North African Dust Plume

North African Dust Plume

A dust storm crossed the border between Algeria and Mali on July 14, 2007. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying on NASA’s Aqua satellite took this picture the same day. In this image, the dust appears as a buff-colored blur. Because the dust plume is diffuse, its origins are not easily discerned in this image. In the south, the dust mingles with clouds, and the clouds could be associated with the same weather system that disturbed the desert dust.

NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.