January 18, 2015 - Dust storm off West Africa

Dust storm off West Africa

A wall of dust blew off the coast of western Africa in mid-January, 2015, continuing an extremely dusty start to the New Year. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) captured this true-color image on January 10, 2015.

,p> Dust blows from Western Sahara (north) and Mauritania (center) and over Senegal (south) westward. Sheets of sand form swirling patterns just off the coast, while dust thins over the Canary Islands in the north, as well as the Cape Verde Islands in the south. Further west, the line of demarcation between sand and clear sky is distinct, leaving crystal clear skies and a clear view of the ocean to the west, while east of the line the dust is so dense that it is impossible to view much of the ocean beneath the storm.

Sand and dust storms are a common natural hazard in this region.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 1/10/2015
Resolutions: 1km (902.1 KB), 500m (3.2 MB), 250m (7.5 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC