Images
May 11, 2025 - Dust Plume off West Africa
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Tan-toned dust pulsed from the Sahara Desert and over the Atlantic Ocean in early May 2025. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image of Saharan dust reaching the Cape Verde Islands on May 8.
The dust rose so high in the atmosphere that it appeared to mix with clouds southwest of the islands in this image. Using NASA’s Worldview app to view daily Aqua MODIS images of the region, it can be seen that dust began to push off of Western Africa on May 3 and continued through May 10 (the latest image available).
Clouds in this area also take on the distinct swirling pattern known as von Kármán vortices. In 1912, physicist Theodore von Kármán first described a process that makes long, spiraling cloud patterns in the sky. These eddies arise when winds are diverted around a blunt, high-profile area, often an island rising from the ocean. The alternating direction of rotation in the air forms swirls in the clouds on the lee side of the islands.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 5/8/2025
Resolutions:
1km (1.6 MB), 500m (1.3 MB), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Tan-toned dust pulsed from the Sahara Desert and over the Atlantic Ocean in early May 2025. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image of Saharan dust reaching the Cape Verde Islands on May 8.
The dust rose so high in the atmosphere that it appeared to mix with clouds southwest of the islands in this image. Using NASA’s Worldview app to view daily Aqua MODIS images of the region, it can be seen that dust began to push off of Western Africa on May 3 and continued through May 10 (the latest image available).
Clouds in this area also take on the distinct swirling pattern known as von Kármán vortices. In 1912, physicist Theodore von Kármán first described a process that makes long, spiraling cloud patterns in the sky. These eddies arise when winds are diverted around a blunt, high-profile area, often an island rising from the ocean. The alternating direction of rotation in the air forms swirls in the clouds on the lee side of the islands.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 5/8/2025
Resolutions:
1km (1.6 MB), 500m (1.3 MB), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
