NASA MODIS Image of the Day: April 20, 2007 – Dust Storm in the Taklimakan Desert
Dust plumes blew out of the Taklimakan Desert in Western China on April 16, 2007. If you move your mouse over the image, you can see the movement of the clouds of dust between 5:00 UTC during Terra’s morning over pass and 8:20 UTC during Aqua’s afternoon overpass. The main image shows the afternoon, the mouseover image shows the morning view. Both images were acquired by the MODIS instrument that is aboard each of these satellites.
Lying between the Tien Shan Mountains in the north and Kunlun Mountains in the south, the Taklimakan Desert is one of Earth’s largest shifting-sand deserts. Because the area has no drainage, salt collects in the basin, whose lowest point is 150 meters below sea level. Because of its aridity and abundant sand, this desert is a regular source of dust storms in Asia.
