Haze Over the Sea of Japan

Credit: Jesse Allen; MODIS team; NASA, Posted on: Sunday, 16 March 2008, 08:24 CDT Download full size image

A thick swath of smog and/or dust swept over the Sea of Japan on March 11, 2008. This image, captured by the MODIS on the Aqua satellite, shows the plume blowing off the coasts of China, North Korea, and South Korea, and heading toward Japan. The plume is a translucent dingy gray, contrasting with the bright white clouds to the east.

A significant portion of the plume could result from dust remaining from an earlier storm. Dust storms increase significantly in the Gobi Desert in March. The storm could also result from the haze that regularly occurs over eastern Asia.

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