October 18, 2013 - Dust storm over the Caspian Sea

Dust storm over the Caspian Sea

Strong winds continued blowing over the Middle East in early October, 2013. On October 3 the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra satellite captured a true-color image of a broad band of dust stretching over the southwest portion of the Caspian Sea.

In this image, the veil of tan dust which hovers over the blue-green water is rippled, suggesting that the dust is rising and falling with turbulent waves of air over the Caspian Sea. The dust storm appears to originate in the west, as the sky over Azerbaijan also is streaked with tan. In contrast the skies over Iraq (south) and Turkmenistan (northeast) are clear.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 10/3/2013
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC