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Dust clouds blew over central Africa in early March 2009. The MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite took this picture of the region surrounding Lake Chad (visible as a greenish patch in the center of the image) on March 10, 2009.
In the upper right corner of this image, dual dust plumes blow out of the Bodele Depression toward Lake Chad. Frequent dust plumes in this area result from the natural wind tunnel between Chad’s Tibesti and Ennedi Mountains. Meanwhile, larger dust clouds hover over Nigeria, Cameroon, and southern Chad. These dust plumes are probably mixed with smoke. The red dots scattered across the bottom of this image are hotspots where MODIS detected unusually warm temperatures associated with agricultural fires and/or wildfires.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 03/10/2009
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC