Saharan Dust Approaching South America

Credit: NASA, Posted on: Friday, 29 June 2007, 18:15 CDT Download full size image

Saharan dust that blew off the west coast of Africa on June 22, 2007 has journied westward across the Atlantic Ocean towards South America. The MODIS instruments on the Terra and Aqua satellites have tracked the dust plume’s progress. This image was composed from a combination of Terra and Aqua observations on June 23, 2007. Terra recorded the dust plume in the eastern Atlantic around 13:00 UTC, and Aqua recorded its progress in the western Atlantic around 14:20 UTC.

Today's image, which was captured by the MODIS on the Terra satellite, shows the dust on June 24, 2007, at 13:45 UTC. South America is visible in the lower left corner of the image.

How does dust cross the Atlantic like this? The dust actually enters trade winds bound for Central and North America and the Caribbean, and can cross the ocean in a matter of days!

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