MSGID: 1:317/3 629b9dc4   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   June 4, 2022 - Dust off of West Africa   
      
      Dust off of West Africa   
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      Northern Africa’s Sahara Desert has been renown as the Earth’s largest   
      source of airborne dust. Each year, winds lift about 800 million metric   
      tons of desert dust from the region. Dust storms are common during the   
      spring, summer, and early fall, when huge plumes of dry, dusty air from   
      the Sahara Desert (the Saharan Air Layer) blow westward over the   
      tropical Atlantic Ocean.   
      
      On June 3, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer   
      (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite captured a true-color image of   
      a massive river of dust on the move from the Sahara Desert across the   
      Atlantic Ocean. This image captures just a portion of a near-continuous   
      mass of airborne dust that rises in Algeria and stretches almost 2,500   
      miles (4,000 km) across the ocean. The dust is so thick that the Cape   
      Verde Islands, which lie between 368 and 530 miles (600-850 km) off the   
      African coast, are completely obscured from view.   
      
      Dust from Africa can affect air quality as far away as North and South   
      America if it rides the Saharan Air Layer across the Atlantic. The dust   
      also plays an important ecological role, such as fertilizing soils in   
      the Amazon and building beaches in the Caribbean. The dry, warm, and   
      windy conditions associated with Saharan Air Layer outbreaks can also   
      suppress the formation and intensification of tropical cyclones.   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Terra   
      Date Acquired: 6/3/2022   
      Resolutions:  250m ( B)   
      Bands Used: 1,4,3   
      Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC   
      
      
      
   https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-06-04   
       
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