April 27, 2003JPEG
A thick plume of dust (light brown) blew over southern Mauritania toward the tropical Atlantic Ocean, on April 27, 2003. In the high-resolution version (click the image above), waves and other structure can be seen in the dust plume. The towns of Rosso and Bogue, Mauritania, are completely obscured by the dust.
This true-color image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), aboard the Aqua satellite, on April 27.
Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
A Saharan dust storm yellowed the skies over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa on May 21, 2003.




Acquired January 7, 2013, this image shows dust plumes off the west coast of northern Africa.
Acquired January 7, 2013, this image shows dust plumes off the west coast of northern Africa.
A thick plume of dust blew off the coast of Mauritania in western Africa on October 2, 2007. In this image, the dust varies in color from nearly white to medium tan. The dust plume is easier to see over the dark background of the ocean, but the plume stretches across the land surface to the east, as well.
