Dust storm in the Middle East

A massive Saharan dust storm, originating on January 22, continued spreading north and eastward across Egypt on January 23, 2004. In this true-color scene, the dust (tan pixels) can be seen blowing over the Sinai Peninsula and blanketing parts of Israel, Syria, western Iraq, and almost all of Jordan. To the south, the Red Sea is almost completely obscured as the dust also crosses over into Saudi Arabia. The bright white patches are clouds.

This image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), flying aboard NASA’s Terra satellite. Notice the vertical discontinuity running vertically down through the image just right of center. This shows where two images from consecutive satellite overpasses were stitched together to make one image.

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Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Published January 23, 2004
Data acquired January 23, 2004

Source:

Terra > MODIS

Collection:

Visible Earth