Journal of Spatial Analysis

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Dust storms affect different regions of the globe countries and Iran. The dust storm events were considered as one of the climatic components in arid and semi-arid regions and it is called one of the most important environmental problems of these regions. Therefore, in this research, the activity class of sand dunes were investigated based on the Lancaster index in Iranshahr city in Sistan and Baluchistan province. The aim of this study is to investigate the climatic different conditions on the mobility of sand dunes in Iranshahr city. Meteorological data for synoptic station of Iranshahr were collected from the Iranian Meteorological Organization for 15 years (2003 to 2018). After examining the wind speed velocity in Iranshahr, and extracting the seasonal and annual Wind rose diagrams, Dust Storm Index (DSI) was calculated.  Finally, the effects of possible changes in climatic elements on the mobility of sand dunes were predicted. The results showed a significant correlation between the Lancaster index and the amount of annual rainfall, wind and drought index. The results of the sensitivity analysis also showed that if the frequency of erosive winds and potential evaporation and transpiration increases to 30%, the activity of sand dunes in Iranshahr station increases by 25 and 23%, respectively, on the other hand, with a 30% increase in rainfall, the activity of sand dunes decreases by 30%.
 

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Introduction
Geographical situation of Iran is a place for interacting many physical and human processes which lead to specific precipitation climatology in the country. The month to month variation of precipitation is one of  the features which the precipitation climatology may reflect due to tempo - spatial characteristics. In fact, monthly distribution of precipitation is one of precipitation normal features building up the climate structure. In order to recognize this fundamental characteristic three following questions have been raised:
1) Have the month to month distribution of precipitation changed over recent four decades?
2) How is the pattern of relationship of month to month distribution of precipitation and spatio - topographical variables?
3) Is it possible to find a spatial pattern for decadal changes of precipitation of month to month distribution?

Data and Methods
In order to find a responses for the abovementioned questions the distribution of month to month precipitation and its decadal changes was considered by adopting coefficients of variations (CV) for 46 years (1970-2016)  and using the third version of Asfazari dataset. The relationship of precipitation data and spatio-topographical variables calculated based on regression techniques. Moreover, the spatial pattern considered by using cluster analysis.  The CV calculated as follow:

here ،،  are ith raw's and jth column's CV, standard deviation, and monthly mean, respectively.
CV and its relationships with spatio-topographical variables were calculated in two temporal scale, for whole the under investigation period (1970-2016) and in decadal period for four decades (1977-1986, 1987-1996, 1997-2006, 2007-2016).
Discussion
 The results of current study proved that the month to month different in precipitation amounts have had spatial variations, whilst the temporal trends is not statistically significant. In addition, the minimum, maximum, and consequently, the range of values also the averages have not experienced significantly changes. However, the region experiencing the same values of precipitation illustrated oscillatory behavior. Accordingly, the decadal variations have happened in different areas. Although the there have been statistically significant relationships between monthly CV and spatio - topographical factors, the correlations were low. Based on cluster analysis, we found 5 regions according to CV and its anomalies in compares with normal CV for all under investigation period. These regions generally follow the latitudes from 32 N toward northern latitudes, whilst the region in the south of 32 N generally follow the longitude patterns.
Results
Precipitation is known a chiastic and complicated climate element. One of chiastic behaviors which precipitation shows in its different time - scale behavior is its month to month distribution among a given year. In current research the decadal variation of  above-mentioned behavior among recent four decades and the variation of its relationships and the spatio - topographical features , as parts of climate structure of the country, have investigated in details. 
Our finding illustrated that the month to month different in precipitation amounts have had tempo - spatial variations, whilst the temporal long - term trends is not statistically significant. Moreover, the values of minimum, maximum, and consequently, the range of month to month CV also the decadal averages have not experienced significantly changes over four under study decades. However, the region experiencing the same values of precipitation depicted oscillatory behavior. consequently, the decadal variations have happened in different areas. Although there have been statistically significant relationships between monthly CV and spatio - topographical variables, the correlations were not considerably high. Based on cluster analysis technique, we found 5 regions according to CV and its anomalies in compares to normal CV for all under study decades. These regions generally follow the latitudes from 32 N toward northern latitudes, whilst the region in the south of 32 N generally follow the longitude patterns.

KeyWords: Iran precipitation, Month to month changes in precipitation, Inter annual variation of precipitation, Precipitation anomaly, Spatial analysis of precipitation

 

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Application of multivariate techniques in-line with spatial regionalization of AOD over Iran

Introduction
Models, satellites and terrestrial datasets have been used to detect and characterize aerosol. Nontheless, micoscale classification using remote sensing parameters considers as a deficiency. Thus, regionalizion and modeling aerosol without regard to political boundaries or a specific stations over Iran  demonstrates the spatial distribution of simple AOD structures.
Materials and methods
 Present study attempted to simulate and detect homogeneous areaes of aerosol in Iran using AOD (areosol optical depth) datast at 550 nm across Iran. Among the eigen techniques, principal component analysis (PCA) is the most applicable and controversial classification applied as multivariate analysis approach. In the line of the target, PCA, S-Mode separate the AOD subgroups with similar correlations. In the mode, m time series apply to each n station or grid points as a variable in the analysis, which is the territory of the region or geographical area. Mathematically, if the input data column in the Z matrix is applied as mathematical variables and the Z matrix has n points in the time series and m is the time step, then in the Zs decomposition has 3654×9985. In addition, the scree test and North's rule were used to cut-off the principal components and to select the number of appropriate special vectors to be kept.
Results and Discussion
For the study purpose, 85 percentaile of loadings were used to determine AOD areas over Iran. Using the method, the spatial patterns of Iran's aerosolshave been divided into six subregions, which are the major centers affected by the AOD. These major AOD hotspots affect by AOD extermes that are originated from aerosol surrounding sources. So that, the geographical location of sources areas have caused the northeastern atmosphere of Iran to be influenced by severe storms originating from the Karakum Desert. The same is correct concerning the East and Southeast regions. While, the intensification and transfer of aerosol from the Sistan plain to the south is increased AOD load over southeast Iran. Moreover, this study revealed a set points associated with distinguishing spatial differences between the west-northwest and southwest regions as well as central region that have not addressed in previous studies because of focus on ground-based observations. Also, the method illustrated that formation of the identified regions are a function of the volume, growth, and spread of aerosol particles resulting from the source regions in the Middle East. Finally, the classification techniques converting dynamic phenomenon such as aerosol into simpler structures presented a interpretable understanding of the geographical distribution of the phenomenon.
Conclusion
The present study identified the spatial patterns of AOD hotspots into six distinct regions including northeast, west-northwest, southeast, southwest, central and eastern Iran affected by the aerosol as well as major centers or high gradient areas. In addition, the present study not only supported by previous studies, but also it  make sense a regionalization that was neglected by former studies, whileseperated  the boundaries of the AOD areas without considering  provincial boundaries. Overall, the classification techniques, PCA, simplified a dynamic phenomenon such as aerosol into a simpler and illustrated geographical and interpretable understanding of the spatial distribution of the phenomenon.

