File:Dust off Socotra Island (MODIS 2020-09-01).jpg

English: Dust frequently flows over the Gulf of Aden, moving between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa. At times, the wind-borne dust creates interesting patterns in the air, particularly when it interacts with the rugged landscape of the Island of Socotra.

On August 30, 2020, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of a pair of parallel dust plumes blowing north-east from the Island of Socotra across the Gulf of Aden.

Part of the Republic of Yemen, the Island of Socotra (Soqotra) lies about 200 miles (320 km) south of the mainland. Tall mountains rise to about 5,000 feet (1,500 m) from near the center of the 80-mile-long island, creating steep, rugged topography – tall enough to stop the forward motion of air, pushing it around the tall mountains.

When dust is aloft, the movement of the air may be written in the plumes of tan dust that it carries. This is the most likely scenario for the creation of these long plumes that begin at the edges of Socotra Island – northwesterly-moving, dust laden air has been stopped by and pushed past the tall mountains at their edges, leaving two parallel lines of concentrated dust on the lee side of the island. While the air on the immediate windward side appears relatively clear, a cloud of dust sits in the southeast. Pulses of dust are common in this region.