Dust Storms at Al-Ahsa Oasis of Saudi Arabia: A Case Study

The aim of this study is to characterize dust storm conditions in the arid environment of Al-Ahsa Oasis in SaudiArabia. Real-time and continuous measurements were done to monitor a severe dust storm struck Al-Ahsa during12–13 March 2014. This storm caused widespread and heavy dust deposition. A dramatic decrease in visibilitywith arrival of the storm, and average dust concentrations recorded during a 10-hour peak period were 6,772,5,862.4 and 451.1 μg/m3 for total suspended particles (TSP), particle matter smaller than or equal to 10 μm(PM10) and particles smaller than or equal to 2.5 μm (PM2.5), respectively. Particle size distributions show that thegeometric mean diameter during the storm was 13.58 μm, based on particle mass concentration. Furthermore, thecumulative percentage of mass concentration for particles of 0.3–25 μm size range shows that the majority werelarger than 2.5 μm ( 85%). During the study dust event the quantity of atmospheric dust greatly exceeded airquality limits, which potentially affected human, agricultural, and animal welfare.