مناخ الريع الخالي جنوب شرق المملكة العربية السعودية

Abstract EN

This paper aims to study the climatic conditions of the world largest continuous sand desert the Rub Al-Khali which is located in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula.

The study area is almost devoid of any meteorological stations, therefore this analysis depends primarily on data from four stations surroundings to it for the period 1981-2010.

The reanalysis datasets from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) as well as data from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia are also used.

Rub Al-Khali is the hottest area in the Arabian Peninsula with an annual average surface temperature of 27-32o C which tends to increase further in both winter and spring seasons.

Rainfall is infrequent with a mean annualamount of 45mmat Shaiba station which confirms the severe dry conditions in the region.

The climate of Rub Al-Khali is influenced partly by the movement of Mediterranean cyclones during the winter season when they are following southerly and southeasterly tracks, and partly by the presence of the Red Sea thermal lows.

Occasionally, this region is affected by the extraordinary passage of tropical cyclones from the Arabian Sea as in the case of September 1992.

This study shows that the annual average surface air temperature has been risen by about 0.1 - 0.8o C during the study period compared with the period 1950-1980.

The maximum increase in the surface temperature exceeds the average global temperature increase over the past century.