Dust over Afghanistan and Pakistan

Dust over Afghanistan and Pakistan

Dust plumes blew over the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan in late October 2010. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image on October 22, 2010. Durst forms a translucent veil over southern Afghanistan and western Pakistan, skirting both countries’ borders with Iran. Dust blows southward off the Pakistan coast and over the ocean (visible in the large image).

Sand seas occur along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and impermanent lakes dot the border between Afghanistan and Iran. The sands and dry lakebed sediments in these areas frequently give rise to dust storms.

NASA image courtesy of Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Michon Scott.