Dust Storm in the Sahara Desert

The Sahara, one of the world´s most prolific dust producers, kicked up another storm on July 19, 2005. The Aqua MODIS instrument captured this image of the west coast of Africa as a huge veil of dust swept out over the Atlantic Ocean and Cape Verde Islands. The dust storm is several hundred kilometers across, covering the countries of Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. White clouds provide a contrast to the dust because they are at a higher elevation in the atmosphere than the dust. Clouds that appear yellowish are at the same elevation or lower than the dust.

---

Jeff Schmaltz

Published January 5, 2005
Data acquired July 18, 2005

Source:

Aqua > MODIS

Collection:

MODIS Image of the Day