Saharan dust is being swept north over Libya and across the Mediterranean Sea to Sicily and Greece. Such storms are common as hot air over the vast African desert is pulled toward the cooler winter air in the north. The strong winds that result carry Saharan dust into the Mediterranean and across Europe. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite captured this storm over Libya, right, and Tunisia, left, on March 27, 2004.
The high-resolution image provided above has a resolution of 500 meters per pixel. The image is available in additional resolutions, including MODIS’ maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel.
Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
