Dust Cloud over Sea of Japan

Dust Cloud over Sea of Japan

The Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor’s (SeaWiFS) most recent view of east Asia (acquired on April 2, 2002) reveals dust continues to fill the skies over the Sea of Japan. In this scene, another brown plume of dust has crossed over Japan and is heading eastward over the Pacific Ocean.

Mount Oyama—the volcano on the small island of Miyake-jima, due south of Tokyo—can be seen clearly also sending a plume of aerosol particles into the air. The thin volcanic plume is much lighter in color and can easily be distinguished from the darker brown dust. Mount Fuji stands out as a bright white spot to the southwest of Tokyo.

Image courtesy the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE