Dust Storm over Afghanistan and Pakistan

Dust Storm over Afghanistan and Pakistan

On July 4, 2003, a dust storm was blowing over the deserts of southern Afghanistan (top) and the rugged terrain of northwest Pakistan (bottom). The light tan color of the dust makes waves, swirls, ripples, and curves over the dark brown and gray terrain below. At bottom is the Arabian Sea. This image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite.

The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS’ maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters.

Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC