Saharan Dust Blows Toward Europe - NASA Earth Observatory
Jan 29, 2024 · A large plume of dust from the Sahara Desert blew west over the Atlantic Ocean and then curled north toward Europe in late January 2024. Along its path, the suspended particles brought haze and poor air quality to Cabo Verde and the Canary Islands.
Vast Dust Storms in the Sahara - NASA Earth Observatory
Mar 31, 2018 · Even by the standards of the desert interior of Africa, the storms of late March have been intense. Schools and airports have been shut down in Sudan and Egypt, among other places, and a thick orange haze has filled the air as wind …
A Burst of Saharan Dust - NASA Earth Observatory
Jun 6, 2022 · Winds pick up an estimated 100 million tons of dust from the Sahara Desert each year, and a sizable portion of it blows out over the North Atlantic Ocean. A fresh supply of dust was airlifted from the Sahara in early June 2022, and some of …
Saharan Dust Heading for Europe - NASA Earth Observatory
Feb 18, 2021 · Each year tens of millions of tons of dust blow out from North Africa, lofted out of the Sahara Desert by strong seasonal winds. Perhaps most familiar are the huge, showy plumes that advance across the tropical Atlantic Ocean toward the Americas.
Desert Dust Envelops Portugal and Spain - NASA Earth Observatory
Mar 27, 2024 · Hot winds known as the “calima” brought an intrusion of dust from the Sahara Desert to Portugal and Spain in late March 2024. Suspended particles reached the region on March 21, coloring skies orange and degrading air quality for several days.
A Deluge for the Sahara - NASA Earth Observatory
Sep 12, 2024 · The most recent example of this came in the form of an extratropical cyclone that pushed across the northwestern Sahara on September 7 and 8 and drenched large, treeless swaths of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya—areas that only rarely receive rain.
Here Comes the Saharan Dust - NASA Earth Observatory
Jun 30, 2018 · Dust Storm off Western Sahara. Saharan dust hovered over the Atlantic for several days in mid-January 2008. This image shows two different areas of dust plume activity. Immediately off the coasts of Western Sahara and Mauritania, a series of tan dust plumes blow in predominantly straight lines toward the northwest.
Dust Storm Engulfs Canary Islands - NASA Earth Observatory
Jan 19, 2022 · Such events, known to islanders as “la calima,” generally happen around this time of year as strong seasonal winds carry sand and dust away from the Sahara. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NOAA-20 satellite acquired an image (above) around 1:45 p.m. local time on January 14.
Water Beneath the Sand - NASA Earth Observatory
Jan 22, 2024 · The remote Kufrah district in southern Libya sits at the heart of the Sahara Desert. Filled with sand dunes and rugged plateaus, much of the district is extremely arid. But it wasn’t always so dry. Buried beneath the shifting sand dunes is a vast fossil aquifer and remnants of now-dried rivers.
A Swirl of Dust Over the Atlantic - NASA Earth Observatory
On July 26, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a natural-color image (above) of a fresh plume of dust as it streamed over Western Sahara. The next day, the same sensor acquired an image (below) of clouds swirling through dusty skies downwind of the Portuguese island of Madeira.