Spatial-Temporal Assessment of Dust Events and Trend Analysis of Sand Drift Potential in Northeastern Iran, Gonabad Reza Rahdari, Mohammad Kharazmi, Rasoul Rodrigo-Comino, Jesús Rodríguez-Seijo, Andrés AOD Arid environment Environmental damage Eolian Multi-directional wind system Sand drift Wind erosion In recent years, northeastern Iran, particularly Khorasan Razavi province, has experienced wind erosion and dust storms, although large-scale studies are limited. To assess wind patterns, sand drift, and dust events, hourly wind data were analyzed using Fryberger’s method, along with trend analysis through the Mann–Kendall and Sen’s slope tests. Additionally, MODIS satellite data and Google Earth Engine helped identify event frequency and spatial patterns. The results show that east (12%) and southeast winds (9.6%) are the most frequent, with an average annual wind speed of 4.39 knots. Sand drift potential (DP = 96, RDP = 21.6) indicates sand movement from southeast to northwest, with a multi-directional wind system (unidirectional index of 0.22). The results of the AOD index show that the amount of dust in the north and northwest part is more than other locations, and more than 500 events with dust has been registered over the last two decades. These findings suggest that policymakers should monitor these trends to mitigate the environmental and infrastructural damage caused by blowing sand. 2025-07-29T07:57:09Z 2025-07-29T07:57:09Z 2024-11-14 journal article Rahdari, M.R.; Kharazmi, R.; Rodrigo-Comino, J.; Rodríguez-Seijo, A. Spatial-Temporal Assessment of Dust Events and Trend Analysis of Sand Drift Potential in Northeastern Iran, Gonabad. Land 2024, 13, 1906. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13111906 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/105800 10.3390/land13111906 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Atribución 4.0 Internacional MDPI