Saharan Dust Crosses the Atlantic

Saharan Dust Crosses the Atlantic

On May 29, 2010, dust plumes continued blowing westward across the Atlantic Ocean. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image on May 29, 2010.

The dust, which likely arose far inland in the Sahara Desert, extends from Dakar, Senegal, well past Cape Verde. South of the archipelago, dust coalesces into a thick plume with faint ripple patterns. A band of clouds stretches from the African coast westward, and the clouds appear to mingle with the dust blowing over the Atlantic.

NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Michon Scott.