NASA MODIS Image of the Day: August 14, 2011 – Dust storm off West Africa
Saharan dust blew over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa in early August 2011.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image on August 11, 2011.
A dust plume runs northeast-southwest over the ocean, blowing past the border between Western Sahara and Mauritania, both of which lie in the eastern (right) edge of the image. Western Sahara is found to the north of the black boundary line and Mauritania to the south. The dust plume appears to dissipate in a constellation of clouds north of the Republic of Cape Verde, an island nation in the south of the image. Dust plumes from the Sahara can travel hundreds if not thousands of kilometers over the Atlantic, sometimes crossing the entire ocean. The dust plumes can carry pesticides as well as bacteria and fungi harmful to Caribbean corals. Were it not for Saharan dust, however, some Caribbean Islands would lack the soil to support vegetation. Saharan dust has also provided soil for the Amazon Rainforest.