Keywords: Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), Multivariate Techniques, Regionalization, Iran
 

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Introduction
Climate change is the greatest price society is paying for decades of environmental neglect. The impact of global warming is most visible in the rising threat of climate-related natural disasters. Globally, meteorological disasters more than doubled, from an average of forty-five events a year to almost 120 events a year (Vinod, 2017). Climate change refers to changes in the distributional properties of climate characteristics like temperature and precipitation that persist across decades (Field et al., 2014). Because precipitation is related to temperature, scientists often focus on changes in global temperature as an indicator of climate change. Valipour et al. (2021) reported the mean of monthly the global mean surface temperature (GMST) anomalies in 2000–2019 is 0.54 C higher than that in 1961–1990. Many studies have been done on climate change in Iran. These studies have mostly studied the mean and extreme temperature trends (Alijani et al., 2011; Masoudian and Darand, 2012). In general, the results of previous studies showed that the statistics of mean, maximum and minimum air temperature in most parts of the Iranian plateau have increased in recent decades. Also, the increase of minimum temperature is greater than maximum temperature.
A review of the research background shows that we need to understand more about regional climate change in Iran. Therefore, present study performs the climate change of 14 extreme temperature indices using multivariate statistical methods at the regional scale.

Data and methodology
Historical climate observations including daily maximum and minimum temperature were obtained from the Iranian Meteorology Organization for the period 1968 to 2017 at 39 stations. In this paper, 14 extreme temperature indices defined by ETCCDI were analyzed. The indices are as follows: (1) Annual maxima of daily maximum temperature (TXx); (2) Annual maxima of daily minimum temperature (TNx); (3) Annual minima of daily maximum temperature (TXn); (4) Annual minima of daily minimum temperature (TNn); (5) Cold nights (TN10p); (6) Cold days (TX10p); (7) Warm night (TN90p); (8) Warm day (TX90p); (9) Frost days (FD); (10) Icing days (ID); (11) Summer day (SU); (12) Tropical nights (TR); (13) The warm spell duration index (WSDI) and (14) the cold spell duration index (CSDI). The extreme temperature indices were extracted using R software environment, RclimDex extension. The Mann–Kendall Test and Sen’s Slope Method was employed to assess the trends in 14 extreme temperature indices. To identify homogeneous groups of stations with similar annual thermal regimes, Principal Component analysis (PCA) and Clustering (CL) was applied. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to investigate the relationship between height and trend slope.

Result
All the extreme temperature intensity indices (TXx, TNx, TXn, and TNn) showed increasing trends during 1968 to 2017. The increasing trends of TXx, TNx, TXn, and TNn were 0.2, 0.3, 0.44, and 0.5 ° C per decade, respectively. These results indicated that the extreme warm events increased and the extreme cold events decreased. The average of the extreme temperature frequency indices over Iran showed that the frequency of warm night (TN90p) and warm day (TX90p) significantly increased with a rate of 6.9 and 4.2 day per decade, respectively. Also, the frequency of cold night (TN10p) and cold day (TX10p) significantly fell with a decrease rate of 3.8 and 3.8 day per decade, respectively. The frequency of warm nights (TN90p) was higher than that of warm days (TX90p). The result indicated that the trend of nighttime extremes were stronger than those for daytime extremes. The average of frost days (FD) and icing days (ID) indices over Iran showed decreasing trends during 1968 to 2017 with rates of 3 and 1.1 d per decade, respectively. While, the averaged of summer days (SU) and tropical days (TR) indices over Iran showed increasing trends with rates of 4.4 and 6.4 day per decade, respectively. The warm spell duration index (WSDI) indices showed a clear increase, with a rate of 2.1 per decade. In contrast the cold spell duration index (CSDI) showed a significant decrease, with a rate of 1.7 per decade. In general, the cold indices displayed decreasing trends, whereas the warm indices displayed increasing trends over most of Iran. Pearson correlation coefficient between height and Sen’s Slope was estimated to be equal to -0.62 (p < 0.01). In general, the results of this study showed that there is a negative correlation between the elevation factor and the Sen’s Slope of warm extreme indices. That is, as the altitude decreases, the Sen’s Slope increases. Therefore, the stations located in low altitude have experienced stronger increasing trends than in high altitude. The area of ​​Iran was classified into four clusters using PCA and CL methods. Cluster 1 has experienced the strongest increasing trends. The average height of cluster 1 is 535 meters. Approximately 38% of the studied stations were located in cluster 1. Cluster 2 showed a moderate heating trends. 33% of the stations were located in cluster 2. Most of the stations of cluster 2 are located in the northwest and west of Iran. Cluster 3 showed a weak increasing trends compared to clusters 1 and 2. The stations of cluster 3 did not show a special geographical concentration and were scattered in all parts of Iran. 18% of the studied stations are located in cluster 3. The stations of Cluster 4, have experienced weak decreasing trends, which was different from the other three clusters

Conclusion
In this study we analyzed the climate change of extreme temperature indices in Iran. The result showed that the frequency of warm nights, warm days, summer days and tropical days increased. Also, the frequency of cold nights, cold days, Frost days and icing days decreased. The warm spell duration index showed a clear increase. In contrast the cold spell duration index showed a significant decrease. In general, the extreme warm events increased and the extreme cold events decreased over most of Iran. There is a negative correlation between the elevation factor and the Sen’s Slope of extreme warm indices (R = -0.62). Therefore, the stations located in low altitude have experienced stronger increasing trends than in high altitude. The area of ​​Iran was classified into four clusters using PCA and CL methods. Cluster 1 has experienced the strongest increasing trends. The average height of cluster 1 is 535 meters. Therefore, the most heating have occurred in Low-lying areas of Iran. Cluster 2 and Cluster 3 showed a moderate and weak heating trends, respectively. The stations of Cluster 4, have not experienced clear trends.

