Wisps of dust blew out of Pakistan over the Arabian Sea on December 20, 2006. The dust appears to be blowing off the light-colored coastline, but it could also have been transported from the north. Indeed, another dust storm clouds the skies over the desert north of the Siahan Range. The dust appears to be coming from a distinct point source in the Chagai Hills to the north. The large white area west of the desert is the Hamun-i-Mashkel, a dry wetland or lake. The loose, silty soils found in desiccated wetlands are often a source of dust, but that does not seem to be the case in this particular storm. This photo-like image was taken on December 20, 2006, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite. Daily images of Pakistan are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team.
References & Resources
NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.
