October 20, 2014 - Dust storms off the coast of Iran and Pakistan

Dust storms off the coast of Iran and Pakistan

October is a month of transition for weather patterns over the Arabian Sea. In the summer, winds blow from the sea toward land. In the winter, the winds reverse and push out over the Arabian Sea from the northeast. During October, between the summer and winter monsoons, the prevailing wind direction varies.

When the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image on October 14, 2014, northeasterly winds were dominant and blew several dust plumes off the coast of Iran, Pakistan, and India.

The dust most likely has several sources. The Thar Desert, the Arabian Sea coastline, and the alluvial plain of the Indus River are all known as significant regional dust sources, according to one analysis of Arabian Sea dust authored by an East Carolina University geographer.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 10/14/2014
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC