A thick swath of smog and/or dust swept over the Sea of Japan on March 11, 2008. This image, captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite, shows the plume blowing off the coasts of China, North Korea, and South Korea, and heading toward Japan. The plume is a translucent, dingy gray, contrasting with the bright white clouds to the east.
A significant portion of the plume could result from dust remaining from an earlier storm. Dust storms increase significantly in the Gobi Desert in March. The hazy air could also result from the pollution that regularly occurs over eastern Asia.
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the Goddard Land Processes data archives (LAADS). Caption by Michon Scott.
