Dust over Iraq and Iran

Dust over Iraq and Iran

The dust that blew over Syria and Iraq on June 18, 2012, continued its southeastward journey the following day. On June 19, the dust had spread to western Iran and the Persian Gulf.

This natural-color image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite shows a camel-colored plume curving eastward along the Iraq-Iran border. That plume is thick enough to completely hide the land and water surfaces below. Thinner dust hovers over the Persian Gulf.

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