Key words: climate change; Extreme temperature; clustering; Iran



 

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In this research, the most important synoptic patterns of widespread snowfall in the western half of Iran have been investigated. For this purpose, the data of current weather code and snow depth of 36 synoptic stations during the statistical period of 1371-1400, for the months of October to March, were received from the Meteorological Organization of the country. In order to investigate wide snowfalls, the days when more than 70% of the studied area saw snowfall at the same time were extracted as a wide day. In order to perform synoptic-dynamic analysis of wide snowfalls in the western half of Iran, the classification method using cluster analysis was used and maps of representative days were drawn, including atmospheric temperature, moisture flux, geopotential height, tovai, front formation, jet stream, omega index, and orbital and meridian wind data. Trend analysis was also performed using the Mann-Kendall test.  The results showed that 4 models justify the widespread snowfall in the studied area in the best way. According to the results in all the models, at sea level, the collision of cold and dry air of northern latitudes with warm and humid air of southern latitudes has caused the formation of frontal fields in the western half of Iran. At the level of 500 hectopascals, the intensification of the meridional currents in the western winds caused the creation of closed centers and as a result the flow changed in the direction of the westerly winds, and the location of the western half of Iran in the east of Naveh Al-Aghti and Sardchal has provided the necessary conditions for air to rise. Also, there was no trend in the number of snow days in the western half of Iran at the significant levels tested. But; The number of snow days has been decreasing over time. In general, it can be concluded that due to the warming of the earth and climate change, the number of snowy days has decreased and these changes have led to a significant shortening of the snow season.

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The effect of climatic parameters on vegetation distribution in central Iran
Introduction
Climate or climate reflects the daily weather conditions in a particular place for a long time. Most climatic elements are closely related to ecological factors, which is why the analysis of the relationship between climate and plant distribution patterns has been discussed in scientific and research circles for many years. And in recent years, scientists have been using a combination of climatic characteristics with other environmental factors to describe vegetation around the world. Climate change and atmosphere condition will change the content and composition of many plant communities.

The Study Area
The geographic coordinates of the studied area are between latitudes 29°32’ to 33°59’ and 51°27’ to 55°5’. The position of the selected provinces of central Iran compared to the neighboring provinces are shown in Figure 1 The annual data of 8 stations have been analyzed during the stations period determined by the National Meteorological Organization. The stations characteristics including latitude, longitude, elevation and specific statistical period are shown in Table 3.

Data and research methods
In this study, the role of temperature changes and relative humidity on vegetation in Central Iran has been investigated using statistical models of analysis of the main components and hierarchical clustering. This research is applied and its method is slightly analytical. In order to investigate the climatic fluctuations of the center of Iran with respect to urban green space, statistical data related to average temperature and relative humidity during the 32-year period (1986 to 2018) selected central stations of Iran to come and statistical deficiencies such as Data loss was performed by reconstructing differential equations using SPSS software. The criterion for selecting stations is the availability of long-term statistics. Using statistical methods and Geographic Information System (GIS), vegetation classification was performed for Central Iran. ArcGIS, Minitab, SPSS and EXCEL software are used in this research. After identifying the stations, climatic variables including temperature and relative humidity were selected from the data of 8 meteorological stations and were analyzed using the techniques mentioned above. Then, using statistical regression analysis, the impact (topography, average temperature and average relative humidity) on how to distribute and distribute vegetation was investigated. Kendall-man non parametric test was used to investigate changes in the vegetation index trend.

Results and discussion
Analysis of temporal changes in climatic parameters and NDVI index
The results show that the distribution of relative humidity in Abadeh and Kerman stations has decreased by 3% and the temperature distribution in these stations has increased by more than one percent. Relative humidity changes in Kashan and Sirjan stations have a weak decreasing trend, while the relative humidity distribution in Isfahan station has decreased by about 2%.The temperature distribution of Shiraz and Yazd stations increased by 3%, Abadeh station increased by 2% and also Isfahan and Kerman stations increased by 1%. The distribution of vegetation in Yazd and Khor Biyabank stations has decreased by one percent, while the growth of vegetation in Isfahan, Abadeh and Sirjan stations is increasing by less than one percent.

Distribution of NDVI vegetation index in Central Iran using cluster analysis
The stations are located in three distinct areas in terms of distribution of vegetation, each group having the same climatic characteristics in the distribution of similar vegetation. Based on this, three climatic zones in the study area can be identified.

Conclusion
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of climatic parameters (average temperature and relative humidity) on the distribution of vegetation in Central Iran using comparison of statistical models; by examining the distribution and density of vegetation, eight factors were identified. Among the factors, the first and second factors, with 81.57% of the total vegetation variance, have played the most important role in determining the climatic diversity of Central Iran. In total, these eight factors have justified about 100% of the vegetation behavior in the area Also, according to the analysis of images of Modis satellite measuring satellites from the vegetation situation in the last 5 years, Central Iran, the value of NDVI index in Central Iran varies between 0.2 to 0.64, the northwestern parts of Fars province have the highest vegetation density and The central parts of Isfahan, especially Yazd, lack vegetation. Based on the results, altitude has a direct and significant relationship with temperature distribution in plants, especially in the study area. However, the height of Iran's central regions has affected the distribution of vegetation.

