A large-scale dust storm blanketed the eastern Taklimakan Desert on April 28, 2004, draping the normally orange-colored sands with a swath of tan-colored dust. The Taklimakan is a great bowl of land ringed by rugged mountains to the north and south. Dust storms occur regularly throughout the spring, sending dust far to the east and even around the world. This image of the event was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite.
Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC
