Images
August 8, 2026 - Saharan Dust Over the Atlantic Ocean
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Strong winds carried Saharan dust westward over the eastern Atlantic Ocean in early August 2026. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image on August 6.
The dense plume of tan dust appears to blow southwest along the African coast before turning westward south of the Cape Verde Islands. Additional satellite imagery using the NASA Worldview App showed the plume stretched more than 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) from the coast of Africa over the Atlantic Ocean.
Hundreds of millions of tons of dust are picked up from the deserts of Africa and blown across the Atlantic Ocean each year. That dust helps build beaches in the Caribbean and fertilizes soils in the Amazon. At times, it may affect air quality in North and South America. The airborne Saharan dust also tends to suppress the formation of tropical storms from tropical waves that may form in the eastern Atlantic just off the coast of Africa.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 8/6/2026
Resolutions:
1km (1.5 MB), 500m (4.1 MB), 250m (2.5 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Strong winds carried Saharan dust westward over the eastern Atlantic Ocean in early August 2026. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image on August 6.
The dense plume of tan dust appears to blow southwest along the African coast before turning westward south of the Cape Verde Islands. Additional satellite imagery using the NASA Worldview App showed the plume stretched more than 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) from the coast of Africa over the Atlantic Ocean.
Hundreds of millions of tons of dust are picked up from the deserts of Africa and blown across the Atlantic Ocean each year. That dust helps build beaches in the Caribbean and fertilizes soils in the Amazon. At times, it may affect air quality in North and South America. The airborne Saharan dust also tends to suppress the formation of tropical storms from tropical waves that may form in the eastern Atlantic just off the coast of Africa.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 8/6/2026
Resolutions:
1km (1.5 MB), 500m (4.1 MB), 250m (2.5 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