Keywords:  climatic parameters, vegetation distribution, central Iran

 

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 Determining Strategies for Improving Environmental Resilience in Gharehshiran Watershed in Ardabil using SOAR Analysis Technique
Ebrahim Asgari - PhD Student of Watershed Science & Engineering, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran. Email: ebrahim.asgari90@yahoo.com
Mahboobeh Noori - PhD Student of Geography & Urban Planning, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran. Email: mnori@stu.yazd.ac.ir
MohammadReza Rezaei - Associate Professor of Geography and Urban Planning, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran. Email: mrezaei@yazd.ac.ir
Raoof Mostafazadeh - Associate Professor Department of Natural Resources, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran. Email: raoofmostafazadeh@uma.ac.ir (Corresponding author)

Extended Abstract
Introduction: New approaches of crisis management have changed from the concepts of vulnerability to resilience and emphasize on strengthening the system's ability to deal with the risks of natural disasters. Therfore, the aim of this study was identifying the watershed capabilities of Qarahshiran and crisis management planning with emphasis on environmental resilience.
Methodology: The SOAR analytical technique and expert opinions of 52 experts were used to formulate the strategy, determine the strengths, opportunities, ideals and measurable results. The results of SOAR technique and crisis management prevention and preparedness strategies were compared with the environmental resilience of the field.
Results: Based on the results, reducing direct and indirect flood damage with 51.9% and low amount of soil erosion and water loss with 42.3%, were the most important results of the SOAR model. Out of 15 components of environmental resilience, the performance of 5 components was accepted as significant (α<0.05 confidence level). The evaluation of environmental resilience using one-sample t-test showed that the environmental dimension of resilience (2.67) with a significant level (α=0.003) has a significant that indicates high vulnerability and low resilience.
Conclusion: Considering site selection of watershed management structures, creating more opportunities and using the private sector potentials, and local NGOs will be useful in crisis management. Analysis of watershed resilience components in achieving integrated watershed management, proper knowledge of watershed function, possibility of self-regulation and recovery of balance and acceptance of adaptation to natural hazards, co-design of watershed residents, preparedness and coping with crisis can be more effective over the study area.
Key words: SOAR Model, Strategic Planning, Prevention and Preparedness, Resilience, Gharehshiran Watershed

 

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Onset and End of Natural Seasons in Iran

Introduction:
 Season is the natural pattern of change in nature, which is related to the movement of the sun, the temperature cycle, the life cycle of the earth (phenology) and human culture. In astronomical and climatic seasons, a year divided into four seasons, spring, and summer, autumn and winter (Alsop, 2005), (Trenberth, 1983). Season is a period of the year with a homogeneous climate (Alsop, 1989), that is difficult to determine exactly when to start and end. The methods of determining of the seasons are: change in the face of the earth (Cayan et al, 2001), (Wang et al., 2021), constant temperature threshold, (Jaagus et al, 2003; Kitowski et al, 2019; Ruosteenoja et al, 2019; Alijani,1998), Air Masses, (Lamb, 1950; Cheng et al, 1997; Pielke et al, 1987; Kalinicky,1987; Alpert et al, 2004). What is a natural constant sign is the key to determining change and starting a new season. Organisms react to the onset and end of natural seasons by changing their behavior. Naturally, plants and animals adjust and adapt their phonological stages to temperature changes and jumps (Sparks et al, 2002), Plants germinate and flower in spring,fruit in summer, reduced activity and leaf in autumn and in winter fall asleep (Menzel et al, 1999 Animals are also adapted to reproduction, nesting and childbirth, And their phonological period is also related to vegetation conditions. In other words, the life stages of living organisms are adapted and dependent on these natural changes (Schwartz et al, 2000). Some organisms also migrate in order to adapt (Smith et al, 2012). The genetic response of organisms to rapid climate change and seasons associated with winter warming across the north, the early onset of spring and a long growing season is a factor in impairing the physiological response (reproduction, dormancy or migration time) of species(Bradshaw et al, 2008). On the other hand, the sensible temperature of organisms is affected by radiation, wind, air temperature and humidity. As appearance temperature is an important heat factor (heat and cold) in nature, to which animals, plants and humans react. Ruosteenoja et al (2019), showed the length and onset seasons of European with thresholds of 0 and 10 ° C focusing on the scenario of a 2 ° increase in temperature, an increase in summer length and a decrease in winter compared to pre-industrialization. The length of summer increases by 1 degree, increases by 10 days, and the length of winters decreases by 10 to 24 days. Kitowski et al, (2019), showed the onset of summer earlier, the shorter autumn, the longer summer and the shorter winter in Poland with zero-, 5- and 15-degree temperature thresholds. Wang et al, (2021) change the onset time and length of natural and summer seasons from 78 days to 95 days, and spring, autumn and winter, 124 to 115, 87 to 82, and 76 to 73 days, respectively. Also, summer is halfway through the year and winter is less than two months to 2100 in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere. Dong (2009) showed that in most parts of China since 1950, summers have been longer and winters shorter, with the onset of summer 5.8 days earlier and the length of the season 9 days longer and the winter 5.6 days later and the length of the season 11 days. Changes in transition seasons are less. Season start, end and season length changes studied in Oregon and Washington (Alsop, 1989), in the United States (Barry and Perry, 1973), Europe (Jaagus et al, 2003), Estonia (Jaagus et al, 2000), South Korea (Choi et al, 2006), China (Ma et al, 2020), Xinjiang in northwestern China (Jiang et al, 2011; Cheng et al, 1997), Eastern Mediterranean (Alpert et al, 2004), Iran (Alijani ,1377). Therefore, with the increasing trend of temperature in different regions of Iran (Alijani et al, 2012), study of change of the start and end dates of natural seasons in connection with life in nature is necessary (Penuelas et al, 2002). The aim of this study is determine the time of onset, end and length of natural and significant seasons and its difference with astronomical and climatic seasons in Iran with highlands, inland and coastal lowlands in the north and south with a new approach based on biological physiology.
Material and methods:
To determine the onset and end of natural seasons, daily data of relative humidity, water vapor pressure, and wind speed and air temperature over a 60-year period for 32 synoptic stations in Iran from 1959 to 2018 were used. Selected stations cover all areas of Iran (coastal, low and highlands). In the first step, the apparent daily temperature of each station was calculated (Formula 1). In the second stage, with the knowledge of the direct effect of atmospheric circulation factors in the occurrence of natural phenomena (Alijani, 2011) And rapid changes in temperature (season), the 4-day moving averages of apparent temperature (average life of cyclone and anticyclone) at each station were calculated and was the basis of study. The onset and end of the season are with a natural and biological approach related to the stages of bio phenology and the natural part's reaction to temperature changes. Therefore, the apparent temperature of zero and below zero with the reduction or cessation of biological activity in nature, is the onset of winter. On the other hand, the time required by nature to adapt to new temperature conditions, is at least 10 days (Joy, 2017). Therefore, the temperature of zero degrees and non-return to zero Up to at least the next 10 days, is the basis for the onset of winter. In fact, with the continuation of sub-zero temperatures for 10 days, the living part of nature receives the signal of change. If after that, for a period of less than 10 days, the temperature goes above zero, the situation will not return to the previous state (nature did not react and adaptation occurred). On the other hand, the best temperature for the growth period is from at least zero degrees to a maximum of 30 degrees in nature (Abrami, 1972). The second key indicator is the temperature of the onset of summer and the warm period. For the onset of the summer season, the temperature of 20 degrees was base with the previous conditions. Because at this temperature, the reproductive period in plants and animals has started, most animals and plants have children and humans also feel warm. As plants begin to fill grain at this temperature, including wheat (Jenner, 1991 and Dupont et al, 2003) as the world's oldest grain. Here, the same condiction as before, don’t return to 20 degrees for at least the next 10 days was the basis. So at the onset of both seasons, if the temperature returns to zero and 20 in the 10-day period, the season has not begun, and in that year the station does not have winter and summer, respectively. Then, the temperature of 19 degrees and less with the above conditions, the onset of autumn and the temperature of 1 degree and more with the above conditions, are the basis for the onset of spring.
Formula 1: Calculate the apparent temperature                      AT = T + 0.33 PV - 0.7 WS – 4
T = air temperature in Celsius, PV = water vapor pressure in hPa, WS = wind speed in meters per second, AT = apparent temperature in Celsius

