Images
December 1, 2010 - Dust storms in northern Africa
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Dust blew off the coasts of Tunisia and Libya in late November 2010, creating camel-colored plumes over the Mediterranean Sea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on November 28, 2010.
Sand seas cover much of Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya, and some of those sand seas stretch all the way to the coast.
The plumes blowing toward the northeast appear to have arisen from sediments near the shoreline. Although dust partially obscures the coastline along the Tunisia-Libya border, skies over Tripoli (also known as Tarabulus) are nearly clear.
Black lines have been overlaid on this image to delineate political boundaries. Algeria is the country to the far west while Libya is found in the east of the image. Tunisia lies in between, on the western coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Tripoli, Libya can be found on the coast of the prominence of land lying due east of the heaviest bands of dust. It is faintly gray in color, although the thiin veil of tan overhead fades the color, making it difficult to discern the city below.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 11/28/2010
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Dust blew off the coasts of Tunisia and Libya in late November 2010, creating camel-colored plumes over the Mediterranean Sea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on November 28, 2010. Sand seas cover much of Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya, and some of those sand seas stretch all the way to the coast.
The plumes blowing toward the northeast appear to have arisen from sediments near the shoreline. Although dust partially obscures the coastline along the Tunisia-Libya border, skies over Tripoli (also known as Tarabulus) are nearly clear.
Black lines have been overlaid on this image to delineate political boundaries. Algeria is the country to the far west while Libya is found in the east of the image. Tunisia lies in between, on the western coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Tripoli, Libya can be found on the coast of the prominence of land lying due east of the heaviest bands of dust. It is faintly gray in color, although the thiin veil of tan overhead fades the color, making it difficult to discern the city below.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 11/28/2010
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
