Calm Before the Dust Storm

Credit: Image courtesy Jacques Descloitre, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC, Posted on: Saturday, 7 February 2004, 06:00 CST Download full size image

This striking true-color image shows a clear view of the Cape Verde Islands in the eastern Atlantic as a massive wall of Saharan Desert dust (tan pixels) is fast approaching from the east. In this scene, the Cape Verde Islands sit in the middle of a large area of sunglint, which refers to the bright patch of water around the islands where a lot of sunlight is being reflected directly up at the satellite. Notice the wind shadows tapering away from the leeward (southwestern) side of the islands. These dark streaks are caused by the islands’ disturbances to the prevailing wind pattern, causing small patches of calm. Behind the islands, where there is less wind, the ocean is relatively much flatter and so much less sunlight is being scattered back up toward the satellite, thus making the water appear darker. This scene was acquired on February 3, 2004, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.

More Images

Mars
Tractus Catena.Tractus Catena...

---

Universe
Enceladus' Mighty Plume.This unprocessed image was captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft during its Nov. ...

---