Results and discussion:
 The onset and end of natural seasons are different in the geographical and topographical location of Iran. Southern regions and the northern coasts are two seasons with a warm summer season and a transitional season (cool). Other parts of Iran, like the temperate regions of the globe, have four seasons, but the start, end and length varies. The longest winter in the northwest and the western heights and the length of winter to the east and south is short and vice versa, the longest summer in the south and center of Iran. Spring season in below 29 degrees orbit, Khuzestan and the shores of the Caspian Sea is not a separate season, but with the absence of winter, it merges with autumn. In other regions, spring begins in the south and northwest, respectively, from 31 January to 8 March. In most parts of Iran, the onset of spring coincides with the traditional date of Nowruz, after small chelleh of winter. This month coincides with the rise in temperature and the revival of nature and the introduction of the New Year. The end of spring in the central regions, 10 May and in the northwest, 18 June, and its length varies from 103 to 96 days in the northwest and northeast, respectively. In the temperate regions of Iran, it is about three months with a 10-day spatial fluctuation (Table 1). The onset of summer is with a new stage of phenology in nature. The onset of summer is from 15 April on the southern coasts with high tropical arrival and the latest onset of summer in the northwestern part is 19 June (Table 1). In the south of the orbit of 29 degrees and the region of Khuzestan, until 8 May, in the central and northeastern regions of Iran from 22 May to 29 May and the west and northwest region, from mid-June to the end of June. The end of summer, as opposed to the onset, is the earliest time of 17 September in the northwest, and in the southern regions of Iran, the end of 8 October is in the 29 degree orbit. The southern regions of Iran, the longest summer that shows the role of latitude and slower exit of the tropical system (Alijani, 1390). The length of the summer season in temperate regions varies from 90 to 139 days, approximately three to five months, respectively in the northwest and the 29-degree geographical orbit, respectively. Therefore, the spatial trend of summer length from east and south of Iran to north and northwest is decreasing and there are the shortest summers in northwest of Iran. Naturally, this spatial trend is related to the high-altitude inbound and outbound routes of the subcontinent and the western systems from the south and northwest, respectively. The month of October and November is the onset of autumn in Iran, in the northwest and northeast, with the arrival of cold atmospheric circulation from above, the angle of radiation and altitude, is 18 September. The latest start of autumn in Hormozgan is 12 November (Table 1). The end of autumn is the first of April to the first of June in the south and north coasts, respectively. In the northeast of Iran, 24 to 28 December, and in the central regions, 28 to 31 December, is the end of the autumn season. The earliest end in the northwestern regions of Iran at the end of December is 10-17 December. The length of the autumn season in temperate regions is 83 to 97 days, respectively, in the northwest and northeast, that’s an average of nearly three months. With the onset of winter, decreases in temperature (frost) and winter during the year below the 29 degree orbit are rare, but on the northern coast, with the influence of atmospheric systems, it is a coincidence. In other regions of Iran, northwest, west and east of Zagros and south of Alborz, above 29 degree orbit, from 11 December to 1 January, is the time of winter. Respectively, the earliest onset of winter is in the northwest, and the latest onset in the central regions (Table 1). As the westerly winds of the extraterrestrial latitudes with cyclones and anticyclones dominate the Iranian atmosphere, also, the angle of radiation and the amount of radiation received at the earth's surface at this time, reaches a minimum during the year. The end of winter in temperate regions is from 30 January in the 29 degree orbit to 7 March in the northwestern regions. Winter length reaches 86 days in northwestern Iran, 29 days in central regions (above 29 degree orbit) and 58 days in northeastern Iran, Therefore, there are only three winter months in northwestern Iran and in other parts of Iran, it is the shortest season during the year. Spatial trend of winter length from northwest of Iran to east and south is decreasing.
Figure1: Date of onset, end and duration of natural seasons in different regions of Iran

