A few hours after the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite observed a dust plume blowing off the Libyan coast, MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image. MODIS acquired this photo-like image at 2:30 p.m. local time (12:30 UTC) on May 31, 2009. Although still intact, the dust plume had dissipated somewhat, and it had changed direction from northwest to west roughly 75 kilometers off the coast. In contrast to the earlier image, the dust passes east (rather than west) of Banghazi. As in the earlier image, however, skies appear completely clear outside of the dust plume.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Michon Scott.
