Dust storms are typical in arid and semi-arid regions such as the Middle East; the frequency and severity of dust storms have grown dramatically in Iraq in recent years. This paper identifies the dust storm sources in Iraq using remotely sensed data from Meteosat-spinning enhanced visible and infrared imager (SEVIRI) bands. Extracted combined satellite images and simulated frontal dust storm trajectories, using the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model, are used to identify the most influential sources in the Middle East and Iraq. Out of 132 dust storms in Iraq during 2020–2023, the most frequent occurred in the spring and summer. A dust source frequency percentage map (DSFPM) is generated using ArcGIS so

In recent years, the search for economic and environmentally friendly alternatives has become a global necessity to achieve sustainability and preserve raw materials. From this concept, natural bitumen (NB) derived from sulphur springs is now one of the most promising alternative energy resources for many applications, especially in asphalt pavement construction. Its low price and abundance characterise NB since sulphur springs produce thousands of tonnes of NB annually and are used in very limited fields. Two main objectives were adopted for this work. The first objective is to examine the virgin NB properties from five sulphur springs and compare them with petroleum asphalt. The second objective is to enhance NB properties by appl

Milling process is a common machining operation that is used in the manufacturing of complex surfaces. Machining-induced residual stresses (RS) have a great impact on the performance of machined components and the surface quality in face milling operations with parameter cutting. The properties of engineering material as well as structural components, specifically fatigue life, deformation, impact resistance, corrosion resistance, and brittle fracture, can all be significantly influenced by residual stresses. Accordingly, controlling the distribution of residual stresses is indeed important to protect the piece and avoid failure. Most of the previous works inspected the material properties, tool parameters, or cutting parameters, bu

This work represents the set of measurements of radon and thoron concentrations levels of soil-gas in Al-Kufa city in Iraq using electric Radon meter (RAD-7). Radon and thoron concentration were measured in soil-gas in 20 location for three depth of (50, 100 and 150) cm.
The results show that the emanation rate of radon and thoron gas varied from location to anther, depending on the geological formation. The Radon concentration in soil has been found to vary from (12775±400) Bq/m3 at 150 cm depth in location (sample K2) to (41.45±17) Bq/m3, for depth 150 cm in location (sample K20). The thoron concentration in soil has been found to vary from (198±8.5) Bq/m3 at 150 cm depth in location samples (K1 & K2) to undetected in the mos

In this study water quality index (WQI) was calculated to classify the flowing water in the Tigris River in Baghdad city. GIS was used to develop colored water quality maps indicating the classification of the river for drinking water purposes. Water quality parameters including: Turbidity, pH, Alkalinity, Total hardness, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Chloride, Sulfate, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia, Orthophosphate and Total dissolved solids were used for WQI determination. These parameters were recorded at the intakes of the WTPs in Baghdad for the period 2004 to 2011. The results from the annual average WQI analysis classified the Tigris River very poor to polluted at the north of Baghdad (Alkarkh WTP) while it was very poor to very polluted in t

Improving students’ use of argumentation is front and center in the increasing emphasis on scientific practice in K-12 Science and STEM programs. We explore the construct validity of scenario-based assessments of claim-evidence-reasoning (CER) and the structure of the CER construct with respect to a learning progression framework. We also seek to understand how middle school students progress. Establishing the purpose of an argument is a competency that a majority of middle school students meet, whereas quantitative reasoning is the most difficult, and the Rasch model indicates that the competencies form a unidimensional hierarchy of skills. We also find no evidence of differential item functioning between different scenarios, suggesting

A high-performance liquid chromatography method was employed for the quantitative determination of ascorbic acid (AA) which called vitamin C in three types of Iraqi citrus (orange mandarin and aurantium ) and to establish this goal , evaluation of ascorbic acid degradation is so important due to its significant criticality when exposure to ordinary atmospheric conditions. The chromatographic analysis of AA was carried out after their sequential elution with KH2PO4 ( as mobile phase) by reverse-phase HPLC technique with C8 column and UV detection at 214 nm. .Bad resolutions was appeared clearly for C8 column , so another alternative condition were carried out to improve the resolution by replacement of C8 by C18 column .Statistical treat

The main challenge is to protect the environment from future deterioration due to pollution and the lack of natural resources. Therefore, one of the most important things to pay attention to and get rid of its negative impact is solid waste. Solid waste is a double-edged sword according to the way it is dealt with, as neglecting it causes a serious environmental risk from water, air and soil pollution, while dealing with it in the right way makes it an important resource in preserving the environment. Accordingly, the proper management of solid waste and its reuse or recycling is the most important factor. Therefore, attention has been drawn to the use of solid waste in different ways, and the most common way is to use it as an alternative

The current study aims at using non-hatchable artemia eggs of local origin and making use of these eggs by decapsulating and presenting them as food for the larvae of the Cyprinus carpio as a source of animal protein with high nutritional value instead of throwing them away. The results showed that the second parameter (A2) was highly significant at the level (P≤0.05) in the growth rates of the larvae that were fed on decapsulated artemia eggs alone, and it was better than the two control parameters (A1), in which the larvae were fed with feed designated for Cyprinus carpio fish. It also outperformed the third parameter (A3), in which the feed was mixed with artemia eggs with 50% decapsulation, which also outperformed the control paramete