Fall

Summer

Spring

Winter

Season

Length

End

onset

Length

End

onset

Length

End

onset

Length

End

onset

83

10 Dec

18 Sep

227

17 Sep

15 Apr

100

10 may

31 Jan

86

30 Jan

11 Dec

Earlier

160

21 Apr

13 Nov

90

12 Nov

19 Jun

103

18 Jun

8 Mar

29

7 Mar

1 Jan

Later

77

133

56

137

55

65

3

39

36

57

36

21

Fluctuation

Conclusion:
The time of the onset, end and length of natural seasons in Iran are different from astronomical and calendar seasons. The slow decreasing and increasing trend of temperature at the onset and end of the seasons is initially a function of the angle of radiation and the length of day and night, but the real onset of a season with temperature jumps associated with the migratory atmospheric system (cyclone and anticyclone), Siberian hypertension, It is from the north and high in the subtropics from the south. Areas below 29 degree orbit in the south of Iran and Khuzestan and the northern coasts, have only two seasons of autumn (cool) and summer (warm) and the temperature decreases to zero and less (occurrence of winter), in the southern regions, rare and on the northern coasts is accidental and short. The apparent temperature in these areas has been decreasing since late summer and in the middle of the cold period, it is decreasing to the maximum (lowest temperature during the year) and increasing again until the onset of summer. Therefore, the above areas are two periods, with a cool season and a hot and hot season. The southern coasts of Iran and Khuzestan have short cooling seasons and long hot and hot summers, and the northern coasts, on the contrary, have shorter summers and longer and cooler autumns, that The influence of water temperature, latitude, topography and atmospheric systems are effective in these differences. In other regions of Iran, except the mentioned regions, four natural seasons occur (spring, summer, autumn and winter). In connection with the role of latitude, altitude, the arrival of migratory and high pressure Siberian atmospheric systems, the time of onset, end and length of the season has a change of location. As the length of summer is more in the southern, eastern and central regions of Iran and decreases in the northwest and west of Iran, and the length of winter is the opposite. The length of the transitional seasons (autumn and spring) in the temperate regions of Iran is not different and the three months in the season are similar to the astronomical and calendar seasons. The most important spatial difference is during winter and summer. Winter decreases from three months in the northwest of Iran to the south and east of Iran and reaches a month in the 29 degree orbit. On the other hand, the length of summer, on the contrary, varies from five and three months from east and south of Iran to northwest of Iran. Therefore, in temperate regions of Iran, the length of natural seasons from the south and east of Iran to the west and northwest of Iran is more regular and approaches to three months in each season. This spatial trend indicates the climatic similarity of western and northwestern Iran with temperate regions of the globe in higher latitudes and but to the center, south and east of Iran, this similarity decreases and to hot and cold dry desert climate in the Middle East and central Asia region is similar, respectively. This indicates regularity and order in nature, which is related to the geographical principle of Tobler’s law, the spatial correlation of climates and the onset, end and length of their seasons. Therefore, if we consider three months in a season as a natural feature of the temperate regions of the earth and two seasons (climatic period) as a feature of the subtropical regions, Iran is in the transition zone of these two climates. As from three months, the length of each season in the northwest to less than a month in the range of orbit 29 degrees, and then the subtropical conditions with two seasons (warm and cool) appear. Therefore, from northwest to east and south of Iran, the climatic moderation decreases and its tropical sub-characteristic (longer summer and shorter winter) heat and dryness to heat and humidity in southern Iran is added. Naturally, in this spatial process, primarily large-scale atmospheric rotations and secondly, geographical phenomena (their shape and position) play a pivotal role. The Caspian Sea coast is an exception to this rule due to its higher latitude and complexity of geographical phenomena and the role of water, because the climate systems related to the Caspian climate are different from other regions of Iran.

Key words: Natural Seasons, Apparent Temperature, Plant and Animal Phenology, Iran.


 

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One of the most important issues that has always affected the Iranian climate and has left many socio-economic consequences and financial losses climate change is. On the other hand  Sea level pressure is one of the most important climatic elements that can affect other climatic elements such as temperature, humidity and wind. The study aimed to evaluate CMIP5 models based on CORDEX and Verdai dynamics Seasonal pressure anomalies in Iran among CMIP5 models based on CORDEX project dynamic models BCC-CSM, HadGEM2-ES, GFDL and MIROC model HADGEM2-ES had a higher level of correlation and efficiency than other models.
The data of 36 synoptic milestones during the statistical period (1960-2005), the data of the HadGEM2-ES model were applied by using the CORDEX model and the RCPs scenarios for the two historical periods (1960-2005) and predicted during Three periods of near future (2040-2011), middle future (2070-2041) and distant future (2099-2071) were used. Six methods R2, MAE, MBE RMSE, t-Jacovides and t-Jacovides / R2 ratio were used to evaluate the model performance. The results showed that the model has good performance in low altitude areas. Seasonal anomalies in all seasons, scenarios and time periods studied are positive and winter shows the maximum pressure anomalies between seasons.
The maximum seasonal pressure anomaly of Iran in all seasons, scenarios and periods studied corresponds to the altitudes, including its epicenter in the Alborz and Zagros heights and high geographical offerings and the minimum pressure anomaly corresponding to low and low areas such as Khuzestan plain and The southern coast of the country.

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Abstract
During the recent decades the discipline of geography has lost its priority and position to some degree in Iran. Most of the graduates could not enter into the work in the universities and other organizations. The human-environment system, the main area of geographical specialty - has experienced many crises and hazards among which the global warming and climate change being the most destructive.  This means that the ongoing curriculum is not working well and needs to experience a fundamental change. To implement this operation some points should be cleared out: The hazardous condition of the world and especially Iran, the education history and state of geography in Iran, and the relation between geography and sustainable development of the world. The discipline of geography has changed its approach according to the circumstances of each period several times. For example, at the beginning of the twenty-century due to the dominance of the environmental determinism, the dominant approach of geography was the relation between man and environment. But since the 1970’s the earth has encountered with different hazards and crises to the extent that it is named as the period of Anthropocene. Accordingly, the dominant approach of geography during this Anthropocene era is to identify and solve the hazards and crises and lead the man- environment system towards the sustainability as once was requested by the secretary general of the United Nation.  In this regard the geography should adopt the sustainable development concepts and goals. For this reason, the geography of Iran should make a switch from its very specialized approach to a relatively wholistic view and pay more attention to the human- environment paradigm. To implement this order, the following assumptions should be considered.

