Dust East and West of the Red Sea

Dust East and West of the Red Sea

Dust stirred on either side of the Red Sea on March 24, 2009. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite took this picture the same day. Thin plumes of dust blow from Sudan toward the northeast, and from Egypt toward the south-southeast. On the other side of the Red Sea, a thicker plume of dust stretches over Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Source points for the dust storms are not obvious in this image, although the plumes do appear to be separate. Even though the plumes do not appear connected to each other, they might arise from winds produced by the same weather event.

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