Estimation of Dusty Days Using the Model of Time Series: A Case Study of Hormozgan Province

Dust storm is one of the climatic hazards in the arid and semi-arid regions. Southern Iran with its hot and dry climate is more likely affected by the adverse consequences of dust storms due to the proximity to the dusty deserts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq, on one hand, and the synoptic situation for the occurrence of the dust storms in the Persian Gulf, on the other hand. In this study, the frequency of dusty days in Hormozgan Province was investigated and predicted. To this end, data were collected from the three synoptic stations in Bandar Abbas, Bandar Lengeh and Bandar-e Jask from the Iran Meteorological Organization during the statistical period of 1968-2008. Then, using the non-seasonal ARIMA (p, d, q), were analyzed in 16Minitab and the frequency of the dusty days in the region were predicted. Results of the study show that the ARIMA (1, 1, 1)noc was the most appropriate pattern for predicting the frequency of dusty days in Hormozgan Province. The results showed that the predictions for Bandar-e Jask, compared to those of Bandar Abbas and Bandar Lengeh are more accurate in terms of continuous increasing trend and the interval stability of the time series prediction and the smaller difference between the observed values with the predicted values