1. The applied objective of the discipline should be defined as “locating the suitable place for the living and activities of man without endangering the sustainability of the natural environment.  This objective is not clear at the present curriculum. Defining this objective will clearly show students what is their job after finishing the career.
2. The main vision of geography education is the creation of the sustainable geographical space or environment.
3. The research approach is problem solving. Because most of the laws and concepts are identified and defined. Due to the hazardous nature of the earth system geographers should identify the problems and research to solve them via geographical thought and knowledge.
4. The terrestrial unit for working is region. This is very important concept in geography. We cannot prescribe one sustainability procedure for all of the world. But we do one for each region. When regions became sustainable, all the world will be sustained.
5. In any region the hazards and crises will be identified and described through the spatial analysis methods and will be conducted towards sustainable human – environment system. This monitoring is composed of the stages of spatial analysis, spatial planning, and spatial managing.
6. All of the geography subjects and materials are necessary for sustainable development goals. The only criteria will be added is the environmental ethics in all of the geography activities and applications.
7. Instructors and students should be familiar with the techniques of integration and multi-dimension modelling.
8. All geography graduates will respect the nature and its resources and should consider the environmental ethics during their academic career. They should be able to identify and solve the environmental problems through the geographical thinking. Geographical thinking means asking geographical question, gathering geographical data, processing the data with geographical (spatial) methods, and presenting the results in the geographical forms, i.e., maps. All the graduates should be creative and critical and should have the power of scientific challenging and discussions.
9. Geography is one independent and overarching discipline and we will offer only one total geography in bachelor level. The master career can be specialized according to the applied objectives of the societies. The doctoral program is also one integrated discipline. The specialty of graduates will be defined according to their dissertation.
10. The subjects include the fundamental courses such as physical geography and sustainable development, regional courses such as the human geography of Iran, technical courses such as remote sensing, GIS, and statistics, the applied courses such as evaluating the natural resources, and so for. The students with any high school background should pass all the courses with high quality so that after graduation they have the potential to analyze the human- environment problems and recommend the required solutions.

Key words: geography curriculum, sustainable development, geography of Iran, twenty first century, environmental ethics, geographical thinking, Geography and sustainable development.

 

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Investigation of the Temporal and Spatial Variation of Maximum Soil Temperature in Iran

Extended Abstract
Introduction
The study of soil temperature in different depths of soil is important in climatology, hydrology, agrometeorology and water resource management. Different depths has a different temporal and spatial soil temperature variation. It represents the regional ground temperature regime. Furthermore, due to its rapid response to environmental changes, soil temperature is one of the most important indicators of climate change. The increase in soil temperature because of global warming can promotes disasters such as drought by increasing the water demand of agricultural products during the plant growth period. The increase in soil temperature also have a various consequences, include increasing evaporation from the soil surface, soil salinity in susceptible areas, which can lead to a decrease in soil yield and failure in plant growth. Therefore, knowledge of soil temperature changes in different environments is very important in climate studies. The aim of the current research is to analyze the spatial and temporal variations of soil temperature at different depths from five to 30cm of the ground and to investigate the existence of any kind of increasing or decreasing trend at different climates of Iran.
Methodology
Hourly soil temperature data (depths of 5, 10, 20 and 30 cm) were used in this research for the period of 1998-2017. The soil depth temperature is measured three times a day at 6:30 am, 12:30 pm, and 6:30 pm local time (3, 9, and 3 p.m. UTC). These data have been received for 150 synoptic stations of Iran on a daily basis from the Iran Meteorological Organization (IRIMO). IRIMO monitored the quality of soil temperature for data entry, data recording, and data reformatting errors. Data availability, discrepancies, errors, and outliers were identified during the second stage.
At the first step, temporal coefficient of variation were calculated for available soil temperature time series from five to 30 cm depths of each station. For this purpose, the average of three daily measurements of soil temperature was calculated and then the temporal coefficient of variation was obtained. In the next step, trend analysis of soil temperature has been investigated using the non-parametric Mann-Kendal test. The trend slope was calculated using Sen’s slope for each station in seasonal time scale. Trend analysis has been done for all three observations of the day.
Results and Discussion
The studied stations show significant spatial patterns in the temporal variability of soil temperature. In all four investigated depths, from five to 30 cm, the northwest parts of Iran, and some parts of Zagros and Alborz mountain ranges have high temporal coefficient of variation. In contrast, the stations located on the southern coasts and southern islands had the lowest temporal variability. In warm and cold seasons (summer and late autumn to mid-winter), the spatial changes of soil temperature at different depths are lower than spring and early autumn. However, in the warm period of the year, the soil temperature experiences lower spatial variations at different depths. Spring and autumn seasons, as the transition period from cold to warm and warm to cold seasons, show the most spatial temperature variations in Iran. Detected trends do not have significant differences among the three observations of the day. Soil temperature Trend analysis at different depths showed positive values for two seasons of summer and winter over most of the stations throughout Iran. Extreme trends are more frequent in the summertime of Zagros and Alborz mountainous regions, while in the winter season the stations located at the southern latitudes of Iran have experienced the most positive trends. In the summer season, higher trends with 99% confidence are more frequent in the mountainous areas. These positive trends in soil temperature have occurred in all studied depths. The negative trend at different depths is a distinct feature of the autumn season, which is significantly more prevalent than other seasons throughout Iran. The analysis of soil temperature trends in different depths shows that values above 1 degree Celsius often occur in 5 to 20 cm deeps. The increasing trend of soil temperature in winter shows a greater spatial expansion, which is indicate increasing annual minimum soil temperatures and the increasing trend of Iran's soil temperature.
Keywords: Soil Temperature, Spatiotemporal Variations, Man-Kendal Test, Sen's Slope, Iran

 

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Identification of dust centers and, of course, the behavior of this phenomenon in different regions creates one of the problems of the last few decades, which is investigated as a hazard. To this end, statistics from 15 meteorological stations in the northeastern region of Iran, including North Khorasan, Razavi Khorasan, and South Khorasan provinces, were used over a 17-year period (2016-2000). To clarify the mechanisms governing dusty days, the meridional and zonal wind components and geopotential height were obtained by referring to the National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR). HYSPLIT model and MODIS AOD values were used to track and identify dust centers. The results showed that during the warm season, due to the establishment of a strong quasi-stationary blocking system in the lower levels of the atmosphere, negative vorticity increased in the maximum air descent area, ultimately leading to the dominance of a northern flow for the region. Anomalies in geopotential height and vorticity were identified, and three dominant abnormal patterns were found in the occurrence of maximum dust storms in the region. An increase in geopotential height of more than 5 to 10 geopotential meters and an increase in negative vorticity are considered major conditions. By examining the tracking model and using satellite data, five main centers that affect over 90% of the region's dust storms were identified, among which Turkmenistan has a significant role with two separate centers and one common center with Uzbekistan in the occurrence of summer dust storms in northeastern Iran.
 

