Gobi Dust Over Northeast China and Korea

Dust blowing off the Gobi desert eastward across the China toward the Pacific Ocean is a common event in April. Space Shuttle astronauts have photographed these dusts storms several times. These photographs, taken by astronauts on April 25, 1990, show a thick blanket of dust that entirely obscures the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. The dust is being transported from west (left) to east (right). The mountainous spine of the peninsula induces gravity waves in the dust cloud on the downwind (east) side.

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Photographs STS031-73-54 and STS031-73-59 were provided by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center Additional photographs taken by astronauts can be viewed via the NASA-JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.

Published May 6, 2001
Data acquired April 25, 1990

Source:

Space Shuttle > Medium Format Camera

Collection:

Astronaut Photography