Analysis of climate capacity building in the exploitation of moisture in the southern strip of Iran

Introduction

In today's world, climate change and water resource shortage have become two of the biggest challenges for humanity. In arid and semi-arid regions, water supply is of great importance. One of the new solutions to deal with this challenge is to exploit air humidity as an unconventional and sustainable resource (Sadeghi et al, 2012). In the southern strip of Iran, which faces a shortage of water resources due to its specific climatic conditions, this method can be used as an effective and sustainable solution. For example, in Qazvin province, research has shown that using different methods, water can be extracted from air humidity and used for various purposes, including irrigation of green spaces and farms. This research shows that by applying correction factors to the estimation of temperature and wind speed, accurate results can be achieved in extracting water from air humidity (Kuhy et al, 2012). In the arid regions of southern Iran, water scarcity is a constant challenge, so effective management of water resources is important for meeting needs and sustainable development. Since climate change exacerbates these challenges, building climate capacity in the water resource sector is essential. Recent studies show significant gaps in climate change-related statistics and the need for increased capacity-building efforts to address these gaps (Yuan DS, 2023). Climate change in Iran has led to an increase in extreme phenomena such as drought. Building climate capacity to deal with the consequences of climate change, especially in sensitive areas such as the southern strip, is a scientific and administrative necessity (Akbari and Sayyad, 2021). Climate change will significantly affect water access in southeastern Iran. Climate capacity analysis is essential for optimal exploitation of moisture and prevention of water crises in southern regions of Iran (Iranmanesh et al, 2021). Climate modeling and exploitation of moisture are very important for long-term resilience in southern regions of Iran (Abbaspour et al, 2009). Water resources in southern regions of Iran are under pressure from both the changing climate and the increasing population and may not be able to cope with future climate crises, therefore it is necessary and essential to conduct studies to address water challenges from now on in order to be able to deal with more severe future climate crises in this region.

Materials and methods

In this study, daily data on wind speed, pressure, relative humidity, and average temperature from 76 stations of the Southern Iran Meteorological Organization were used. The period of use of meteorological data was 2015-2024. To prepare the daily average of the aforementioned data for each of the 366 days of the year, the average was obtained from the period 2015-2024. For example, to average the air pressure on January 1, the air pressure data for January 1 of all years of the period 2015-2024 were used. This procedure was carried out for all days of the year in the mentioned period for the data of all relevant stations. In this study, the capacity building of air humidity exploitation in the southern strip of Iran was investigated. In order to measure the capacity of humidity exploitation in the southern strip of Iran, common methods of humidity exploitation were studied. The methods of cooling condensation, moisture absorption with absorbent materials and fog traps or fog collection nets were selected for investigation and analysis. After extracting the results of the utilization rate of heat using the aforementioned methods, these results, along with the average temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind speed data for the period 2015-2024 of various stations in the study area, provided the input matrix for the hierarchical analysis of the stations, and the hierarchical analysis was performed.

Results and discussion

By examining the map, it was found that the largest area of desirable areas for capacity building for moisture exploitation is located in the southeast of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, the center of Fars Province, the center of Hormozgan Province, and the northwest of Bushehr Province. Small parts of northern Khuzestan Province are also within the desirable areas. The largest areas that are undesirable for capacity building for moisture exploitation are located in the northern and eastern half of Fars Province, the northern half of the southern half of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, and the northwest of Hormozgan Province.

Conclusion

After extracting the results, it was found that the central regions of Fars Province and the southeast of Sistan and Baluchestan and Hormozgan provinces have achieved the highest possible scores compared to other regions and are introduced as desirable regions in building the capacity to exploit the moisture of the southern strip of Iran. Also, the eastern and northern regions of Fars Province, the northwest of Hormozgan Province, and the northern half of the southern part of Sistan and Baluchestan Province have achieved the lowest scores compared to other regions and are introduced as undesirable regions in building the capacity to exploit the moisture of the southern strip of Iran. By station analysis, Chabahar station, with a score of 18.9 percent in the southern half of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, was the most desirable. Mehrestan, with a score of 9 percent in the northern half of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, was the most undesirable station in this study for building climatic capacity to exploit moisture. The most important factors affecting the climatic capacity to exploit the moisture were also identified as air pressure, relative humidity, and the rate of water absorption from the methods of air moisture absorption.