Dust Storm on Planet Earth
Explanation:
From low Earth orbit, NASA's
SeaWIFS instrument
records ocean color, tracking changes in our
water world's climate and
biosphere.
But even an ocean
planet can have dust storms.
On February 26th,
SeaWIFS returned this dramatic close-up view of
a vast, developing cloud of
Saharan desert dust blowing from northwest
Africa (lower right)
a thousand miles or more out over the Atlantic Ocean.
While there are indications that the planet-spanning
effects of the Saharan dust events include the decline of the
ecologies
of coral reefs in the Caribbean and
an increased frequency of
Atlantic hurricanes, there
is also evidence that the dust provides nutrients
to the
Amazonian rain forests.
From space-based
vantage points, other satellite
images have also
revealed storms which
transport massive quantities of fine sand and dust across
Earth's oceans.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
