An intense dust storm across Central Africa nearly hides the land from the view of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite on March 8, 2004. In the heart of Africa, the dust is hanging over the countries of (clockwise from top left) Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and the Central African Republic. A few fires (marked in red) were still able to be detected through the thick air, and their smoke may be contributing to the haze.
The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions.
Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC
