The Great Sand Sea

The Great Sand Sea

A dust storm is spilling sand out over the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya (left) and Egypt (right) on May 28, 2003. This region of desert at the bottom of the image is called the “Great Sand Sea. ” The darker-colored area to the east of the countries’ border is the Qattara Depression.

The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS’ maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters.

Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC