On April 9, 2008, numerous dust plumes blew off the Libyan coast and over the Mediterranean Sea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured this image the same day. Although contrasting strongly with the underlying ocean water, the tan plumes are thin enough to allow a view of the land and water surfaces underneath the dust. The plumes blow toward the east-northeast, turning more northward as they move farther off the coast.This dust storm continued a pattern of intermittent storms blowing off the African coast and over the Mediterranean in the early spring of 2008.
More and bigger photos and more information available here, at NASA.
- Log in to post comments
More like this
“You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag…
“The world communicates subtly. Most people don't hear or see the signs because they're so wrapped up in their day-to-day lives.” -Doug Cooper
If you wanted to see if a planet was inhabited in Star Trek, all you had to do was scan for signs of life. With current technology, that's really hard to do…
It's good to see NASA hasn't completely abandoned its mandate to look after the home planet. As its Earth Observatory notes:
Among the casualties of the conflict between Lebanon and Israel in the summer of 2006 was the Mediterranean. Israeli raids in mid-July on the Jiyyeh Power Station released…
The Hurricane may (or may not) directly strike the Outer Banks.) I've updated the title of the post to update concern that Hurricane Arthur has a much increased chance of directly striking coastal regions in North Carolina. Scroll down to the most recent update below to find out more. I'm adding…
hey, a sirocco! this was always fun when living in Rome, it would rain Sahara all over the city.
A few days later, residents of Naples, Italy woke up to discover that a light rain overnight had deposited orange-colored mud all over their cars.
Happens every spring.