Dust Plume over the Sea of Japan

Dust Plume over the Sea of Japan

The dust that blew out of the Gobi two days earlier passed over the East China Sea, and the Sea of Japan on November 12, 2010. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite took this picture the same day.

A veil of dust forms an arc hundreds of kilometers long, and extends from the Yellow Sea to the northern Sea of Japan. Thick dust also blows over the nation of Japan. In the northeast, clouds hide parts of the dust plume. Although skies appear mostly dust-free over the Korean Peninsula, weather reports from November 11 and 12 reported widespread dust over Seoul, the location of the Group of 20 summit.

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

References & Resources

  • University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. (2003). Forecasting dust storms. (Registration required). Accessed November 12, 2010.
  • Weather Underground. (2010, November 12). Weather history for Seoul City, South Korea on November 11 and November 12 Accessed November 12, 2010.