Abstract. The dust storm is one of the severe natural disasters that has been recently threatening the Middle East region due to climate changes and human activities. This phenomenon has become a national crisis in some countries in this region in previous years, especially in spring and summer. This research aims to detect and monitor the areas covered by the seasonal and occasional dust storm from (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite imagery. MODIS imagery possesses impressive spectral and temporal characteristics that are essential for such an environmental application of Earth observations. An efficient algorithm, based on the spectral and statistical analysis of both thermal and reflectance bands of MODIS data, was developed through a decision tree method. To this end, an index was proposed to detect the dust over the land using the brightness temperature of thermal bands. The results of the proposed algorithm were assessed utilizing ground-based observation of synoptic stations. The proposed method showed high reliability and performance as well as the automatic capability of dust detection in land and sea areas of the image simultaneously. The evaluation of results showed that the proposed algorithm could detect thin and thick dust storms with an overall accuracy of about 80%. Moreover, the dust monitoring results visually agreed well with the Ozone Monitoring Instrument aerosol index dust products.

中文翻译：

---

基于 MODIS 影像光谱和热观测的高效尘埃检测

摘要。沙尘暴是近期因气候变化和人类活动而威胁中东地区的严重自然灾害之一。这一现象在前几年，尤其是春夏季节，已成为该地区部分国家的国难。这项研究旨在从（中分辨率成像光谱仪 (MODIS) 卫星图像中检测和监测季节性和偶发沙尘暴覆盖的区域。MODIS 图像具有令人印象深刻的光谱和时间特征，这对于地球观测的这种环境应用至关重要。）基于MODIS数据的热波段和反射波段的光谱和统计分析，通过决策树方法开发了高效算法。提出了一个指数，用于利用热带的亮温检测陆地上的灰尘。利用天气站的地面观测评估了所提出算法的结果。该方法具有较高的可靠性和性能，同时具有图像陆地和海洋区域灰尘检测的自动能力。结果评估表明，所提出的算法可以检测出薄沙尘暴和厚沙尘暴，总体准确率约为80%。此外，粉尘监测结果在视觉上与臭氧监测仪气溶胶指数粉尘产品非常吻合。该方法具有较高的可靠性和性能，同时具有图像陆地和海洋区域灰尘检测的自动能力。结果评估表明，所提出的算法可以检测出薄沙尘暴和厚沙尘暴，总体准确率约为80%。此外，粉尘监测结果在视觉上与臭氧监测仪气溶胶指数粉尘产品非常吻合。该方法具有较高的可靠性和性能，同时具有图像陆地和海洋区域灰尘检测的自动能力。结果评估表明，所提出的算法可以检测出薄沙尘暴和厚沙尘暴，总体准确率约为80%。此外，粉尘监测结果在视觉上与臭氧监测仪气溶胶指数粉尘产品非常吻合。