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Abstract
In geosciences, morphotectonic indicators are used to investigate the effectiveness of land surfaces from neotectonic activities. In this article, the results of morphotectonic indices by tectonic zones of Iran, according to the energy released from the earthquake of 1900-2009 and the position of the basins relative to the types of faults (young seismic faults), Quaternary and pre-Quaternary) were analyzed. For this purpose, 110 years old Iran seismic data was extracted from the geodatabase, and during the programming process in MATLAB, it was converted from point-vector to surface-raster. In addition the results of the evaluation of morphotectonic indices of 142 basins of different zones were used; 8 inactive basins, 40 semi- active basins, and 94 active basins. Inactive basins are located in Alborz, Zagros, and Central Iran. . The results indicate that the amount of energy released can't examine a significant role in evaluating the morphotectonic indices of the basins. Basin’s location in the area of Quaternary faults and young seismic is of great value in the tectonically active basin. The lie of semi-active basins adjacent to active basins, or the lie of inactive basins adjacent to semi-active and active basins; and it should be borne in mind that the thresholds used to estimate the tectonic activity status of basins cannot be used as a definite and mathematical criterion in estimating the tectonic status of basins.

 

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Flash floods are one of the most dangerous natural events and often cause loss of life and damage to infrastructure and the environment. This research investigated the occurrence of the most intense continuous monthly floods (October-March) from 1989 to 2021. Precipitation data from 115 synoptic stations were selected. Then, the total rainfall of 1 to 9 days was sorted according to intensity. Using Minitab statistical software and the Andersen-Darling index, heavy rains were extracted based on the 95th percentile. Then, based on the criteria of the highest and lowest number of rainy days, the highest and lowest accumulated rainfall, the wettest and driest months were determined. Considering the three criteria of intensity, continuity, and rainfall coverage, the strongest storms in the wettest months were selected. The data used for synoptic analysis include the average sea level pressure data, the height and vertical component of the wind at 500 hPa, the wind and humidity field specific to the pressure levels 925, 850, and 700 hPa, and the horizontal moisture flux values specific to the pressure level 925, 850 and 700 hPa. The probability of the occurrence of atmospheric rivers was identified by the moisture flux extracted from the specific, meridional, and meridional wind components. The results showed that the storms of October 27-31, 2015, November 5-7, 1994, December 12-16, 1991, January 11-15, 2004, February 3-9, 1993, and March 13-15, 1996 were the strongest in the wettest months. During the storms of October, November, February, and March, moisture has been transported from the southwest of the Red Sea by atmospheric rivers to the western, southwestern, southern, and southeastern regions of Iran.
 

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Abstract
Dust storm is a complex process that it was affected by relation between earth-atmophere system and point of veiw climatologist and meteorologist that they assessing atmospheric and climatic change, in general of world veiw, monitoring from dust cover is a need structures.
The western region of Iran is the study area. The data used in this study are divided into two categories: ground-based observations in 27 synoptic stations extracted from the Iran’s Meteorological Organization during period (1998-2010) and satellite MODIS images during the first to fourth days of July 2008. Finally, the aim has analyzed using Arc GIS and ENVI softwares and NDDI index.
According to results, interpolated map for the number of dusty days during the study period over the western half of Iran showed that extent of case study have not a equal system aspect quantity of occuring from dust phenomenon and how is it trend. The number of dust days increase from north toward south and sites located in northen proprotion of studied area have experienced a lower dust events. While, maximum hotspots are occuring over southwestern sites such as: Ahvaz, Ilam, Boushehr and Shiraz. Therefore, principle offspring of dust input has been out of country boundaries and arrived far way area. On based resultes obtined on satellite images using NDDI index also idicate that maximun of intense cover dust is observed over Fars, Ilam, Boushehr and Ahvaz provinces on the first, second, thrid and forth of July. But, the lowest rate of index situated in extent far such as: Eastern Azarbayjan, Western Azarbayjan provinces. Thus, parts located on the north of the study area experienced less dusty days and the maximum dust core was located in the southwestern (mostly ahvaz). The long-term result was consistent with the use of NDDI index and the daily average of NDDI index in the whole study area indicated the hotspot areas (Ilam, Ahvaz, Omidieh, Bushehr and Shiraz) during the first to fourth days July 2008. However, in the region has reduced the level of dust cover when a wet and cloudy synoptic system pass over the central and northwestern parts of the study area.

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Iran is a country with low rainfall and high-intensity rainfall that is affected by various synoptic systems, the most important of these systems is Sudan low pressure, Therefore, recognizing the low pressures of the Sudan region is of particular importance, The purpose of this study is to gather a complete and comprehensive knowledge of the set of studies conducted about this low pressure, structure and formation and its effects on the surrounding climate. The present study was conducted using the library method and a search for authoritative scientific and research sources in connection with research on low pressure in Sudan and no data processing was performed in it. Thus, it has studied and analyzed the temporal and spatial changes of Sudan's low pressure over several years and its effect on the climate of the surrounding areas, especially Iran. In general, the results of this study can be divided into several categories, including studies on the recognition and study of Sudan low pressure, its structure and formation over time, pressure patterns affecting it at different atmospheric levels, and its effects on the climate of surrounding areas, especially Iran. Has been studied, The effect of this low pressure on seasonal and spring rainfall in Iran, snow and hail, floods, thunderstorms and also the effect of remote connection patterns on this low-pressure system have been studied, and finally, the analysis of these findings has been studied. It can be concluded that the Sudanese low-pressure system is a Low-pressure reverse in the region of Northeast Africa and southwest of the Middle East, which is strengthened and displaced in the upper levels of the Mediterranean and Subtropical jet stream and in the lower surface moisture injection from the Arabian Sea and Oman through high pressure. Saudi Arabia is inwardly the cause of severe instability in Iran and a major cause of heavy rainfall in various parts of the country.