NASA MODIS Image of the Day: March 19, 2012 – Saharan dust over the Atlantic Ocean
NASA MODIS Image of the Day: March 19, 2012 - Saharan dust over the Atlantic Ocean
Dust continued to blow off of the coast of western Africa and over the Atlantic Ocean on March 12, 2012.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite captured this true color image at 14:55 UTC (10:45 a.
m. EST) on that same day. In the south, fires burn along the coastal countries and are heavily concentrated in Sierra Leone. Likely agricultural in origin, the gray smoke from these fires mingles with the tan sand and dust, creating a very large turbid swirl just off the western coast of Africa. Further north, a river of dust can be seen over the blue waters of the Atlantic. The shifting winds of the region have concentrated the dust into a narrow plume as it travels northward.
