September 29, 2015 - Dust storm off the coast of Namibia

Dust storm off the coast of Namibia

A large plume of dust blew off the coast of Namibia in mid-September 2015 as part of a winter dust storm that left a veil of tan hovering over the South Atlantic Ocean. A thinner plume also originates in South Africa and streaks the skies light tan.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image on September 13 as it flew over the region. A black border line has been overlain on the image to delineate political boundaries. Namibia lies to the north and South Africa to the south of the border line.

The Namib Desert runs along the coast in southern Namibia and southward, covering large parts of Namibia, South Africa and Angola. The region is noted for red-orange sand dunes, some of which can stand over 800 feet tall. The area of the Namib in southern Namibia is extremely arid, and an excellent source of frequent dust storms.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 9/13/2015
Resolutions: 1km (71.5 KB), 500m (218.8 KB), 250m (529 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC