Dust Blowing off West Africa

Dust Blowing off West Africa

Lingering Saharan dust blows over the Cape Verde Islands and extends across the western Atlantic. The tan plume first became visible in satellite images on October 3, but by October 8, the plume was gone. This true color image from October 6 shows how far the dust had traveled in just a few days. Traces of dust can still be seen in images taken to the southwest of this one.

This true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image was captured by the Terra satellite. The high resolution image provided above is at MODIS’ maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel.

Image courtesy Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC