Images
December 10, 2010 - Dust storms in southwest Asia
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A dust storm spanned hundreds of kilometers over the borders between Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan on December 4, 2010. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image the same day. The dust from this storm appears thickest in southwestern Afghanistan, and waves ripple across the dust plume’s surface. Over Pakistan, dust forms swirls, similar to vortices sometimes seen in clouds over the ocean.
Black lines have been artificially overlaid on the natural-color image to illustrate country boundaries. Afghanistan lies in the north, Pakistan in the south and the country that lies along the western border of the image is Iran.
Sand seas spread across the border between southwestern Afghanistan and Pakistan, and impermanent lakes line the border between Afghanistan and Iran. This dust storm appears to arise from the dry lake region along the Iran-Afghanistan border, and may pick up more dust over the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 12/4/2010
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
A dust storm spanned hundreds of kilometers over the borders between Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan on December 4, 2010. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image the same day. The dust from this storm appears thickest in southwestern Afghanistan, and waves ripple across the dust plume’s surface. Over Pakistan, dust forms swirls, similar to vortices sometimes seen in clouds over the ocean.
Black lines have been artificially overlaid on the natural-color image to illustrate country boundaries. Afghanistan lies in the north, Pakistan in the south and the country that lies along the western border of the image is Iran.
Sand seas spread across the border between southwestern Afghanistan and Pakistan, and impermanent lakes line the border between Afghanistan and Iran. This dust storm appears to arise from the dry lake region along the Iran-Afghanistan border, and may pick up more dust over the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 12/4/2010
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
