A catalog of NASA images and animations of our home planet

• Credit:

  Jeff Schmaltz

Orange-tan veils of dust sweep across the Sahara Desert in northwestern Africa in this true-color Aqua MODIS image acquired July 18, 2005. The dust curls through northern Mali and southern Algeria in this image, obscuring the dramatic geography of the land below. Little to no vegetation grows in this region, and what little does is mostly shrubbery that supports only nomadic herding. Farther south, where precipitation is more regular, peanuts are a popular crop in the grass savannas, but here the precipitation and population are so low that a stationary, agricultural lifestyle isn't possible. More information about the Sahara can be found here.

Images & Animations

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• NASA Official: Steven E. Platnick
• Database Updated: May 7, 2013