Wind regime and aeolian sand transport in Khuzestan Sand Sea

The Khuzestan Sand Sea extends from the Wasit and Maysan provinces in Iraq (22%) to the Ilam (10%) and Khuzestan (68%) provinces in Iran. In order to determine wind regimes and sand transport characteristics, hourly wind data records from 21 meteorological stations for the period 2000–2016 were analyzed using aeolian-sediment transport methods. The analysis of the wind energy based on drift potential (DP) revealed rather large spatial variations in the Khuzestan Sand Sea. The Iraqi part of the desert, as well as the southern regions of the Ilam province and the western edge of the Khuzestan province were characterized by particularly high wind energy (DP greater than 400), while towards the central area of the Khuzestan Sand Sea near Ahvaz city a sharp decrease to DP less than 200 was detected. In the southern and southeastern parts of the Khuzestan Province, the wind energy increased again and the DP reached more than 200 vector units. The temporal analysis of the DP showed no considerable temporal trends between 2000 and 2014 in this study area. The dune morphology analysis revealed a bimodal wind regime, which was also supported by the dominance of sand sheets and transverse dunes. Additionally, the local topography has an important influence on the formation of topographic dunes in the southeastern parts of the Sand Sea.