File:Saharan Dust approaching South America (MODIS 2022-05-21).jpg
![File:Saharan Dust approaching South America (MODIS 2022-05-21).jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Saharan_Dust_approaching_South_America_%28MODIS_2022-05-21%29.jpg/783px-Saharan_Dust_approaching_South_America_%28MODIS_2022-05-21%29.jpg?20240109220412)
Original file (8,184 × 6,266 pixels, file size: 5.76 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
Captions
Captions
Summary
[edit]DescriptionSaharan Dust approaching South America (MODIS 2022-05-21).jpg |
English: On May 19, 2022, a cloud of dust from Africa’s Sahara Desert was captured approaching northeastern South America by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite. The leading edge of a thick pulse of tan dust, which appears to be mixed in with the white clouds, can be seen to the east (right) in this image, sitting about 860 miles (1,85 km) off the coast of Venezuela and heading southwest. A thinner veil of dust has already crossed the Atlantic Ocean to move over the Lesser Antilles, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.
A wide silvery-tan band that crosses the image from north to south is actually caused by an optical phenomenon known as “sunglint”. This occurs when sunlight reflects off the surface of water at the same angle that a satellite sensor views it. The result is a mirror-like reflection of sunlight off water and back at the sensor, creating a silver streak in an image. While the quantity of dust suspended in the atmosphere in the streak of sunglint is the same as the area surrounding it, the streak appears darker due to the sunglint. The dust seen in this image is just the leading edge of a long train of dust created by repetitive pulses of dust that have blown off of Western Africa from May 12 through May 19. By May 17, the Trinidad and Tobago Weather Center warned that a “significant and high” concentration of dust was set to move across the Lesser Antilles on May 18 – 20, and elevated Saharan Dust levels are expected to remain across that country until May 27. Over the next several days the dust is expected to move northward over the Gulf of Mexico to impact the Gulf Coast of the United States, including parts of Texas and most of Florida, with impacts the heaviest on or around May 24. |
||
Date | Taken on 19 May 2022 | ||
Source |
Saharan Dust approaching South America (direct link)
|
||
Author | MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
![]() |
This media is a product of the Aqua mission Credit and attribution belongs to the mission team, if not already specified in the "author" row |
Licensing
[edit]Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
![]() |
This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.) | ![]() |
![]() |
Warnings:
|
File history
Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.
Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
current | 22:04, 9 January 2024 | ![]() | 8,184 × 6,266 (5.76 MB) | OptimusPrimeBot (talk | contribs) | #Spacemedia - Upload of http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/images/image05212022_250m.jpg via Commons:Spacemedia |
You cannot overwrite this file.
File usage on Commons
There are no pages that use this file.