in 2021 and 2022 (in terms of PM2.5 pollution). In this study, the effect of wind erosion-induced dust on air pollution in Iğdır province was investigated. We think that local wind erosion during the summer season (May–September) in the province is effective on PM pollution. Because there are no industrial activities, vehicular traffic, fuel consumption and volcanic activities that cause PM pollution in the summer season around Iğdır. On the other hand, Türkiye’s second largest wind erosion area and the other two wind erosion areas are located here, and dust storms are quite frequent. The causes of local wind erosion, which is one of the main factors in air pollution in the summer period, were investigated from a geographical perspective and various data sets were utilized. Then, wind erosion sites were examined and their regional distributions were indicated. Research findings on wind erosion sites were supported by remote sensing techniques (quartz index, aerosol density, etc.). All the data obtained support the idea that wind erosion is a dominant factor in the high level of PM pollution during the summer season in this area. Because the number of days with strong winds during this period is quite high and EU, WHO and national PM limit values are exceeded almost every day.