July 26, 2015 - Dust storm off West Africa

Dust storm off West Africa

Windy conditions moved a pastel plume of dust over West Africa and the Canary islands in early July, 2015. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image on July 7.

The dust appears to arise both from West Africa as well as further inland. It is carried by swirling winds off the coast, creating an oval pattern of tan over the North Atlantic Ocean. While the central swirl is the thickest, and totally obscures the ocean waters in places, dusty conditions obscure the deep blue waters from well north of the Canary Islands to south of the West Africa-Mauritania border.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 7/7/2015
Resolutions: 1km (435 KB), 500m (1.5 MB), 250m (3.6 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC