September 28, 2014 - Dust storm over the Taklamakan Desert

Dust storm over the Taklamakan Desert

A dust storm blew across western China’s Taklamakan Desert in late September, 2014. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image of the blowing sand on September 22. The heaviest shroud of dust covers the western desert and is so thick that it obscures the land. Blowing dust also stretches across the entire Tarim Basin, thinning in the east and in the south. Although encircled by dust, the sky in the south-central Tarim Basin appears almost clear.

Western China’s Taklamakan Desert is the largest, warmest and driest desert in China. Sitting in the Tarim Basin and surrounded by mountains, the desert stretches between the Kunlun Mountains and Tibet Plateau (south) and the Tian Shan mountains in the north. It is one of the world’s largest shifting-sand deserts, with about 85% of the total area made up of mobile sand dunes. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the dunes may reach a height of 100 – 200 meters, and are virtually devoid of vegetation. Dust storms are common in this sandy ecoregion.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 9/22/2014
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC