Dust over the Central Mediterranean

Dust over the Central Mediterranean

Dust plumes blew off the north African coast and over the Mediterranean Sea on May 19, 2008. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite took this picture the same day.

In this image, the translucent dust plumes blow off the coast of Libya, only barely obscuring the satellite’s view of the ocean. The dust mingles with cloud cover, particularly in the northeast. Clouds are especially thick in the southeast. The clouds could be associated with the same weather system that stirred the dust.

NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the Goddard Land Processes data archives (LAADS). Caption by Michon Scott.