NASA Image: Dust Storm over Middle East
[1st image:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=8622]
This true-color SeaWiFS image shows the counterclockwise
swirl of a low-pressure system over the Middle East on
the morning of March 26, 2003. The system appears to be
scooping up dust (light brown pixels) from the deserts
beneath it and pushing the dust toward the southeast.
This image is composed of data from two consecutive
orbits of the OrbView-2 satellite, collected at 8:30 and
10:10 UTC [11:30 am and 1:10 pm local time in Iraq].
There is a different type of aerosol plume which is gray
in color in the northwest corner (upper left) of this
scene. This is probably pollution blowing into the
region from Europe.
The western half of the Sea of Azov, the smaller body
of water just north of the Black Sea, looks like it is
still covered with large pieces of sea ice. The snow-
covered mountains of the Pamirs are visible at the right
edge of the image to the north of the dark band of the
Indus River valley.
Image courtesy the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space
Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE
[2nd image:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=8621]
Between two banks of clouds, a huge sandstorm can be
seen blowing over Iraq and parts of Saudi Arabia in
this true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from Terra satellite
on the morning of March 26, 2003. Waves of airborne
sand and dust were breaking over Iraq. At right, dus
mingles with the clouds, and in the top half of the
image, dust shrouds the dark green vegetation of the
Fertile Crescent, between the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers.
The dust appears thickest at left and bottom center.
Notice how at bottom left, parts of Saudi Arabia
appear very crisp, with the varied desert terrain and
patches of irrigation-produced vegetation easily
distinguished. North and east of the area, however,
thick dust and sand create a tan shroud over the
underlying landscape. A single red box indicates a
thermal anomaly in southern Iraq.
Left of center at the top image, streamers of gray
smoke are spreading northeastward from locations
southeast of Lake Razazah (top left edge). The source
of the plumes is unknown. Right of center at the top
are the Zagros Mountains of Iran. The high-resolution
image shows amazingly fine detail of the ripples and
other structure of the dust cloud.
The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters
per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides
this image at MODIS’ maximum spatial resolution of
250 meters.
Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response
Team at NASA GSFC
